For this update, I don’t think I am going to get too much into the weeds of exact numbers. Instead I am mostly going to update on where I’ve been and what’s changed since we last checked in together.
On January 2021, I went pretty much dark on X and the website. Nothing new was added or updated until I emerged Christmas 2024 to log into my X account, @money_teach, and decided it was time to return. More about that decision later.
Well, 2021 was obviously a crazy year for most of us. COVID had changed so much in our lives, and I had decided to play around with making money streaming video games with my buddies– I did clear $100, but it was mostly just for fun. Between the video games, preparing to have our 2nd child that June, and just general life stuff, I ditched X and the website. At the time it was the best thing for me, but I do regret stopping.
I spent a good chunk of 2021 looking at leaving teaching and moving into financial services. I spent hours on Zoom with a friend who is a big whig at a very large firm deciding how I would transition into a role there. Hours were spent on the phone with a financial planner with whom I was going to go to work for. I had weekly Zoom meetings with a bunch of D1 college basketball coaches about getting hired to coach. I was all over the place, but I wanted to be anywhere but teaching right then. COVID had changed everything for me.
The Catalyst for Change
Fast forward to January 2022, and our lives were turned upside down. My wife’s little cousin was tragically taken in a car accident at the age of 14. He was a big part of our life, and more like a little brother than a cousin. We were absolutely shook to our core. It made us re-evaluate our lives and our priorities. See, this was just earth shattered. We had past traumatic experiences that kind of made us think it couldn’t get any worse and we had to have used up our quota of awful life experiences. So to see someone so innocent, and good hearted, stolen away in a moment, it changed us
My wife left her hospice social work position that see had started at the beginning of the pandemic. And I was able to be convinced by my former social studies teacher growing up to apply for the position at my alma mater that he was retiring from. But because I was really enjoying my basketball team I was coaching, I gave the interview my all, but didn’t really put much effort into the process. And less than 12 hours after the interview, I was hired. The change represented a 25% increase in pay from my previous district, but I would have to list and sell my home, and move my family to a home in my new district.
Buying a New Home
The problem was the housing market was insane. Coming off of COVID, my little hometown had become a haven for downstaters to buy second homes in and work remotely. It had driven the supply way down and prices skyrocketed. When I went shopping for a home with my wife, we had one option. It had an unfinished master bedroom, lacked railing on the porch, a smashed standby generator, and a second home on the property that needed demolition. We placed a bid and were shot out of the water quite significantly, despite a series of escalation clauses in our offer.
We then turned to finding an off market deal, and I risked it asking my grandparents’ neighbors, who had bought a condo in South Carolina, or so Facebook told me. They set their own market and I agreed to the price, and to taking ALL of the stuff remaining in the house when they left. Which was an absolute nightmare, and I highly caution anyone from agreeing to purchase the previous owners’ furnishings. We moved in three days before the school year was set to start.
Because of the move, my wife was now almost an hour from her office, and eventually the following year transitioned to fully remote with hospice. She did this for another year until our third son was born. She took her maternity life, returned back to work for a week, and decided it was time to hang it up. And so, we went from two incomes and three kids, to one income and three kids. And honestly, we couldn’t be happier.
Moving Ahead but Looking Back
So, our financial house might be burning bright like it once was, but we live a very rich life. We spend every lunch break together at home sharing a meal. I returned home after teaching and coaching, and we can walk to the beach together. My children spend so much time with my wife, and we will forever be so grateful for this change. So what we don’t have two incomes? We still budget, save, and invest. We may not be supercharging our savings with a 30-40 percent savings rate, but we keep contributing towards our goals, and we feel great about our financial future.
In the near future I will update more accurately where we are, but for now, I just wanted to explain myself as best I can.
To old followers and new alike, I hope that my story, my experiences, and my knowledge can be somewhat useful or inspiring to you. I hope that together we can hold each other accountable and achieve our personal, familial, and financial goals!