DH's and my biggest goal for this year is to have an actual budget and really stick to it. We have never had a budget at all but our finances are quite a wreck and we need to quit acting like children and be more responsible. It is a huge goal for us but we are really dedicated to it this time around.
We have no savings and quite a bit of debt....however, our finances are actually doing quite well for us right now, comparing to years prior. At least in terms of having extra at the end of the month instead of being in a deficit with our budget.
Right now for January, we are spending as usual to track our spending and then we are going to work on cutting down from there. The following budget though, is what we have budgeted for our spending, but I think we could be going over in certain areas because we haven't been left with as much extra as we should.
Oh also, our situation is a bit different in certain ways because we are living in Cairo, Egypt. Like certain things won't apply to us. Our food budget is high, but food is pretty expensive here. Also included in our food budget is bottled water because we can't drink the tap (however, we spend very little there). Or, we can't do crockpot meals because there isn't a single slow cooker in the whole country....I know, I cried over that for a while, because I love slow cookers......I might try to bring one back here the next time we fly home. hah. However, I am not making excuses. I know our food budget could be cut down.
Some short term/long term goals: **We go back to the US in July (no flight expense, cover by job). I want to buy a ton of clothing there. Clothing here is REALLY expensive and it's hard to find my size. Also, the water quality is shit, so it tears down my clothes and in the 5mo we have been here, I already have half the clothes I came with. So, by July, I want about $1000 to buy clothing in the US.
**In July, we will spend approx 4weeks in the Seattle area. We want to have some money saved for this because the US is quite a bit more expensive compared to here in terms of entertainment. We are there to see family and friends so we will probably be going out a lot. I do still get paychecks over the summer, so we will still be bringing in income. I am not sure how much we should save for for this though. Maybe $500, and then we will have my paycheck on top.
**We want to take a spring break trip. We couldn't afford a winter break trip, so we stayed in Cairo. But it really sucked to be here when all of our friends are gone. Also, for mental health, we really need to get out of Cairo for a bit. We want to go to Greece, but I am not sure we will be able to afford it. Maybe a $3000 budget here. Also though, we should be getting a tax return around approx $1000 from last year, so that's a bit of extra income that could go towards this. It's possible that we could give up on Greece and just go over to the Red Sea still in Egypt for 7 days and spend probably only $1000-$1500...But we would really like to get out of Egypt entirely if possible.
**Have CC#1 and #2 paid off by end of June
Long Term: Save for 2mo rail trip around Europe. We want to do this in Summer of '14 but may have to wait for another year. We made a very rough budget of $17,000 for this. We will be in Cairo until at least June, '14 but will probably stay another two years after that, or move to another country but stay over seas.
**I also want to save for Lasik. It's only $900 for it here.
As I've written this, I realize that I am probably going to be seriously flamed because all of our goals are just more and more spending on travel or material things....when we probably should be focusing on a savings fund, debt pay off, and retirement..... But then at the same time, it's really hard because we are in Cairo to experience the world and travel, so it's a hard decision. Spend money to pay off debt and create savings/money for our future or spend money to experience our life right now living in another country, because our debt is always going to be there.....saving for retirement is always going to be there.....but living in another country and experience the world isn't. Gah, flame away and knock some sense into me if it's needed. At least I didn't go under an AE though right?
Sorry that was WAY more than I intended to write. If you made it this far. And for helping me.
So I work as a teacher. DH is going to school online while we are here for his BA. He isn't working but desperately wants to. It's just realllllly hard for him to find a job. But we are consistently working on it. I get the summers off but I still get paychecks. School pays for mine and dh's health care. I plan to work realllly hard to get a substantial raise for the next school year, so starting August. If DH get's a job, his paycheck would go straight to savings/debt etc since my income more than covers our expenses. Anything else?
