My DH and I have been discussing the cost of living situation. He just refuses to believe that if we make less and move to a lower cost of living things will work out.

He wants to maintain our current standard of living. He isn't worried so much about what we spend, we don't have a high burn rate for our income. But rather our savings rate, he's uncomfortable with the idea of us saving less. He knows mentally that you make less = save less. You have less income you need to replace, but the idea of going backwards and saving less per year makes him uncomfortable.

His statement to me was interesting, since I'm the one who has gotten more into early retirement. He said never considered us retiring early but the more he thinks about it, the more he wants us to be independent on jobs. He really doesn't want to retire and a lot of self worth is tied to working and what he does. But he doesn't want to be dependent on a job where a job loss will leave us floundering. He's reflected a lot lately and he wants us to be flexible financially always. That we are able to weather storms.

But how do we get there? He said how can I predict we'll have enough? How can we guarantee that our estimates of an annual budget are accurate? How do we know that unexpected expenses won't crop up after we "retire"?

I can't guarantee any of that. I don't know that we won't get sick or need medical care to the tune of thousands of dollars. But I also don't know that we couldn't die young before we get to retire.

And truthfully we aren't saving enough for college and we're both aware of it. But at the same time right now college is taking a backseat to everything because we are so unsure about the future.

I'll write my thoughts on college. For now I'm going to a splash park and enjoying the summer with my kiddos!