Should you continue to be AS gazelle-intense during baby step 3, as you are with the debt snowball? I am very close to baby step 3, but here is my dilemma... (trying to make a long story short) WE could probably get the EF fully funded in about 6 months if I continue my very stressful, 1-2 days a week job... or we could do it much slower on dh's salary and take about 12-18 mo. I have been staying at this job to complete the snowball, part of me wants to get out asap, but the other part of me wants that EF in place quickly. I know this is personal decision, but just wanted some unbiased opinions. My youngest will go to school in 2.5 yrs and I will probably work PT again then..

I'm not sure what Dave would say but my thought about it is this.......(remember you asked ;) ). I could do anything for 1-2 days per week if it would speed the process up that much. If your job puts your health or mental health at risk I guess you have more of a problem than I'm imagining. I hope you figure it out without sacrificing too much.

I agree with PrairieRose, I think I would fully fund the EF before and then quit especially if it is only part-time and for 6 months or so.

Just imagine if you did quit and Murphy showed up or your spouse loses their job. If you had the FFEF it wouldn't be as big a deal.

But then again, I was the one who was miserable at my job and couldn't take it anymore at my part-time job and quit. We coulda got out of debt quicker but it wasn't worth it to either me or dh. I just found other ways to cut back while at home to get us out of debt. Truth be told (and only from my experience) it's one of the best things I ever did. Of course, lemme say, we weren't gazelle intense before I quit, so it made a big difference.

Is there anything you could be doing at home to cut back on spending that you aren't able to do while keeping this part-time job? Maybe that could make up the difference and be the tradeoff.

And how exciting to be almost debt-free!! We are aiming to hit that mark around the end of the year. Be sure and let us all know here when you get there, kay? Keeps us inspired. :)

Unless the job is compromising your health to an unacceptable degree, I think Dave would recommend staying gazelle intense for a few more months to completely finish the emergency fund.

As Prairie Rose said, I think I would try to do just about anything for 1-2 days a week for 6 months to get the EF finished.

Thanks, good advice.. I go back and forth... keep talking myself into sticking it out. For now. Unless I change my mind. ;)

We are currently on baby step 3. We have slowed down quite a bit. I am regretting it and an very anxious to get it fully funded. Basically what we did was when we had the car paid off I did not immediately start putting that money into savings. The first couple of months we spent it on things that we had put off for a long time in order to pay off the car. Then I started the auto transfer. We are 1/3 of the way there. I really thought we would be almost there at this point. Our tax refund wasn't nearly as much as I thought it would be, which is a good thing in a way, but things have really slowed down for us and it is discouraging.

Is there anyway you can ONLY work 1 day a week until you get it funded? That way you would be cutting back a little, but not completely. Good luck!

Jennifer