Goodbye student loans, hello future!

[peerifloori]

I'm excited! Can't sleep excited! Which is maybe not useful since I'm back on night shift this month. There is so much to do before our move.

This weekend we are renting an excavator to finish some dirt work on the property (finish backfilling the septic, knock down a rock pile, tidy up). Then we should close on Monday. After a year and a half of lukewarm interest, we got a full price cash offer. Thrilling! That will knock out all my husband's debt and leave a tidy nest egg for future plans.

Then we have a month to vacate. Put it notice at job, start getting rid of everything... moving out of Alaska is expensive. It will be most cost effective to pare down to our most treasured belongings and ship one small cube. Then we'll take a little vacation around here, so my husband can show me around the parts he's been telling me about for the last 3 years.

Sometime in May we'll head down south to Oregon to his mom's house to regroup. Plan is to buy a camper van and take some time to drive up and down the WA, OR, north CA coast and look for the spot we want to be in (and visit some friends and family). Kind of a late honeymoon/surf bum vacation/find our dream home place. Selling the lot now means I have almost a year of lot payment saved up, plus my moving fund, plus my emergency fund, plus I"ll have a fat payout for PTO when I leave my job. He'll have all the proceeds from the sale which means that we can take our time and not feel rushed or pressured. What a relief!

Another big relief has been my husband's complete 180 in terms of money. He spent a few months out of work and now is working a low-wage (though high satisfaction) job. He has come to realize the benefits of not spending anything extra - planning lunches, no random purchases, etc. And now he's the one lecturing me about how we need to keep up our low-spending habits now that we will have a cushion! It's music to my ears.

[SoCal Will]

Wow, your situation from your opening post sounds incredibly close to my own, just a decade later.

I too got into the "real" workforce where I could start paying off my student loans at about 30 yo. I too went to Alaska to work at that time. SImilar debt levels (I owed ~$52k in 2003). Also paid ridiculous % of income toward my loans, and finally got into the black after about 2.5 years of it. What a feeling when I made that last payment and got the letter from Sallie Mae showing a zero balance. I'm

Hang in there, and keep on keepin on. Your profession will be solid, you do work that means something, and you're on the right track. Congrats on being on the positive net worth side of things, and best of luck.

[nestbuilder]

Congratulations on what sounds like forward progress. I wanted to throw out there that as you get settled, to keep an eye out for nursing jobs that will repay your student loans. I worked in the VA system and was able to get a significant portion of my loans paid off. As a result, I killed ~50k in loans in 6 or so years while also maxing retirement and saving. There are a lot of opportunities to leverage your Nursing license and achieve FI. Enjoy your PNW road trip! I live in NW WA and you are coming at the perfect time of year!

[peerifloori]

SoCalWill- Thanks for the encouragement. It still seems like the end of paying off the loans is very far away. But with my spreadsheets, I believe!

nestbuilder- I've been looking into possible jobs with loan repayment. I think if I were single I would go for an IHS job in an interesting place, but my husband and I are a little picky about places. At any rate, half my loans are from my first degree, so it would not be AS advantageous to get a job repayment (which typically only pay back for the nursing degree). Looking forward to PNW and hoping for a little sun and warm weather!

Moving On!
Our place sold for our asking price. We've been in a flurry of packing, organizing, selling, working. We had a big garage sale this weekend and got rid of a lot of junk and nice junk, and made enough to cover our shipping costs (hopefully). Excellent!

Now our stuff is getting very pared down. I enjoy it. When I was single I would move and do a purge of belongings every few years. It's been almost 3 years since I moved up here, so just about time for another regenerative move.

We're looking at what sort of a van to buy for our summer vacay/home finding roadtrip. My dream van is a Previa in decent shape. I'd prefer something like a minivan that we can setup with a bed in back and some storage. My husband would prefer a full-size van with more space, like a Ford E-series or GMC Savana, etc. Regardless, I'm sure we'll find something fun and make good use of it.

[Noedig]

Well done the both of you. Splendid that you are both in this together, with common goals. Splendid that you have laboured and already see some results, and are going to have some fun in your lives this year also.

Again, well done: against a backdrop of debt I can honestly understand people who develop an aversion to thinking about it, and consume their way through their earning years instead of dealing with the problem: it's a bit like having a secret curse from the debt fairy. The more credit to you for facing that fairy down.

[bradley]

Congratulations on the hard work and paying everything off!

[peerifloori]

We have moved! Moving ended up being more complicated and expensive than anticipated. Several weeks of extreme unpleasantness. However once complications smoothed out, life has been fantastic!

We bought an old conversion van and built a bed in the back. We've spent the last 3 weeks traveling the Oregon coast and have greatly enjoyed the vacation life. Sun, sand, surfing, rock hunting.... We have found a couple possible places to plant ourselves, one is closer to family but probably out of our price range. The other is further and quieter and more affordable.

There is essentially no rental market. Everything is vacation rentals. I have no idea how we will find a place. We want to rent for a year before buying to make sure that we are not making a terrible mistake. Lots of jobs around for both of us, though neither of us is too excited to go back to work. We've got another month or two before settling down is required.

It pains me to not have an income and not be saving and only paying the minimum on my student loans. I'm doing a pretty good job of letting that stress wait so I can enjoy my wonderful life! Life is good.

[peerifloori]

Back to real life, back to budgets.

I have a job, we found a lovely house to rent. Hubs has been working in another state living in the van, though he is probably home for a while now. I am climbing back onto the budget wagon and facing my student loans again with trepidation.

I took about a 25% pay cut at my new job, but cost of living here is probably at least 25% cheaper. Unfortunately student loans are not 25% cheaper. We have been discussing using part of our nest egg to pay off part of my student loans. H is also beginning to be interested in starting a retirement count. What is it they say? The best time to start a retirement account is 30 years ago, but the second best time is today?

Trying to plan the smartest financial moves while balancing the relationship side of things.

We are also getting closer to starting a family. How should I plan for that financially?

[peerifloori]

Life continues along...

Last month I took a look at my savings and at my student loan debt and decided to pay off the balance of my Sallie Mae loans. It felt pretty shocking to spend ~$14K in a day, but it is extremely satisfying to see that zero balance. I still have ~40K in loans, but now they are all fixed interest govt loans under one account (or personal), which means I can have a lower monthly payment or pay them off faster at my discretion. Aaah, flexibility. (Still have a decent emergency fund left, too, thx).

As far as savings go right now, I have a 4% pre-tax retirement at work with a 2% employee match. I have a 10% automatic deduction going to my Roth IRA (still not close to maxing out my contribution there). I'm working on getting back on the budget wagon and getting money into savings on a regular basis.

We are going to be moving again this summer, not from the area, but out of a rental and into ???. Hoping to find a place with cheaper rent or a good deal on a small house.

Finally convinced my husband to open a retirement account. When I talk about finances he tends to agree with the things I say, but generally is not motivated to put them into action. I can see he is making progress, and I am learning to accept that we will probably never totally be on the same page when it comes to spending and saving. For the most part, we want the same things - a small affordable house, less time working & more time playing and with family, to take care of our kids without depending on childcare, to be out of debt and financially stable. Time will tell.

[classical_Liberal]

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