by Tricia
Yesterday I answered a few of your questions the other day, and here are the rest…
Jaime asks:
I remember at one point you were going to give more details about your side business. I’ve always wondered what you are doing and how it is going. I love it when you say things seem to be going well with it, and I just want so much more information about it!
If you care to share that is!
The thing about our side business is that it is in such a small niche. That prevents me from giving more details then the generic ones I have given. I tell a few more details in response to Anonymous Reader’s question below.
Sharon asks:
Hi Tricia, I’m curious if you’ll continue to become totally debt-free at the same intensity as you did with becoming credit card debt-free.
Also, what do you do for your regular paying job?
And last, once you’re totally debt free, do you want to stay and live in the same area where you are now? I think you’ve commented before that you’d like to be closer to family but couldn’t afford to right now. I love when you talk about buying your future “cabin”. Congrats on all you’ve accomplished!!!
Now that we have paid off our credit card debt, our rate of debt reduction will slow down. There is some spending we’d like to do in regards to our home. We’ve put off a few repairs so we had more money to put towards our credit cards. We are also going to concentrate on filling many baskets (see this post for more info). For my regular paying job, I’d rather not say what that is.
We do love where we live. We fought hard to live here and make it work. I do miss my family like you wouldn’t believe. The goal is to have a lifestyle and income that would allow us to travel more to visit them.
Thanks for the congrats!
Jim asks:
What do you focus on now?
Many, many things LOL. I detailed them in this post (written after your question).
Anonymous Reader asks:
It might be helpful to share a few details of the business – how you selected the idea/product, how long it took you to set it up, what it cost to set up, how much revenue it has generated and when, and how much you net from it now. If you see the business as replacing one or both of you job incomes in the future, how much revenue and net profit you expect from the business and how long until you make the change?
You seemed to accelerate the debt repayment when your husband went to work full time. Would you share some of the income info and how you used tha additional income?
Finally, you still have student loans and a mortgage. I think your mortgage is around $35,000, but I can’t recall if you ever said how much the two of you have in student loans. What is your debt repayment plan for the remaining debt and how much do you have left to pay? How do you anticipate paying for your son’s education – will you advise him to take on student loans?
I have really enjoyed reading your blog and watching your ideas and attitudes evolve over the last several years. The quotes from your son demonstate how much you have changed. I hope you will continue to update your readers on your progress in paying off the remaining debt and increasing your income.
With our business, it was the result of finding a small niche that needed products we could provide. It took a lot of our time to set-up due to laying down the infrastructure and creating products. But it didn’t cost much to get the ball rolling (less than $3K). It is forecasted that the business profit will surpass my husband’s income next year.
All of our income from various sources went towards our expenses and the extra went towards debt and savings. An exception would be the capital that we initially invested in our business.
As of right now our student loans are roughly $29K. Our mortgage is at $33.5K. The plan is to concentrate on our mortgage and pay extra money towards that (I gave some reasonings in my responses to questions yesterday). For our son, I mentioned some time ago that he will not have money given to him for college. I have changed my perspective on that a little bit. He may have some help, but he has to work towards it as well. We will not advise him against student loans, since they may be necessary depending on where he goes to college (if he chooses to go). But he will understand the full ramifications of what taking one out means and I hope everything we teach him the next 10 years will prepare him for making sound financial decisions.
I am glad you have enjoyed reading my posts. I will still be writing on here although not on a regular basis and I will give more details about that tomorrow.
Thank you everyone for your questions!
Regarding the 4 Hour Work Week. I too have read Timothy Ferris book. I understand and agree with his philosophy not because I was to be filthy rich but because I want to live my life my way. I am not fulfilled at my job.
My husband and my goal is to use a home business we start to pay down our debt pretty aggressively then build up our savings. We want to travel and are five years away from having no kids under 18 at home.
The one problem I am having is finding or creating the right product. Ug! I keep plugging away though.
When the kids were little I would have thought teaching them financially was easy and that it guaranteed they would make quality choices in education and loans. What I know now is even though they are legally adults when making these choices, they are not mature. Even though they know the truth about debt and savings, it does not stop all of them from making the wrong choices.
Sometimes, it is what it is and that is all it is. When college comes for your son, it will be his choice and his burden to carry.
My daughter has a choice at 100% free education at a private college or a partial paid college education at a state school and is going to the state school – which will deplete her savings 100%, not leave cash for international travels, and require her to work just to survive. Her choice, but I have not understanding as to why it would be this one, when you receive the same piece of paper.
Your mortgage is at $33.5K?! Wow!
How long have you been paying that off? Can we ask what percentage of the original amount you have remaining?
I would be so super excited if my mortgage was down to 33.5k! That amount is a down payment around here! (a high down payment, granted, but not more than a down payment)
Caitlin – our mortgage (no money down) was a little over $35K.