The balance between paying down debt and savings

[pinkytoe]

I have to question all the plans and media advice to work until one is 70. I am fast approaching that age and it is frustrating how each year brings on new physical limitations. In our mid 50s we were in Tradd's situation wondering how to pay off debt and save at the same time. We got very lucky with being able to sell a house at the right time and with the proceeds paying off all debt and buying this house for cash. My advice would be to go half and half towards debt and saving.

[catherine]

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.

There's nothing wrong with aiming for not retiring until 70 to maximize SS benefits. I think Tradd has good reasons for her decisions. Of course you can't predict what your health is like. That's true for any age. I guess it depends on your attitude towards work.

[catherine]

Aren’t we strange in our attitudes about money? Because I feel strangulated at the idea of debt and would rather have an asset balance sheet of $0 with 0 debt than debt plus some assets. I celebrate the folks on Mr Money mustache who get to $0 asset status with no consumer debt in their financial journey, I consider that the first critical milestone in financial health. The next one is assets of $100,000.

But of course this does not address the interest rate you are paying catherine and if it is low enough, it might well be a good financial move to keep the debt and continue to pay it down. It isn’t always smart to pay off debt, though I guess you did say your interest rate is high enough that you should pay it off.

I agree with what you are saying, and in terms of general principles, I agree that it's way better to have no debt and no money than some money and a lot of debt. I think my emotional reaction is because a) it represents a personal failure in terms of my goal to have no debt at this point, use the proceeds of the NJ house to pay off the VT house and have absolutely no debt. The fact that I have to take care of this G@% D%*& F*%!ing debt is so maddening and disheartening; and b) the proceeds of the house is what we have to show for 35 hears of life raising our family. It does not deserve to be the penance for our financial sins.

Tybee, you mentioned you went to FPU with your husband. I'm thinking that I should also try to drag DH to a class, or at least not do a thing with the money until we're on the same page. He seems to think it would be just fine to die and leave our kids to clean up our mess, which would probably mean, they'd have to sell the VT house to do it, and that scenario will take place over my dead body.

[Tybee]

He was very against going and then when he went, he really loved it and got thoroughly into it. Your husband might do the same.

[rosarugosa]

I have one thought to add on the credit card situation. If you feel that you currently have a handle on cc spending, then it would be worthwhile to get a second cc and use that for all current purchases that you are paying off at the end of each month. If you only use one card, the one with the debt, then you are tacking some interest onto even current purchases being paid off promptly, because they charge the interest on the entire balance. If you are someone for whom a new card would be a green flag to go out and charge up to the new credit limit, then this would obviously not be a good strategy. There are also some cards that will pay you an initial sign-on bonus, such as Wells Fargo, $200 after an initial spending requirement. They also pay double points on all purchases that can be redeemed for cash. You might already have more than one cc, but just a thought if you don't.
You also might want to look at your current tax withholding. If you are someone who likes to have a lot withheld in order to get a big tax refund check, it is smarter to decrease the withholding to get closer to the break-even point, since you could be putting that extra money on debt and savings throughout the year.

[Tradd]

I ended up cancelling the Economist. I've still got the NYT as that's only $4/month. I forgot I had a $20/month unlimited subscription to a local car wash. Cancelled that, too. I cancelled Weight Watchers. That was $20/month and was going to increase. I've got a much better idea of what to eat after doing it since January. So that's gone, too. I'm keeping Apple Music ($11/month).

rosa, I have the Apple Card and that's what I use for current purchases I pay off immediately. The cash back goes to Apple Cash (think electronic debit card) that I use a lot. I use the cash back for treats of McD coffee (which turns out to be $0.99 with the app). I also use Apple Cash for my "fun money." I'll put about $50 per paycheck on Apple Cash.

Ended up throwing another $500 on the credit card with the balance. Would have done more but I've got an orthopedist appt next week for cortisone shots in both knees. That will be several hundred. I'll pay cash (via debit card). It's finally cooled (last 10 days or so) that I was able to turn off the ac (I have massive hot flashes so run it constantly).

My tax withholding is fine - I don't want a big refund. I just don't want to end up having to pay more every April. That has happened the last two years with making more (I'm making $20K more than I did in March 2021 when I got current job) and not having 401K contributions to reduce my gross income.

Car: I have a 2018 Ford Escape (bought new in Jan 2019) with 113K miles on it. Paid off for months. Sticker was $25K, dealership had it for $18K. I got it for $17K as I was a repeat customer at that dealership. I really want another car - I want Apple CarPlay which my base model Escape cannot do. Ford is getting rid of the Escape (among other models) to concentrate more on EV. So the replacement will likely be a Subaru Crosstrek or Outback (many diving friends have them and I see how well they work for hauling all the gear with better MPG than the 26 mpg the Escape gets), but the cost of new vehicles or even slightly used has me in shock compared with what I paid for the Escape. I hope to keep the Escape running for another 2-3 years, but it depends on how much I'm driving. Part of the reason I want to save as well as paying off debt is in case I need to replace the Escape sooner than planned. I"m also keeping my eyes out for cars that might be similar to the Crosstrek, but less expensive.

[Tradd]

Reduced cell phone bill by $10. Going to stop by the Xfinity store to see what I can do to reduce my internet.

[Tybee]

Tradd, you are inspiring me to looking into canceling some subscriptions I have gotten suckered into.

[Tradd]

Tradd, you are inspiring me to looking into canceling some subscriptions I have gotten suckered into.

Good! I’m glad I posted as it made me look at what I had. Apple Music is staying. I can download music to my iPhone which means I don’t eat up mobile data from streaming music while I drive. That alone is worth it. I might even cancel the NYT. I’m a huge radio listener and get much of my news that way anyway.

[iris lilies]

I’m dropping masterpiece PBS today as I think I’ve run through most of us to see there. Reproductions are great, but so many of them are detective shows and I’m just not interested in those. And I can get so many good Britishers via Netflix or prime.