So I'm a relatively frugal guy, at least for the last few years. I bike to work, drive an 11 year old car, keep my hobbies to a minimum cost, don't travel, and have been wearing the same 2 pairs of jeans for the last year. I max out my 401(k) and HSA, yet still have about $14k in student loans that I'm paying off at the structured rate. Why? Well, over the last two years I've put around $20k into my house. Not necessarily as an investment, but because the house needs some work to bring into the 21st century. Basically, I'm very cash poor. I "live paycheck to paycheck" cash-wise. I never minded. A $2k car problem? I'll just put it on the credit card and pay it off in 2 months, not a big deal.
Lately however, I feel like I'm losing my mind. My air conditioner went out 3 times last summer. My a/c guy says not to count on it for next year. It's about 25 years old. My master shower leaked about a couple years ago but instead of saving up the $6k required to rebuild the entire bathroom, I've chosen smaller $1k improvements in more public areas of the house. My 11 year old car has needed an average of $3k in repairs over the last two years, WHAT?! (No matter how much you convince yourself you MUST have a wagon, just stay away from VW). I'd like to get a 2012 Acura wagon for peace of mind.
I just want to stress to be gone. My credit is really good. I was planning to refinance the house next month (currently paying PMI, yikes!). Can I get a home equity loan at the same time? Or a HELOC? I feel these expenses of $25k are completely required and justified (car, a/c, bathroom remodel).
Submitted October 24, 2017 at 11:23AM by Angry_Apollo http://ift.tt/2ix6oSr
