18 days till the big move..... (Springfield, Joplin: insurance, credit, daycares)

[cottonwood2420]

Originally Posted by Jim_Kim

We are just excited...... Can't wait to breath fresh air, listen to only the birds and just be able to relax. Like we said before, Thank you to all of you for all the valuable info and positive comments. God Bless you all and hopefully some day we can meet some of you.

Kim and Jim

PS... you do realize that this is not the last post regarding the countdown.

Good luck!

[CaboolBound]

Thank you, cottonwood.

[kareybear]

Awesome pictures Jim_Kim. Thank You soooooooooo much for sharing. Wow what a beautiful view. I am jealous. You have a wonderful and smooth trips to your beautiful home. It is so exciting

[CaboolBound]

Thank you........
Kim

[mrsgenealogy]

Oh, Kim! That is undoubtedly one killer view these days! I love the decks, too! And aren't French doors the best?

With all the rain we've had, it is so pretty and green in our fair state! Of course, you're going to see some pretty country on your way here, too! We went through Oklahoma at this time of year and it was pretty, too. But not Kansas, strangely. Hmmm...

In the end, though, it was the rolling hills of the Missouri Ozarks that won our hearts.

Thanks for sharing your pics! Have a safe and fun trip home! ; )

Originally Posted by Jim_Kim

LOL.....thank you for the info. I think I will stick with the reg. tea. I think it may be too sweet for me. Pool party? THAT IS A GREAT IDEA. Once we get settled look for the invite. We don't know any one down there and what a way to get to know some folks. I like that idea. I love having get togethers. Thanks for the idea. Another thing to look forward to.
Have a great day,
Kim and Jim

Hey, Kim!

I just wanted to say that we learned that it takes much longer than we usually think to get settled in so don't feel pressured for that pool party, okay? It would still be fun if it turned out to be a holiday party, right?

[da jammer]

Kim, don't know what the new home cost ya but whatever it was it looks like you kids got a steal with those million dollar views!!!

[CaboolBound]

Hi everyone,
This is our new screen name. Thank you for all the wonderful comments. Thank you for all the information that you all have shared. We have 5 days till we leave. We hope to have our internet hooked up soon after moving in. Believe it or not, we paid only $65,000 for our new home. The views are to die for. We are still planning on having you all over for a BBQ. Can't wait to meet you all. We will be writing more later. We are finishing up packing and getting things together. We feel as though we have found some new great friends. You all are so awesome. Thank you again for all your support and wonderful comments.
God Bless,
Jim and Kim

[kareybear]

Originally Posted by CaboolBound

Hi everyone,
This is our new screen name. Thank you for all the wonderful comments. Thank you for all the information that you all have shared. We have 5 days till we leave. We hope to have our internet hooked up soon after moving in. Believe it or not, we paid only $65,000 for our new home. The views are to die for. We are still planning on having you all over for a BBQ. Can't wait to meet you all. We will be writing more later. We are finishing up packing and getting things together. We feel as though we have found some new great friends. You all are so awesome. Thank you again for all your support and wonderful comments.
God Bless,
Jim and Kim

Yay! 5 more days for you. Are you ready? Now all you got to do is unpack. Fun and Fun!!!! I love your view it and the deck is awesome. I hope I can find a good deal like that too

[mrsgenealogy]

Originally Posted by CaboolBound

Hi everyone,
This is our new screen name. Thank you for all the wonderful comments. Thank you for all the information that you all have shared. We have 5 days till we leave. We hope to have our internet hooked up soon after moving in. Believe it or not, we paid only $65,000 for our new home. The views are to die for. We are still planning on having you all over for a BBQ. Can't wait to meet you all. We will be writing more later. We are finishing up packing and getting things together. We feel as though we have found some new great friends. You all are so awesome. Thank you again for all your support and wonderful comments.
God Bless,
Jim and Kim

It's funny...when we bought last year, we were told that those deals didn't exist...and then we found one. And now, we hear they don't exist anymore for sure...and yet, you found one! This is a great lesson for those who haven't bought their home, yet...Don't listen to those naysayers! If you listen to them, you'll stay right where you are and nothing will ever change! Or worse, you'll come here and buy something for much more and then regret it later. Rent if you have to...I know it's a pain to move twice...but do it and find work (temp agencies are one option!) so you aren't just pouring money down the drain...but at least then, you can spend weekends driving around to find a home and an area that meets your needs.

For many of us, the dream can't be complete unless we save significantly on our mortgage. We had friends who had already moved here a few years before we did. They got a GREAT DEAL on a BEAUTIFUL home in Ozark but her husband didn't find work that he wanted and decided to open a business of his own. Well, that took money and then has taken so long to get where it is making much money and they have found it difficult to keep up with all their house and car payments.

That wasn't much change from their CA situation so once they saw what we had done, they sold their big home and moved into a smaller one, cutting their mortgage in half. So, let this be a lesson to you...it takes time to find them but if you can hang in there (yes, this can cost money, too), you can still find a good deal.

None of us know the future and the time has come to quit spending every penny we have. If we can stop trying to keep up with "The Joneses" (no offense meant if your name is Jones! ), we can create a simple life and start saving for our future...our retirement...and have money for those rainy days.

My husband and I are almost debt free with only a $30,000 mortgage to pay off. We plan to accelerate our payments once we are both steadily working and hope to have that paid off in 5 to 10 years, at most. We are both in our 50s and having been self-employed most of our lives, we have never had a real plan for retirement and no 401k or pension plan set up. So, we came up with a plan:
1. Sell our CA home
2. Move to MO and buy a home with a smaller mortgage
3. Quit using credit cards and buy nothing on credit.
4. Keep expenses down
5. Live within our means and say "No!" to our wants
6. Work hard while we can so we can afford to live when we can't.
7. Start setting at least 3 months and preferably 6 months of living expenses aside for hard times that may come, something that can be done since we don't need every penny we make just to "keep our head above water".
8. Begin thinking of and looking for ways to make income in other ways so we will be able to still earn money if one of us is injured or eventually, to supplement whatever social security we make, when that time comes.
9. Remember to enjoy life...not work our tails off just to pay for all the stuff...and not even able to enjoy it. This includes finding time for our hobbies since we won't be working every waking minute.
10. Set aside money and time to travel and to visit our families, which are two things that we struggled to do when we had to work all the time just to get by.

Well, I hope I have inspired some of you to keep dreaming and to turn YOUR dreams into goals. Then, pursue them consistently and diligently until you've attained them or changed them!

MrsG

[kareybear]

Wow that is some great advice MR.G.