If you’re new here, you might think it’s a little premature to talk about what we’ll do when we’re debt free. After all, at our last monthly budget report, our remaining debt was just over $30,000.
That may sound like a long way off, but considering we started at over $130,000, it feels like we’re on the homestretch. The end is in sight. We made slow and steady progress over the first two years, then about six months ago, we really ramped up our payments and we’re gaining traction faster than ever!
At the time we set our goal of paying off our six figures of debt by the end of 2016, it was really a stretch goal. According to our numbers then, it was impossible. Now, we even have hopes of paying it off earlier than our original goal.
With all this excitement, I’ve received lots of questions about our future plans. I’m going to try to answer the most common ones today. If you have a different question, feel free to ask in the comments, send me an email, or reply to any of my emails (you can subscribe here).
Here goes!
Are you still going to blog?
You betcha! I’m hooked!
Blogging has been a big part of our journey to get out of debt. From motivation and accountability, to helping others and earning an income too. I’m here for the long haul.
Some readers have asked if we’ll have to change the blog name. Nope. We’ll still be here at the same url. I’ll probably change the logo/tagline to be similar to what I have on my Facebook page.
I will still be sharing frugal inspiration and financial motivation, we just won’t be in super debt-payoff mode. We will still be living super frugally (more on that below). I also plan to spotlight some of my readers’ debt payoff stories!
Are you still going to live in your in-laws’ basement?
I get this question all the time! We’ve been living in my in-laws’ unfinished basement for three and a half years. It has actually gone by really fast.
While it’s not much to look at, this unconventional living arrangement has saved us so much money and has blessed us in other ways. It’s not for everyone, but it has worked out wonderfully for us.
So, yes, we are going to stay a little while longer while we work on our next big financial goal. I’m hoping that will take maybe a year, but that might be overly optimistic.
What’s your next financial goal?
I’m glad you asked! We want to buy a house!!!
We don’t want to go rent somewhere while we save. We’ll make much faster progress if we stay put for a little longer. Moving twice would be a nightmare.
California is not a cheap place for real estate, so saving 20% for a down payment will take some time. We’re not letting ourselves even look at properties or financing now, but as soon as we’re debt-free we will. Depending on the programs available, we might get away with less of a down payment (though we don’t want to pay PMI). We will likely buy in a rural area and we will be first-time home buyers (again), so maybe there will be some special financing available.
Oh, and after we buy a house (or maybe I should say “buy” a house), we will be back to being six figures under again with our mortgage! Good thing we weren’t going to change our domain name.
Aren’t your in-laws ready to be rid of you already?
Maybe, but they tell us they like having us here. And they’re good, honest people, so we believe them. If that’s not the truth, then I guess overstaying our welcome is their consequence for lying. (I kid.)
I’m sure there are aspects of having their house all to themselves again that are exciting (like quiet, for example), but they aren’t pushing us out the door. In fact my mother-in-law keeps mentioning that she hopes we stay really close still.
Are you still going to make your personal finances public?
For the past two-and-a-half years, we have been totally transparent with our personal finances. Each month we’ve shared everything we’ve earned, spent, and paid in debt.
That accountability has been huge for us! Knowing that we will be sharing all of our financial details with you definitely makes us think twice about what we do with our money.
I’m planning to continue making personal finance public here, at least while we save up for a house. Thankfully we don’t have bad money habits that we risk slipping back into, but when we’re debt-free, it might be easy to justify unnecessary things. I don’t want to fall into that.
What are you going to do to celebrate being debt-free?
This is where it gets fun! 🙂 Let’s pretend we’re talking face-to-face and you asked me this question. I would probably ask you to guess.
So take a split second and guess, just for fun. 🙂
We’re not going to Disneyland or on a cruise. We’re not going out to a fancy restaurant or getting fancy champagne (we don’t even drink).
We are getting new bikes (and new helmets) for the whole family!