Budget Rent - $900 (school pays $600, we will probably try to move to a $600 place in Aug, we are stuck here til then) Boab (building maintenance) - $32 Transportation - $50 (no car, we taxi around. it's really cheap, but this is probably an area that we go over in. my school transports me to and from work every day) Internet - $36 Cell Phones - $50 (these are cheapo prepaids, some months we do less than this) Food and Eating Out - $500 Activities - $150 Ace Cards - $100 (this is a bit of food and entertainment. the Ace Club is an expat club that we go to often with our friends. This is like a friday night outing thing, plus a few nights during the week. it's part food/alcohol, etc) CC#1 - $100 (min $25, $733 balance, 29.4%interest rate) CC#2 - $100 (min $25, $474 balance, 23.0%interest rate) CC#3 - $108 ($3550 balance, 0%interest, but this is closed and on a payment plan) Student Loan #1 - $50 (min payment, $2638 balance, 5.8%) Student Loan #2 - $102 (min payment, $9600 balance, 12%) Consolidation S.Loan - $0 (ETA:but to start up in OCT (not may). Not sure payment yet, but will be income contingent) House Cleaning - $100 Gas - $2 Power - $5 (but this month was $21, been using the heat too much I guess, plus I've been home for winter break. 1st month it's ever been this high. It's usually less than $5) Money Transfer Fees - $40 (to send $$ back to US acct to pay bills) Hair and Nail Budget - $91 (includes 1 mani/pedi, 1 men's haircut, and division of my hair getting done for every 2mo) Household Supplies - $20 Clothing - $50 DH's Textbook - $60 (avg., sometimes it's $120, sometimes its only $20)
Total Expenses: $2646
Salary, including rental allowance: $3142 Tutoring money: $533 Total Income: $3675
Leftover: $1029
Thoughts? .....I am nervous.....but prepared for flames....but hopefully some useful advice.
eta: forgot to note that we have quite a bit more debt than just SL and CC. We have a lot of random shit in collections....so our debt is actually a lot worse than it looks.
Food and Eating Out - $500 - I know you said you can't cut this down, but try and stop eating out, that will help. Activities - $150 - What are these? Can you stop them temporarily or cut them down? Ace Cards - $100 - again cut it or drastically cut it down. House Cleaning - $100 - do you have a house cleaner? if so, you don't need one. Hair and Nail Budget - $91 - get a hair cut every 6 months & don't get your nails done
Your CC debt is not good & should be your 1st priority before any trips. If you save any money payoff your high interest credit cards first. Also, when does the 0% interest end?
Food and Eating Out - $500 - I know you said you can't cut this down, but try and stop eating out, that will help. Activities - $150 - What are these? Can you stop them temporarily or cut them down? These are just random day trips around Egypt/Cairo Ace Cards - $100 - again cut it or drastically cut it down. House Cleaning - $100 - do you have a house cleaner? if so, you don't need one. Yes, we have a housecleaner. Yes we could could this out. It's more just a mental health thing rather than a real necessity. And it's just so cheap to have it. That's $100 for 4hrs a week of cleaning. But, yes, we could definitely cut it out Hair and Nail Budget - $91 - get a hair cut every 6 months & don't get your nails done I get my hair done usually every 3ish months...but it's because it's dyed brown but I am a blonde, so my roots get really bad. But it's $75 every 3mo.
Your CC debt is not good & should be your 1st priority before any trips. If you save any money payoff your high interest credit cards first. Also, when does the 0% interest end? the 0% is indefinite so long as I don't miss a payment. It's there so I can pay off the debt. The card is closed and the $108 is automatically taken out
Cc 1 and cc2 total $1207. You said you have $1000-something left at the end of the month. Why have you not paid these off yet?
How much do you owe in collections? Are you going to pay it or are you hiding from it overseas? Going to stay 7 years until it drops off?
Are you trying to go bare bones? Then cut the housecleaner and the mani/pedi/haircut budget. Do your own nails and clean your own house.
How old are you? Do you plan to come back to the us and settle down in a few years? If the answers are like early-20s and yes, the I won't begrudge you for spending the money of travel while you are there. Just do it on the cheap and not in lieu of paying your debts. $17k for months? What happened to backpacking hostels and such? Has the cost more than quadrupled since my friends did it 15 years ago?
Eta: I'm on the phone so I can't see the op while I'm posting and I'm adding in my head. I missed that it's $15k of debt listed and much much higher overall. Yeah. You can't afford to be spending on the housecleaner, nails, and vacations that are between $1k and $3k per week!
