Id stick it out where your at. Like Sadie we also enjoy a similar lifestyle, house, cars all paid in full. I’m not up to the “buffer” they have but we are on our way. We have only been “denying” ourselves for 3 years and we have given up allot around the compound here.

On that note, we are living in the same house I bought right out of high school, that’s 20+ years or so. Granted I am ready for a change in a big way, but there is only me and the wife, it’s enough house, we just want a change.

You are looking at an investment opportunity of a lifetime. The markets will never be lower than they will be under this president. He will try to crush capitalism, but my bet is in the long run he will fail.

All our savings goes into the market, we buy on the way down and on the way up, we buy no matter what, but especially now, we save even harder, go without fixing things longer to get every once of juice out of this market.

Back to the compound, we have set a lofty goal, save the money up front to buy our next house in cash.

Anyway that’s my pennies worth.

We’ve just always felt that the money we’re not spending on a mortgage is better used for other things. Retirement, travel, savings, etc. are all more important to us than a newer house when this one suits our needs just fine. There’s no pressing need to trade up, so we direct the money elsewhere.

So, no, we’ve never felt like upgrading just to get something bigger, newer or nicer. We have done work over the years on it — redecorated, new floors, added an island in the kitchen, converted a dining room to an office, those kinds of things to make it work better for us, but the actual house remains the same.

I can’t swear that we will stay here till we die; if we have to move for work or something we might have to look at something else, but for now and the foreseeable future, we’ll keep this house and use the money for other things.

Life is so simple, do not make it difficult. Just try to manage yourself.

Now I need to plan how and where to save. I still owe on my 1 car, but the other is paid for. My immediate plan is to sell the paid for one, and settle the one I still owe on (its the better car). After that I’m 100% debit free.

Coming from 5 maxed credit cards! I feel so light right now, not owing anything to anybody.

I rent at the moment, but need to urgently put a plan in place to start saving for a flat / house. I plan to save up until I can pay cash. As silly as it may sound to some, thats my plan.

Any advice for me?
How should I go about it?

Today, many that had that mindset are having their credit lines shut down, foreclosing on their homes, losing their cars, losing their jobs or downsizing, and lastly – some are in unemployment lines and maybe having to use food stamps for the first time.

The amount of people using coupons in the stores has easily doubled.