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Archive for August, 2015

Vacation Splurge

August 31st, 2015 at 07:15 pm

We went on a long weekend vacation. It was totally worth it, as we visited Ceejay's neck of the woods. I love the state fair, MOA, and the renaissance festival. It was the best time I've had in a long time, coupled with really good friendship and food. Spent a good chunk, but not as bad as our normal trip to the cities. I found an awesome deal on a kitchenette hotel room which was perfect for nap times and picky eaters. Then got the tickets on discount thanks to friends purchasing them in advance for us. I'm hoping to make this vacation a yearly trip.

We are moving officially this weekend. Need to finish a few things in the bathroom, and we are good to go. It'll be nice to live in the house as we put on the finishing touches at our own pace.

Hoping to put the new roof on in the next several weeks. I'll need to call in the relative reinforcements, so I better get that planning going.

I finally have my monthly "set" expenses figured out. Now to figure out my variables. Those will adjust once we actually move. Tomorrow is my first day of tracking, as if we live in the house already. September will hopefully be a frugal month.

Messy Car

August 24th, 2015 at 04:20 pm

Came across some forum posting here that said something along the lines of "messy car, messy finance habits". A few people said something along the lines of "so true!" I had never heard that saying before. Then I got in my car, and hmmm.... about that.

Messy car here. And while I'm probably better than quite a few Americans, yup, my finances are feeling really messy these days. Once I can settle (within the next two weeks, pretty please?), there's quite a few "messy" things I need to do. Hoping I can get them done before year end (in no particular order):

- Finalize new budget
- List, prioritize, and budget final house fixes
- Unpack, Declutter*, Organize
- Set up will (and such)
- Check up on retirement
- Set new saving goals
- Winterize the house
- Clean cars

So much to do, so little time these days.

*We moved all of our storage stuff to the house this weekend. Since I couldn't store anything in basement (still needs to be majorly cleaned) or garage (filled with tools and materials), we took up a whole bedroom with boxes and boxes and boxes. I need to do some purging. MAJOR purging.

Short Update

August 11th, 2015 at 09:21 pm

First water/sewer/trash bill arrived. $54.xx. Signed up for auto payments for both that and the electric/gas.

Speech will be starting soon on my oldest. 2 to 3 60-minute sessions a week, at $95/session. Wonder if I can pay with HSA dollars. I'll have to ask, then up my contribution amount. Insurance won't cover anymore sessions. Only got three total covered - pretty sure the evaluations took them.

Husband starts school in a few weeks. Really need to get moved into new house before then.

Lots of money out and debt being taken on, but it feels like everything is clicking into place.

Sarah - Saw your deleted post, but didn't get a chance to respond. Two little kids is HARD on relationships. Look into love languages. It was useful for us to open up meaningful conversation. And be nice to yourself.

House Update

August 5th, 2015 at 10:19 pm

We have officially paid our first mortgage payment. Here is the breakdown of the $850 that went to the bank:

$145.55 Principal
$276.02 Interest
$249.68 Escrow - Taxes
$ 54.84 Escrow - Homeowner's Insurance
$ 37.87 PMI
$ 43.02 Extra to Principal

If we only pay the extra $43/month for the rest of the mortgage and then take what we're paying towards PMI and apply it to the principal when it's done, we'll pay off our mortgage in summer 2039, in 24 years. Ideally, I'd like to up our extra monthly payments by $150 when my husband gets done with school, which would put us at a 17year pay off. Hmm... wonder if I should make it a goal to figure out how to get it gone by year 15. I'll be in my mid-forties then and my kids would be approaching the end of high school. It'd be really neat to be able to head into their college years with a fully paid off house. Provided that we don't move in that time. Food for thought, yes, lots of food for thought...

First electric and gas bill came in at $95.xx. Includes a partial month of A/C, a lot of power tools, work lights, and other big electric pull things along with holes in the structure letting the A/C out (we did keep it off when we could or weren't home). Hoping it won't bump up too high when we move in now that everything is closed up/insulated properly.

Speaking of moving in, I think that we might be able to move in two to three weekends. If not fully move in, at least all our stored stuff moved. We're getting so close!

I haven't had time to do a run down of how much we've spent so far. The spending has definitely slowed down and I'm finally returning the items we don't need, so that's helping. Still have to get a cheap stove, cheap washer and dryer, and trim (eventually). Then we'll do the roof this fall. I've only had $35.xx paid towards interest so far for all our expenses. Hoping that we can make a strong pay off plan at the end of this month. Husband's school bills aren't going to be as large as I expected either. Crossing my fingers that we'll be able to coast easily through the rest of the year!