Need pep talk

[Gonzo]

About 4 years ago I was debt free.

Then I bought a house 90k, a new truck 32k and a tractor with two attachments 25k.

-The house was viewed as a need since renting is horrible. My house is also therapy for me. It overlooks a lake and my job is very stressful.
-I justified the truck because repairs were killing me on the old truck. Also, I lived in a new area with no support system in the event of a break down. The new house is at the end of a half mile dirt road not maintained by the state and in central NY where we get a lot of snow so 4wd was/is a need
-The tractor is for snow removal and road maintenance.

What I owe now: 2,600 House, 20k Truck, 20k Tractor.

This past year has been stressful. Ever worry about having enough gas to get to work? I have. I've occasionally sold items to put food on the table. When the hot water heater started leaking thank God I could put one in myself for a little over $400.....which by the way blew my budget for that month. Cable, internet are gone. My base pay is 54k but I did enough over time to bump that up to 67k.

I'm expecting around 2k in the form of a tax refund in February. I'm going to use that to hopefully put a nail in the coffin of my mortgage.

I'm looking for a pep talk. I feel like I have shin splints 1/2 way through a marathon.

[bjl584]

Can you list all of your monthly expenses?

With a nearly paid off house, a truck and a tractor loan alone shouldn't be burying you on a salary of 67K.

[msomnipotent]

Hang in there! You will get that house paid off soon enough. I kind of think you are paying too much, too fast. You paid off $90,000 in 4 years, and that doesn't include property taxes or interest. You might want to use that tax refund to put towards emergency savings and a little bit of fun money.

[rennigade]

I would get rid of the tractor. You dont need it. It doesnt snow that often in NY...not to mention you have 4 wheel drive so unless its over a foot you're fine to drive on your driveway. If it gets too bad pay someone $100 to plow it.

I feel your pain...my driveway is around .25 miles long and its mostly stone minus paved around the house. You dont need attachments...you probably have a bucket on the front or snowblower, maybe a backhoe? Not necessary...you can get a $2k riding lawnmower to maintain your law. You dont need to dig anything up. If you need to throw stones down buy a $150 pull behind wagon and load it with stones..you can drive to pot holes or bare spots and fill with a hand shovel.

Once you eliminate that debt you'll be smooth sailing...although it would be nice to see the rest of your budget. You have a paid for house and you made $67k...you shouldnt have any issues paying your bills. Something is up.

[Gonzo]

Totally focused on paying off the house. Even if a meteorite was coming towards the Earth I'm still focused on killing the mortgage.

Bills are typical: gas, fuel oil for heat, vehicle maintenance, food, electric, phone...I'll keep this because the job calls me for overtime. No credit cards and no student loans because I worked my butt off in college and there were no spring breaks for me. Insurance is a little high since I have a 500 hp car (the car has been paid for ever since I built it. I spend some money on tools but I always seem to eventually save money with them since I fix most things myself.

There are upgrades for the house that I'd like to do after the house is paid for (excluding taxes). A water softening system b/c our water is astronomically HARD...we'd save money from having to buy water. A tin roof would be nice since the current roof is on 17 years of a 15 year shingle life span.

Retirement is 20 years away and we will move out of NY to somewhere cool and tax friendly. Retirement is taken care of.

I'm just tired.

[Gonzo]

I would get rid of the tractor. You dont need it. It doesnt snow that often in NY...not to mention you have 4 wheel drive so unless its over a foot you're fine to drive on your driveway. If it gets too bad pay someone $100 to plow it.

I feel your pain...my driveway is around .25 miles long and its mostly stone minus paved around the house. You dont need attachments...you probably have a bucket on the front or snowblower, maybe a backhoe? Not necessary...you can get a $2k riding lawnmower to maintain your law. You dont need to dig anything up. If you need to throw stones down buy a $150 pull behind wagon and load it with stones..you can drive to pot holes or bare spots and fill with a hand shovel.

Once you eliminate that debt you'll be smooth sailing...although it would be nice to see the rest of your budget. You have a paid for house and you made $67k...you shouldnt have any issues paying your bills. Something is up.

Tractor is a must. We can get 36 inches a night. I think 3 years ago we got over 200 inches. In the upper parts of NY we get snow and a lot of it. I was going to get a plow for the truck instead of a blower but you can only plow so much. The tractor throws the snow 60 feet in any direction. It's insurance for when I need to get to work.

BTW....no motorcycle, no jet ski, no boat but we do have a dog.

