Author Topic: Been here on MMM forums for almost one month  (Read 2498 times)

ACyclist

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Been here on MMM forums for almost one month
« on: November 21, 2017, 11:58:47 AM »
It started with reading some articles by MMM a few months ago.  His 2000 a month budget article spoke to us.  We started an archaic sheet of paper to track spending on food and stuff in the beginning of Oct.  Then, I found these forums and started to post. 

There are many areas we need to improve in.  Grocery spending is one.   We've been spending in the realm of 640 a month or more, depending on restaurant use.  We have spent $345 this month, and I think we may end the month with at least a $100 reduction in costs. 

We are going to stop making extra payments to principal and invest the remainder.  The loan should be done in about 25 payments.  We aren't gaining that much ground anymore. 

We need to sell our rental.  It isn't earning enough for us.  That cash will do better in index stock funds.  Selling will hopefully happen by next Summer. 

It's only been a short while here,  Things are going well, but I have hope that we can do much better still. 

Thank you.

frugalnacho

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Re: Been here on MMM forums for almost one month
« Reply #1 on: November 21, 2017, 12:41:49 PM »
Stick with it and you'll be amazed at what's possible.  I've been tracking my spending and net worth since finding MMM and posted an update in another thread recently which I've quoted here.  I've been watching my accounts grow since then, but it still blows my mind.

I think I found MMM in March 2014.   It took us a couple months to get tracking everything, so my earliest net worth entry is May 2017.

May 2014 - $132.7k
Sept 2017 - $417.7k

an increase of $285k in 28 months40 months.  That's absurd! I never earned more than $70k/yr until I got a raise last month.  Some of that was due to using outdated home values for the 2 houses we used, so mid stream I changed over so it would automatically pull the value from zillow, and that represents a good chunk of that increase, but it's still impressive to me none-the-less.  We also managed to pay for IVF (my wife got a job and saved for a couple years to offset this cost).  I love watching my net worth line trend upwards each month.  Most of that pink debt is mortgages on two houses, one of which we just sold.  My graph should change drastically in the coming months, but it's all just reshuffling and the net worth line should stay where it is, steadily creeping ever higher.

The 3 lines above it are inflation adjusted baseline spending pegged to 2014 dollars.  Will be glorious day when my yellow net worth line starts crossing over those thresholds.



soccerluvof4

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Re: Been here on MMM forums for almost one month
« Reply #2 on: November 21, 2017, 02:54:32 PM »
It started with reading some articles by MMM a few months ago.  His 2000 a month budget article spoke to us.  We started an archaic sheet of paper to track spending on food and stuff in the beginning of Oct.  Then, I found these forums and started to post. 

There are many areas we need to improve in.  Grocery spending is one.   We've been spending in the realm of 640 a month or more, depending on restaurant use.  We have spent $345 this month, and I think we may end the month with at least a $100 reduction in costs. 

We are going to stop making extra payments to principal and invest the remainder.  The loan should be done in about 25 payments.  We aren't gaining that much ground anymore. 

We need to sell our rental.  It isn't earning enough for us.  That cash will do better in index stock funds.  Selling will hopefully happen by next Summer. 

It's only been a short while here,  Things are going well, but I have hope that we can do much better still. 

Thank you.



Welcome! how many of you are there living food wise on that amount?  and yes these days especially it seems with the grocery wars restaurants are a rip-off but once in awhile its a good treat.  There are always coupons and or days of the week with specials.

Mrbeardedbigbucks

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Re: Been here on MMM forums for almost one month
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2017, 04:06:00 AM »
These forums have opened our eyes to a lot of wasteful spending. We also slashed our grocery spending by 40-50% in the last year. I've also started doing most of my own car maintenance. I think you'll find other expenses you can reduce or even eliminate over time. Keep it up!

Cubert

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Re: Been here on MMM forums for almost one month
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2017, 04:20:12 AM »
Hey, Cyclist - Welcome!

I'm curious about your rental. Do you know the cap rate or cash on cash %? How much net profit do you clear each month? Sometimes there's ways to improve the situation before you sell. I'm a big fan of real estate. You'd figure that by perusing the content on my blog pretty quickly...

Best!
Cubert

Nightwatchman9270

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Re: Been here on MMM forums for almost one month
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2017, 05:33:03 AM »
Welcome!  Have you purchased your bicycle yet? 

Aggie1999

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Re: Been here on MMM forums for almost one month
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2017, 08:24:17 AM »
Welcome!  Have you purchased your bicycle yet?

Correction. Have you purchased your bicycle off Craig's List yet? :)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!