I'm on the 6 figure debt payoff with you as well! I've just gotten myself under 96K and have made some radical changes in hopes to pay it all off within 15-18 months. I take home approximately $5600 a month (I work two full time jobs) and have moved out of my apartment into my car...since I was only home 5 hours a day...no sense for me keeping it! so with giving up the apt....that $ now goes to debt payoff. I'm a single person and realize my method is extreme and not feasible nor desired for most, but I'm willing to sacrifice to get this debt gone. You are kicking butt and your channel is certainly motivating!
There is another utuber out there who for a variety of reasons lived in thier car for a while to pay off a hunk of debt. Do keep your mind and eyes open for house sitting and also care taking with room opportunities. And/ or consider renting every so often for 1 to 6 months.
Oh wow, you are definitely making sacrifices to get out of debt! I applaud you for that. Please stay safe out there! And thank you! I’m glad you are getting motivation from my videos, but I think you are the one who is truly motivating! ❤️
I can’t wait for the series😊 Y’all are killing it. Marc is such a superstar. I hope he gets breaks so he doesn’t get burnt out quick. Speaking from experience in healthcare. Same here w/ my mom she always has a place😊 Japan would be amazing
We were really worried about him doing this position for that reason. He did it a few years back and was burned out and hard to take a break from it. They restructured some things now though, and it hasn’t been nearly as hard for him this time around. I don’t think he’ll want to do it forever, but I think he does want to do it at least for a couple more years to pay off the debt and do some fun things after. We’ll see how it goes though! It’s always something I’m worried about 😫
Once you pay off the debt, if you maintain your current lifestyle you should be able to put like $4,000-$5,000 per month to your emergency fund. You will have the emergency fund 6 month goal hit in no time once the debt is gone
I just love seeing this! I think you're right to plan what you are going to do when you are debt-free - it helps so much to have a vision about where you are headed and why you are doing what you are doing in the present!
Right?! And this is a conservative goal! Ideally it would be closer to May, but we don’t want to be too aggressive, just in case! 😬 thanks for watching! And happy Friday!
Hey Katie! I’m so excited for this series! An end date is an exciting thing to have and to hear it broken down in months is even better. Yay 😁 🎉. You got this!
Oh I am liking the idea of this series. You do so much to set an example to people who are really trying to pay off debt. Loved the segway to the Cats Fighting. I had just noticed those fluffy tails and then you went with it.
Hi Katie, that's amazing that you're planning to be debt free by Sept 2026! I love the goals u have for after debt freedom, will def help u strive to get there! Looking for to continuing to support u and cheer u on!
Years ago, we knew a family that bought a 3.5 story, vertical box, of a fixer-upper. The one set of parents were frequent visitors during the initial rennovations to the family's living quarters at the top and as consoderations were being made about the middle it was decided to make it quarters for the parents. At the initial time the parents were making retirement plans, thinking of downsizing, and wanting to spend as much time traveling as they could. I dont know the details but the parents ended up making 3 yo 6 trips per year, depending upon cost and destination. Ultimately they all moved to a split level and made an apartment in the basement with no stairs involved so the parents could age in place. It worked out well.
I'm here catching up on all your content. I cannot believe how far behind i am! Normally I have one or two videos . But 😳... there are a lot more lol. I'm so excited for all the updates! ❤❤❤
Girl, please do not have to feel like you have to catch up! You are always so supportive, and I know you love me 😂😂 you don’t have to catch every one! I appreciate either way! ❤️
I am a big fan of prioritizing an emergency fund. My head just hits the pillow better. I love all of your future goals. My wife and I live on private land right next to my parents and one of my brothers, so we get to see them often. We've also never been out of the country and have decided that our forties are a good time to start taking those trips. We're planning on Rome next year - definitely scary, I have a lot of research to do, and I may pick up some language software to try and get to a basic tourist level of Italian. I think it's possible to get around without it, but it might be a fun way to challenge myself a little bit.
