Recent Posts

Freeing up over $1,000/mo with a cash-out refi

Freeing up over $1,000/mo with a cash-out refi

I decided I was going for it: “Can you get me your 2018 & 2019 W-2s, your last two paystubs, your last two statements from your checking account and 401k statements?” I shyly asked. No response. I should’ve known better than to ask you in 

The Aftermath MATH of the Maiden Rehab

Remember that time we bought a fixer-upper thinking a $60-65k rehab budget would cut it then ended up in the six figs? Oh right, of course you do, we just did that. At first, there was a part of me that was wondering if we 

Tracking Expenses, Someone’s Gotta Do It

How much money did you make last month & where did it go? It’s impossible to be in control of your money if you don’t know where your money is going. It’s akin to…(seriously, I can’t think of a good analogy & I’ve come back 

A few details on the paydown of our debt

A few details on the paydown of our debt

In my opinion, understanding the full scope of one’s debt has to be the first step in one’s journey towards FI. We’ve been paying off our debt rather casually since getting married. It wasn’t really til early 2018/after my layoff that we switched gears into 

Debt Free Journey – Part IV – 2022 Q1 Update

We’re back! After a long hiatus, I’ll give it another go in trying this blog thing. In 2021, goal was to bring our non-mortgage debt down to 0. Sad to say, we didn’t achieve this goal and we’re already almost a quarter of the way 

Debt Free Journey – Part III – 2021 Q3 Update

The 2021 goal was to bring our non-mortgage debt down to 0 by the end of the year. In our 2021 Q2 Update, we were at $94,264. So where are we at today? TL;DR > Our Total Non-Mortgage Debt is… $82,377 Debt Composition That remaining 

Rental Property #1 – Hammond, IN

Rental Property #1 – Hammond, IN

Back at the end of 2016, I purchased a small single family house in Northwest Indiana. I bought this property as a turnkey investment meaning it was a cash-flowing rental property ready to be cash-flowing from day 1. The property is a 3bd/1.5bath ranch with 

Debt Free Journey – Part II – 2021 Q2 Update

The 2021 goal was to bring our non-mortgage debt down to 0 by the end of the year. In our 2021 Q1 Update, we were at $99,581. So where are we at today? TL;DR > Our Total Non-Mortgage Debt is… $94,264 Debt Composition That remaining 

Debt Free Journey – Part I – 2021 Q1 Update

“What if we paid off all our debt by the end of 2021 except for the mortgage? That’d be a stretch goal but why don’t we shoot for it?” And she agreed. So there you have it, we’re taking that number we threw out there 

At A Minimum (Payment), Credit Card Debt Sucks!

The minimum payment on $55,000 of credit card debt is about $1,200 per month. That’s exactly why the primary focus of our paydown plan was addressing the high-interest credit card debt ASAP. We would have made those minimum payments until early 2027 before paying off 

What Should We Do With Our Stimulus Checks?

What Should We Do With Our Stimulus Checks?

You looked at our checking account this morning and ::POOF:: saw a deposit of $2,900 just dropped in out of nowhere. Well, word on the street is we might be getting stimulus checks as early as this week so that may or may not be 

Kobe, Gone Too Soon

Kobe, Gone Too Soon

It’s a week later and I think we’re all still hoping & waiting to wake up from this horrible nightmare. Kobe Bryant seemed invincible. He was going to live forever. So when the news started to break on Sunday, my first thought was that someone