Best Decision you made in the last 15 years

[YachtClubWoman]

Paid off the house

 

[disykat]

Most of the good decisions we made have been long term ones put in place prior to 15 years ago, but I after some thought I came up with a good one.

When I went back to work after being a SAHM we were fortunate enough to be able to chose to continue to live off one income and use my income for discretionary stuff as well as college savings, etc. That enabled us to get the kids through college debt free and now for me to quit again to help care for my parents. Had we upsized our home or even our regular budget (which I admit was tempting!) we'd be under a lot more stress right now and so would our young adult children.

We knew about the kids when we made the plan, but it honestly never occurred to us that helping parents would be such a huge part of our existence and that I'd retire so early. When worst case scenarios come true it's a real blessing not to have to work.

 

[Patience]

Adopting our youngest daughter 10 years ago. That was hands down, no contest, the very best decision we made!

 

[2China2009]

Adopting my 2 beautiful girls from China as infants in 2004 and 2008 as a single mom. They have blessed me more than I can ever imagine. We have had a beautiful life. My mortgage being paid off when I am 55 and being debt free. I can then help pay for college.

 

[kydisneyfans]

1)Relocating my family from NE Ohio to Central KY. We were miserable there, made very little money, and the job market was super bad.

I landed a job here making about 33% more than in Ohio, my wife was offered 3 different jobs on the spot during interviews when she moved here with our son.
Our son gained tech experience during high school, went on to a 2 year college(about 40% is paid by the state), and is actively interviewing for jobs >50K a year. He's 19. He will graduate next spring. Wouldn't have had the opportunity there. He's met a great girl that we will add to the family in 2020. I've taken multiple promotions, my wife makes 3x what she did in 2004. Our home has increased in value by a 6 figure number.

Kentucky takes it's licks nationally, but if I had to do it all over again, we would have moved 10 years sooner.

2)We did DVC in 2013 and love it. Went the resale route so we still get most benefits. Paying $70 a point for Animal Kingdom seems like a bargain now, should have bought more.

3)I was a scaredy cat to fly. Finally at 40 I flew with my wife on a business trip. It opened the doors to the US, and the world. We've traveled to Vegas 2x, California 2x, Phoenix/Grand Canyon, and earlier this year we flew to Great Britain. 5 years ago I wouldn't step foot on a plane.

4)Went from a couch potato at 40 to a half marathoner at 42. I've lost 30+ pounds and have run races all over, from Disney on both coasts to Dublin, Ireland. Heading to Vegas in a few weeks, New Orleans in Feb, and Liverpool, England in May. Friends/family are still in shock at that decision to run, nobody expected it.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

Hahahaha TMI for you guys on here.

TMI for many women too. Dear lord.

 

[ronandannette]

Blue cheese over Thousand Island.

Sounds like it must have been a tough road but SO glad it’s worked out for you...

 

[FlightlessDuck]

My wife and I taking up gardening 4 years ago. The property looks so much prettier and well maintained now.

 

[firefly_ris]

The best decision I've ever made was having a hysterectomy after nearly 40 years of horrendous periods, endometriosis pain, and cysts. Yes, I have hot flashes, but all in all menopause has been kind to me. No more periods every two weeks that are so heavy I have to wear a full size Depends pad because Maxi pads aren't large or absorbent enough. No more pain that's so bad I can't function. No more surgeries for the endo. I had a full hysterectomy and I. Am. Thrilled.

This sounds like a huge quality of life improvement, and I'm glad that it helped you!

 

[mrodgers]

Easy. Divorce.

 

[mom2rb]

Buying the house we are in now. We have been here 12 1/2 years. Every single other house that we looked at and the house we used to own, flooded during Harvey. We missed it by one neighborhood.

For myself, having a breast reduction this summer. It was painful but after 20 years, I have no more back pain.

 

[amberpi]

Leaving my abusive ex. Strangely, DH did the same. Meeting and marrying him and taking on his kids all so quickly would also go on the board.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

TMI for many women too. Dear lord.

Sorry!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

During the recession, late 2008, DH's plant was closing and six months of looking netted no job at all, my job in a small town library wouldn't even cover the mortgage.
The company offered DH a job at headquarters, in Germany---but without all the help nornally given to expats.
We had 6 weeks to sell or store our things, 4 suitcasese each that we got to take with us, no German langauge skills and two kids in school who had to jump into German speaking schools. It was a HUGE risk, and the first few years were really tough (especially on our poor kids---they were too old to pick up the langauge easily, but young enough that often people assumed they could and ere not trying; other kids were not always kind to the new non native speakers, etc).

BUT, in the end we are very happy here---and even my oldest, who is back in the US now, is glad to have had the time they did here. It totally altered the course of our lives---but for the better.

I've been curious... Do you think you'll retire in Germany, or return to the States, do split time, or is that too far in the future to consider?

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

Change my diet and my life around. I lost 110 lbs in about 2 years— and still losing!

 

[NHdisneylover]

I've been curious... Do you think you'll retire in Germany, or return to the States, do split time, or is that too far in the future to consider?

I think we will stay here. We have permanent residency status, and bought a place leást year which we love and which will be ideal as we age no stairs, low maitenance, close to public transit, etc

 

[mrsheppo]

I have 2. The first is DH and I adopting our DGD when she was 9 months old as her mom (my daughter) decided she didn't want to be a mom. We started over at 48 (me) and 58 (DH). We don't regret that decision for a minute.

The second was buying our house in 2009. The market had crashed and burned and we bought it for $115,000. HUD had a program at the time where we were able to buy it with only $100 down. The house is now worth about $300,000 and we have only about $43,000 left on the mortgage. We will have it paid off in less than 3 years.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

Sorry!

Hey I get you. However there are specific avenues/channels to share these type of medical problems - in my opinion. Would you blurt out this personal condition of yours in a group setting or people at a party or with your father or brother in-laws or sons?

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Hey I get you. However there are specific avenues/channels to share these type of medical problems - in my opinion. Would you blurt out this personal condition of yours in a group setting or people at a party or with your father or brother in-laws or sons?

Er, yes-yes I would. I'm from South Philly, nothing is sacred or off-limits to talk about there. Again, sorry if you felt disgusted or weirded out.

 

[cinnaminny]

Paid off the house

Congrats!! We are going to do that by the end of the year and I am so excited!!