Best. Financial. Decision. Ever… ?

We just made one of the best financial decisions of our 25 years together, even though it involved signing up for new debt. For about $450 out of pocket now, we will be able save up to $450 per month for the next 15 years. Yes, we refinanced our mortgage. Based on the terms of the new loan, and a few other things we’ll talk about below, we will be able to save all this money without changing our anticipated payoff date. Of course, rather than taking the full 15 years and simply stashing the difference, we plan to put much of that potential savings into early principal payoff so we can really accelerate our path to being totally debt free.

How did we do it? As with most good things, it was not “luck”, but the intersection of preparation and opportunity, plus a fair amount of patience. While there are always many variables at play, anyone who takes the time and effort to be similarly prepared and watchful can have similar results. We’re sharing this account of our experience in the hope that it will help others.

Before continuing, we want to be very clear that we are not attorneys, mortgage brokers, financial advisors, or any other sort of financial professional. We are not giving legal or financial advice. We are not suggesting you refinance your mortgage. We are simply sharing our experience, as consumers, and our actions in our particular circumstances.

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A Trip to the Discount Market

Yes, we stuffed all those cool things into that box!

On the same day that we ventured out to a bakery outlet we also made a stop at a discount market. Although it’s called a discount market, I think a better description for this place would be “salvage grocery store”. The store sells food that is past its “best by” date, or that has cosmetically damaged packaging. While many of you may be put off by the idea of buying food “seconds”, Mr. Frugal Source and I have been purchasing food in this manner for years from several different stores and we have never had any safety issues with any of the food we’ve purchased. We are careful what we buy, making sure the package is completely sealed, cans are not too dented and items are not too far out-of-date for our taste.

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We have nothing to show for it

If I was to take a couple of hours and add up all of the money that we have made since we were married all those years ago, I would look at the total and throw up.  Yep, I would literally puke and wonder where in the world did all of that money go?

We have always lived in a decent houses in safe-ish neighborhoods, had clean and mostly decent clothing, and have driven reliable vehicles.  But when you look at the debt we have been in and how long it is taking us to get completely out of debt, I realize we do not have lots of great memories to show for our money woes.

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