Our kids all have bikes that don’t really fit them and don’t work well. They were all thrift store finds or yard sale finds for under $10 that we fixed up, but they are pretty spent now. My husband’s bike is 14 years old and needs repairs, but should be fine when those are done. My bike was stolen a little before we got married.
Family bike rides are right up our alley though. We wanted a reward that involved the whole family because we have really made our goal a family affair.
We estimate that it will cost about $1100 to outfit the whole family with bikes and helmets. We’re looking at spending about $600 total for my husband and me and $100 for each of the three older kids. For the baby, we are deciding between a handlebar seat and a bike trailer. (Any input?) Helmets for the six of us will add on about $120.
We are also going to buy the kids their own (nicer) sleeping bags. We have hand-me-down sleeping bags for the kids, but they are in sad shape. Every time we go camping (one of our favorite free family activities) there is arguing about who gets the one with the broken zipper or who had the ripped one last time.
When we’re not packing our gear in, we usually bring lots of blankets to supplement our sorry sleeping bags. We go camping enough to make real sleeping bags worth it though.
We estimate that our entire celebration reward for paying off our six figures of student loan debt will cost around $1300. Of course we’ll be smart shoppers (shop around, price match, use ebates, etc.), but I’m sure you figured as much.
And that about covers the most frequently asked questions about what the SixFiguresUnder family will be doing after paying off six figures of law school debt.
How about you?
- What are your plans when you’re debt free?
- What will you do to celebrate your great accomplishment?
I love your celebration ideas! Just think this is probably the last summer with ratty sleeping bags and old bikes 🙂
10 years ago I “invested” in kayaks for our family. It was a lot of money and I shopped wisely. We had many years of fun with them.
I guess I’m old fashioned, but those bike trailers for babies scare me! I guess one wouldn’t be bad for trail riding but in traffic they’re frightening. Boise has a big bike population but still lots of narrow streets. People strap their kids in expensive padded car seats inside a big SUV but they’ll put them in a little trailer made of pop cans & canvas in the middle of rush hour traffic! I know you’re smart enough to know what’s safe; like I said, I’m old fashioned. And when I was young I used to ride a horse with my baby tied around my middle. Lol We get weird when we get old. haha
You are cracking me up Linda! 🙂
Your plans sound wonderful Stephanie! After we’re debt free we plan to save enough to pay cash for a house and then buy one.
Wow! Paying cash for a house would be awesome! Go Amy!
We are already debt free except for the mortgage. Since we are challenging ourselves to pay cash for my grad school right now, we are going to celebrate when I am done with it. My last class ends with the last week of March next year in 2017. We plan on celebrating by taking a family trip to Disney World. We are driving down in our van with my SIL and their kids in their van, and some seasoned Disney traveler friends are giving us tips for keeping it as cheap as possible but still hit the highlights we want. We have never been on a family vacation , except to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Cleveland, so this will be a first for us.
That’s very cool that you’re paying for grad school debt-free! That will definitely be worth celebrating when you’re done!
I’m so glad you are doing something to celebrate your payoff. I’ve kinda been wondering if you had plans for that. It doesn’t matter what it is or how much you spend, just that you mark the occasion in some way. I think its great that you are including the kids in the splurge since the whole family definitely had to sacrifice.
I can’t wait to see you met your goal, but now I’m wondering if you plan to pay off your mortgage as quickly as possible too!
Thanks Pamela! That’s a good question about the mortgage. Since we have put pretty much all other financial things on hold while we pay off this debt (retirement, vehicles, etc), we will want to do a little catching up there before we rush to pay off our mortgage early. With our last house, we got a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30, which we will hopefully do again (that saves SOOO much in interest). Hopefully our vehicles will outlast our debt (it’s iffy), but even if they do, they will need to be replaced soon after (and with something that’s not on its last legs!)!
Congratulations!
