re: Tired Of Pinching Pennies!!

Bayou Bengal:

I like many have been in your shoes. You are choosing the tough road currently for future long-term success (Good Luck !). If you were going into debt (auto or cc) to maintain your new home and rental then you truly would need to sale the rental and recoup some of your cash and less stress. Considering you only have 1 baby with future kids on the way I would not stress too much on missed vacations currently. The only thing that might be concerning is how much of an Emergency fund (not counting the rental acct) do you have currently ? If not at least 2-3 months then consider getting there first. My last thought is to make sure you are ok in the short-term (less than 1 year) on stress for you to provide for your family ? If this becomes too much then maybe it is time to get rid of the rental ? I was in your shoes maybe 10 years ago and it is truly better now. I grinded it out with very boring vacations and old cars and now feel very happy the road i choose.

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May think about exchanging some of the 10% for my talents though.

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This is what I was worried about. IT's perfectly fine to dial this back some and nobody will judge you for it, especially if you cant put gas in your cars until the next paycheck hits.

If you're throwing $600 a month or something the church's way there's nothing wrong with dialing that back a couple hundred bucks because you're still doing way more than most others and if you truly feel guilty like others said volunteer for a bit at the church or something once a week or a few times a month. It's understandable you dont want to take that to $0 but gotta prioritize things here if you cant fulfill the basics for your family at least dial things back where you can and re-adjust the budget some for the needs.

Also agree with some others you either need to tap into the rental profit some to give yourself a little margin month to month (not saying use all the $700/mo, but it doesnt hurt to have some of that each month for yourself) or just sell the property, pay off the car and now you have yourself a lot of margin month to month with the proceeds from the sale with no debt outside the current house. It is VERY difficult for people living above their means or paycheck to paycheck to keep up with rental properties, in your case you arent using any of the profit you're getting and frankly you have to live the life you need to live. So if you're against doing that it's best to just get rid of the rental and not have to worry about it, ESPECIALLY when a big expense occurs and that $700/mo you've been saving up gets drained out real quick.

I dont think you're doing things especially wrong anywhere, might just need to re-prioritize some things and make some bigger moves if you dont want to tap into the rental income some because living paycheck to paycheck is no way to live life. The people giving you grief for 30% of net income to new house are nuts, thats totally fine and not especially high at all. It isnt 100% ideal but its not out of line by any means. It's not what's holding you back.

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Buying a larger home was pretty necessary for the point we were at in our lives. We were outgrowing our 1,000sqft home and wanting to add more children to the family. Keeping it as a rental was a long term play for us because of the $700/mo cash flow. Knowing we dont have the funds in our personal savings, Im choosing not to touch that profit just in case SHTF.

I consider myself pretty knowledgable when it comes to financial literacy it just seems like life and the economy are making things tight.

For everyone saying tithing to the church should not be happening, that is something I will have to chew on. That is a foundational principle I have held my entire life even when things were tight and I have always been blessed in life. May think about exchanging some of the 10% for my talents though.

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No disrespect intended, I truly wish the best for you, as I do everyone, but if you have a reason or justification for each financial decision you made to the point they are worth defending, then what exactly is the problem here?

You are correct, life and the economy are making things tight right now and sacrifices are necessary in times like these. It is what it is if you stick to your plan and take challenges as they come.

Edited down because you just venting.

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Motorboat

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It's high dude. He makes $100K/year so his note is $3000/mo

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Your math is a little off.

Thats 2500/month if his mortgage is 30% of $100k.

100,000(.30)=30,000/12=$2500

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Just had to get this off mt chest to some intelligent people.

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While I can’t speak for anyone else here, as for me & my house-

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I might be reading the whole post incorrectly

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but you are worried about putting gas in your car yet buying up golf carts, boats, and dirt bikes?

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no might to it. your reading skills are ridiculous.

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Education so not really without giving up a ton of time coaching or something.

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Do you love education, or do you love coaching? You can do coaching as a volunteer

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If he wants out of the rat race, get a heloc on the rental properties and start his own business.

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I'll never understand the "start your own business" advice.
Like how?

Some people have it. Most don't.

All of the answers are in front of him.

He’s just refusing to make the necessary changes.

When your truck is dead on the side of the road and out of gas, see if the pastor can give you a lift.