New here

[onehair]

I've reading the Money Mustache for years and lurking on the forum for months now. Let me introduce myself. I am from the Washington DC area, had a PHd in bad money making decisions up until the age of 30. After one good shock and several tongue lashings I decided to straighten up and fly right sort of.  Then 4 years ago my SO who is a whole other topic in himself went through some employment drama leading to retirement and we had some rough times but not as rough as they could have been thanks to priming from the Mustache.  Then last year my son became seriously ill and once again we struggled while he regained his health.  Now I am paying off my small debts and attempting to save up for a hoped for early retirement.  My grandmother passed away last year as well and watching the struggles of my aunt and uncle who have made more mistakes than I did have frightened me into wanting to do even more to squirrel away money.  My mom who is not so silly thank Goodness is trying to keep them from stressing her out.

[Kris]

Welcome to the forum!

[The_path_less_taken]

Welcome.

You've been through a rough patch, and it can take the wind from your sails. My sympathy for loss of your grandmother and your son's illness.

I have a framed quote hanging in my dining room. It reads: "No storm lasts forever."

I hope there's more sunshine up ahead for you.

[onehair]

I hope so.  While I do admit to an ongoing craft addiction which is the main reason I want to retire early so I can finish projects my financial picture is an odd mixture of saving occasional splurging and Mustaching. I am a federal employee in for 15 years now.  I bring home $1184 after taxes and deductions monthly paid biweekly.  I mostlysave through allotments which were easier for me than calculating percentages. I also do odd jobs online for points which can be converted to cash gift cards merchandise and a little extra spending/saving cash.  I have sporadic income from the father of my younger children who even though he is 21 is still in arrears. (Thankfully we used it for meds for my son for the longest though looking back I did spend some of it stupidly).   I have learned to make my own butter and some soft cheeses then my son goes on a low dairy diet arrrgghhh!!I love to cook and learn to do new things and now I am learning some vegan dishes so he isn't shorted.  I am a grandmother of two who will try not to spoil them too much.

[StockBeard]

Welcome. Mustachians always find ways to get back on track, it seems you already have lots of experience on that. I hope your son is better now!

[Retired To Win]

... Let me introduce myself. I... had a PHD in bad money making decisions up until the age of 30...

LOL!!

Seriously, you've now got the right attitude and you've come to the right place.

How early are you hoping to retire?  How much time does that give you to get your ducks in a row?

[onehair]

I calculated I am going to try for it in 10 years.  Due to the aforementioned dramas I am only saving $71 per month via payroll allotments though it is my goal to raise this as the loans are repaid.  I have $21361 in assets from a combination of an IRA,the TSP, stocks (and I only buy ones who pay dividends,reinvest most of those and haven't touched it since 2009) and my new Digit account.  I tend to do flat dollar amounts better than percentages.  And if I get windfalls I have found for me if I devote a third to bills a third to being Antimustache and a third to investments it works for me.

My present liabilities are the 3 loans plus my tax bill though I hope to generate enough income to pay that off in full.That comes to about $2700 and a little extra.  I decided since I am saving through not buying as much to generate extra income without getting a full fledged part time job which I can use towards savings and the bills.  After discovering the pennyhoarder site through a Woman's World magazine I used it to put several small money making ideas into effect I work on 7 days a week.  At present I take surveys, work on Amazon Mechanical Turk and am a member of the Nielsen Consumer Panel plus I have Slidejoy, Ibotta,Smart App, Shopkick, Receipt Hog and Checkout 51 on my phone reasoning I pay the bill every month it should pay me.

Being an ex compulsive shopper I have to restrain the urge to go to the bookstores and craft stores or foodie stores and go wild!

[weseh]

Welcome! I'm new too. :)


As for the crafting thing, do you sell anything on Etsy? I have a few friends that do well on that. (Not me though; I'm terribly uncrafty.)


But for cutting back on spending money on crafting, sometimes it helps to just remind yourself on what you already have. Organization can be great with that, as is just going through your things.

[onehair]

I managed to use up most of my soap bases and am working on the fragrance oils and essential oils now.  I now try to only buy soap base if requested for either a sale or a family member.  I did try Etsy and also our local flea market but ended up taking home more than I sold.  This is being used up at home.

I also cross stitch and do needlepoint and occasional plastic canvas.