We need a membership drive, Alex

[Poseidon]

I should have added that I see this forum like really good friends: we don't need to talk often to stay close. If anyone of you showed up at my 'stead, I couldn't say no to having you over!

Also, I owe it to LATOC and all of you guys for giving me the courage to get rid of the lemon car before the end of the 5-year loan, in 2008: I borrowed from my parents to pay off the loan, then dumped the car (it was effectively worthless), paid off that loan, then borrowed from the bank to pay off a large credit card balance, then a year later borrowed from my parents at half the rate to pay that off, and paid my parents off a year later, then asked them for another loan to pay off the total remaining LOC balance I had, I think, which I paid off a year later. All in all, in 5 years, I saved nearly 40k which went to paying off loans and credit cards and a line of credit, and put a lot of money in savings, all the while occasionally traveling by train or coach and saving over 5k for an overseas trip. The next year, I also acquired a big chunk of land that will become a working 'stead one day.

Without you guys, I would have never had the courage to stand up to DH and constantly promising him another car "soon" yet knowing that the longer we waited, the better we were going to be financially. It took a while, but when his own savings account's balance started going up fast, he really understood the wisdom of all the sacrifices we were making. Since then, we haven't had any debt aside from a mortgage and new car's loan.

By becoming more aware of the macros of finance while knowing who I could trust in the financial blogosphere, I could anticipate rate changes and renewed my mortgage at the lowest rate, while keeping my payments the same, thereby shaving 7 months of payments "for free".

Let's not put ourselves down, even those who don't post much!

[BigGreenFrog]

I should have added that I see this forum like really good friends: we don't need to talk often to stay close. If anyone of you showed up at my 'stead, I couldn't say no to having you over!

Also, I owe it to LATOC and all of you guys for giving me the courage to get rid of the lemon car before the end of the 5-year loan, in 2008: I borrowed from my parents to pay off the loan, then dumped the car (it was effectively worthless), paid off that loan, then borrowed from the bank to pay off a large credit card balance, then a year later borrowed from my parents at half the rate to pay that off, and paid my parents off a year later, then asked them for another loan to pay off the total remaining LOC balance I had, I think, which I paid off a year later. All in all, in 5 years, I saved nearly 40k which went to paying off loans and credit cards and a line of credit, and put a lot of money in savings, all the while occasionally traveling by train or coach and saving over 5k for an overseas trip. The next year, I also acquired a big chunk of land that will become a working 'stead one day.

Without you guys, I would have never had the courage to stand up to DH and constantly promising him another car "soon" yet knowing that the longer we waited, the better we were going to be financially. It took a while, but when his own savings account's balance started going up fast, he really understood the wisdom of all the sacrifices we were making. Since then, we haven't had any debt aside from a mortgage and new car's loan.

By becoming more aware of the macros of finance while knowing who I could trust in the financial blogosphere, I could anticipate rate changes and renewed my mortgage at the lowest rate, while keeping my payments the same, thereby shaving 7 months of payments "for free".

Let's not put ourselves down, even those who don't post much!

Cheers!