Nesting

I'm due in just a week and a half with our second baby and I've been doing some serious nesting. We made it this far just buying a few small things for the baby (and getting rid of a lot of stuff we had for our first baby but never used), but in the last week I decided I needed some new blankets, a couple of boutique-y burpy bibs, and some new infant diapers. Of course none of these were needs, but I think my slightly irrational pregnancy hormones won in this case (although Mr. Savvy helped talk me into buying more diapers). In an attempt to get control, I have been using the following list (which I think I got from BabyFit.com, but I can't find the article). It works for a lot more than just baby things. 1. Do I really need it? - in most cases, the answer is no 2. Is it durable, or is it disposable? - we do a good job of buying reusable products 3. Can I buy it secondhand, rather than new? - often times I stop here because I will vow to look for something used, not get around to it, and subsequently not purchase the item 4. Can I buy it in reduced packaging? The fifth one is added by me, because I often find myself with a pile of stuff I have to sell on Craigslist or give away on Freecycle. 5. How will I get rid of this item? Is it something that will stay with us until it is worn out, or will I have to sell/donate it later.

Child care expenses, FSAs, and dependent care deductions

Our second Baby Savvy is expected any day now (anytime in the next five weeks anyway!), and my maternity leave falls smack dab in the middle of my employer's benefits elections for next year. I've been trying to do my research and get everything lined up ahead of time, because chances are I'll have a severe case of baby-brain when it's finally time to sign up. One of my biggest concerns has been how to handle the increased costs of child care for next year and the tax implications. I wasn't sure if the dependent care FSA offered by my employer could be combined with the dependent care tax credit, and if it couldn't which one would be a better deal for us. Right now we pay $5,000 annually for Toddler Savvy's care. This works out great because I have a $5,000 dependent care FSA available through my work. This has been a no-brainer for the past two years. Next year however, we will be paying $5,000 for Toddler Savvy and $7,500 for Infant Savvy.... a total of $12,500 in child care costs (it pained me to type that). We still have just $5,000 available in FSA money (this doesn't change with the addition of more children), but we also have the dependent care tax credit that we may be able to take advantage of. I did some research and found that you can actually take advantage of BOTH, just not with the same money, and still having the $6,000 max in eligible expenses. We can do $5,000 in tax-deductible FSA and $1,000 in child care tax credit.... if that works out to be the best deal tax-wise. $12,500 gross child care expenses -$1,932 in tax savings using the FSA account (deducting the full $5,000)* -$200 in tax credit using the dependent care credit for the last $1,000 --------- $10,368 total child care expenses The total tax saving using the hybrid method is $2,132, whereas if we did just the credit for the full $6,000 we would just get $1,200 (this is also based on AGI - so your numbers may be different). The downside is that the additional $7,500 in child care expenses comes only with an additional $200 in tax savings.... but $200 is $200 so we'll take it. *How did I come up with $1,932? We are in the 25% tax bracket for federal, and I think the 6% (or maybe 7%?) for state income taxes. You also can't forget that we don't pay social security and medicare taxes (7.65%) on that money. So add that up and it's worth about $1,932. NOTE - for those in lower income brackets especially, you might do better to do just the credit. You'll have to do the math. I think most higher-bracket families will do better taking advantage of the FSA, but I'm not positive.

IRS announces 2010 IRA and 401(k) limits

Official IRS publication here.

Networth Update!!!

It's been three months, so it's time for another net worth update. A lot has happened in three months... we traded in a clunker, bought a new car, and sold a third car. I also moved the 2nd mortgage ($~22,000) on our apartment building to a 0% credit card. The interest rate on this mortgage was high enough that we can move it to a fixed rate balance transfer card that isn't 0% in the future if we need to. Because it is a real estate investment, the credit card interest would be tax deductible. Our retirement accounts are doing well. We have a car loan for the first time in, well, I don't know how long, but we're okay with that. Cash v. Credit cards (this now contains the $22,000 second mortgage on the apartment building) - $37,405 Retirement - $182,255 ($63,014 in Roth accts, $119,241 in pre-tax accts) Real Estate equity - $111,190 Stocks - $2,282 529 - $6,197 auto loan - $15,000 Total net worth - $249,519 (up $30,000 or 14% since June 2009, up $75,000 or 43% since the beginning of 2009) What isn't counted in our net worth - The value of our vehicles. Right now worth an estimated $19,000-$20,000. We do count car debt, but it's too much work to track the value of vehicles. The value of the maintenance/emergency account for our investment property. Current balance of ~$2,800. The value of the maintenance/emergency account for our house. Soon to be zero as we are having a large attic insulation/asbestos abatement/wiring project going on here next week that will cost about $6,000. The money we have set aside for bi-annual property taxes and annual life insurance payments. Personal property. We don't count furniture, antiques, art, jewelry, or really any assets that aren't either real estate, cash, or in form that is traded freely on the open markets (stocks, bonds, funds, etc).

