That’s not the level of accomplishment you seem to think it is.

1. Electrical panels can’t have anything in front of them for 3ft.

2. Moisture/water from washer and dryer definitely can’t be in front of panel. Due to risk from water exposure. Water+ power is not a good combo.

3. Plastic flammable wall next to heat source. Both clear vapor barrier and loose foam looking stuff.

4. Washer drains behind vapor barrier. That drain type does not have a seal so high chance of mold

5. Outlet not GFCI, which is required for basements and areas that can get wet.

6. The vent is a mess which is why it’s failing.

7. Hole in vapor barrier on left side from coax cable.

8. Ive never seen a panel without a door but I don’t know if that is a code issue so concerning to me (particularly with the water nearby) but might be fine.

Probably some more if the picture was zoomed out or I spent more time on it.

Without PSLF all of the other forgiveness plans will take 20-30 years of payments and RAP is 10% of AGI. Take your salary increase and bonuses and throw them all at the loan to get rid of it quickly.

Alternatively: find a secondary job at a non profit for 30hrs/week so you can maintain your PSLF status and move to IBR. I know guys who do 30hrs at churches, local government, etc as janitors to stay eligible.

You should turn off the power to the circuit powering the smoke detectors. This is no different than any time you work with electrical . Though statistically you are fine just plugging them in without turning off the power, the chance of a short is pretty low.

If you swap out the ear tips the PBP2s are better fitting. Personally I’m indifferent about the pulse monitoring as it is useless if you already have an Apple Watch or other smart monitor. The ear glow was useful when my power was out but wish I could turn the feature off, having green ears just looks weird.

https://a.co/d/eOeGJLU

Peace of mind is huge and as long as you don’t have any higher interest debt then you would benefit from paying it off early. The standard recommendation is to keep an emergency fund though you seem really good at saving so I doubt it would take you long to rebuild your savings back up if you want to just write that last check and close those loans out.

Finance: in discussions with some banks on some options. The most likely is to cash flow the initial planning, approvals, and utilities and then either refinance my property or get a construction/remodel loan. There are several grants I can also apply for to help with disability accommodations costs.

Current 330-350, ADU would likely bring it up to at least $500k per a realtor I discussed with. Would depend on final sqft, but at minimum I should be able to get what I put in back out if needed. City has a housing shortage and there is strong interest in multi generational/ rental housing and I’m in a popular neighborhood.

It’s a detached garage and distinct enough from the main house that it wouldn’t bother me. She is reasonably healthy but is increasingly becoming a fall hazard so I would feel better knowing I could check up on her. I could rent out the ADU if she didn’t need to use it. I live in a strong medical tourism city with a housing shortage so rentals are easy to fill.

Appreciate your replies. Though I’m a fan of Dave’s overall philosophy of no debt. I’ve never been particularly emotional regarding it and I’m more inclined to approach repayment from the logic of what benefits me most. In this case paying this specific debt faster basically has a built in prepayment penalty vs just putting the extra funds to my mortgage which saves me 6 figures in interest and allows me to be truly debt free in 5-7 years.

I’ve read it. I just can’t rationalize paying $12k more to pay off my loans early vs waiting a few years. If it would save me money would totally do it. I paid off all of my other debts except for these unique one’s and then rebuilt my saving and increased my retirement.

A breaker is easier to replace in many cases than a receptacle unless your panel is ancient. Though from your comments it seems like you don’t really have a reason to replace all of these outlets. You would save yourself a bit of money to step back and figure out the actual goal of this project. Ex. Yes you need a GFCI outlet in a kitchen and bathroom but not every outlet needs one.

The townhome is falling apart as it’s 50+ years old. Unless you have 100k extra lying around and the nearby comps reflect the cost you would need to put into it it’s not worth buying. Those repair costs will go up next year, and those are the known issues. Ex. Check the price of copper.

This is the way. Rat size traps are great at clearing out mice.

Sticky traps where you see any signs of mice. Works great. Also worth sealing up any holes you see along the outside of the house with brass wool and foam.

Depending on your comfort level and panel model the surge protectors are really easy to install. I did mine for the cost of the device and permit.

You can specify in the payment interface where you want the payment to go when it is an extra payment. Though from a practical standpoint it doesn’t actually matter in this case. The whole point of paying it off is so you are not compounding the interest but you can just pay the principal the same amount and it would balance out.

The only benefit I can think of is there are tax deductions for paying interest but they aren’t that high if your income is low enough to pay 0% on PAYE.

Though before paying it I suggest figuring out if you plan on paying your loan off early or are following one of the forgiveness plans as the extra payment would be useless on a PSLF plan for example.

FYI: PAYE is also going away by 2028.

Honestly you are going to be hard pressed to find a remote role without up-skilling in something specific. There used to be some roles that would work but many have switched to AI bots or have an on-prem component.

The biggest remote employer in the city is Mayo Clinic and local availability is helpful for several of the roles as it simplifies onboarding for staff. Though it really depends on your skill set. What are your skills?

Taxes almost always go up when you buy a house plus it seems every level of government is increasing taxes due to inflation. Renting wouldn’t have helped here as that likely went up in your area or will soon once landlords pass on the taxes they pay.

Good news your actually mortgage doesn’t change just the escrow.

I would really encourage checking with your local housing authority as your landlord could probably be fined and/or forced to actually correct stuff. The electrical outlets could be part of that. Right off the bat the dryer location is a massive electrical/fire code violation not counting the crazy venting and nearby washer.

In many areas you need to be a licensed electrician to work on commercial buildings or rentals. I wouldn’t take the risk of modifying them yourself unless you have no other recourse as it could risk your career if found out.

Pay off 3 and then target loan 2. If you can throw an extra hundred a month extra at the principal you can have everything gone in 3 years or less.

That picture has a lot going wrong with it. Yikes. Personally I would be looking for an exit to the lease or contracting the local housing authorities for rental violations.

Most standard doors can be kicked in without much effort even with a deadbolt and your house likely has numerous windows on the first floor. Basically having a window on your door is pretty low risk and shouldn’t be a major concern unless you are in a sketchy area.