by Ashley
You guys are awesome! Does it show my age if I say “you rock!”?? ; )
Really though!
I was cringing a bit with these two posts being published today. I don’t want to be controversial. Sometimes that’s just the way life leads us. And I was really fearing the backlash.
So I apologize for pre-judging you!
Because I have fully appreciated each and every comment! I think everyone (even dissenting opinions) have been very respectful and constructive in your criticism (as opposed to being hostile or rude).
Thank you!!!
We may disagree on some things, but we can still all be friends, right? ((hugs))
Switching topics – I’ll be back tomorrow with a giant budget post: I will update you on July’s budget AND tell you how August’s budget will look!! Since this is our first month of living on last month’s income we already have this full month budgeted! I love it!!
For real though, thank you! You’re a gentleman and a scholar!
English peeps – you “catch” that Catcher in the Rye reference? Har har har! I’m a funny one!
(It’s okay, I know I’m dorky!)
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
Ashley,
I will say that the first time I read through the post about the forensic analysis of the crayon drawing I was thinking that it soundly mildly insane, in the best way possible. 🙂 But the bottom line is that it is awesome that you are so attuned to your kids’ lives and your gut feeling about their care is the most important.
I think your passion and energy about everything you do really comes through in this blog. You are really making incredible progress and it is thrilling to follow along!
Literally lol-ed at this! Too funny! Thanks for the comment! : )
Good.For.You.
Personal finance is just that…personal. Sometimes it’s not about the numbers. Sometimes it’s about life.
The SUV increases your enjoyment of life, on a daily basis. In numbers terms, how much could really be saved by selling it and buying a cheaper vehicle? How much time and energy would be expended on each of those transactions? Would a new vehicle be reliable? How much motivation would be lost by driving something that didn’t fit your needs/wants? (rhetorical questions 🙂 ) I totally agree with your choice to keep the SUV.
Paying the car off before student loans…simplistic calculation, but at worst are we talking a $10,000 balance at a 6% rate, let’s say for a year. $600 difference? Worth it for the morale. (Yeah, simplified, some errors in math and assumptions, but still…)
Daycare…you’re a mom. Nuff said. 🙂 It’s a limited duration until other options open up, the numbers don’t seem outrageous, and you’re picking up an extra day.
Carry on, sister. Love reading every single one of your posts. You are a smart, fabulous person.
lol @ Joe above.
I will say i was thinking you were being a bit paranoid until I saw the side by side comparison…and then i remember how much a mother KNOWS their child. Crazy that they would do that though.
I think my only thing is, since you’ve decided on the car thing – STICK to it… a plan has to be flexible but it’s not really a plan if it keeps changing. i know you’ve been looking for the right fit so that has had something to do with it…but now that you’ve taken the time to think it through and discuss it – stick with it!
You just can’t suffer through bad child care! I would have gone for the student loans but of course it is your call. If you have a fire in your belly to pay off the car then you should do that. I think it is a good move to put the license fees on the back burner so you can plow ahead with the suv. That will give you momentum. A couple things -You mentioned never having consumer debt again and your husband’s car may need to be replaced soon. If your husband’s car dies next week what will you do? Do you have a plan? Also with the recent changes to your student loans will they still come out of deferment in February?
Great questions, Theresa! Since I’ve changed the student loans to income based repayment, we started repayment immediately (no more deferment). Our payments are $500/month. In contrast, if we’d waiting until deferment ended and just paid the normal amount we’d be paying over $1,000/month.
In reference to the truck situation – I’ve been putting a small amount of money aside monthly in a fund I’ve called “car repair/maintenance/new car fund.” My husband actually thinks it will last another few years (I hope this is the case). If not, we would buy another one with cash by having to dip into our emergency savings. We will not finance another vehicle. Hopefully we will have the time to continue saving up specifically for a replacement truck in the next year or two and not have to dip into emergency funds for that purchase.
Even though people may not agree with your decisions, I think everyone can tell that they are well thought out, with an eye on the finances. You have had so much progress, I think it would be easy to become complacent. The best decision for you will be whatever keeps that from happening. It sounds like the car debt is what has got you motivated, so that sounds like a great plan to me. And you can always change your mind if the situation changes. Keep up the great work!
Honey, I recently came off of 8 years of having my son at the most expensive childcare center in this area. I’m talking $1800 a month for an infant and an average of $1500 a month for toddler/preschool — and then once he started public school, the after-school program was $380 a month and months off from school (we have year-round school) were about $950 a month. I used to tell people I bought a brand new car every year and drove it into a brick wall.
All this while until he started school, I could have had my son in the subsidized daycare at my work for about 1/4 of the price.
It was peace of mind that I needed to be able to work. I was the breadwinner when I was married and I was the one who kept the job I didn’t even like because of the pay, the insurance and flexibility to be with my son when he was sick, etc without being penalized for time away.
It’s over and done with. I realize I could have made a different choice and savedOMGsomuch money. But I had to be able to work and be able to concentrate fully on my work. To do that he had to be in the place where I felt most comfortable putting him.
A lot of people won’t understand. But I sure do. xo
That’s so funny (the “buying a car and driving it into a brick wall” analogy). Not funny-haha. More funny-sad. Lol. Thanks for understanding though!! It’s a tough decision and a very personal one.