Do you live within your means?

I live within means. 13% of income is saved towards retirement, 6% is saved towards my daughters' college educations, and another 5% or so is saved just to grow the cash balance.

Only debt is the mortgage and 1 car payment, the student loans were paid off a few years ago. Best thing I ever did was live at home with my parents for the first 15 months after graduating college. Took my salary that year and paid down student loan debt. Allowed me to get it paid off by age 27. I'd advise any college kid saddled with more than $10K in student loan debt to do the same, which I know includes an awful lot of college kids.

I big time disagree. You can deduct up to 2.5k of student loan interest right from the front page of your 1040, as long as you make less than 70k. If you have more than 2.5k of loan interest then pay it down to get to that level. I think paying off all other debt, saving up for a down payment on a house, building a cash reserve, or stating a Roth or contributing to your 401k if theres a match should be priorities over paying down student debt. Let it ride till you (hopefully) make too much…

Another story, sorry, I hate cheap people.

This guy at work brags how his house paid off and all this crap. Guess how he did it by being cheap!

We had a little Thanksgiving office party yesterday he said he bring in napkins, everyone else was making something. Ok just bringing napkins is cheap but when they are napkins from various fast food restaruants that is really cheap!

Did I mention I hate cheap people!

On the same hand I hate people that over spend and are drowning in debit and expect everyone to save them.

I can honestly say that I do. I don't carry any month to month balances on my credit cards, I put 8% of my check towards my 401k and my employer kicks in 4.5%, I also make a monthly contribution to my IRA, and I don't live paycheck to paycheck. My employer also offers a pension which is rare these days. My only real debt is student loans and a car payment - no mortgage. Feels good, but it took me until my mid 30's to get to this point.

The plan is to retire at 55.


Not trying to be a jerk but did you not get your mortgage free home when your mother in law passed? That puts you way ahead of the game.

I drive a 10 year old truck , have a 27 inch TV . I feel lucky I have never needed to have the " most toys " . I love the fact that I can buy anything to eat at the grocery store , and I feel we have a hell of alot to be thankful for .... USA USA USA :) Nice post

I love my 27 inch tv. My roommate finally broke down and bought a new remote for it, chaning channels is so awesome.... I blow a lot of money at bars and drinking in general other than that I dont have a need for much else.

Another story, sorry, I hate cheap people.

This guy at work brags how his house paid off and all this crap. Guess how he did it by being cheap!

We had a little Thanksgiving office party yesterday he said he bring in napkins, everyone else was making something. Ok just bringing napkins is cheap but when they are napkins from various fast food restaruants that is really cheap!

Did I mention I hate cheap people!

On the same hand I hate people that over spend and are drowning in debit and expect everyone to save them.

Thats awsome.

Not trying to be a jerk but did you not get your mortgage free home when your mother in law passed? That puts you way ahead of the game.

We did, we were able to sell our house and pay off our mortgage and obviously we're incredibly fortunate because of that. Believe me we'd give it all up in a heartbeat to have her back, but yes it put us way ahead of the game, obviously the circumstances that put us in this situation just stinks.

Come on first , we know you have a 10,000 sq. ft. home on 50 acres on the lake ... outdoor and indoor pools , a 1969 corvette stingrey , monster 4x4 and a speed boat to go with your fishing boat :)
I wish. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to spending. The boat and truck I just purchased this summer I pretty much paid cash for them. Our house payment is low enough that I don't ever feel a drain to make the payment. Everything else is paid for at this time put my wife is looking hard for a new home. Our biggest problem is we so few bills its easy to waist money so we stick to pretty tough savings plan. That will change some if we move but I refuse to buy a home that puts a drain on us.

I wish. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to spending. The boat and truck I just purchased this summer I pretty much paid cash for them. Our house payment is low enough that I don't ever feel a drain to make the payment. Everything else is paid for at this time put my wife is looking hard for a new home. Our biggest problem is we so few bills its easy to waist money so we stick to pretty tough savings plan. That will change some if we move but I refuse to buy a home that puts a drain on us.
Of course I was just being funny . I want to take the next few years and work my ass off , invest all of it and hope to retire comfortably .... I do plan on being charitable as we approach the holidays .

For you guys sticking money into your 401 which is a good idea but make sure you are deverisfied and not buying a bunch of company stock. Alot of people have been burned doing this when the co goes belly up.

i never looked/ thought at retirement( im 48) but this past weekend my wife and i crunched some of the numbers. if things stay exactly the same, we will be doing alright. i plan on retiring at age 62. hopefully without working again