So what's your actual total debt? Is the $15K-/+ all of it? No it's really really high. But $15k is probably how much our bad debt is (cc, collections, private SLs.) We have WAY too much SL debt under the consolidation. But I don't really consider that bad debt...
How do you plan to pay for the $17K trip in Summer 2015? By saving...
How do you plan to pay for the Spring Break trip of a max of $3K? That's less than 4 months to go. With the approx $1000 tax refund and our $1000ish per month excess....but I don't think it's possible, entirely if we save for other things as well
How do you plan to pay for the Seattle trip in July? This is mostly paid for. There is no flight expense because it's paid for by my job. We will stay with family. And I will still get a paycheck.
I think your biggest concern should be moving expenses fund, besides paying off CC1 and 2. Why a moving expenses fund? We aren't moving...
**Deleted some parts as I re-read your post**
If you have over $1K left over, why do you not have savings? I think you're missing some things. The 1k left over has just started really. I just started to tutor on the side 3weeks ago and we also were having money taken out of my paycheck from some expenses we had when we first got here. It's finally done as of this month. We also just moved here in August, so we just started with this salary. When we were living in the US we had a terrible income-spending ratio and had more bills than we brought in.
Not sure how old you two are, but I would suggest holding off starting a family until a few years of cleaning up your financial situation. We don't plan on starting a family for at least 4-5years. We know we are nowhere near ready to be able to be financially stable with a family.
You need to be real with the amount of debt you have. How much is the total?
If you even want to dream about taking just one of those trips without going further in to debt, your H needs to find a job. I know it isn't easy for ex pats, but you have no choice if you want the slightest chance of saving for travel.
Can I ask why you decided to move to Cairo to teach? What do you teach?
Cc 1 and cc2 total $1207. You said you have $1000-something left at the end of the month. Why have you not paid these off yet? the $1k savings just started....
How much do you owe in collections? Are you going to pay it or are you hiding from it overseas? Going to stay 7 years until it drops off? never thought of hiding from it....but that's an option. haha. No we plan to pay it.
Are you trying to go bare bones? Then cut the housecleaner and the mani/pedi/haircut budget. Do your own nails and clean your own house.
How old are you? Do you plan to come back to the us and settle down in a few years? If the answers are like early-20s and yes, the I won't begrudge you for spending the money of travel while you are there. Just do it on the cheap and not in lieu of paying your debts. $17k for months? What happened to backpacking hostels and such? Has the cost more than quadrupled since my friends did it 15 years ago? I am almost 25, DH is 31. The $17k is backpacking and hostelling....but we also dont want it to be completely frugal. We want to be able to eat nice and do things we want.....so if that means putting it off longer, then so be it. When we rough budgeted, It's $2000 for two rail passes, approx $2000 for one way flights in and out. Then $4000 for accomodations avg-ing $60per night for a room in a hostel (didnt really wanna do dorm style), the rest is food and activities. but for two months. It's probably really high, but we don't want to be frugal about it...
We are not sure if we plan to ever come back to the US. It's still up in the air. For the purpose of this, yes. With plans to settle down, start a family and buy a house. Even if it's not US, that's still our plan. But probably won't come back for another 4yrs.
Hi there, First congratulations on finally doing a budget. It will be painful at first, but I guarantee if you stick to it, you will find it is very liberating mentally. I once had a significant amount of CC debt and, once I started really attacking it, I actually looked forward to getting the bills every month because it was so rewarding to see the balance go down significantly.
I also think you can simultaneously save and pay down debt to accomplish all or at least most of your travel goals.
CC#1 - $100 (min $25, $733 balance, 29.4%interest rate)---PAY THIS OFF WITH YOUR FIRST MONTH of EXCESS. The balance is so small, and you will still have ~$300 left over from that excess. CC#2 - $100 (min $25, $474 balance, 23.0%interest rate)--TAKE THE REMAINING $300 OR SO AND SEND TO THIS CC. WILL LEAVE YOU WITH BALANCE OF LESS THAN $200, which you can pay the following month. CC#3 - $108 ($3550 balance, 0%interest, but this is closed and on a payment plan -- PAY MIN on this until CC1 and 2 are paid off. Then use part of $1k excess to attack this.
