Dim Light - Long Tunnel - Happy Thoughts?

[boyerbt]

For everyone out there that has a long road ahead of them to FI or debt elimination, how do you keep positive and moving in the right direction?

Most of the time I am upbeat and positive because I know that what I am doing now will make it that much easier  down the road when I reach my goals and pay off all of my debts. But still, every now and again, I get worn down and feel like I may be over extending myself and spending too much time between the two jobs to pay off my student loans and continue to save. I know that I am not going to stop working my 2nd gig because in the short time that I have been doing it (6 months) I have already made some significant strides in paying down my debt but I still get down from time to time. So should I just suck it up and keep marching? Do other people feel this way? Or are most of the Mushtachians wired differently where you just inherently accept the sacrifices now if you have to make them?

I am just curious to get everyone's thoughts on this because it seems as though most of the audience here has a pretty good handle on everything and you all are pretty positive.

Thanks

[EricL]

Hang in there!  It can be a hard road but it's worthwhile.  Things that help:
1. Don't focus on the money you throw at your debt.  Count how much the debt is shrinking and how much your 'stache will grow once it's gone.
2. Ignore the constant consumer oriented background noise that says you need to buy X to be happy.  The MMM advice to spend less time watching TV helps.
3. Ignore the constant social pressure that says if you're not rich, you're not important.  (Total BS)  This is a killer.  It's the source of the "keeping up with the Joneses" problems and it always tilts toward a face punch worthy splurge.  It will creep up and sting you at odd moments in the day.  But if you stay mindful of it you can see it coming a mile away and not react to it. 

[gdgyva]

let me also add this

you have to be committed to achieve these lofty goals

it isnt easy

but....and a big but.....dont completely deprive yourself of things you like and enjoy

just like a diet, the more deprived you feel, the likelier you are to splurge

i like the old adage

everything in moderation.....

[Bookworm]

I think it is pretty normal for negative thoughts and feelings to intrude every so often, regardless of what your personal goal happens to be (I know it sure does with parenting!).  As long as those moments are fairly fleeting, I think you're on pretty solid mental footing and you can safely just experience those negative emotions as they happen and then let them go.

[Ziggurat]

The comments about working two jobs and feeling run down need a little attention, I think.  Be careful that the personal price you pay (perhaps lack of fun/recharging time) is worth it.  Ultimately, mustachianism is about living a full and rewarding life; if the work is too much you would be better off slowing the pace down to live a better life now than living too much for the future.

Is there a way you can take "vacations" from the 2nd job for a few weeks once in a while?

[Thegoblinchief]

Tracking my NW on a quarterly basis helps a lot. Monthly is a bit too frequent, though I do update spending monthly on my blog.

Use the "shockingly simple math" post to roughly estimate your retirement date. Set a countdown timer.

Alternately, estimate your retirement/FI budget to come up with your FIRE number (yearly spend x 25). Think of every savings in terms of "that earned me x% of my number!"

[boyerbt]

Is there a way you can take "vacations" from the 2nd job for a few weeks once in a while?

Yeah, this is definitely an option and I will definitely look to take some time off when it is time to recharge. The job is super laid back and about as close as you can get to getting paid for doing nothing. The only downside is that it is a night gig - so I typically run on less sleep than I have been use to in the past. 

Thanks everyone for the words of wisdom and encouragement.

[Two9A]

To reiterate what Eric said yesterday:

Don't focus on the money you throw at your debt.  Count how much the debt is shrinking and how much your 'stache will grow once it's gone.

There's definitely something in this. I have a graph of my current debts/mortgages, and the main focus I have is on the gradient:


I see the little bumps of CC debt, but try not to focus on those: instead, I look at how far that graph has fallen from its peak, and how quickly it'll drop to zero.

[FIence!]

Tracking my NW on a quarterly basis helps a lot.

Yup, this is what I did/do, except when you're talking about dept payoff instead of net worth it's debt shrinkage. When I was in heavier debt payoff mode with huge student loans and some other debt including a hospital bill, I would add up all the debts twice a year, write it all down, and also write my credit score along with it. I did this in January and July. The six months would be over before I knew it, and it was fun to see how much smaller the numbers were getting.

If the numbers don't seem to be getting small enough, it can help to contrast them with what your balance would be if you weren't paying things off aggressively.