[rennigade]

Tractor is a must. We can get 36 inches a night. I think 3 years ago we got over 200 inches. In the upper parts of NY we get snow and a lot of it. I was going to get a plow for the truck instead of a blower but you can only plow so much. The tractor throws the snow 60 feet in any direction. It's insurance for when I need to get to work.

BTW....no motorcycle, no jet ski, no boat but we do have a dog.

I understand...that still doesnt require a $25k tractor. You could have easily got a used setup for less than $10k...and even thats a lot. 4 wheel drive tractor, snow blower attachment and ballast. You chose to splurge and now you're having issues paying the bills.

Im not hating on you or the sweet tractor...my dad has a sweet john deere tractor that id love to have but I cant afford it...nor am I willing to drop $20k on one. Just know its ok to shop around and buy used.

[Gonzo]

I understand...that still doesnt require a $25k tractor. You could have easily got a used setup for less than $10k...and even thats a lot. 4 wheel drive tractor, snow blower attachment and ballast. You chose to splurge and now you're having issues paying the bills.

Im not hating on you or the sweet tractor...my dad has a sweet john deere tractor that id love to have but I cant afford it...nor am I willing to drop $20k on one. Just know its ok to shop around and buy used.

The term you use "Sweet Tractor" sounds condescending. Also, I never said I had a problem paying my bills.

I did however say that I wanted a pep talk.

[Gonzo]

First day and I have to ignore a member.

[rennigade]

Id block me too cause ill just keep dropping knowledge on you whether you want to hear it or not. You bought too much tractor and you dont like the fact that someone said you should have bought used.

And by term sweet...thats a good thing..not sure why that triggered you. My dad has a sweet...I mean killer john deere...its beautiful. I wouldnt even want to use it...its too nice imo.

Also...you did say you had a problem paying bills. Your quote "Ever worry about having enough gas to get to work? I have. I've occasionally sold items to put food on the table."

I think I see what you're doing here and I no longer feel like playing. Although this will fall on deaf ears since you blocked me, lol

[disneysteve]

I never said I had a problem paying my bills.

I did however say that I wanted a pep talk.

You absolutely said you have a problem paying your bills:

Ever worry about having enough gas to get to work? I have. I've occasionally sold items to put food on the table.

As for a "pep talk", do you actually want advice or do you just want people to tell you everything is fine and you'll be okay.

You made some extremely poor financial decisions and are now dealing with the consequences. If you want to fix that, you will need to make some hard choices and sacrifices.

Your vehicles shouldn't cost more than 50% of your income. You earn 54K and spent 57K on vehicles. That was way more than you could really afford which is why you're struggling now. You need to sell one or both vehicles and replace them with more affordable options. That's the best way to dig yourself out of this hole.

If you share the rest of your budget, we'd be happy to give additional advice.

[msomnipotent]

The term you use "Sweet Tractor" sounds condescending. Also, I never said I had a problem paying my bills.

I did however say that I wanted a pep talk.

That's just how he talks.

The majority of posters here are pretty conservative in regards to money, so forgoing food and gas money in order to pay the house off faster is not something they would ever consider. I'm impressed that you paid so much off in such a short amount of time, but I would have taken a different approach. My preference is to have an emergency fund to fall back on, and then pay off the bills. Personally, I would take $500 to $1000 of the tax refund and bank it, and then take an extra month to pay off the mortgage.

[disneysteve]

I'm curious about the interest rates on the 3 loans. That would also influence how the debts should be approached.

[bjl584]

The best way to get through this is probably to sell the truck and the tractor.

A truck may be a must for you, but a $32K truck is not. A good reliable used truck can be found for $15K or less.

A tractor may be a must for you, but a $25K tractor is not. Again, a good reliable used tractor can be found for less than $5K.

Downgrading your possessions, at least temporarily, is probably the way to go. Nothing wrong with nice, new, expensive things. You just need to have your money right before splurging.

[Fishindude77]

The best way to get through this is probably to sell the truck and the tractor.

A truck may be a must for you, but a $32K truck is not. A good reliable used truck can be found for $15K or less.

A tractor may be a must for you, but a $25K tractor is not. Again, a good reliable used tractor can be found for less than $5K.

Downgrading your possessions, at least temporarily, is probably the way to go. Nothing wrong with nice, new, expensive things. You just need to have your money right before splurging.

Pretty good advice in my opinion.
Get a new truck and tractor when you have your affairs in order and can pay cash for them.