I am in such a different place than I was earlier. Namely because I've cracked the tough nut of budgeting and have a hybrid system that works for me (cash envelopes, budgeting weekly paychecks, etc).

I am finally on top of things and my short term savings is taking care of kid expenses. High school soccer season has ended and we've turned the page to a new season of new sports. It's been expensive, but its all been cash:

1) $150 first payment for DS2's club soccer
2) $140 for indoor soccer for DS1
3) $143 for DS2's soccer uniform (to be used through 2021)

And I also purchased a new Christmas tree from Michaels for $183. I used my birthday funds for that though.

My EF is at $2,000 too. I thought I'd need to touch that by its still intact. Yay for cashflow.

We can now say the bank isn't broken by these and the train wheel are still on the track.

Just feeling pleased as punch that I managed to get ahead of the 8 ball and I'm no longer reactive, but proactive!

Been awhile since I've posted (March 2019, so this is my longest absence).

Good news is we are very close to getting the house on the market. It isn't that we were unmotivated folks, but life got in the way. Health issue with SO, health issues with SO's parents, traveling in the summer, my return to work, a soccer season, etc.

We are managing financially, though we've no rental property income coming in as we're half moved in over there for when the "FOR SALE" sign goes out here. I no longer worry excessively or lament. I'm still striving for simple living and am getting there one step at a time.

I finally cracked the budget code and figured out what works for me. I like the theory of budgeting per paycheck by thebudgetmom.com but found her workbook difficult to put into practice. A simple free spreadsheet from easy budget solved the problem and took all the angst out of it. One spreadsheet accomodating each paycheck in the month - so its a snapshot and straightforward. We are still at 5% for 401K and I'm paying into the teacher's retirement plan.

2020 appears to be promising with travel to California and Tokyo for older daughter (she is still with BF and they are planning for a future) Younger daughter is contemplating a marriage of her own (she's 20 and still in love with bf from last summer despite him being from another country). We may be going to Brazil to meet with his family. Older son is looking at UWM or MSOE for architectural engineering. Youngest is a freshman now. Thankfully all are healthy and happy.

It's been a rough patch with the loss of a very dear friend; but the lesson from that is move forward toward the life you want. I'm happy to say that I am being far more productive than I was and we are decluttering and simplifying. I've got the money on autopilot and have implemented some household habits and its all good.

Happy to see what's going on here with the SA Friends.