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Archive for June, 2015

Life

June 25th, 2015 at 03:56 pm

We close on our house today. I am finally starting to feel excited, but I've just been tired and meh about it the last few weeks.

I did a double take on Laura's post about NE's aunt. My aunt, who suffered from early onset of Alzheimer's, passed away that day. Not a pretty end, but at least the actual end was peaceful. It's sad, but I'm so very glad she's finally at peace.

And another family member got admitted to a hospital for some nerve issue two weeks ago. That's been an interesting roller-coaster too, but recovery will be complete shortly.

And my speech therapist was useless for my son (what do you mean I should repeat words multiple times?!? You mean like this, like I've been doing for the last YEAR). She said I was doing everything correctly. (BUT THEN WHY ISNT IT WORKING????) The therapist didn't really try to interact, just sat on the floor and kind of observed. I'm ok with that for the first visit, but subsequent ones, no. I'm trying to get into a different program, but they're full for the summer, and I'm not sure insurance will cover it. But being able to communicate is SO IMPORTANT.

Then there is the standard, teething baby, waking up multiple times a night again.

And work issues popping up.

And. And. And.

My personal money stash has diminished from Starbucks runs. Yes, yes, I know. I could be frugal and make it at home (although, not sure I'd know how to do the frappaccinos). Ain't happening. I'm totally ok with paying for the convenience of having someone else make it, make it pretty, clean up after making it, and give me 5 minutes to relax. I can pay my $4.xx each time for that. It's my blow money anyway, and when it's gone, it's gone. Just makes me thankful that I've been saving it up for awhile and not spending my whole allowance. Gives me breather during times like this.

Oh, and you guys were right. I really, really miscalculated paint costs. I don't need tools of any kind (we have them ALL, sprayer included - Dad used to paint houses to pay his way through college), but primer for interior alone will be about $200. Exterior will have to wait. And I'm not sure that I'll do all the final paint colors before moving in. And appliances, I'm going cheap, "get us by" ones for now, I'll sell them and get the ones I like that fit the space later on after saving.

Sorry. I guess I'm kind of whiny today. Maybe after it's all signed, I'll be in a better mood.

No More Rent

June 5th, 2015 at 03:21 pm

Turned in my final rent check this week. It felt great. They managed to find a renter starting mid-June, so I only had to pay a portion. We saved over $1k by moving out to my parents early! I'm sure it will help with the unknown house purchase costs that are bound to pop up.

We've also adjusted our paychecks so our take-home is about $500/month higher. I'm hoarding cash until I get the final numbers. The change in paychecks does mean we aren't putting much into HSA right now or as much into retirement as normal, but the plan is we will only do this for a few months. I'm ok on the HSA as we've hit our deductible for the year already (actually, we've hit three different deductibles in the last 6 months). After we get the initial new house costs figured out, we'll go back and revise. Ideally, I'd like to get my next year's deductible saved before December. And retirement - always a good thing to do.

Speaking of retirement, it's been quite a hassle to get my old 401k rolled over into my new one. HR, when bad, is bad. They had my wrong social. I always thought that that was one thing NOT to mess up. Sigh. And THEN, spouse has to sign a form, with a notary present. It makes sense, but what a headache.

We are in the three week window until closing. I both want it to crawl and to speed up. I think buying your first house is kind of life changing. In a good way for me- I feel like I'm coming out of a fog, but it might just be that it has been long enough since giving birth, too. Plus sun. Sun always helps.


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Paid New House Expenses:
$ 1,000 Earnest Money (goes towards eventual down payment)
$ 300 Lease Break
$ 80 Moving boxes and extra gas
$ 325 Inspection Fee
$ 425 Mortgage Application Fee (goes towards eventual closing costs)
=$ 2,130

Money saved:
$ 26 May internet
$ 43 June internet
$ 47 May utilities
$ xx June utilities (up to $115/mo)
$ 25 June pet fee
$ 667 June rent
$ 60 May/June gas from carpooling savings
$ 164 Renters insurance refund
=$1032 to $1147 Saved!

