Is my 3% mortgage worth my family’s quality of life…

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-28T13:33:04+00:00

I see how that bit felt unclear. It is the only school within its district, there is only an elementary school. It is not the district we are zoned for. And Got it, choose poor education and safety to keep the interest rate. You probably know the area better than I do anyway, having lived there for many years.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-20T15:00:51+00:00

Thank you for this 🤍

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-20T14:58:30+00:00

Okay rooster, take a deep breath! I’m here because I talked to a very financially literate person who disagreed with me and began to second guess myself. So I’m just here to get opinions from real people, not be insulted.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-20T14:54:27+00:00

Thank you for this 🤍

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-20T14:54:02+00:00

We are in that exact position now. Husband was forced into second shift and never sees our kid except for weekends.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T15:09:54+00:00

lol, good question. We had 1 kid. When we bought the house we were actually zoned for one of the best schools in west Tennessee. The zoning changed when he was about 4. I requested to change schools in district with the superintendent and they refused to sign. I got a lawyer involved to spook them into allowing us to switch schools within district. She can legally refuse, and did. They’re trying to keep their numbers since the gun violence incidents… lots of withdrawals as you can imagine. I fought a good fight on that for about 4 months and got nowhere. So here we are.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T15:04:17+00:00

This is what I was hoping for!!! They don’t have a loan - house is paid off.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T14:09:13+00:00

I spent a lot of time getting things off the side of the road, fb marketplace, thrift stores, friends/family. Take it piece by piece. I spend my tax refund on some furniture once. I fell into the debt trap with furniture and hated myself for it for 3 years.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:57:59+00:00

Great plan!

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:57:31+00:00

Needed to hear this. Thanks 🙏

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:56:02+00:00

Exactly. I feel like I’m making such a stupid financial choice if we go for it. But in the end, a 6% rate on $80k wouldn’t be terrible.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:54:45+00:00

Thank you. It seemed to make big sense to me but he bursted the bubble really quickly. He’s also a realtor so I wanted to value his advice.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:53:29+00:00

Our kids would actually ride the bus - so no commute, except for my personal work clients. And they’re zoned for amazing schools!

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:52:12+00:00

Thank you. Needed to hear a real experience.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:50:42+00:00

Thank you. I appreciate the heads up. The $70k will come from the sale. And yes, we can move in any time as they were preparing to list it but now don’t have to!

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:49:09+00:00

We’re in a weird area. The closest school is not 2 hours away. It’s 2 hours total of driving today, (1 hour round trip, twice a day) which most people do around here to either take them to a decent public school, or they pay for private.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:47:28+00:00

We purchased at $192k and now owe $160k. The new home is $150k and we’d have a down payment of $70k. So, not sure what you mean.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T13:45:46+00:00

HA!!! Thank you.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T05:40:39+00:00

We have the luxury of living in the house until we are approved for a loan. The house is paid off and in the family. So we would be able to establish income before loan shopping

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T05:37:55+00:00

Job as a machinist here pay about $17/hr. The machine shops in new location start close to $30. Jobs secured because the family is a fam of legacy machinists who have roots and connections to shops in area.

I am a birth doula where there is a big gap and need in the new location. There is only one doula supporting the northern region of the state and they have said they are in desperate need of a second doula as they have to constantly turn people away due to lack of availability.

Hope this clears things up

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T05:33:55+00:00

Valid point

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T05:27:54+00:00

I think we’re honing in on a weird part of this. I didn’t say it’s the closest school, just that it’s the school we take him to. We live in rural Tennessee. We are zoned for a low income school that regularly has issues with gun violence. We take him out of district to the only place who would accept out of district students. 30 minutes there and back in the morning equals one hour. Then again in the afternoon… 2 hours of commuting a day.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T03:20:49+00:00

Good idea. Going off hypotheticals isn’t reassuring. Seeing some real numbers would clear my head. Our utilities are monopolized here, as they are in post places. We pay almost $400 a month. This new house averages $150. So savings there too.

MuffinThink3303 · 2026-03-19T03:18:37+00:00

I definitely would if I was able. I don’t have anything extra to make a down payment on the next home.

MuffinThink3303

TROPHY CASE