[MidwestGal]

If it's because you're lacking sleep, then the only cure is to get more sleep.

There are few truer statements on this forum.  Trying to make up for it on days off does NOT work.  From personal experience, my life was hell for a bit and once I could get even 30 more minutes a night my quality of life, and grades, and job efficiency, and family happiness went up significantly.

[boyerbt]

For everyone out there that has a long road ahead of them to FI or debt elimination, how do you keep positive and moving in the right direction?

Most of the time I am upbeat and positive because I know that what I am doing now will make it that much easier  down the road when I reach my goals and pay off all of my debts. But still, every now and again, I get worn down and feel like I may be over extending myself and spending too much time between the two jobs to pay off my student loans and continue to save. I know that I am not going to stop working my 2nd gig because in the short time that I have been doing it (6 months) I have already made some significant strides in paying down my debt but I still get down from time to time. So should I just suck it up and keep marching? Do other people feel this way? Or are most of the Mushtachians wired differently where you just inherently accept the sacrifices now if you have to make them?

I am just curious to get everyone's thoughts on this because it seems as though most of the audience here has a pretty good handle on everything and you all are pretty positive.

Thanks

Depends on why you are rundown. 

If it's because you're lacking sleep, then the only cure is to get more sleep.  Any way you could find one job that pays close to what the two jobs pay?  Perhaps an 8-5 type thing?

If you're run down because you've not been able to buy things, then I'm not sure what to tell you... because the more I read this blog, the less I want to buy things... so not spending money on nonsense does not feel like a sacrifice; instead it just makes me feel smart, disciplined, and in control.

I wouldn't say that I get down because of lack of sleep albeit I am drinking more coffee now than I was before. The feeling is more of being overwhelmed with the large debt still owed while making the strides. The inner-mustachian would tell me not to pay attention to the outside world but every now and again it creeps in and I notice what others are doing (spending money - creating more debt) and feel as though I may be missing out by making my scarifies. These thoughts change very quickly when I realize again the end goal of FIRE and that I will be able to do whatever I want as long as I can stick to the plan right now. I agree with you, the more I poke around MMM the less I care about buying things and simply wasting money. 

Baby steps, it might not be the most fun right now but it is what will get me to the finish line.

[boyerbt]

To reiterate what Eric said yesterday:

Don't focus on the money you throw at your debt.  Count how much the debt is shrinking and how much your 'stache will grow once it's gone.

There's definitely something in this. I have a graph of my current debts/mortgages, and the main focus I have is on the gradient:


I see the little bumps of CC debt, but try not to focus on those: instead, I look at how far that graph has fallen from its peak, and how quickly it'll drop to zero.

Two9A - love the graph. I need to go through and do this with my situation so I can better visualize the progress. Thanks

[galaxie]

Graphs help me feel like I'm making progress, too.  I look at the change in the amount of debt (not just the total value), because I'm tackling a big mortgage, and the % change per month is not very big.  If I think of it as "I paid off $3000 of my house this month!" it feels better than "My debt is now 464k instead of 467k!" 

I also like to look at what % of my monthly income goes to "good" stuff - paying off the house & saving - vs. spending.  We have no other debt and live pretty cheaply, so it's usually 60+%.

[DoubleDown]

but....and a big but.....dont completely deprive yourself of things you like and enjoy

"Everyone always has a big but"

Thanks for letting me get in my PeeWee Herman quote. Also a big fan of Homer, nice avatar!

[nawhite]

Its posts like this that remind me why Dave Ramsey's Debt Snowball works so much better for for some people. You get excited when you can see visible progress.

Personally I don't think of it as "I have $89k left in student loans... lame." I like to think more in terms of "I will completely pay off that loan this month, and then its just 8 months until the next is paid off." Or "Woohoo! I will fully fund my IRA next month, then I can move on to fully funding the 401k."

In other words, break up your goal of "get out of debt" or "Save $800k to retire" into smaller goals of "pay of debt #1 (out of 8)" or "fully fund the IRA" etc. Makes it much more bearable in my opinion.

[gdgyva]

but....and a big but.....dont completely deprive yourself of things you like and enjoy

"Everyone always has a big but"

Thanks for letting me get in my PeeWee Herman quote. Also a big fan of Homer, nice avatar!

thanks

i look a LOT like homer....

my DW is the one that talked me into using him as my avatar on just about every site i frequent