5 Month Update

It has been almost 5 months now and I'll tell you what, it has flown by!

We now only owe $94,681 on our house and have saved a total of $46,799 in interest! I have so say, I have had some periods of difficulty mentally during this time. I have had days where I feel like the road is "sooo long", and when I start thinking like that I can feel the motivation being drained out of me. But then I try and remember the framework I had in place to combat those thoughts and feelings. I remember that I have to live and work these years anyhow, so I might as well make it worth it.

When I start to think of how many hours I am working, and that I "Don't have any time to live my life", I simply remember that my mom worked 80-90 hours per week for around a decade or more. If she can do it, I can work my 60-70 for how ever long I need to. Also, my job is actually quite easy. My body has for the most part adapted to getting 6 hours of sleep a night, so I do have some time to my self during the day whether it is before/after or during deliveries at work (like right now).

In my last post I supposed it would take 4 years to complete this mission, but what I am finding out is that things can happen quite a bit faster than we had theorized. At present, our pace puts us at paying the house off 2.75 years from now if we can continue to pay an additional $2,000/month towards the principle! The pretty crazy fact is, we have been able to put $2,600-$2,300 towards the principle a few times and can probably get there even faster. It is very likely that throughout the journey costs will rise and we will need to adapt, but I have to say, it has been surprising and impressive to witness just how committed I have been to this challenge.

I find that with this journey, balance is very important. I don't really think that I end up working too hard physically, but it is pretty easy to get emotionally out of whack. The number one factor to my struggle ends up being a feeling that I am lacking connection with my wife. It is my desire to get home and be close with her that ends up weakening my will to grab as many hours as I need at work. Thankfully, on the weekends that we do not have the kids she can come along with me and hang out.

Combating anxiety has been a real eye opener. I watch my thoughts shift between feeling like the victim of my job, to being the warrior that will do whatever it takes to secure this house and family. It is nice to already be looking back and not regretting this decision in any way. I am actually a little surprised at my total lack of interest in trading or even investing at this point. It's not that I don't think I will have interest in the future, but that I am so committed to doing what I am doing, that I know to gain an interest in anything like that would hurt my focus on this journey. Well, time to get back to work! Until next time.