I know I’ll sleep better with a bigger emergency fund, too! That’s awesome that you are going to start prioritizing travel. Rome sounds amazing! I’d definitely love to go there someday as well ☺️
2026 is right around the corner Katie - its soooo doable - promise me that once the debt paid off you really do those things with your family and Marc - they are the reason you do your debt pay off and they deserve it as much as you do ....Time flies so fast when your kids are small and they are growing so fast - dont miss any more to the debt - go :) glenda
Thank you, Glenda! I promise we will definitely be enjoying life a whole lot more once the debt is gone, especially with traveling! We are really looking forward to it 😄
Hi Katie. Saturday 02/11/24 First visit. I saw you in Mary's Pennies not perfection video comments and was curious about you! Smart to increase your emergency fund, the peace of mind is priceless. Thanks for sharing and abundant wishes for progressing with your countdown. 👍
Thank you so much for being here for so long! I am glad you decided to stop by from Mary's channel all those months ago. She is a huge inspiration to me :)
The debt payoff goes faster when you are paying less to interest. I imagine the May 2026 goal date could be a 'if everything goes well' goal. Very exciting to have a very achievable goal.
My partner want us to go to Japan and I’m also nervous about the language difference lol. I think that’s trip will be a great motivator for paying off your debt!
I think it will keep Marc motivated for sure since he’s not super concerned about paying off the debt. It helps to have something exciting to look forward to ☺️
Braces reminds me that another big-ish medical expense that most kids need is wisdom teeth. Cost me a couple thousand per child. Mine did them around age 16.
Hi Katie,👋🏾 Great debt freedom plan!🎉 You can also start a 529 or custodial account for your kids now to help defray college or home-buying costs later.💸Tfs.🙂
In the mix over the next 2 years, if its not too much information, i would love to see what you are doing to maintain your budget line items, live life yet remain frugal, maybe you challenge yourself in some cash savings efforts, and so on.
@@KatieoftheHouse Savings is just about spending less money which may mean using a $.25 coupon or something more significant. Re-allocating those savings is a different thing whether you put it in an Emergency fund, pay off debt, or buy a McDonald's hot fudge Sunday. - But that can be a whole topic in and of itself. Let's say you spend $100 on clothing but per the signs every thing is at least 25% off; theoretically you have a $25 savings. However, there is no $25 in your pocketbook that the sales clerk gave you as enticement to for you to spend $100 on thier clothing. The question being when is a sale actually a savings to the immediate budget, the annual budget, and how does one re-allocate the dollars from a savings sale. For example, when we came across $2/ lb butter we emptied the $40 in our pockets, bought, shuffled immediate spend money, put butter in the freezer and were satisfied that we would feel that savings even if we didn't account for it. When we went back a month or two later with $40 butter money to discover it was closer to date and $1/ lb we spent our budgeted amount plus some for over twice the expected amount. On the other hand, most times is see a clothing sales rack with a "save X%" I calculated the sales price amd dont even consider the savings a out when making my decision. There have been lean income and/ or saving times that with each purchase made if there was any savings the dollar's (and cents) worth of savings was extracted from the spending money and put aside for a specified something else be it electricity money, a special tool/ toy set-aside, or other.
Thank you! I’m not the best, but I love my mom. She’s one of my favorite people! And she and Marc have a good relationship, too. It helps so much that he doesn’t mind her being with us, too ❤️
Thank you! It’s definitely an option that I have on the back burner. I would 100% do that if i thought paying off the car would take more than 3 years past when we purchased it, but I think we should get it knocked out 2 years after purchase, so a year from now ☺️
Well done on your progress and good luck with the rest of your journey. One thing puzzles me, why don’t you get a job as you clearly have many skills and a second reliable income would make a big difference, to not just your debt elimination, but also in saving for your boys education and your retirement. I say this a a working mother and our joint income and efforts allowed us to not just retire early but also to help our kids with 3rd level education and getting onto the property ladder which has been so rewarding and no mean feat in London!
