saw em off said:
I've always been pretty good at living within the means. My wife was a stay-at-home mom for 20 years. We had one kid (tried for others but no luck). I was anal about no debt early on other than house/cars. I didn't make anywhere near 6 figures, and we didn't eat sandwiches either. We went on vacations every year, I was able to save enough to where my daughter will graduate debt free in a year. She goes to Lamar and lives at home. I don't invest, but will have a nice retirement in about 6 years if we elect the right president. Retirement might be a foreign concept if we don't.
No bragging here, just say all that to say, I was constantly evaluating our household budget and finding ways not go overboard with stuff. Thanks to youtube, I do 90% of all house and car maintenance/repairs myself. Always shopping for lower insurance premiums. I've found that there are always clever ways to cut back without sacrificing too much.
Congratulations!! You have done great.
Our stories have some similarities. My wife was also a stay at home mom for 14 years and I am happy the kids had mom at home during their baby years. That put a LOT of pressure on me to keep my job especially in bad economy situations and bad bosses. In those days I was hovering around 6 figs but I did not want to get into debt outside of car/home which I aggressively paid down when possible. My son is in college and I am paying for it myself (no loan).
How did I do it? Secret is investing. Not my salary. No lottery wins. I suggest you look into investing too. They key is low fee index funds. Do not buy individual companies. Start small and gain confidence. If you can spare $5k, buy
VOO or SPY and watch it for a few months. Markets go up and down but don't let that bother you. Check after 3 months and you are very likely to have made money. Don't sell, let it grow. Build from there.
Recommendations:
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VOO/SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SPY/You know the best part?
I AM THE BOSS. If I make or lose money, I get the credit or blame. No one can fire me for some frivolous reason. There is no ageism here like in corporate America. I can invest until I have my wits about me.
Read about VOO on Vanguard's site:
https://investor.vanguard.com/investment-products/etfs/profile/vooI don't have VOO myself as it is for investors with low risk tolerance. I take much more risk so my investments are different but then I have been investing since 1999 (limited/mediocre success until 2014).
The problem I now have is a weird and a good one. I need to learn how to take money out and spend more. Decades of being frugal takes time to unlearn. My first plan is to sell about $5k of stock each month and see how that feels.