How ya livin' biggie smalls?
Dual income, no kids, and we're both pretty tight with money. We live in a small house, have three cars (all paid off) and we don't owe money on anything except the mortgage. We have an excellent APR on the mortgage and we overpay on every bill. Everything goes through the credit cards to help accrue points. If you sit on the points for a year or two, you get several hundred dollars in return. Enough to pay a month's bills at least. I fix everything that is within my handyman ability, which is quite a lot to be honest. If a car goes to the mechanic, it's because I don't have the equipment for the job. I build and maintain our computers myself and we don't use pay software. Every light in the house is CFL except those above the dinner table. We cook dinner at least 5 nights out of the week.
While neither of us draws a very large salary, this lifestyle gives us a lot of extra money. Much of it is invested but we spend some, too, if we feel like it. If my wife wants something, she gets it. If I want something, I get it. No questions asked. Money is a cause of a lot of marital stress, so with that in mind it has been a priority for us to always have enough of it so that even in a crisis, money would not be a primary concern. If one of us was to lose our job, the change in income would only affect our amount going to savings savings and particularly extravagant spending (jewelry, guns, etc). We would not have to dip into savings unless we lost half our income AND there was a major emergency. The reason we have three cars is so that if one of them fails, we would have as much time as we might need to save up for another one without affecting anything.
Dual income, no kids, and we're both pretty tight with money. We live in a small house, have three cars (all paid off) and we don't owe money on anything except the mortgage. We have an excellent APR on the mortgage and we overpay on every bill. Everything goes through the credit cards to help accrue points. If you sit on the points for a year or two, you get several hundred dollars in return. Enough to pay a month's bills at least. I fix everything that is within my handyman ability, which is quite a lot to be honest. If a car goes to the mechanic, it's because I don't have the equipment for the job. I build and maintain our computers myself and we don't use pay software. Every light in the house is CFL except those above the dinner table. We cook dinner at least 5 nights out of the week.
While neither of us draws a very large salary, this lifestyle gives us a lot of extra money. Much of it is invested but we spend some, too, if we feel like it. If my wife wants something, she gets it. If I want something, I get it. No questions asked. Money is a cause of a lot of marital stress, so with that in mind it has been a priority for us to always have enough of it so that even in a crisis, money would not be a primary concern. If one of us was to lose our job, the change in income would only affect our amount going to savings savings and particularly extravagant spending (jewelry, guns, etc). We would not have to dip into savings unless we lost half our income AND there was a major emergency. The reason we have three cars is so that if one of them fails, we would have as much time as we might need to save up for another one without affecting anything.
), as well as to have funds to deal with life's vicissitudes, including your eventual retirement, which may happen at a time not of your preference, based upon either being forced out, or due to health problems.
