My wife and I have been reading MMM for months now, since about the time he received some legal threats. We've been on a journey of personal improvement, and we feel like we've come a long way. My wife is very content with where we are, and with what we're doing to move towards our dreams. I struggle. While it started as my dream, it has become our dream to buy some acreage, build our own house (and I mean physically ourselves, not hire out contractors), and quit working. We'll garden a little, play music a little (we're both musicians), and raise our 16 month old son into a great adult, and maybe have one or two more kids.
I am not generally a patient man, so hence the struggle.
Before the numbers, I feel I should add this information:
-We have two paid for cars ('01 Ford Escape purchased for $3500 cash 2 years ago, '04 Mitsubishi Outlander purchased for $6000 in cash 2 years ago)
-I commute approximately 15 miles one way--5 of that I just started riding the bike...there's a ferry, and a river, and some ridiculous hills involved...plus I'm a wuss
-My wife commutes 17 miles one way, mostly interstate, again with the rivers...they are not directly opposite directions--I'm North, she's East
-We regularly use both vehicles to transport instruments and equipment that wouldn't fit in many other vehicles...as in 60" by 24"-36" items, and regularly refers to about once a week (think large percussion/drum instruments, and you get the picture)
-Our house is currently on the market--we owe $80K, and have it listed for $117K
-There is some potential that one or both of our "main" jobs will turn full time (my wife is a part time school music teacher, and I am a part time university band director), resulting in a different income situation, which would lead us to our goals faster
-My wife commutes five days a week, I commute 3, and generally have random gigs all over the place, averaging once a week, though actually sometimes none in a week, and sometimes 4-5 in a week. Some times of year I get booked easier
-The country part of the acreage is important--I hunt and fish regularly, and we provide a significant amount of our meat through those activities, besides being something I enjoy
-We are debt free except for our house, and are constantly trying to purge the piles of useless crap that we seem to have accumulated...I really can't believe we own as much crap as we do.
-We're both 29, and have a 16 month old son, who is the light of our life!
-Our son is watched 3 days a week during the day by my retired father-in-law (who refuses any compensation...and gets nice dinners and gifts for it), and by me 2 days a week, by my wife and I on the weekends
-There are no diaper expenses--we cloth diaper
Income: Averaging $3300 a month, ~$39000 a year (this is after taxes and business expenses)
Current expenses:
$644 Mortgage
$165 Duke - Gas and Elec.
$45 Water
$47 Sanitation - SD1
$4 Trash
$50 CinBell - Internet
$95 AT&T - Unl + 2 Gb Data
$320 Groceries
$8 Life Insurance
$311 Health Insurance
$320 Gas
$145 Auto Insurance
$2154 Subtotal
Extras (spendypants) Outflow
$8 Netflix
$80 Eating Out
$200 Personal Spending (we think...I know...we should know)
$288 Subtotal
$2442 TOTAL a month, $29304 a year
Assets:
Emergency Savings: just over $10K
House/Fuck You Money Savings: $3K
IRA: $3K
Fund for Son: $750
Car Repair Fund: ~$1K
Liabilities:
House: Just over $80K owed
I feel like we're on the right track, but I'm almost constantly pissed over our current situation. My University doesn't do anything fast...and they've been dropping hints that I might be full time in the fall of 2015, but can't/won't/haven't made a decision, even though faculty schedule assignments are due at the end of January. Our house has been on the market for just over three months, and while we have had 20+ showings, we haven't had an offer, and no showing since before Thanksgiving. I guess what I'm asking is:
Where do we go from here? If the house doesn't sell (we agreed to list it with the realtor for 6 months, I believe), do we stay here and pile up cash, with the intent to try and buy property outright? We're looking at properties in the Sub $70K range. If neither I nor my wife have a full time job at our preferred employers in the fall (we both like our jobs quite a bit, including our independent side jobs, and the amount of time off we have), does one of us go and get something outside of our field? This is relevant, as I am one of those weird people who have bought their own health insurance for years (I haven't been on an employer plan since 2006, when we got married and I was removed from my parents' plan--my wife has her insurance paid through the end of July by her school, though that is going away at that point). In Florence, KY, where I'm from, for a healthy, middle income family, this is the most expensive, hardest to get health insurance environment that I have experienced in the entire time we've been buying insurance, though of course that is only 8 years. My health plan, luckily, is one of those that doesn't cover maternity, and a few other things not needed for a healthy male, and so is conveniently illegal come December 2015...Yes, I'm bitter, but also grateful that there have been extensions to the canceling of my plan. Similar health plans run at 3-4 times the cost. I don't know if I'm just risk adverse, or what, but I have trouble with the new high deductible plans...we're not financially rich by any stretch of the word, and currently have $500 deductibles, and 0% co-insurance...which we can't seem to get anymore. The closest at last check was ~$450 a month for a ~$6000 individual, ~$12000 family deductible, or something for about $1000 a month, with $1500 deductible. Of course, I don't know if the "deductible" matters, as they seem able to tack on "fees" whenever they feel like it. As an example, when my son was born, my wife had the same plan, with $500 deductible...and we still paid an additional $3600. I still don't understand why. Also, please don't tell me we're eligible for a subsidy--I have become ethically and personally opposed from taking money from the government...the single biggest source of regret/shame in my life is the student loans my wife and I took out for college. It is also my greatest source of victory--we paid them off, plus their interest, and those people can go fuck themselves. I never should have listened to our "advisers" in school. "Good debt" and "bad debt" they said...Right.
Regardless:
Do I have a bad case of the "what if's?" Do I need to quit whining, be patient, and follow the plan we have? Do we need to get health coverage through a health sharing ministry? Does one of us need to quit working, and the other find some high paying job(s) in whatever we can?
Any advice and any questions for clarity are equally welcome, and thanks for reading this book of a post.