Once CC1 and CC2 are paid off, I would divide the $1K into general savings, travel savings and CC3/debt payoff.
You need to be real with the amount of debt you have. How much is the total?
If you even want to dream about taking just one of those trips without going further in to debt, your H needs to find a job. I know it isn't easy for ex pats, but you have no choice if you want the slightest chance of saving for travel.
Can I ask why you decided to move to Cairo to teach? What do you teach?
I am not sure the exact total right now unless I did some research. But my consolidation loan is $120,000 but that is for an AA, BA and MA. My education was really expensive. I had no help from family. It was all me. And I took out extra...too much...for living expenses also. DH's school debt is at about $12k right now. Our CC and collections shit is probably right around $15k.
Teaching overseas was a dream of mine. The opportunity came up and we jumped at it. We also live a much higher quality of life here. Make much more money on one income than we did on two. Also, being able to see the world and experience new things and be able to travel more easily and save to pay off debt more easily was another reason.
Hi there, First congratulations on finally doing a budget. It will be painful at first, but I guarantee if you stick to it, you will find it is very liberating mentally. I once had a significant amount of CC debt and, once I started really attacking it, I actually looked forward to getting the bills every month because it was so rewarding to see the balance go down significantly.
I also think you can simultaneously save and pay down debt to accomplish all or at least most of your travel goals.
CC#1 - $100 (min $25, $733 balance, 29.4%interest rate)---PAY THIS OFF WITH YOUR FIRST MONTH of EXCESS. The balance is so small, and you will still have ~$300 left over from that excess. CC#2 - $100 (min $25, $474 balance, 23.0%interest rate)--TAKE THE REMAINING $300 OR SO AND SEND TO THIS CC. WILL LEAVE YOU WITH BALANCE OF LESS THAN $200, which you can pay the following month. CC#3 - $108 ($3550 balance, 0%interest, but this is closed and on a payment plan -- PAY MIN on this until CC1 and 2 are paid off. Then use part of $1k excess to attack this.
Once CC1 and CC2 are paid off, I would divide the $1K into general savings, travel savings and CC3/debt payoff.
I like this plan. Also, CC#1 is my longest standing card....but It also has a yearly fee of $79. I've been considering closing it...but since it's one of two open and it's the longest standing, I feel like I shouldn't. Would you pay it off and leave it open, or close it?
I am a little confused by the debt in collections. How much is it? Why are you not paying it off?
If your DH is not working, I would drop the house cleaner. Your DH can clean.
I don't think you should be spending $1000 on clothes when you go back to the U.S. You need to pay down your debt first. Also, if the water there just ruins your clothes, then it doesn't make sense to invest that much in clothing.
I would really work on getting your debt paid off before you do anything else. After you get the debt paid off, then you can start saving for the travel that you want to do.
You also should be putting money into an emergency fund since you have no savings right now. What about retirement?
ETA: I see you posted more about your additional debt. Yes, I think you really need to focus on starting to pay down some of this debt. I do understand wanting to take advantage of being able to travel while you are there. I would budget a small amount of your extra income toward a travel fund, but would use the bulk to pay down debt. Hopefully, your DH will get a job soon and you will be in a much better position.
Ok, so they extra $1k just started. Then pay them off this month. Even so, you have been spending $100/month on a housecleaner. You could have put that money on to the ccs starting in August and one would be paid off and the other pretty close. Those interest rates are insane.
You need to adjust your priorities. Frugal is not a bad thing. My ILs are multi-millionaires and still travel very frugally. MIL called me up freaking out because she couldn't find first class flights from Europe for under $3k. First class. Multi-millionaires. Retired. And still she wouldn't pay $3k for flights. You are not in that situation and yet you want to spend $2k on flights? The point in seeing the world while you are overseas is because you can do it cheaply since you are already most of the way there. And since you say you have much more than the $15k debt you already showed, you really need to get real with what you have and what you can afford. And, since you overspent before, you need to pay the price for that now and pay it back now that you have more, BEFORE you spend like your income might indicate.
