Blog Update (I have returned!)

Finally, I have returned! Thank you to all of you who wrote to check on me or to ask why it’s been so long since I’ve last blogged. I really appreciate you all so much. It had been a long time since I’ve been active on this blog or in the personal finance community as more than a reader myself. It was only about a month ago that I got serious about my social media account again and just interacting with people.

*If you aren’t following me on Twitter, you can find me @money_teach

What happened?

I dropped off the face of the planet. Literally, it was like I just up and disappeared. There was no going away fanfare or announcement of quitting. I was discouraged with blogging, I felt I was putting a lot of time into something that wasn’t yielding results for me. However, I was completely mistaken.

Blogging was about money to me back then. I dreamed (still do) of creating a community, building an audience, and providing value to these people in return for a modest side income on this blog. But back in 2019, I wasn’t prepared for all the work, for the months of dedication it would take to see the results I was hoping for. What I needed was to step away and find more immediate satisfaction through other work.

I was desperate for a quick buck so that I could get out from this place where I felt like we were treading water financially. We weren’t sinking, but we weren’t rising fast enough. I thought I was doing everything right and it just wasn’t happening for us. So, I turned to a blog and blogging to celebrate and share what we had done so far, and to document our path. Along the way I intended to share helpful insights to others following a similar path as us.

The Switch

The switch in my approach came when the pandemic hit. We didn’t see our money dry up, we didn’t lose our jobs, and we weren’t struggling. However, we found ourselves without our usual side work (coaching for me). Our financial plans and goals looked like they were going to come to a screeching halt. Truth be told, they already had.

Mrs. TeachMoney was struggling with enjoyment of her work. I was despising teaching and the reality of pandemic teaching for months was scary. So, we made a switch. The wife left school social work for a hospice social work job. From 40 hours a week (really 60) to 20 hours a week. We knew we could do it, but we needed to get serious about our money.

I stayed home all summer and took care of our son while my wife worked. She worked hard and moved up to flexible FT hours within a month. She was over the moon happy with her job and we were absolutely loving all the extra family time that the pandemic was affording us together. We didn’t like that we lost so much time with the rest of our family, but grateful for what we had together in our home. In this moment, we really started to sit down and look at our life and begin dreaming of our next steps. We decided it was time we got serious.

We looked at our life, our goals, and the reality of 2020 (we were unloading student loan debt with 0% interest and putting money in the market when down). What we saw was a different perspective on the world and what we wanted out of it. Now, this could all change again in two months. We are fickle like that. I like to stick to plans, she’s more go with the wind and enjoy the ride (love that about her). This new approach led us to look at our debt and our possessions differently in August.

The Deal

I took my beloved Chevy Colorado and decided to ditch the $17,500 debt and almost $500 a month in loan and insurance, and trade it in for a used car. This was the second major moment were everything changed for us this year. I was able to shave a big monthly expense and a bunch of debt off our ledger.

The deal worked out really in our favor. I shopped around for vehicles for almost a week and employed the services of dozens of car salesmen. I sent cold emails to each one asking for their help. Each salesmen was given very specific requirements and wouldn’t settle for anything I didn’t like or any deal that wasn’t favorable to me. Eventually, I went back to the salesmen I bought the truck from and asked if they’d buy it back (their lot was almost empty and they had 0 trucks). He offered $21,500 on the spot and I ran as fast as I could with title in hand to the dealership.

I had already been looking at cars here and had my eye on a cheap, used Toyota Corolla. The car was perfect, it had low miles and great gas mileage. It was perfectly in my price range at $12,000. After some negotiating and offering to pay the balance in cash (that was the plan from the beginning), we got the car down to under $11,000 and under $7,000 with trade in equity.

Yes, I made a trade off. I could have invested that $7,000 in the market as opposed to paying my car off in full.. But the added bonus since returning to work in person has been the incredible savings on gas.

With a smaller monthly outlay in our budget, more wiggle room in our finances, and a happy wife working for a excellent company, I was happy but not quite content. I needed more. I needed a new passion and side hustle myself. But this time, my side hustle doesn’t need to drop money in my account this month or even this year. With a better budget budget, debts being knocked off, and our investment accounts growing, I just needed a passion with potential to make some money. Back in steps the blog.

So It Happened

I finally decided to make a return to the blog. In the purest way, I missed writing frequently. I loved how when I was younger, I was constantly with a pen and paper. Writing was such a fabulous outlet and a way to open doors. Writing is something that has had a large impact on the outcome of my life. It helped me in college and in my career. It’s only natural, as the pandemic continued, I wanted to return to my roots. It’s only natural when I looked at something with potential and I love it brought me back here. To financial education, talking about and teaching about teaching, money and life. So, I am back. And I’m better than ever before. The blog is back and I’m here to stay.

Let’s get back to work!