Thank you so much! That’s a fair question ☺️ I homeschool my boys, which has been very important to us, so I probably could not work a full time job because of that. However, I have considered going back to work part time, and I definitely would if we needed me to. I feel as though our main issue were not from lack of income, but from bad spending habits though. My husband should make enough by himself for us to live a good, comfortable life if we can spend responsibly and get the debt paid off. That’s really what we’ve been working on: getting those habit habits under control.
@@KatieoftheHouseI didn’t work-I homeschooled- while we paid off our 100K. Yes we could’ve done it a little faster but my top priority was being home with my kids. I was also able to cook at home and save us money in a bunch of ways so it was well worth it!!
I know you will consider this as radical. But for the year of 2025, do not make ANY investments. I think if you did that I think you could get the majority of the debt paid in 2025 too. Maybe all of it. Yes you would sacrifice Marc's employer match. But its again ONLY for one year. I would not suggest except you have shared your prior investment percentages. And I suspect right now you would be at what the FIRE movement calls "coast FIRE" already. Now I am not a great advocate of Marc thinking of retiring at such a young age. Maybe a career change which has a lower income though might be asomething for him to consider. Mae sure if he is thinking of leaving the NP role, he knows what he is going to do.. BTW even a 2026 debt payoff would be great.
I don’t think that’s radical necessarily. I know a lot do people do that when they are getting out of debt. I just need to get over my fear that we won’t have enough in retirement. Maybe I can ease my way into not saving for retirement. I did decrease our contributions, so I want to see what that looks like on his checks. IF we could be debt free in 2025, it might be worth reducing more, but that seems impossible right now. I’m always more conservative in what I think we can do versus what we actually do though, so you may be right!
I'm in sort of semi-agreement, I come from a background of a lot of consumer debt, now all paid and debt free. Our debt free journey was just short of 5 years, we did little investing then and paid off everything including mortgage and kids college expenses. We have retained our budget and frugality and have the same mindset we had while paying off debt now transferred to investing and saving. Even Papa Dave in the baby steps after paying off consumer debt and saving 3-6 months in an emergency fund advises 15% in retirement then go after the mortgage. I personally think it is easier to do only (1) thing well at a time and since debt has an emotional impact that affects our thinking, the pay off sooner at the expense of investing as long as it is for a short time period, is a good idea. The math argues for investing but doesn't consider the emotional aspect. Some argue to the contrary, but debt was an anvil on our back, we get rid of that weight and put the pedal to the metal on investing which is what we did and for example in 2023 we invested 50% of our income which is, when I think about it, hard to wrap my head around.
I'm on the 6 figure debt payoff with you as well! I've just gotten myself under 96K and have made some radical changes in hopes to pay it all off within 15-18 months. I take home approximately $5600 a month (I work two full time jobs) and have moved out of my apartment into my car...since I was only home 5 hours a day...no sense for me keeping it! so with giving up the apt....that $ now goes to debt payoff.
I'm a single person and realize my method is extreme and not feasible nor desired for most, but I'm willing to sacrifice to get this debt gone.
You are kicking butt and your channel is certainly motivating!
There is another utuber out there who for a variety of reasons lived in thier car for a while to pay off a hunk of debt. Do keep your mind and eyes open for house sitting and also care taking with room opportunities. And/ or consider renting every so often for 1 to 6 months.
Oh wow, you are definitely making sacrifices to get out of debt! I applaud you for that. Please stay safe out there!
And thank you! I’m glad you are getting motivation from my videos, but I think you are the one who is truly motivating! ❤️
@@KatieoftheHouse Thank you for the kind words and support. I'll keep you updated on my journey as I follow yours!
@@terryhenderson424 Thank you for the suggestions!