Your H's online school - is it a brick-and-morter school with an online version (e.g. Penn State World Campus), or is it a for-profit school (e.g. U of Phoenix)? Are you paying cash or taking more loans for that? I really hope you aren't taking more debt for a for-profit degree that won't be respected when you get back to the US.
First and foremost, I think you need to figure out exactly what you owe, the interest rate, minimum payments, etc. That's really the only way you can take care of all of it.
I do understand the urge to travel since you're already overseas, but you don't seem to be in a prime location for cheap travel. (For example, in Europe it would be so much cheaper to travel around.) I personally think you need to knock out your high interest CC debt before you start saving for travel. Doobeedoo outlined a good snowball method.
Are the bills you're paying in the US that require the money transfer fees the CC or loans? Is there a way you could set that up to pay from an Egyptian account? That would cut out $40 right there.
Do you have power bills to look at for the time you've been there?
Once you get your budget more solidified, your CCs paid off and your total SL debt tallied, you can look at possibly, maybe saving for one of the vacations, but it really doesn't look promising with the amount of debt you hold.
For some reason I thought you plan to move to a cheaper apartment too.
The $120K is alarming. You need to have a plan of attack for that. With your current incomes, it will take you forever to pay. If you tack in the APR, that will compound like crazy.
Have you tried mint.com? You might want to start plugging in your income/expenses there.
I would suggest, with your $1K in current excess;
1. Pay off CC1 in the first month 2. Pay off CC2 in the second month 3. Start an efund of $1K 4. By April, have a small spring break trip 5. Start saving $500 a month for your shopping funds for the Seattle trip in August, and use the other $500+ a month to pay down your Student Loan debt 1 6. After August, start saving $500 towards your dream trip. In two years (summer 2015), that should give you $12K. Cut your trip to that much. Work while travelling. Backpack like crazy. Negotiate/Barter your stay. Join couchsurfing.com and/or Hostelling International. You're young. This is the time to travel on the cheap. 7. By then, you should also have paid SL1 and SL2 off. 8. Then start beefing up your efund/savings/retirement, and slowly pay down the rest of the loans.
You need to seriously cut back on spending. $120K in SL debt?! Do you have any idea what your payment is going to be like on that?! It will probably be $750 or more. Maybe even $1000. There goes your extra from your budget.
Honestly, I don't think this is a crisis. You don't actually have that much CC debt, you could pay it off in 3-6 months if you stick to your budget as it's currently written. I'm confused about how much is in collections, but I'd recommend researching that ASAP and calling places and trying to settle. Usually if they are old collections, they'll take a partial payment to settle the account. Find out what those amounts are and do something about them.
I think you guys are a little on the older side for being irresponsible and spending money on travel vs. the future - but I also do understand what you mean about wanting to travel now while you have the chance. I can't say I'd do things differently. I think that's awesome you guys are seeing the world, just be realistic and know this will set you back financially for years to come. If you're ok with that, it's fine. If you are going to regret that you can't retire on time or can't buy a house or start a family when you might want to, then you may want to rethink what you're doing now.
I also think you can cut the housekeeper, especially if your DH isn't working. I get that it's convenient, but it's an expense you don't need. Same with your nails. You could try to cut back on entertainment stuff but again, I don't blame you for wanting to see Egypt while you're there.
I also think spending 1k on clothing in the US this summer sounds like a waste if your clothes are going to fall apart anyway. Maybe spend a couple hundred dollars on some inexpensive stuff to get you through the year but don't spend serious money unless you know you will be able to get your money's worth out of what you buy. If your stuff will fall apart within a few months why even bother?
The $2k in flights was for 4 flights. 2 one ways in and 2 one ways out. That is pretty frugal.
The money transfer fees are unavoidable. We can't use our Egyptian account to pay those bills.
Every month our power bill has been 10le , so $1.60ish every month. This is the first month that it was 120le ($20) and I think it's because we have been using the heat, it's winter, and I have been home for the past 2.5 weeks, so even more heat....
Hi there, First congratulations on finally doing a budget. It will be painful at first, but I guarantee if you stick to it, you will find it is very liberating mentally. I once had a significant amount of CC debt and, once I started really attacking it, I actually looked forward to getting the bills every month because it was so rewarding to see the balance go down significantly.
