Another payment down   My emergency fund took a little hit this month but at least it didn’t take a serious hit.  Just a few more months and it should be big enough so I can start putting that monthly money towards principal.

I got my car back from the dealership yesterday.  Everything was covered except for the deductible (need to double check the policy about this one) and I had them do a few other things.  Total cost for the 4k repair job came to a grand total of $350.  I am very happy that I was talked into the extended warranty on my car.

It looks like my car needs around $3k in work.  I was kicking myself when I bought the 100k mile extended warranty but it looks like it will come in handy   I will just need to cover the deductible and everything else should be covered.  It will probably take another 2 days for the repair, but as long as it is back to normal I will be happy.

I can’t believe it is the first day of June, at least I will be able to relax a little before I go back and take a few more classes next semester.  I am making progress on my emergency fund, but yesterday I had a few car problems.  I have it at the car repair shop right now so hopefully it won’t cost too much to repair it.  It actually does feel good to know that I have the cash to cover the repair and that I know I won’t put it on my credit card at 30% interest.  This probably will set me back a little towards paying more on principal but that is the reason why I have the emergency fund.

My next payment is coming up and another $4 will be going to principal.  Each month is another step closer

This is the last week of school for the semester.  I can’t wait to finally have some time off to do a few things around the house. 

This payment will add $8 more towards principal than last payment   I am still building my emergency fund and I am going to take a mini vacation with my girlfriend to Santa Fe for a couple days.  I will be so glad in 2 weeks when this semester is over.

Postings have been a little light.  I have finals coming up for a few classes and a project going on at work.  I can’t wait until mid May until everything quiets down again.

I read this article about a “cheapskate couple” who retired in their 40′s http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-to-Be-a-Savvy-usnews-3454225752.html?x=0  I can relate to this article since I have started to be more frugal with my money.  I am very comfortable with the changes that I have made and I could see how someone could retire in their 40′s if they didn’t have a mortgage payment.  It is all about priorities.  Do you want to keep up with the neighbors or do you want to take control of your situation and be financially sound?

I am taking a math class this semester and we just covered the topic of how much interest people pay when they take out loans on their homes.  I was surprised to see that almost every student didn’t really understand that a 200k home would end up costing them around 500k over 30 years.  Or that if they just put $200 more  a month on their payment they could cut off 9 years of payments.  It was a little weird to tell them that I refinanced to a 15 year mortgage and that I will probably have my house paid off in under 10 years.