@@rare2find0918 please do! 🥰
I can’t wait for the series😊 Y’all are killing it. Marc is such a superstar. I hope he gets breaks so he doesn’t get burnt out quick. Speaking from experience in healthcare. Same here w/ my mom she always has a place😊 Japan would be amazing
We were really worried about him doing this position for that reason. He did it a few years back and was burned out and hard to take a break from it. They restructured some things now though, and it hasn’t been nearly as hard for him this time around. I don’t think he’ll want to do it forever, but I think he does want to do it at least for a couple more years to pay off the debt and do some fun things after. We’ll see how it goes though! It’s always something I’m worried about 😫
We are here supporting you in hammering that debt down! Life does happen, but love that you are setting goals to obtain success.
Thank you! I really hope we’ll be closer to that May 2026 timeline, but I’ll be A-okay with October (or somewhere in between), too!
Amazing news that debt freedom is even closer for you guys now. You've accomplished so much already too. Exciting times ahead.
Thank you so much! I hope you are doing well 🥰
Once you pay off the debt, if you maintain your current lifestyle you should be able to put like $4,000-$5,000 per month to your emergency fund. You will have the emergency fund 6 month goal hit in no time once the debt is gone
So true, Alli! That will happen quickly without all of the debt payments.
I just love seeing this! I think you're right to plan what you are going to do when you are debt-free - it helps so much to have a vision about where you are headed and why you are doing what you are doing in the present!
Thank you! I agree that having a good vision is so helpful and gives you something to work toward! ☺️
Love this new series, Katie. I think your timeline is doable, but also make sure to give yourself grace on this journey :)
Thanks, Brooke! Yes, I’m sure we’ll definitely need plenty of grace along the way. So much can happen in two years!
Crazy to think that you did so well with paying off debt this far that you can move up the goal date with almost a year and a half 🤯
And, the original payoff calendar was no play in the park schedule either.
Right?! And this is a conservative goal! Ideally it would be closer to May, but we don’t want to be too aggressive, just in case! 😬 thanks for watching! And happy Friday!
Hey Katie! I’m so excited for this series! An end date is an exciting thing to have and to hear it broken down in months is even better. Yay 😁 🎉. You got this!
Thank you! I’m excited to have an end date in mind now that seems realistic and achievable, but also kind of close! 😆
You guys are kicking butt! I bet you beat your goal! Can't wait to see the progress! - Amanda PS -- Japan will be awesome!
Thank you, Amanda! I appreciate the encouragement ☺️
Oh I am liking the idea of this series. You do so much to set an example to people who are really trying to pay off debt. Loved the segway to the Cats Fighting. I had just noticed those fluffy tails and then you went with it.
They are always up to something when I film in that room 😂 it’s like they want to show off.
And thank you, Dee! I’m excited for this series 😄
Hi Katie, that's amazing that you're planning to be debt free by Sept 2026! I love the goals u have for after debt freedom, will def help u strive to get there! Looking for to continuing to support u and cheer u on!
Thank you, Stephanie! I appreciate you always being such a bright spot of encouragement in my day. You’re the best 💛💛💛
I love this series. I’m so excited to see the progress you make, and how much you guys kick butt.
Thank you, Ang!! 😄🧡
Wahoo - this is so exciting. The end of debt is in sight!!! The sacrifices now will be so worth it.
Most definitely worth it! I can see that light at the end of the tunnel getting brighter and brighter :)
You will see that the second half of the debt goes faster than the first half. It has to do with interest. Congratulations to your family
Oh yes, I really hope that we’ll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly the rest goes 🤞🏼
Years ago, we knew a family that bought a 3.5 story, vertical box, of a fixer-upper. The one set of parents were frequent visitors during the initial rennovations to the family's living quarters at the top and as consoderations were being made about the middle it was decided to make it quarters for the parents. At the initial time the parents were making retirement plans, thinking of downsizing, and wanting to spend as much time traveling as they could. I dont know the details but the parents ended up making 3 yo 6 trips per year, depending upon cost and destination. Ultimately they all moved to a split level and made an apartment in the basement with no stairs involved so the parents could age in place. It worked out well.
