I discovered savingadvice.com a few weeks ago and LOVE it. Love reading everyone's blogs. I have been on the road to financial freedom for several years but have encountered several roadblocks. Heavy sigh...
Current financial standing: Income from civil service job, $55,000 a year and spouse's disability $9,000 a year. Wealth account, $5,900; IRA, $44K / 401K, $77K. Emergency fund: $1,500. Current checking and spend-able savings accounts total to around $5,500. Education funds for my son (a combination of savings bonds and savings accumulated over the past 15 years): $25,000 with bond maturities. (We've spent about $9,100 of that for his freshman year.)
The reason I wanted to start a blog is that NO ONE at my house is excited about saving money. NO ONE cares about my early retirment. NO ONE wants to hear about simplifying our lives except me. I live with my second husband and my son, who at 19 just finished his freshman year at college and is home for the summer. (Actually, he was about an hour away. He was home almost every weekend.) Both my husband and my son are spenders. My husband is thrifty and cheap and a spender all at the same time PLUS he's a rescuer (big family)--he rarely has money left at the end of the month. My son, on the other hand, has a champagne taste on a Koolaid budget, despite my efforts in financial training and despite my no-frills lifestyle. Both of them get a glazed look in their eyes when I talk about money and money goals. Me, I get excited over tuna being 50 cents a can.
My first dream was to be a millionaire. Now I mostly want financial freedom -- freedom to work when and where I want to work, freedom to pay for living expenses (and repairs to the house) without worry, freedom to spend my days the way I want to spend my days, freedom to give more generously to the causes that are on my mind and heart. How much will that take?
FINANCIAL STANDING
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Keep moving toward your very smart goals. I know that my husband (whom I love dearly) was a financial weight around my neck for a long time. I have been really doing this personal finance clean up for 6-7 years and he is finally at a place where he understands why I do what I do and respects it for the most part. Keep moving forward!!!