Love the user name! You are absolutely correct. We rented for a few months between the sale of my house and the purchase of our new house together. It was worth it because what I could afford and he could afford was significantly different. We had to find something he could afford on his own if something happened to me or my job as the lower earner but also not be too far of a commute for me every day. It was a beast to do but we managed somehow.

One thing that helped me when I had a car loan was I forced myself to think about my routine purchases. $6 at Starbucks or an extra $6 towards my car? $10 for lunch out or $10 extra towards my car? At the grocery store $4 for Oreos or an extra $4 for my car? Every time I made the decision to not purchase something at pay extra towards my car, I transferred that money immediately to my savings account.

When my payment was due I would make my regular payment + whatever I transferred over extra that month from not buying something else. It usually wasn’t a small amount between $100-300 a month because I have a serious caffeine addiction. On the flip side my car got paid off faster, I cut my Starbucks habit, cut my going out to eat habit, started eating healthier and it made me much more aware of how much useless spending I was doing. It changed my whole mindset on how I spend my money and what truly is a need not a want.

Ok so here’s something I learned when I was young and in debt up to my eyeballs. Your social life doesn’t have to revolve around going out. Some of the best times I have had with friends have been at home pot luck style, playing board games or watching movies. Some of the best date nights I have with my hubby are when we find an interesting recipe to try, shop for the ingredients and then cook together with a nice bottle of wine. Total cost of our date nights are usually under $30 including the wine. Our eating out is reserved specifically for special occasions birthdays, anniversaries, promotions or while on vacation. Our shopping budget is like $50 per month, we don’t shop to shop, we shop because we truly need something. Coffee is made at home every day and poured into a travel mug. Once a month my son and I have a mom/son coffee date and that’s the only time we go out for coffee. You can trim a lot out of your budget just by scaling back your lifestyle. Either that or you have to increase your income by a 2nd job or side hustle. To get myself out of credit card debt I worked 2 jobs plus pet sit/ dog walked on the side. Everything from my 2nd job went to debt, everything I made for dog walking/ pet sitting went to savings on top of what I was making from my regular job throwing at debt and savings. It took me 18 months of it but I got out of debt plus had a 6 month emergency fund at my disposal.

We make over 6 figures a year, have an $1100 mortgage payment that will be paid off in the next 2 years, no car loans because we drive older used cars, no credit card debt because we live below our means. We could afford a much more extravagant lifestyle but choose to live frugally to retire early and live comfortably when we are old. We learned the hard way what it was like to live with crippling debt and made the decision to FIRE. You have to make sacrifices to make your dreams a reality so you may have to compromise on what your social life entails. We host BBQ’s, dinner parties, etc with our friends instead of going out. Or we might meet up with friends for a quick drink and conversation and spend $20 total. There are ways to still have a social life that doesn’t involve constant going out and spending money

They are so adorable!

I have a Moose he’s an English bulldog and my sister has a silver lab named Goose and another one named Maverick, Mav is a tri paw. My dad has 2 silver labs Beretta and Bullet. Bullet and Goose are Beretta and Maverick’s puppies, they were rescued from a puppy mill while Beretta was pregnant with the pups. My sister kept Maverick and my brother (who passed in August) took Beretta and found homes for her 9 pups once they were old enough to leave. We know where all 9 pups are and Beretta and Maverick see their babies all the time. My dad kept Beretta after my brother passed so she gets to live with her daughter now, sees her boyfriend Maverick and her son Goose every weekend, her other daughter and son live next door, one of her daughters is across the street, one is with my cousin, her 2 other sons are with our pastor and his family and her last daughter is with my aunt