BRAG POST

[WOT?*]

Anyone and everyone feel free to post your brags, big and small. This is MM. It's been slow. So, my brag.

As of yesterday...WE ARE MORTGAGE FREE.

That is ABSOLUTELY DEBT FREE (except for monthly credit card from Costco we use for cash/points and pay off.)

No car payments, no revolving credit (except for one at 0% that I use for Christmas electronics at the blue-and-yellow-big-box-store - because 0%.) Zip, zilch, nada. And the grands won't have student loans unless they are *really* stupid at the college and life choices.

[sexycarrot]

Congratulations!! That's awesome and a huge accomplishment!

I'll share a small one. I think I have put gas in my care 3 times since March. Sooooo, pandemic is saving me miles and gas money!

[suzubell]

Congratulations!

[fernweh]

Congrats! That is amazing

[wildrice]

Aug 17, 2020 8:31:44 GMT -5 sexycarrot said:

Congratulations!! That's awesome and a huge accomplishment!

I'll share a small one. I think I have put gas in my care 3 times since March. Sooooo, pandemic is saving me miles and gas money!

Same! Actually, one of our cars (the one I primarily drive to work) hasn't even been filled a single time, but that's because we usually take the other car when we actually do things. I think we've only filled the primary car 3x though.

Along with that, my grandmother gave me her 2003 Buick LeSabre in late August last year. She barely was driving it and decided to give up driving altogether, so I took it to have a 2nd car for commuting. Between driving it from Chicago to Baltimore and then only using it to drive 20 miles round trip to work for 6 months, I think I've put somewhere between 3-4k miles on it since I got it. I assumed it would only last me 2-3 years, but at this rate I'll be able to stretch it much longer. I basically drive it as much as an old lady would!

[ellipses84]

That is awesome! My brag post - I took a consulting job and I’m working a lot less hours and making significantly more money than when I was working full time, both gross and net income. Fingers crossed it continues as long as possible. Also, DH switched careers about 11 years ago and it has never been as financially successful as we thought it would be, but he loves it. He took on a new role with way more $$ right before Covid hit and then was furloughed. He’s been back to work a few weeks and the $$ has been amazing. He’s also been working a ton because with my job being more flexible to care for the kids, he is able to say yes when he’s called in at the last minute. The past few years have had a lot of setbacks for us, so it’s a relief to be doing ok.

[dragon's breath]

Congratulations!

[farfalla2011]

That is awesome!! I hope to be there some day.

My small brag is I just started a new job with better benefits & growth opportunities, as well as in a growing industry even in this covid world we find ourselves in.

[chpmnk1015]

That is amazing and i cannot wait to have that brag post someday lol!

Small brag- we closed on refinance today... had 22 years left now refinance to 15..

[HitchedIn2006]

That is awesome!! How long did it take and what was the original balance. Don’t have to share if you are not comfortable.

[WOT?*]

Happy to see all the brags in here!

HitchedIn2006 I talk too much. (ergo, my name WOT? translates frequently to Wall Of Text? as well as Whuuuut? or snippy WHAT?) so I'm not shy in sharing numbers that I probably shouldn't.

The house was about $430K in late 2005. We moved from a LCOL, where we'd purchased a house just 2.5 years earlier so we didn't have much of a down payment; our first house didn't require nearly the down payment and we'd basically broken even after realtor fees and expenses. (Man, I miss that house, and that yard, and that pretty curved staircase all decorated at Christmas, and the pool and clubhouse and -- that mortgage) Because it was a sudden move (new job opportunity and moving "back home") we didn't have the savings necessary to put down on a house that was significantly more, so we put down $20K cash from the sale of our first house, took out a second for about $70K for the balance of the down payment at 7.9%, and a mortgage of $340K at 4.9%. Good job history and excellent credit, but not enough down and a new job meant better rather than best rates, and rates weren't all that low in 2005. (Numbers are approximate.)

Market crashed in 2007/8 and our value plummeted to $290K. Rates were down but we couldn't refi due to the loss of equity. Then HARP allowed a refinance, but to do so we had to pay off the second mortgage. We paid off the second in 2009, 3.5 years from purchase. (We were fortunate that DH's job basically doubled his income, even with the COL differential. I have lots of words about his old boss/partner - and it's doubled again over the years and with promotions. We plowed much of the increases into the mortgage and retirement savings and live pretty much as we did when we first moved here. That was a big help in getting to the payoff early.) We refinanced the balance of the mortgage (still close to the initial balance at around $330K iirc.) Interest went down to 3.25% and we went from a 30 to a 20 year. Payments actually went down a hundred or so, with the lower interest, even with the shorter term. We paid extra every month and have been fortunate in his job over the past few years.

The initial mortgage was end of 2005. Refinance (to a 20 year - don't ask - from a 30, and paying off the initial second mortgage) was 2009. Payoff was 2020, almost exactly eleven years after the refinance. Overall it took 14 years and 9 months to get 'er done from start to finish. The goal was to have it paid off before the older granddaughter graduated. She's a junior this year. We finished a year-plus ahead of the target.