I also think you can simultaneously save and pay down debt to accomplish all or at least most of your travel goals.
CC#1 - $100 (min $25, $733 balance, 29.4%interest rate)---PAY THIS OFF WITH YOUR FIRST MONTH of EXCESS. The balance is so small, and you will still have ~$300 left over from that excess. CC#2 - $100 (min $25, $474 balance, 23.0%interest rate)--TAKE THE REMAINING $300 OR SO AND SEND TO THIS CC. WILL LEAVE YOU WITH BALANCE OF LESS THAN $200, which you can pay the following month. CC#3 - $108 ($3550 balance, 0%interest, but this is closed and on a payment plan -- PAY MIN on this until CC1 and 2 are paid off. Then use part of $1k excess to attack this.
Once CC1 and CC2 are paid off, I would divide the $1K into general savings, travel savings and CC3/debt payoff.
I like this plan. Also, CC#1 is my longest standing card....but It also has a yearly fee of $79. I've been considering closing it...but since it's one of two open and it's the longest standing, I feel like I shouldn't. Would you pay it off and leave it open, or close it?
Closing your longest standing cc is problematic. I know, because I did it, also to save on the yearly fee (plus I had another cc I was using that was better for points). The reason it is problematic is that it impacts your credit score (which may already be low if you have stuff in collections). My credit score took a nosedive for several months and had I needed to finance a car or take out a mortgage, I would have had to pay higher rates. It eventually stopped mattering, but it took about a year, if I recall correctly. So, what I would recommend is paying it off and keeping it until the annual fee is due. Then you can probably call to get the fee waived for a year--this may not work, but it is worth a shot. If they don't waive, you can always cancel if you are okay with impact on the score.
My consolidation loan is going to have a low payment. No more than $250 because it is income contingent and my income for two people is actually really low. It's also a government loan so the interest isn't very high. I think it's 6.5%. My actual income is only $2500 per month. Sure we should pay more than the minimum, but we have 15yrs to pay it...and as a teacher, after 10yrs of paying on time, my SL debt is forgiven.
Yes we are too old for being financially irresponsible. That's why I said in my op that we need to stop acting like children and get real with our budget. We know this. But we both didn't come from families who were good role models. Both of our parents are in poverty...So we didn't really have good role models as we grew up with money. So that's why I have too much debt and too much SL debt. I could have a lot less if I wouldn't have taken out living expenses etc. I know I have and we have been very irresponsible. But we are ready and serious about making changes. I do not deny that we have been/are irresponsible with money....... Also, quite a bit of our debt/cc debt is from two bouts of unemployment while living in the US.
For some reason I thought you plan to move to a cheaper apartment too.
Yes, in August we will most likely move to a place that is only $600-$700 a month. That will save us $200-300 a month. and probably also save on our Boab costs.....although that is small already.
My consolidation loan is going to have a low payment. No more than $250 because it is income contingent and my income for two people is actually really low. It's also a government loan so the interest isn't very high. I think it's 6.5%.
That is great that your SL payment won't be too high - but I want to call you out by saying that 6.5% isn't high interest. That is the wrong attitude to have. Sure, its not that high compared to your cc rates which are so high as to be usurious, but it's not low for SLs. My SLs are at 2.625%.
You need to change your views about money. I get that this might be tough since you both grew up in poverty, but you need to stop living beyond your means.
You keep saying how you don't want to be frugal and you want to experience things now. That is fine. The problem is, you can't experience *everything* now. Or you can, but you're going to be paying for it for a very long time.
Your dream was to live abroad and teach? Great, you took on $120k of debt to make that happen. Enjoy it. The attitude of needing a house cleaner, 2 international vacations a year, etc for "mental health" just sounds entitled and a little out of line with the financial situation you've created for yourself. You have $150,000 in debt (and an income disproportionate to this debt), no mention of retirement savings, and a 31-year-old husband who is accruing more SL debt for a BA. I'd just be careful because as fun as some of these things may seem right now, you do not want to be playing catch up forever. Catch up is definitely not good for mental health.
The $2k in flights was for 4 flights. 2 one ways in and 2 one ways out. That is pretty frugal.
