As you all have noticed, I took a long break from the blog. I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue writing it. Honestly I’m still not sure. My mindset about how I manage my money has been changing over the past year. Paying off debt is no longer my primary focus which you probably noticed after I financed the couch, the bike, and most recently a new (to me) car.
I have more debt now than I had when I started doing the debt free thing. And honestly, it only gives me a little anxiety. And that anxiety is mostly self inflicted because I am by no means living paycheck to paycheck, even with this level of debt. I’m making the minimum payments on my debt, contributing an extra 5% to my 401k, and still putting aside an amount I’m happy with every month for savings and my sinking funds.
I’m glad that I aggressively paid off my debt then. Because at that time, I *was* living paycheck to paycheck. But since then, I’ve had two promotions that gave me the financial breathing room I needed.
I didn’t have to finance my couch. Our old couch was fine enough. But our new couch is amazing and I haven’t regretted getting it a single time. Sometimes I think about paying it off early, but then I remember it’s at 0% and wonder ‘why should I bother?’ It doesn’t make sense to me when it’s not costing me anything.
The bike (motorcycle) is a little different. It’s classified as a ‘toy’ and costing me a lot more to own. If I remember right it’s at like 8 or 9%. I think about paying that off early sometimes but it’s not a priority.
So what is my priority? Way more savings, both retirement and emergency fund. One goal is to get my 401k up to 10%, making my total monthly retirement savings 19.5%. Eventually, the goal is to max out my 401k, but that’s more of a stretch goal. I have three steps to my savings goal. Step 1, get up to $5,000 in emergency fund. Step 2, save $7,000 to get our house’s foundation fixed. Step 3, save up enough to renovate the kitchen.
Ideally, we won’t be financing anything else. I think we have everything we ‘need’ at this point. Except for a matching motorcycle for my husband… 🤔🤔
Tuck City 
Charli, I hope you keep blogging. I am really enjoying seeing your process. Life isn’t all about being debt free, or not financing, or savings. It’s about balance and understanding priorities. Priorities are not always necessities; sometimes it’s a new couch. That ok, because you are doing it smartly. I think there is a lot to be learned but your thought process.
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