Comments on: Better or Worse Than 4 Years Ago?

By: Nick from BayCrazy

Nick from BayCrazy — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:15:10 +0000

Um… I’d probably say I am better off overall…

I’m certainly better at managing my money and staying within the green status, and I feel a hell of a lot better for it.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:50:14 +0000

Oh man, those kids are expensive right? You should check out my recent update on all the costs so far from our baby :) https://eliteedgemoney.com/2012/06/ultimate-baby-child-costs-tracker/ But I am glad to hear the emotional side of things are good! That's WAY more important than the finances if you ask me. Esp if you're not drowning in them (which would lead me to believe you *weren't* emotionally well, haha... or you're in denial ;)). Maybe 2013 will be the year y'all just kill it with money and your emotional state gets even better :) Thanks for stopping by, friend!

By: Melissa (Miss Lissy)

Melissa (Miss Lissy) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 17:27:20 +0000

All right, I’ll take a crack at it.

Overall, are you financially better or worse off today than you were four years ago? I would say from a purely emotional standpoint, I think we are financially better off. If I ran the numbers, I don’t know what they would agree, but we have an emergency fund now which we never did before, for example, and my husband has a better job, so financially that makes me feel like we are better off.
Is your employment situation better or worse compared to four years ago? Better! Instead of working college jobs where people treat you not so great, I’m a SAHM. My husband was also working college jobs and now he is a cars salesman, which he loves.
How does your annual household income compare to four years ago? I think it is greater, but I’ve never sat down and crunched the exact numbers. It’s also hard to figure it out per year in the year that we are living in because my husband is working a commission only job.
Are you spending more or less on housing compared to four years ago? Haha, not sure? I was living in a dorm 4 years ago and they didn’t break it up by month AND food was included in that cost too so I am not sure what would be dorm and what would be dorm food, you know what I mean? But we are spending less on our apartment now since we moved out than we were a year ago.
How are your investments performing compared to four years ago? N/A – We don’t really have any investments.
Do you have more or less debt compared to four years ago? More sigh. Because I was just starting college then, we have the rest of college and student loans that came out. Plus the birth of our kid – our insurance only covered 70 percent of costs so we are on the hook for the other 30 percent which sounds like it should be small but it isn’t so we’re still paying that off too.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 04:24:32 +0000

@Melissa – Oh no, I’m sorry to hear! That’s def. some scary stuff :( Sending some prayers and happy thoughts!
@Nick – Nice job on that mortgage refinancing! I could only get ours down to 5.5% and totally jealous of those who got into the 4s, nonetheless 3s! That’s some good workings there…
@InACents – Thanks! Hope your situation is equally as good! :)

By: InACents

InACents — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 01:40:07 +0000

Nice, incredible turn around in all aspects. Saving and eliminating debt are what it is all about. Great job!

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:14:10 +0000

1 – Better – debt levels are going down, recently refinanced my mortgage from 6.125% to 3.75%, and have 12% of my work income going into a 401k with Vanguard, now just have to finish eliminating my debt (should be done in less than a year)
2 – Better, 4 years ago i took a 25% pay cut to a different career/lifestyle but lost all benefits i had, worked that job until i found the one that i am now in, i am not at the same pay as 4 years ago but i have 3x more vacation, health benefits, retirement options, education options and other benfits that put me above 4 years ago.
3 – Better, current pay is 6% lower than 4 years ago, but as i stated in #2, have more vacation, benefits etc that more than make the difference
4 – Less – but only recently found a company that would streamline refi my 4-unit primary residence from 6.125 to 3.75
5 – Better, they have been growing very well without me adding to them and for the last 5 months i’ve increased contributions
6 – More – commute is the same as 4 years ago, but cost of everything has risen
7- Less – and slowly getting rid of it all
8 – More, 6% with 100% match going into 401k, plus getting more into Roth and other investments

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:57:13 +0000

The past two years have been better overall than the previous two years and generally yes I’m doing better now than I was 4 years ago. I’ve had one rough 2012 though. Tornadoes, hurricanes, job losses. My savings went *poof!* Investments? What are those?

I’m in escrow right now, on an extreme housing downsize and if I can swing everything my cost of living will plummet way below the cost of renting, but I’m terrified because of instability and weakness in my current job market.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 15:42:00 +0000

@Janine @ My Pennies My Thoughts – Yayyy! I’m proud of yourself too! :)
@Stephanie – Cool! Tell your husband congrats for me – that site looks pretty cool :) Pretty crazy too that your mortgage costs less than rent! outside of taxes anyways. Ours was certainly not the case, haha… though we did also upgrade to a bigger place from a 1 bedroom apt too which will always be tons more.
@Melissa@LittleHouseintheValley – I bet the next time we do this 4 years from now you’ll have plenty of awesome things to say :) Keep working hard!
@Econowiser – Great! Glad to hear it.
@Adrian – Cool. Haven’t heard of that site before, but I’ll check it out… Gonna be hard to pry myself from my spreadsheets though :)
@Wayne @Young Family Finance – Rust Belt? I had to look that one up ;) Good for you guys on being pretty positive though and knowing “how it is.” I’m sure over time things will start snowballing for the better and 4 years from now will be a much better situation! Thanks for stopping by to share :)
@Tushar @ Everything Finance – Thanks! And you’re def. right – that baby keeps taking more of our money! Haha… but as all parents say, you’d never take it back :)

By: Tushar @ Everything Finance

Tushar @ Everything Finance — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 04:43:14 +0000

A 500% increase in net worth in just four years is absolutely huge. Congratulations! Being that you have a baby now, I would imagine that some of your expenses would go up, but that’s part of life. It’s pretty great that before, you were making the same amount as you are now but with TWO incomes, and now it’s with one. Looks like you are killing it!

By: Wayne @Young Family Finance

Wayne @Young Family Finance — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 01:40:03 +0000

We are generally better off than we were four years ago, I suppose…but not by much! We live in the Rust Belt and it is hard to get paid enough to pay back the college loans. Since relocating is not an option, we make the best we can of it! A tight budget has done wonders for decreasing our debt.