07-07-2020, 04:33 PM
All good points. To Ryan's point, a cheap car would probably get me there. I also did just get myself a nice motorcycle but it's not really something I would track, more a touring bike. I'm in between trying to get something to auto-x or a a trackbike but there's just more events for car stuff around the Burg. I also really enjoy this community and want to participate in some form or another. A cheap miata would probably do the trick, but then I get into the "but I could afford xyz if I really pushed my budget" and start down that path. Then I'm justifying a 20k car purchase for funsies when my daily just hit 186k and I'll probably need to replace it in two to three years (4Runner gang). Ultimately, it's a discipline problem which was sort of what I was referencing at the start of my little thread here; my mental health directly impacts my budgetary focus. I'm impatient and tired of always feeling like I don't have enough money to participate in a community that I really enjoy.
I refinanced to 2.99% and my mortgage is now 800 a month for a little more than a half acre, an attached garage and 1600sq feet right in the shadow of the JMU stadium. I have 80k of positive equity in the place now (just hit 8 years of ownership) and most of the major home stuff is done, I just want to do bathroom renovations and stuff like that. Damn you HGTV.
And yeah, I think you guys are right. I have a bunch of expensive hobbies and I need to prioritize. I'm a musician, so that's about 10k of guitars, amps keyboards and stuff. I also build computers, so you know I'm typing on a 2.5-3k custom rig. I ski too, and golf (poorly) and I have a home gym which seems to expand every year. My motorcycle stuff is easily another 12k between my bikes and all my gear/tools. Perhaps my next personal finance goal beyond doing what I'm doing with my income is just take a good inventory of what I got and what I can get rid of.
In terms of relocating, I've been toying with going to Atlanta/ the south for awhile, for a few reasons. I have some really close friends there and the manufacturing market in the south is pretty large. But, the jobs start out or are less than what I make now so it's not as obvious of a good move for me from a career perspective. That's why some sort of additional training seemed like an okay avenue but you're right Apoc, it's not necessary for what I do. I'm just bored with it and want to either move up or move on.
Credit card debt is finally almost gone. Student loan debt is at 13k and should be gone by March of next year. I'll have 3 months of emergency savings saved up and then I can finally max out my roth contribution, bump up my 401(k) contribution and do some ETF/mutual fund investing. I'm impatient but just need to grind through the next 10 months or so and see where I'm at.
I refinanced to 2.99% and my mortgage is now 800 a month for a little more than a half acre, an attached garage and 1600sq feet right in the shadow of the JMU stadium. I have 80k of positive equity in the place now (just hit 8 years of ownership) and most of the major home stuff is done, I just want to do bathroom renovations and stuff like that. Damn you HGTV.
And yeah, I think you guys are right. I have a bunch of expensive hobbies and I need to prioritize. I'm a musician, so that's about 10k of guitars, amps keyboards and stuff. I also build computers, so you know I'm typing on a 2.5-3k custom rig. I ski too, and golf (poorly) and I have a home gym which seems to expand every year. My motorcycle stuff is easily another 12k between my bikes and all my gear/tools. Perhaps my next personal finance goal beyond doing what I'm doing with my income is just take a good inventory of what I got and what I can get rid of.
In terms of relocating, I've been toying with going to Atlanta/ the south for awhile, for a few reasons. I have some really close friends there and the manufacturing market in the south is pretty large. But, the jobs start out or are less than what I make now so it's not as obvious of a good move for me from a career perspective. That's why some sort of additional training seemed like an okay avenue but you're right Apoc, it's not necessary for what I do. I'm just bored with it and want to either move up or move on.
Credit card debt is finally almost gone. Student loan debt is at 13k and should be gone by March of next year. I'll have 3 months of emergency savings saved up and then I can finally max out my roth contribution, bump up my 401(k) contribution and do some ETF/mutual fund investing. I'm impatient but just need to grind through the next 10 months or so and see where I'm at.
2008 4Runner
1974 CB360
2015 FJ09
1974 CB360
2015 FJ09