So, here it is two years later... and we've made some progress!!
1. Our realtor contacted us with a client who really, really, really wanted a house just like ours. He offered us $250k, which we couldn't refuse. So we moved.... resulting in:
- My commute decreasing from 66 miles/day to 38 miles/day (I still have the 2014 Mazda5, but far less gas expense)
- My husband's commute decreasing from 38 miles/day to 27 miles/day (he still has the 2008 Nissan Frontier, but far less gas expense)
- Lower costs and much less maintenance. We used to easily spend 1-2 days per week on the house. Now we're down to a few hours/wk.
- MUCH better school district (honestly, our major motivating factor)
WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN!
2. I changed jobs. I went from making a long commute 4 or 5 days a week (alternating) two years ago to now making a shorter commute only 3 or 4 days per week (alternating). I went from working 40 hrs/wk to now working 32 hrs/wk. I took a paycut, but it was well worth it. I'm now much happier and spending much less on commuting. Also, I'm now working for a corporation, so my benefits are better. WIN, WIN, WIN.
3. With my new free time, I've started doing freelance medical/scientific writing from home. Apparently, I'm pretty good at it. My hourly rate is nearly 2x what I make at my FT job, the work is less stressful (partially because I'm doing it from home, partially because I'm burnt out on vet med and enjoying the change of pace), and it fits my schedule. WIN, WIN, WIN.
4. My husband sees the progress that we're making and he's excited. We've struck a balance that results in us being slightly-Mustachian, but really without feeling like we're sacrificing AT ALL. I feel like we're amazingly spendy, but we're making progress so I'm okay with it for now.
So, I figured I'd update here for a few reasons. First, so that I have a place to track our progress. Second, because I want to give up my FT job for a combination of PT work and freelance... but I can't decide when it will be 'safe-ish' to do so.
Income: $145k-ish
My FT job: $80,500/yr (down from $92,000/yr)
Husband's FT job: $45,000/yr ($25k in taxable income, $15k in non-taxed allowances, $5k into church-sponsored retirement fund... up from $40,000/yr)
My freelance income: $20k this year, maybe??? I just took the decrease in my work hours a couple of months ago, which allowed me to pick up a LOT of additional work with one particular client in
the last couple of months. I've earned $3000 in the last month and that should continue for many months. My 2016 YTD freelance income is currently at about $14k.
Current expenses: $5430/mo (down from $6810)
HOME EXPENSES = $1625/mo (down from $1700)
mortgage - $1160 (down from $1275)
electric - $200 (down from $275)
internet/phone/cable - $90 (up from $75.... they offered us cable for only $20/mo, so we okayed it. will cancel when the price goes up after one year)
trash - $25 (up from $20)
Orkin - N/A (down from $45)
Netflix - $10
Lawn guy - $140/mo during the summer months only (facepunch away, but we decided that this was well worth it... the savings in gas for our riding mower pay the lawn guy)
OTHER EXPENSES = $3805/mo (down from $5110)
cell phone - $170 (up from $160.... We're with Verizon and I know that we need to look into the low-cost providers, but we're in a rural area with poor coverage and therefore I'm scared to change.
Need to suck it up and do it anyway.)
horse rent - $150 (unchanged)
car insurance - $180 (up from $115.... he had an accident and we filed a claim instead of paying out of pocket. I need to call and drop collision and comprehensive on his truck to get the rate back
down.... adding that to my to-do list right now!!)
NY Times - $15/mo (unchanged, can't bring myself to give it up!)
disability / life insurance - $110 (unchanged, long-term disability and $500k term life on me.)
daycare - $650/mo (up from $630, but now paid through dependent-care FSA so the actual cost to us has gone down)
car payment - $310 (unchanged, @ 2.9%)
gas for cars - $200 (down from $500!! YAY!!)
charity- $795 (up from $435)
pets: food, meds, etc - $100 (down from $225 following the loss of one dog and giving away the chickens)
groceries - $645
fun money (meals out, purchases, etc) - $400
YMCA membership - $80 (husband started encountering weight-related health issues and lacks motivation to exercise outside of gym setting, so we got a family membership and I'm also getting
in better shape)
Assets, excluding home: $197,998 (up from $117,517)
Retirement accounts - $160,991 (up from $105,188 - Roth, 401k, husband's pension)
HSA - $4700 (up from zero)
Daughter's 529 - $15,307 (up from $9829)
Checking/savings - $17,000 (up from $2500)
Liabilities, excluding home: $9637 (down from $21,092)
Citibank credit card - zero (down from $4292)
Auto loan - $9637 @ 2.9% (down from $16.8k)
Mortgage - $198,884 on a house worth $235k (down from $208,769 on a house worth $250k)
I realize that there's still more that we could be doing to optimize expenses, but this is where we are right now. It's a comfortable place, where we're both relatively content with no disagreements over money and I'm happy with our progress...
Except that I don't want to work so much.
Next year, my daughter will start kindergarten. (Also, we're trying for #2.) Working four or five full weekend days per month (which is what my current job requires) isn't a huge deal right now, because I can keep her home on a weekday to spend some time with her. Next year, though, that option won't exist anymore. Also, the typical work-until-6-or-7pm veterinarian schedule makes it hard to have evening time with young kiddos, especially given the unpredictable nature of a vet's schedule (sometimes we leave at closing, sometimes it's an hour or more later). I want one of the cushy 'mommy vet' PT jobs, working 3-4 half-days per week (they do exist, though finding one may take some patience).
Cutting my vet work back to 15-20 hrs/wk, I would likely be able to earn about $30-40k/yr. My husband's job will be able to take over providing our health insurance, but we'll lose out on my 401k, HSA, and some other benefits. I'd likely continue to do freelance writing on the side, though, so my actual income if I cut back to PT work should be around $50k/yr, which I think is doable. If I wait until next year, our non-home net worth should be close to $250k.... so if we cut back retirement contributions significantly at that time (to the $5k contributed by his church and my Roth, for example), I think the accounts would still grow to a retirement-worthy level by 'normal' retirement age in the worst-case scenario, right? I'm 37 and my husband is 32, so normal retirement age is 30 years away... we'd like to FIRE earlier, but I'm okay with a longer path if it means more time with my daughter (+/- future kiddo) while she is still young.
Thoughts?
Obviously, finally addressing the cell phones and adjusting insurance coverage on the truck are priorities on the expense side, but is my plan doable? It looks like it should be, but it just seems too good to be true, given where we were two years ago.