That sounds perfect!
Hi Katie. I’m excited about your new series. 🎉🎉🎉🎉 way to go.
Thank you so much! ☺️
So excited to see you have a debt pay off goal date- I’m here to bet you’ll do it even sooner!!!
Thank you so much for the encouragement, Erin! I really hope we can do it sooner!
I'm here catching up on all your content. I cannot believe how far behind i am! Normally I have one or two videos . But 😳... there are a lot more lol. I'm so excited for all the updates! ❤❤❤
Girl, please do not have to feel like you have to catch up! You are always so supportive, and I know you love me 😂😂 you don’t have to catch every one! I appreciate either way! ❤️
I am a big fan of prioritizing an emergency fund. My head just hits the pillow better. I love all of your future goals. My wife and I live on private land right next to my parents and one of my brothers, so we get to see them often. We've also never been out of the country and have decided that our forties are a good time to start taking those trips. We're planning on Rome next year - definitely scary, I have a lot of research to do, and I may pick up some language software to try and get to a basic tourist level of Italian. I think it's possible to get around without it, but it might be a fun way to challenge myself a little bit.
I know I’ll sleep better with a bigger emergency fund, too!
That’s awesome that you are going to start prioritizing travel. Rome sounds amazing! I’d definitely love to go there someday as well ☺️
2026 is right around the corner Katie - its soooo doable - promise me that once the debt paid off you really do those things with your family and Marc - they are the reason you do your debt pay off and they deserve it as much as you do ....Time flies so fast when your kids are small and they are growing so fast - dont miss any more to the debt - go :) glenda
Thank you, Glenda! I promise we will definitely be enjoying life a whole lot more once the debt is gone, especially with traveling! We are really looking forward to it 😄
Awesome plan! I did an estimated payoff plan for the next year to see where we could be at the end of 2025 and it’s an eye opener!
It's definitely good to know where you stand! I hope you were pleasantly surprised!
I’m so excited for your journey and then milestones you are going to hit. 😊
Thank you so much! 💕💕
Great plan, Japan sounds awesome!
It does! There have a lot of cool nerdy things there 😂
Looking forward to this new series. Cheering you on 🎉
Yay! Thank you so much!
I'm super excited about this series
Thank you! I am so glad to hear it! :)
Hey Katie!! ❤😊
LET'S GO!!!;❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉 so excited for y'all!!!!
hahaha the cats heard you "Unexpected expenses?! That's our cue!' 😂
Thank you, Hailey! I cannot wait to be debt free!
I love those cats, but they are menaces for sure 😂
Looking forward this new series😊 Cheering you on from Sweden 😊
Thank you so much! ☺️💕
Katie 👋🏾 I think your new series is a wonderful idea! I am always inspired after watching your videos! Can’t wait to watch this series!!🌸🌺💖
Thank you so much, Paula! I appreciate that!
Hi Katie. Saturday 02/11/24 First visit. I saw you in Mary's Pennies not perfection video comments and was curious about you! Smart to increase your emergency fund, the peace of mind is priceless. Thanks for sharing and abundant wishes for progressing with your countdown. 👍
Thank you so much for being here for so long! I am glad you decided to stop by from Mary's channel all those months ago. She is a huge inspiration to me :)
Let's Goooo! You are doing an amazing job! I'm on a 6 figure debt journey as well! I'm dreaming of the day when I see zeros across the board. 😊
Thank you!! I’m sorry you have so much debt, but I’m glad to have you on this journey with me! We CAN do it! 🙌🏼🎉
Enjoying your new series.
Thank you, Susan!
If I were a betting person I would bet you will be there by May of 2026 but its the journey that counts. Good Luck!!
