Early Retirement Extreme Forums

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...

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...

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 Ore...

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 m...

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 sh...

Progress: Net worth, Nov 2013: http://i66.tinypic.com/33c0m7t.png Net worth, today: 8-) http://i66.tinypic.com/2rmoxls.png I'm in the black. Been paying off student loans at $1500 a month. Haven't tallied other spending the last few months yet. Looks like we are selling our lot and moving! It means ...

Your journal is a delight. Thank you. I appreciate a vicarious vacation. And vicarious sunshine.

January was a rough month on the pocketbook, mostly due to terrible spending choices. Behold. http://i65.tinypic.com/amsk5s.png Biggest unforseen expense was dental work. Boo! I guess I have an insurance cap. I got 6 fillings. My dentist said that if I flossed regularly, I could have avoided them al...

IlliniDave wrote:People are weird about money, I guess.

To sum up this entire forum, ^.

Mmmm -- venison. I am always enamored by more wild protein sources than the typical ones. But I wonder why we don't make more use (consumption) of the organs. (Okay, I know I'm kind of weird on that. And I know not to eat bear liver, especially polar bear.) Because most people in this country think...

Lots going on this month. I am finally off night shift! It's only been a week, but I feel so incredibly much better! It's bonkers. I feel awake and alert and I'm productive and happy and have time and energy to do things on my days off. Wow! Day shift is a lot busier, but that's not necessarily a ba...

Depends on who is cooking. My husband usually cooks 1 & 2, I usually cook 3-5. I prefer beans and eggs to meat most of the time. He's vice versa. 1. Salmon OR chicken OR venison (grilled) + rice + broccoli OR salad 2. Tacos (with choice of protein + beans + veggies + toppings) 3. Beans and rice ...

I've always enjoyed the MBTI. In high school and early college, I would flip between INFP and ENFP. Then there was a solid 10 years or so of INFP. Interesting, I just retook it and scored INFJ quite definitively. It looks like this is related to becoming more of a planner than a creative. I feel lik...

I think extroverted people are also more subject to status anxiety. Which is also unhelpful for ERE. They are more concerned about being praised and accepted by other people as being successful and more prone to spend on excessive luxury items to gain such approval. I think introverts care much les...

I don't put much weight on I vs E, as far as strengths and weaknesses. However, I think it is of primary importance in choosing a partner. I's and E's don't mix well. No matter what you are doing as a couple, someone is going to be put out. Going partying, snuggled by a fire, whatever, pretty soon ...

Chris wrote:> Letters 73.62

I have to ask about this. I can only assume you have found a way to communicate with people from the past. Please, tell us your secrets (-:

Same question.

High five on ditching the cc debt!

What a great metaphor. I really enjoy reading your journal. Happy tent-building!

The good news continues. I got a raise (though it was more a matter of filling out some silly paperwork than anything particularly meaningful)! It's a nice almost $4 bump in pay. Of course, when I go off night shift I will lose the almost $4 differential. So. Even steven. But not going backwards! My...

I also find spreadsheets very comforting. I am fascinated by your metrics and that you have time to measure/track so many goals. Yowza!

I refused the anti-depressants and she wouldn't write a prescription for sleeping meds, so I walked away with nothing. I am really unclear how I'm supposed to get out of feeling how I feel right now. Depression sucks. Almost always there are life circumstances you can work to improve in order to de...