The balance between paying down debt and savings

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Originally Posted by happystuff

My strategy would depend on how much debt there actually is.

I kind of agree with sweetana3 about the building the savings - especially considering your other job posts. The good thing about that is, if you put more towards saving and the job situation becomes more secure, you can then pull the money out of savings to pay off the debt.

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Ooh, that's smart!

Tradd, when we were at our financial low, we sold our paid off house and bought a foreclosure for cash and then cash flowed the improvements--which were significant since the people had ripped out the kitchen, etc,. We used money from selling the first house to get out of debt.

Until we took out a mortgage so we could come out here to help my parents, we were debt free for 13 years. We went to a Dave Ramsey class- my husband kicking and screaming, as he was out of work and embarrassed--and honestly, it helped so much. We did what he said and we turned things around.

Now we are thinking of unloading this house to get out of the mortgage and getting something smaller and lesser. I don't like giving up things like acreage, but we are getting older and it is harder to work. We both have the kind of arthritis you have and so getting extra jobs is out of the question.

My personal take would be if you have the 1000 in emergency funds, throw everything at the debt. Or if you can't do that because of potential job instability, throw half in the debt. I would suspend the 401k--I know, unpopular opinion but it was what Dave said to do, and I would do it, do anything to get out of cc debt. Then you can have your life back, and start maxing out for retirement.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

You are a dozen-ish years away from retirement, although, of course, you don’t have to retire at your Social Security full retirement age. But I think you should be looking towards a program of putting on your charge card only that what you can pay off at the end of the month. By retirement, plan to live on no credit..

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Charge card? Geez, who calls them that anymore? I’ve not heard that in ages. LOL

I’m planning to retire at 70. I get more social security that way. My retirement age for full ss is 68. With a desk job, I’m going to go as long as I can. Remember, it’s just me. I don’t have a spouse/partner to count on. That’s why I’m throwing so much in 401K right now. I also got hit with taxes big time last year since I had no 401K contributions to lessen my gross income. I think I had to pay something like $2Kish. I don’t want to go hit with that again. I have no mortgage interest deduction since I rent. I’m fortunate my rent is only $1K a month. At least $300 below market level.

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Originally Posted by Tybee

Tradd, when we were at our financial low, we sold our paid off house and bought a foreclosure for cash and then cash flowed the improvements--which were significant since the people had ripped out the kitchen, etc,. We used money from selling the first house to get out of debt.

Until we took out a mortgage so we could come out here to help my parents, we were debt free for 13 years. We went to a Dave Ramsey class- my husband kicking and screaming, as he was out of work and embarrassed--and honestly, it helped so much. We did what he said and we turned things around.

Now we are thinking of unloading this house to get out of the mortgage and getting something smaller and lesser. I don't like giving up things like acreage, but we are getting older and it is harder to work. We both have the kind of arthritis you have and so getting extra jobs is out of the question.

My personal take would be if you have the 1000 in emergency funds, throw everything at the debt. Or if you can't do that because of potential job instability, throw half in the debt. I would suspend the 401k--I know, unpopular opinion but it was what Dave said to do, and I would do it, do anything to get out of cc debt. Then you can have your life back, and start maxing out for retirement.

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I’m leaning towards throwing everything at the cc for now, at least. There’s little chance of the company going under, and I think I’m going to just buckle down and stay here for a while due to what I make. I expect I’d take a bit of a pay cut to go elsewhere.

Thanks, all!

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Originally Posted by Tradd

Charge card? Geez, who calls them that anymore? I’ve not heard that in ages. LOL

I’m planning to retire at 70. I get more social security that way. My retirement age for full ss is 68. With a desk job, I’m going to go as long as I can. Remember, it’s just me. I don’t have a spouse/partner to count on. That’s why I’m throwing so much in 401K right now. I also got hit with taxes big time last year since I had no 401K contributions to lessen my gross income. I think I had to pay something like $2Kish. I don’t want to go hit with that again. I have no mortgage interest deduction since I rent. I’m fortunate my rent is only $1K a month. At least $300 below market level.

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credit card/ charge card, same thing.

Tybee, I’m surprised you were thinking about giving up acreage, but I have to say, that’s a smart move. Farmettes are popular and are expensive.

We find we can putter around our one acre in town perfectly well. Of course we don’t have large animals. Is that what you want to do on your acreage, have animals?

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

Tybee, I’m surprised you were thinking about giving up acreage, but I have to say, that’s a smart move. Farmettes are popular and are expensive.

We find we can putter around our one acre in town perfectly well. Of course we don’t have large animals. Is that what you want to do on your acreage, have animals?

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Yes, which is another reason to sell this place, which is not well suited for horses and is forest and wetlands, and 10 acres of it is completely unusable wetlands. We weren't even buying that part, it was Covid time, and he threw it in because he realized he didn't want to pay taxes on it and that's where the well was. It's a nice buffer between us and the lake but there is no way to access the lake.

I'd like 2-5 acres with a stable, without a forest. We both realized after coming here we despise living in the middle of a forest. It's creepy and filled with ticks. Although I love the privacy with the forest as a buffer, you can't see any neighbors. I like that.

I hear people saying they are going to work until age 70 because they will get a few hundred dollars a month more and I cringe. Will you be physically able to do what you want at age 70? Is a few hundred dollars a month more worth it to give up your freedom? Like IR, my philosophy has always been to be frugal and retire ASAP. Also, like IL, we can buy or get whatever we want because of previous frugality. Lately I have been spending money hand over fist. I have to remind myself not to worry about cost but get what best meets the need or desire. Think I freaked DH when I told him to buy a more expensive item lately. But by being frugal and only using the credit card when we were sure we could pay the balance in full each month have we arrived at this juncture. IMO that is the key to success as well as living way below your means. YLMV. So, in saying all this, I agree getting out of credit card debt is the best option.

I’m single. No kids, no partner. I think I would be bored out of my mind at home.

Aside from my bad knees, I’m in pretty good health. I’m carrying extra weight, but my m working on getting some of it off. I don’t smoke and I hardly drink at all. I hope to move to working some or mostly from home as I get older.

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Originally Posted by frugal-one

I hear people saying they are going to work until age 70 because they will get a few hundred dollars a month more and I cringe. Will you be physically able to do what you want at age 70? Is a few hundred dollars a month more worth it to give up your freedom? Like IR, my philosophy has always been to be frugal and retire ASAP. Also, like IL, we can buy or get whatever we want because of previous frugality. Lately I have been spending money hand over fist. I have to remind myself not to worry about cost but get what best meets the need or desire. Think I freaked DH when I told him to buy a more expensive item lately. But by being frugal and only using the credit card when we were sure we could pay the balance in full each month have we arrived at this juncture. IMO that is the key to success as well as living way below your means. YLMV

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Agree wholeheartedly!