Thank you for the confidence boost! I hope you are right! 😄🙌🏼
Hello Katie! Looking fwd to the new series!! 💜🌻🌷Exciting!
Thanks, Imani! 🤩🧡
Hi Katie! Here following your journey! We have the approximate same time frame 😊
Oh really!? That’s so cool! Let’s GO! 🙌🏼🎉
Very nice and looking forward to the new series!!
Thank you so much! I’m excited about it! 😄
The debt payoff goes faster when you are paying less to interest. I imagine the May 2026 goal date could be a 'if everything goes well' goal. Very exciting to have a very achievable goal.
I really hope that ends up being the actual date! I just wanted to give me a little space for life to happen, but May 2026 would be beyond amazing! 🤩
Only 2 years to gooooo!! 🎉🎉🎉
Sometimes it feels like a lot still, but we already have more than that under our belt, so I know we can do it 😄🙌🏼
Awesome
Thank you! 😄
My partner want us to go to Japan and I’m also nervous about the language difference lol. I think that’s trip will be a great motivator for paying off your debt!
I think it will keep Marc motivated for sure since he’s not super concerned about paying off the debt. It helps to have something exciting to look forward to ☺️
Omg love the HP squishmellows and blanket 😍
Thank you!! We love HP 🥰
I’d say by the end of 2026 for sure! So happy for you!
Thank you!! I think it’s definitely an achievable goal 😄🙌🏼
Looking forward to this series! I know you guys are gonna hit your mark 🤩
Thank you so much, Cheryl!! 🙌🏼❤️
Hey Katie, new subbie...looking forward to watching your content.
Welcome! Thank you so much for being here 😄
Great ❤ video
Thanks, Heather!
Braces reminds me that another big-ish medical expense that most kids need is wisdom teeth. Cost me a couple thousand per child. Mine did them around age 16.
Oooh good reminder! I’m sure we’ll need to save for that as well. There’s always something 😅
Hi Katie,👋🏾 Great debt freedom plan!🎉 You can also start a 529 or custodial account for your kids now to help defray college or home-buying costs later.💸Tfs.🙂
Thank you! I definitely need to start that ASAP when the debt is gone!
In the mix over the next 2 years, if its not too much information, i would love to see what you are doing to maintain your budget line items, live life yet remain frugal, maybe you challenge yourself in some cash savings efforts, and so on.
Thanks for the suggestions, Terry! I definitely need to make sure we are still saving along the way ☺️
@@KatieoftheHouse Savings is just about spending less money which may mean using a $.25 coupon or something more significant. Re-allocating those savings is a different thing whether you put it in an Emergency fund, pay off debt, or buy a McDonald's hot fudge Sunday. - But that can be a whole topic in and of itself. Let's say you spend $100 on clothing but per the signs every thing is at least 25% off; theoretically you have a $25 savings. However, there is no $25 in your pocketbook that the sales clerk gave you as enticement to for you to spend $100 on thier clothing.
The question being when is a sale actually a savings to the immediate budget, the annual budget, and how does one re-allocate the dollars from a savings sale. For example, when we came across $2/ lb butter we emptied the $40 in our pockets, bought, shuffled immediate spend money, put butter in the freezer and were satisfied that we would feel that savings even if we didn't account for it. When we went back a month or two later with $40 butter money to discover it was closer to date and $1/ lb we spent our budgeted amount plus some for over twice the expected amount. On the other hand, most times is see a clothing sales rack with a "save X%" I calculated the sales price amd dont even consider the savings a out when making my decision. There have been lean income and/ or saving times that with each purchase made if there was any savings the dollar's (and cents) worth of savings was extracted from the spending money and put aside for a specified something else be it electricity money, a special tool/ toy set-aside, or other.
