I’ve Decided to Briefly Pause All Investments

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It is with a heavy heart to announce the passing of my mother-in-law. She’s been battling with colon cancer for almost five years.

We always knew that day would come. One cannot deny the fact. At the same time, we cannot say we were fully prepared the day we got that phone call. We mostly had to rely on my emergency fund.

I’ve been consistent with my investment since I started the FI journey this year but this will be my first break from investing until I rebalance my emergency funds and lower my debts.

My Debts

If there’s one thing that’s holding me back is my debts. I’ve made lots of poor choices, not even when I was in college like many who get their first credit card but shortly after I graduated around the time I had my first born. Frankly, I had no idea it would’ve been such a burden in the long run even though my mom had warned me many times to look at credit card as I left my cash at home.

“You don’t have the cash you do not use that plastic [card]”

Without first taking care of my student loan and credit cards my Emergency Fund will always be in jeopardy.

Cars repair

I’m not sure if this is every man’s nightmare but for me getting a phone call in the middle of the night from my wife stating that her car broke. She’s less than a mile away from her early morning shift can be the most confused thing to process while in between sleep.

We managed to get her car to a shop. I knew I was in for a ride. I was quoted $235 for the repair and $465 to pass my due state inspection due to my front worn tires that needed to be replaced.

The same week, my car had a coolant leak and a blown tire. I try my best not to take my cars to the repair shop if I can do the repairs myself. I don’t consider myself a handyman but I do lots of handy stuff as my wife likes to say. This job only cost me $137 imaging what the dealers/repair shop would’ve quoted for parts and labor and $175 for a new tire.

I know my wife would’ve been happy to use this opportunity to get into a new ride but our frugal ways will not allow it unless we run out of options. Avoid making permanent decisions on temporary emotions. This can have a heavy impact on you financially and emotionally.

Emergency Funds

If there was one thing I could strongly recommend is to build your emergency fund. You’ll be surprised how many times it has stopped me from using my credit cards or digging from my investment account. I’ve been trying to save as much as I can to build my emergency fund and every time I start feeling hopeful with my EF goals something comes up.

Traveling was not part of my plans this year especially under today’s circumstances but when my mother decided to celebrate her birthday in Haiti I knew I had no other choice is to get onboard; therefore, I had to quickly dig into my EF and purchased two flight tickets for my son and I to avoid higher cost.

Life Event

Just when I thought I was in the clear for a couple weeks to replace these expenses as I mentioned on top we got the phone call that my mother in law passed away.

That being said my top priority is to pay a huge portion of my debts, rebuild my emergency fund before I get back to investing. It’s important to invest your money and let it bring you more money instead of keeping it all in the bank. 

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