Anticipated expenses (approximate numbers):
$ 4,200 Down payment (in addition to earnest)
$ 2,900 Closing Costs (in addition to mortgage app. fee)
=$7,100

Potential fixer upper costs
$ 3,000 Roofing materials (simple small single story roof and gutters, work done by selves)
$ 800 Appliances (used stove, fridge, washer and dryer)
$ 500 Doors and locks (exterior doors need to be replaced, not just re-locked)
$ 300 Window AC units (craigslist)
$ 200 Bathroom repairs (grout, tub replacement, shower head, caulk)
$ 200 Paint (walls, ceilings, trim, cabinets, potentially exterior)
$ 500 Misc other updates, move in expenses
=$5,500

Lots Going On

June 1st, 2015 at 03:51 pm

I realized that I had written an April update, but forgot to post it. The short of April was:

Medical stuff for both of my kids got busy, then quieted down, then got busy again. I am tired of navigating the medical world. Jump through this hoop, to land in a mud pile, now wait until the bus passes, then oh, here's another hoop and wait, your shoe's untied. It feels like Frogger. Fly eating, crocodiles, and all.

I tried Mint.com, but hated it. Absolutely hated it. I didn't like that it dealt with posted date instead of the date I actually spent the money. And categorizing things was cumbersome for me. I have a very different idea of how I budget things. I'm going back to my manual entry into Quicken.

As for my April goals - Didn't stay in budget (ate out more than I should have and spent a LOT on gas), went back up to 4 a day on soda (major fail!), made my weight goal (barely), de-cluttering was so-so.

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Now onto a not-so-quick for May:

Well.... we're buying a house. A fixer upper, of sorts. Kind of ugly, needs a lot of paint and a new roof within a year. But other than that, it's liveable right now. Eventually the bathroom needs to be redone as the mid-century pink tiles isn't really fashionable, but it functions!

Taking into account the extra utilities we don't currently pay (trash, water), PMI (which would be about $4,000 over the life of it if I don't prepay), house insurance, and escrow - we still will save over $300/month compared to renting. Fixing the roof, paint, and fixing a few odds and ends will give us instant equity (by a lot!).

I'm so excited. SO. EXCITED. CANNOT SIT STILL EXCITED.

In preparation of all these initial costs, we've moved out of the apartment back to the parent's house for about two months. "Broke" our lease for $300 which they are actively re-renting and it is looking like we won't have to pay most of June's rent (crossing fingers that the application goes through)! We are saving already by dropping internet and utilities will decrease/go away shortly. Husband and I are carpooling and curtailing eating out and other expenses. I'm pinching money like crazy to pay for all the initial fixes we will do before moving in.

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After reading about My English Castle organizing, I'm reading up about Marie Kondo and am half way through her book. It's really interesting. I'm going to make my husband read it, as I think he will dig it even more than me. While I can't do much about my stuff right now as it is all stored in a one car garage, I can deal with my clothes I have out and try out her folding. Ideally, when we move stuff to the new house, I'm going to "does it bring joy" test before bringing anything into the house. There is so much stuff!

Plus, I'll finally be in neighbourhood where we can finally have a garage sale!

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Oh, I just remembered - I want to document all the money I'm spending on purchasing and fixing up the current house.
Paid New House Expenses:
$ 1,000 Earnest Money (part of down payment)
$ 300 Lease Break
$ 80 Moving boxes and extra gas
$ 325 Inspection Fee
$ 425 Mortgage Application Fee (part of closing costs)
=$ 2,130

Money saved:
$ 26 May internet
$ 43 June internet
$ 47 May utilities (usually around $115/mo)
$ xx June utilities (usually around $115/mo)
$ 25 June pet fee
$ xx June rent (major cross fingers!)
$ 60 May/June gas from carpooling savings
$ 164 Renters insurance refund
=$365 to $1730

Anticipated expenses (approximate numbers):
$ 4,200 Down payment (additional to earnest)
$ 2,900 Closing Costs (additional to mortgage fee)
=$7,100

Potential fixer upper costs
$ 3,000 Roofing materials (simple small single story roof and gutters, work done by selves)
$ 800 Appliances (used stove, fridge, washer and dryer)
$ 500 Doors and locks (exterior doors need to be replaced, not just re-locked)
$ 300 Window AC units (craigslist)
$ 200 Bathroom repairs (grout, tub replacement/fixing, shower head, caulk)
$ 200 Paint (walls, ceilings, trim, cabinets, potentially exterior)
$ 500 Misc other updates, move in expenses
=$5,500