Hi Katie, loving this new series and I’m excited to follow as you pay off your debt. You always inspire and motivate me🤎🧡🤍
You are so sweet! Thank you so much, Maria 🥰
You’re a good daughter🥰
Thank you! I’m not the best, but I love my mom. She’s one of my favorite people! And she and Marc have a good relationship, too. It helps so much that he doesn’t mind her being with us, too ❤️
Remember that your monthly expenses will be much less when the debt is paid off. So it should be easy to get your emergency fund saved fast.
Very true!! Hopefully it will go very quickly!
Great job so far! Have you ever thought about selling the car and getting a cheaper used one to speed up the debt pay off process?
Thank you! It’s definitely an option that I have on the back burner. I would 100% do that if i thought paying off the car would take more than 3 years past when we purchased it, but I think we should get it knocked out 2 years after purchase, so a year from now ☺️
I will have my non-mortgage debt paid off on or before April 7, 2030.
Let’s go with before! You can do it!
Um cute hair 😍😍
Thanks! 😉💛
Well done on your progress and good luck with the rest of your journey. One thing puzzles me, why don’t you get a job as you clearly have many skills and a second reliable income would make a big difference, to not just your debt elimination, but also in saving for your boys education and your retirement. I say this a a working mother and our joint income and efforts allowed us to not just retire early but also to help our kids with 3rd level education and getting onto the property ladder which has been so rewarding and no mean feat in London!
Thank you so much! That’s a fair question ☺️
I homeschool my boys, which has been very important to us, so I probably could not work a full time job because of that. However, I have considered going back to work part time, and I definitely would if we needed me to. I feel as though our main issue were not from lack of income, but from bad spending habits though. My husband should make enough by himself for us to live a good, comfortable life if we can spend responsibly and get the debt paid off. That’s really what we’ve been working on: getting those habit habits under control.
@@KatieoftheHouseI didn’t work-I homeschooled- while we paid off our 100K. Yes we could’ve done it a little faster but my top priority was being home with my kids. I was also able to cook at home and save us money in a bunch of ways so it was well worth it!!
I know you will consider this as radical. But for the year of 2025, do not make ANY investments. I think if you did that I think you could get the majority of the debt paid in 2025 too. Maybe all of it. Yes you would sacrifice Marc's employer match. But its again ONLY for one year. I would not suggest except you have shared your prior investment percentages. And I suspect right now you would be at what the FIRE movement calls "coast FIRE" already. Now I am not a great advocate of Marc thinking of retiring at such a young age. Maybe a career change which has a lower income though might be asomething for him to consider. Mae sure if he is thinking of leaving the NP role, he knows what he is going to do.. BTW even a 2026 debt payoff would be great.
We did the same! We didn’t invest while we paid off our 100K to do it as fast as possible.
I don’t think that’s radical necessarily. I know a lot do people do that when they are getting out of debt. I just need to get over my fear that we won’t have enough in retirement. Maybe I can ease my way into not saving for retirement. I did decrease our contributions, so I want to see what that looks like on his checks. IF we could be debt free in 2025, it might be worth reducing more, but that seems impossible right now. I’m always more conservative in what I think we can do versus what we actually do though, so you may be right!
I'm in sort of semi-agreement, I come from a background of a lot of consumer debt, now all paid and debt free. Our debt free journey was just short of 5 years, we did little investing then and paid off everything including mortgage and kids college expenses. We have retained our budget and frugality and have the same mindset we had while paying off debt now transferred to investing and saving. Even Papa Dave in the baby steps after paying off consumer debt and saving 3-6 months in an emergency fund advises 15% in retirement then go after the mortgage. I personally think it is easier to do only (1) thing well at a time and since debt has an emotional impact that affects our thinking, the pay off sooner at the expense of investing as long as it is for a short time period, is a good idea. The math argues for investing but doesn't consider the emotional aspect. Some argue to the contrary, but debt was an anvil on our back, we get rid of that weight and put the pedal to the metal on investing which is what we did and for example in 2023 we invested 50% of our income which is, when I think about it, hard to wrap my head around.