Oh, and don't use Wells Fargo. Do not recommend. And we had a *good* experience with them, all things considered.

[puppylove64]

We finally found a new house and got an interest rate of 2.625% on a 30 year conventional. We also sold our current home on the first day so I haven’t been keeping it clean 😂

[flygirl]

Yeah, congrats!

[Violet]

WOT?*, Congrats!!!! I bet that is the best feeling ever!

My tiny brags:
- refi'd to 2.8%, I never thought we'd get this low
- cut 7 years off, which basically moved retirement up 7 years for me
- sold the second car and used the equity to pay off the loan on the 1st car = no car payment now. This is temporary, when life goes back to normal we will need a 2nd car at some point but it saves a few months of payments & insurance. I planned on trading in the car pre-covid anyways.

[WOT?*]

Aug 18, 2020 23:24:03 GMT -5 Stan said:

I have a 3.78 in grad school! And to make it MM, it’s completely paid for via military and work and it’s in financial planning. I work two jobs that both act full time and have a toddler so I’m feeling pretty braggy.

I’m so glad to see you post here. I haven’t been for ages but I had to brag. I’m always happy to see you and Pom and VillainV and all the military fam from back in the day.
Another brag, or more like Happy Dance is that soon-in-law is coming home from overseas in less than a month. One year with no visits from family because COVID. He and my daughter and his folks were supposed to meet up in Ireland to watch Note Dame vs Navy (his mom and step are ND alum and USAF retirees so basically it would have been USAF v USN for the fam.) Cancelled. Spring Break in Europe for the grands (and if I could have stowed away, lol) Do glad for technology because back when ex was in we had to depend on snail mail, hopeful my with the occasional photo so e were could remember what the spou, lol, and the very occasional call from a port somewhere if we were lucky.

Congrats on the degree and especially on the GPA and no debt. Best of luck.

[WOT?*]

Aug 18, 2020 19:41:29 GMT -5 Violet said:

WOT?*, Congrats!!!! I bet that is the best feeling ever!

My tiny brags:
- refi'd to 2.8%, I never thought we'd get this low
- cut 7 years off, which basically moved retirement up 7 years for me
- sold the second car and used the equity to pay off the loan on the 1st car = no car payment now. This is temporary, when life goes back to normal we will need a 2nd car at some point but it saves a few months of payments & insurance. I planned on trading in the car pre-covid anyways.

It is. Or maybe second best, after student loans. Those folks are absolute hose beasts! So glad we’ll be able to keep that yoke off the necks of the girls.

Retiring early and having cut your debt so much aren’t tiny at all. Keep it up!

[simpsongal]

Aug 19, 2020 16:32:50 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

Aug 18, 2020 19:41:29 GMT -5 Violet said:

WOT?* , Congrats!!!! I bet that is the best feeling ever!

My tiny brags:
- refi'd to 2.8%, I never thought we'd get this low
- cut 7 years off, which basically moved retirement up 7 years for me
- sold the second car and used the equity to pay off the loan on the 1st car = no car payment now. This is temporary, when life goes back to normal we will need a 2nd car at some point but it saves a few months of payments & insurance. I planned on trading in the car pre-covid anyways.

It is. Or maybe second best, after student loans. Those folks are absolute hose beasts! So glad we’ll be able to keep that yoke off the necks of the girls.

Retiring early and having cut your debt so much aren’t tiny at all. Keep it up!

LOL at hose beasts - Is that a Wayne's World reference?

I don't know how I'll celebrate paying off my loans but I need to do something huge.  I've got like 4 yrs left and they're below $30K at a low fixed rate, so at least it doesn't feel like setting interest money on fire every month.  I do plan on doing a rough calculation of how much it's cost me....I expect upwards of $250K woof

My "brag" is that we're doing an addition (~$70K) and paying for a good amount with savings!  We still have 2 more years of daycare, but our incomes have gone up and our regular spending has not (if anything it's dropped), so there's money for projects!  DH is fully committed to a kitchen reno after the addition and master bath are paid off.  After that point I'm hoping we can take some nicer vacations.

[WOT?*]

simpsongal - I think Wayne's World took it from real life references because I'm pretty sure I used it even before then. I'm *that* old. lol.

Congratulations on the reno. That's what we're working on next, along with paying for the girls' college and completing the buy-in for DH's partnership, in cash.

[sugarbear]

WOT?*, you'll appreciate this especially since you know our market. I just refinanced my house IN MY OWN NAME to get STBX out.

All by myself.
I am determined to make it on my own and this is the first step.

[WOT?*]

Aug 21, 2020 15:57:09 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

WOT?* , you'll appreciate this especially since you know our market. I just refinanced my house IN MY OWN NAME to get STBX out.

All by myself.
I am determined to make it on my own and this is the first step.

That is freaking amazing. I'm so proud of you. KOKO. Baby steps lead to bigger steps. This is beyond baby steps. (lol.)
I couldn't refinance a postage stamp right now. ;P
(not true. I do have my own credit cards and stuff. Just don't use them and being a SAH for a decade isn't all it's cracked up to be. But it's a hell of a sight better than being a para at Big Insurance Company.)