A more expensive solution for kids and biking is the Madsen bucket bike. This was a debt-free gift for ourselves, and we have not once regretted our choice. Their website is madsencycles.com. We were hesitant if we would like it more than pulling a trailer as it obviously costs more than a trailer. It is a great ride, and the kids love it too.
I have been thinking of a cargo bike since my SIL brought stories of them back from Amsterdam. I am so short though, around 5′, I tend to need a much smaller bike to ride comfortably. I wonder if something like this would be comfortable for me?
I am only 5’5″ and I don’t have the seat lowered all the way. I find it easier than a trailer because it doesn’t “chug” or pull. It feels just like a regular bike, I just need to account for wider turns. I guess I can’t say for sure for you, and I get the concern and wonder about if it would work for you. We made the effort to find a bike to test ride before we purchased since it did cost much more than our frugal souls were used to paying!
Thanks for the idea Laurie! My good friend has a Madsen and loves it! She stalked Craigslist for a while and found a really great deal on it. Can you put it on the back of a car to transport it? We live in the boonies and would want to bring our bikes to a trail head far from our house to ride on some of the great trails they have here. The other thing is that I will probably do some riding on my own or with my husband where I wouldn’t want the cargo capabilities (we’ve done some triathlons and distance riding together).
You could get it in a truck, but it is pretty big! We have our own bikes and the cargo bike for the very reason you talk about. It is not for everyone, but we do love it!
Love this post! I have a trailer that we used to pull our baby behind our bicycle. We really loved it and she did too. It was great because there is room to throw a diaper, drinks, and a few snacks in there too for longer rides. Another good thing is it prevents sunburn and has a mesh liner, sorta like a tent, so bugs won’t fly into your child’s face and it stays cool in there. Also, it seems as soon as we begin to ride she would fall asleep so it was cozy enough for her to nap in. Ours is big enough that our 1 year old and 3 year old both would get in it sometimes. They have outgrown it now so I am going to yard sale it. FYI, Sam’s club usually has a good price on these this time of year. We found this out after we had already paid a little more online. Just read the reviews before you purchase because some are made better than others. I would send mine to you but the shipping to California from Mississippi for such a large item would probably be astronomical. Great choice for a reward for all your efforts!
Those are some good points about the bike trailer! And thanks for the tip about Sam’s Club. We will definitely shop around and read reviews before we decide on anything. 🙂 Shipping one of those things would definitely be a pain and cost a lot! Selling it locally is definitely the way to go! It will go fast, I ‘m sure! It’s the season!
Another good point, they are easy to recoup your money when ready to get rid of it.
I knew you would do sometching low key after debt payoff! It’s just in your nature. I think it’s wonderful that you’re involving your kids. My big student loan will be gone on Friday!! I still have a car loan so I’m not debt free, but I’m celebrating. I’m buying myself a Tiffany necklace that I’ve been wanting for about 8 years, and on Saturday, I’m heading off to Iceland! May is also my anniversary month at my job so I get a small raise, but on the 16th, I begin training for a better position and when training is complete, I get a VERY nice raise. The next goal is to pay off that car then get a 6 month emergency fund. Those goals should be complete by the end of the year 🙂
Friday– That’s exciting! Celebrate!! Congrats in advance on the upcoming raises! You’ll be in a great place financially by the end of the year!
I love this post! I think about being debt free so often. When we reach our goal I want to go on a vacation so bad! We havent had a real vacation in our entire marriage. This thought keeps me going.
That will be sooo exciting for you! You can do it!!
Oh Stephanie, this was SUCH a fun post to read! I’ve been waiting for a post of this nature for a loooooong time! I’m super super excited that it was time to share it BECAUSE you truly are on the homestretch. It’s hard to show over the computer HOW excited I am for you, but trust just me! 🙂 You and your family are an inspiration beyond words (especially your attitude thru it all) to the rest of us. So thank you. Thank you for being YOU, and thank you for sharing YOU with US.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Liz! 🙂 I had fun writing it too! Thanks for being such a wonderful cheerleader!