The money transfer fees are unavoidable. We can't use our Egyptian account to pay those bills.
Every month our power bill has been 10le , so $1.60ish every month. This is the first month that it was 120le ($20) and I think it's because we have been using the heat, it's winter, and I have been home for the past 2.5 weeks, so even more heat....
I have to say that you don't really know what frugal is, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.
My consolidation loan is going to have a low payment. No more than $250 because it is income contingent and my income for two people is actually really low. It's also a government loan so the interest isn't very high. I think it's 6.5%.
That is great that your SL payment won't be too high - but I want to call you out by saying that 6.5% isn't high interest. That is the wrong attitude to have. Sure, its not that high compared to your cc rates which are so high as to be usurious, but it's not low for SLs. My SLs are at 2.625%.
You need to change your views about money. I get that this might be tough since you both grew up in poverty, but you need to stop living beyond your means.
You're right. It's relative. It's sounds like a low interest rate to me. But I honestly didn't think it could go lower than that. How are yours at 2.6%? That consolidation loan is a federal consolidation of all of my federal loans. Federal loans have an interest of 6.9%. I didn't think it was possible to get them lower? They are fixed interest....
You keep saying how you don't want to be frugal and you want to experience things now. That is fine. The problem is, you can't experience *everything* now. Or you can, but you're going to be paying for it for a very long time.
Your dream was to live abroad and teach? Great, you took on $120k of debt to make that happen. Enjoy it. The attitude of needing a house cleaner, 2 international vacations a year, etc for "mental health" just sounds entitled and a little out of line with the financial situation you've created for yourself. You have $150,000 in debt (and an income disproportionate to this debt), no mention of retirement savings, and a 31-year-old husband who is accruing more SL debt for a BA. I'd just be careful because as fun as some of these things may seem right now, you do not want to be playing catch up forever. Catch up is definitely not good for mental health.
:Y: Well said, Tacom.
I understand how growing up poor impacts one's understanding of money. DH grew up very poor, but you're to the point where you have to stop making excuses for wasteful spending. I know you're trying to change, but I'm not sure you've fully acknowledged how wasteful your spending can be.
You keep saying how you don't want to be frugal and you want to experience things now. That is fine. The problem is, you can't experience *everything* now. Or you can, but you're going to be paying for it for a very long time.
Your dream was to live abroad and teach? Great, you took on $120k of debt to make that happen. Enjoy it. The attitude of needing a house cleaner, 2 international vacations a year, etc for "mental health" just sounds entitled and a little out of line with the financial situation you've created for yourself. You have $150,000 in debt (and an income disproportionate to this debt), no mention of retirement savings, and a 31-year-old husband who is accruing more SL debt for a BA. I'd just be careful because as fun as some of these things may seem right now, you do not want to be playing catch up forever. Catch up is definitely not good for mental health.
I only said we didn't want to be frugal about that one trip because we want to experience it in a certain way.
We want to be frugal in our budget so that we can afford to take nice trips in the long run. I also don't have an attitude of needing a housecleaner. I said early on that, yes, we should get rid of that. It is not needed.
Also, if you were living in Cairo, you would understand the "mental health" need of getting out every now and then. It is an overwhelming city and sometimes you need to get away. And yes, for mental health. But I did say, we could do a much cheaper trip for $1000....or even less if we shortened it and it would still get us out and away for a few days. I said we "wanted" to get out of Egypt. We don't "need" to get out of Egypt, but we do need to get out of Cairo if only for a 3-4day trip to the red sea.
Also, I didn't take out $120k to be a teacher overseas. I took out student loans to become a teacher and make a life for myself. I didn't have parents to pay for my schooling or to even advise me on not taking out too much. I was young and I wanted to go to college. And if that meant taking out loans that had high interest rates, it didn't matter to me. Getting a degree did. I was going to college one way or another. Now, sure I realize that I should have been smarter about it...
"You have $150,000 in debt (and an income disproportionate to this debt)," welcome to the life of a teacher. yes, my debt is too high, but even if it wasn't higher than it should be, it would still be at least $80k.....and if I was in the states, my income as a teacher would be significantly less. When I taught there I was bringing on $2400/mo.