How is your personal economy?

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Originally Posted by Kestrel

Right now we're doing just fine. Both retired; I have small federal annuity and social security, and DH has federal annuity (he never paid into SS so doesn't get any). No debt at all. Well, we do charge a lot on our credit card, which is linked to Amazon, and we get "points", but it's paid in full every month. So while it actually IS debt, I don't count it as debt. However, our spending is not under control, and that worries me. Monthly, together, we bring home about $4,000. I "gave" DH my small annuity to spend as he wishes on his "toys" -- so I don't feel like I'm his mother and controling his spending. His hobbies seem be fairly expensive -- geocaching, woodworking tools and supplies, latest tech gadgets -- but that's his spending $$ and if he can afford it he can do what he wants and leaves me alone. (I have a small personal allowance as well.) But beyond that we seem to spend money at the drop of a hat. Not on expensive things -- just "things". We donate to a lot of worthy causes that are important to us. We support small local businesses and that usually costs more than big-box stores. We subscribe to magazines that we seldom read. But we're never in the hole, never worrying about how we're going to pay for our necessary expenses. We have "enough". But I feel a bit uneasy all the time -- and for that reason we're signed up to take Dave Ramsey's course offered at our local church. We're in no financial difficulty at all, but we just need to be more conscious about our money. If things go belly-up and we "lose everything" we have no way, at our age, to recoup our losses. My parents were Depression "Grapes of Wrath" folks, and I worry. I want to pull all our money out of investments/bank and put it all in a box under our bed! OK ... got all that off my chest ... whew ... :confused:

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I am feeling similarly lately. We have plenty, and actually getting back into tracking and the 3 questions is oddly, seeming to make me spend more easily, because when I think of it in terms of my hourly wage, and then if it is me and DH I tend to think of only having to pay for half since somehow he has earned the other half (we use a Real Hourly Wage that is averaged because our personal RHW's are very very similar), then it seems like an even better "deal" in terms of my life energy. But the cumulative effect of all these small ok-feeling spending does NOT feel ok.

For the rest, though, I feel good. I'd like to find a source of income to supplement that could kind of be the dynamite to blast off our mortgage repayment like Dave Ramsey talks about with personal debt repayment. But I haven't hit on it yet. I'd even teach an additional course or something but it has to be just the right opportunity to fit with my full-time employment. We'll see.

Float On: Congratulations on your excellent news!

We are living on a lot less than we were a few years ago, and due to a shift in perspective and more mindful spending, we are feeling more financially on top of things than ever before. Funny how that can happen. In absolute terms, we have far more in savings, so the greater income we used to have was not really getting us ahead; it was just slipping through our fingers.

I want to be debt-free like so many of you. I'll get there! My income is sporadic because I'm a realtor but I love what I do so I suppose I'm lucky that way. I've been trying to think of other ways to bring in some extra income. It's inspiring to read posts to see how others have gotten out of the red and into the black.

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Originally Posted by catherine

Gee, I've been dying to take Argentine Tango lessons!! Thanks for the hint that maybe it wouldn't be as great as I'm imagining it.

I'm enjoying listening to all the stories for inspiration.

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Me to. Well, the Argentine Tango lessons weren't at all like I had visualized. I even had the winning tango choreographer from Dancing With The Stars! It just didn't suit my personality. I cannot follow. I've always been cast as a leader in my family, career, etc. The women who were the best followers in class had no dance training. (I danced professionally for 30 years.) Oh well. At least I realized I was throwing money away, and stopped. Also, there's a lot of arguing and drama. I can't deal with that. I just wanted to memorize the choreography, and the woman is not allowed to memorize or think.

minz,

The Dave Ramsey books helped me get out of debt very quickly. I love how he breaks it all down. The $1,000. baby emergency fund really gave me confidence. There are so many free things you can do at home. For me, I found it easier to reduce my expenses than I did to save my income. The $10,000. reduction has really made a difference for me in the last three years. Night and day...

Our personal economy is doing better than ever right now.....but ask me again in 6 months! :)

We've been able to get out and stay out of debt for quite a few years, and have enough discretionary income, more than enough for our needs, and plenty left over for wants. To the point where I took the plunge, sent in my retirement paperwork, and will transition from a generous biweekly paycheck to a modest-but-decent monthly pension 4 1/2 weeks from today. Whew! Scary, but exciting too.

On paper it's very doable, but one always wonders. The plan is for us to live even more simply than we do today, and scale back even more than we do now. We're homebodies anyway, no plans (or abilities, in DH's case) to travel or live large in any way, we're just looking forward to having the time to do more puttering about the house, and smell the roses. I have a year's worth of cleaning and organizing projects planned that will both keep me busy and probably save us even more money too. We'll see, I guess.....

That's fantastic, Blackdog Lin. I have done the same thing. I need far less, now that I'm not working. I have more time, and plenty of clothes, hobbies, books, and supplies. I could actually reduce my expenses even further, if needed. I think more people would retire early if they knew how cheaply they could do it. It's a certain kind of personality that values time over money. In my case, my orchard and garden are really starting to produce. I'm excited, because food is my biggest expense. The garden is reaching its potential far faster than I expected. A big part of that is because I am home to to the daily work!

Good for you, Blackdog Lin! You'll have to keep us posted on how actual retirement turns out vs. what you thought it might be. Enjoy yourself!

Just posted about this...
Things are OK but it's become clear we need more money.
It's better than being unemployed, for sure!

Oh blackdog lin, how great!!

Congrats Blackdog Lin! We had the same thought when we scaled back to one income. I knew we would be OK, but I was worried that it might be a little tight some months. It's been great so far. We even survived some emergencies and put quite a bit of money away. Summer has been kind of expensive, but we always seem to buckle right back down in the fall months.