This is us - advise us

[BobGnuheart]

49 and 54 year old married couple. 20 quickly-passed years of financial non-badassity resulted in recently giving house bank to bank in foreclosure and renting a house. Also had two great cars and the payments to go along with them. Few months ago did a voluntary repo on mine then literally five days later my wife's car is totaled. This has led to having two great older cars that are paid for.

Reading a lot here I don't think many are religious. We're Christian, however haven't always been a great advertisement for God - certainly bad stewards. Prayed hard for a fresh start and now we have it, but prayers weren't answered the way I envisioned it. Ha. But end result is truly a fresh start.

So no car payments. Rent is less than mortgage/taxes/insurance/repairs on our old home. We make about 62000/year and current bills leave us about 500 - 700 month to save invest. Am currently looking for ways to increase income as well. Wife pretty much is scheduled as much as she can due to some health issues. Have about 40000 student loan debt.

Is there a way anyone can see within twelve years owning a home again - close to being paid off - and those student loans being gone?

We're all in

[FireHiker]

Welcome! If you want real, helpful advice, this place is amazing, but there is a lot of tough love at first. I recommend putting together a full case study in the case study part of the board. Sometimes the responses can be a little harsh, but almost always there is a lot of good information there. I'm not particularly religious myself (raised going to church, questioning a lot these days), but there are certainly members here who are, so I hope they'll reach you to you with a warm welcome as well.

[MDM]

I recommend putting together a full case study in the case study part of the board.

+1

BobGnuheart, also make use of the spreadsheet linked in How To: Write a "Case Study" Topic to make a quick (and perhaps somewhat accurate) self-check on your twelve year question.  Good luck!

[CheapScholar]

I agree you need an in-depth case study. 

Location might be helpful, as cost of living comes into play.  At first glance, I’d be thinking about retiring at full SS age (assuming you’re American) and finding a town with a low cost of living.  I’d be focused on 10 years of smart saving to supplement SS, living on a reasonable but frugal budget you could sustain after retirement.  Tough road ahead, but the fact you came here and said you have a monthly surplus and want to do things right from now on should be applauded.

[Freedomin5]

We are here. We just don’t tend to advertise being Christian. There was a thread a while back asking Christians how their faith affected their Mustachianism.

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/christians-how-does-your-faith-affect-your-mustachianism/

But yes, please post a case study, and I’m sure lots of folks will be happy to comment.

[BobGnuheart]

Thanks all. I'll do the case study - missed that somehow.

We have about 20000 in retirement and live in the SE. Not above renting til the day I die - owning, with the way things were - was nothing but an exercise in stress. Obviously doing it the right way would be better.

Also not too good to buy a 1000 SF modular home on a nice bit of land.

Have insurance license, but hard to leverage that on part-time basis to supplement current position. Have faith that I can find second money maker.

Thanks again and on my way to case studies

[patchyfacialhair]

If you can save 50% of after tax pay, you can retire in 17 years. Google "shockingly simple math."

So just try to save as much as possible. The case study will highlight the opportunities you have in your budget and keep in mind that you're at an age where you can probably reliably include social security estimates in your budgeting.

Hypothetically, you get a second job and knock out the loans in 2 years, throwing everything extra at them (no new debt while doing so). Then, you find a real cheap, but safe and reliable place to live. In the SE, this is very possible, maybe a $50k small house. Pay that thing off in 8 years or so. In 10 years, you've met your goal, you're 59 and 64 with no obligations. Maybe wait 3 more years, you're 62 and 67, saving like crazy, you can wind things down, retire with no debt, a little money saved, and some social security checks that should be more than enough to not only survive, but thrive. You got this!

[inline five]

Honestly at your point in life I would make paying off the debt (student loans in your 50's?) a priority and plan to be done with those and have a single well maintained car come retirement time. Pencil out what a house would cost in your area and add that yearly savings to your budget. I would estimate that over 12 years you could reasonably save $20k a year ($1600/month) leaving you with around $200,000 in cash after paying the loans. Purchase a cheap house for roughly $100k, run one well maintained older car, and plan to live off social security with your cash as a cushion to major home expenses like an AC repair.

[Glenstache]

You may also want to reconsider buying a home at all. If rent is less than mortgage, use one of the many online calculators to see if the combined balance of expenses, opportunity cost (to investments), etc actually pencil  out in favor of owning. If owning a house is important to you for personal reasons (which is fine), you are still better off making that decision from a clear-eyed understanding of the financial tradeoffs. You should also take a hard look at what you actually *need* for housing. Many people buy the max of what they can supposedly afford, as opposed to the minimum of what they need (and thus spend a lot less on housing).

Half of the FI equation is spending. 

[robartsd]

The top end of your savings calculation is $8400/yr. If your loans are at 6% that will take about 6 years to pay off the $40k. If you can earn 6% on savings after paying off the $40k, $8400/yr would accumulate to about $60k. I used the top of your $500-700/mo surplus, but didn't include any current loan payment. Bottom line is you need to save more to reach your goals, and the suggested cuts you get from posting a case study would be a great place to start.

[MrsPete]

Is there a way anyone can see within twelve years owning a home again - close to being paid off - and those student loans being gone?

In the entire world, only three pathways to this goal exist:

1.  Earn more money.  Can you work more hours?  Add a part-time job?  Start a small home business? 
2.  Spend less money.  Downsize your life -- stop eating out, buy only used clothing, etc.
3.  Combine option 1 and option 2 for faster results.