Women are better savers, but we should all realize the importance of putting a bit away each month

Research in Ireland has found that women tend to be better than men at saving money. Of course, such ‘data’ will likely fuel the old ‘it’s official, women are better than men at something else – add that to the list above driving, multi-tasking and smelling nice,’ argument that has been muttered, countered, and accepted since the dawn of time. Yet, it also shows something more positive, i.e. that a nation also looks to be battling its way out of recession quite successfully – and that more people may now be aware of the importance of savings. The research (collected and available at postbank.ie) shows that more than half (58 percent) of men and women asked in their Quarterly Savings Index consider the female of the species to be the better savers. Women themselves are confident that they the most frugal gender, with 65 percent claiming that they were the best savers. Yet, the actual statistics pitch men and women closer together – with 80 percent of men and 82 percent of women saving regularly – whilst men are said to put more away, with a third of those asked stating that they saved €250 a month. The data is a good sign. The number of people devoted to saving is the highest in years, and the primary reason for doing so is security. This is a fact that is evident when one acknowledges the average decline in interest rates across the country – similar to that which is being seen in the UK and the rest of Europe – but it has also been backed up by nearly half (49 percent) of the Postbank respondents who admitted they were concerned about the safety of their money at a time when possible unemployment is a lingering reality. However, the risk of unemployment is clearly not the only reason that many are eager to put some money away each month. Clearly the system is showing its worth aside from the benefits of interest available at times outside of recession. With a small proportion of our income being deposited into our savings account automatically, it is easier to forget it is happening, and less easy for us to spend it without thinking. There is a barrier that doesn’t exist when you’re stuffing cash into your mattress. With the global economic crisis, the public are seemingly reassessing the importance of saving and how it can best be managed at a time when it is seen as both difficult and vital. However, alongside each individual’s assessment of their own responsibility and that of the banks over their savings, such control no doubt has a knock on effect on how they treat their finances generally. The article above is sponsored content, provided by Anglo Irish Bank.

Post of random stuff

totally random stuff that I don't have time to turn into individual posts... 1. Baby Savvy's (he turns 2 this month!) 529 account has finally broken even... meaning it's now worth the value of the contributions. Not quite the objective of most investments, but considering what has gone on in the two years since we started making contributions... 2. Baby Savvy's favorite things include pumpkins, his grandparents, school buses, airplanes, helicopters, and dogs. His vocabulary is huge, and he eats everything. 3. We sold our Civic. It was 8 years old and had 150,000 miles on it. We got $4,150 for it. It's really nice to only have two vehicles... less maintenance, registration fees, insurance costs, etc. 4. Pregnancy with baby #2 is going very well. Less than two months to go. We are getting excited. 5. Lots of stuff to do before Baby #2 gets here... like get our attic insulated! 6. Our retirement accounts have recovered nicely from the crash. Our low balance earlier this year was $106,000, and we are currently at $178,000. Can't complain. 7. Mr. Savvy is back at work after having the last 2 1/2 months off. Hopefully we can make some traction on our debt paydown.

Assessment

I received our revised property tax assessment value yesterday. After much back and forth, the assessor has lowered the value to about $210,000 (although she put some caveats in the documentation that make me think this was done rather grudgingly). This will save us somewhere between $100-$200 annual in property taxes, depending on the mil rate.

Update on Assessment

A brief update on this post.... Our assessment is under review, and we have been told to expect a revised amount by the end of the week. I was warned that the new amount isn't as low as I argued it should be, but the assessor does think she may have slightly overvalued some improvements we made (specifically the room above the garage). Oddly enough, the increase in question was made during the 2007 tax year and is NOT part of the $39,100 increase we were just notified of. The recent large increase still stands.

Attic insulation

Mr. Savvy and I have decided to take advantage of some of tax incentives available for energy-saving home improvements. We've been talking about adding additional attic insulation in our house for a couple years, and the federal tax credit for 30% of the cost of improvements, up to $1,500 is a great incentive for doing so. I've just started getting estimates... part of me is a little worried about what the contractors are going to tell me about our 97 year old house. I'm sure it's pretty leaky! Also, an update on our tax assessment... the assessor has told me she is re-evaluating our assessment and expects to get a revised value to us by the end of the week. I'll post an update when I hear what the new value is.

GREAT deal on Britax Regent

Amazon has the Britax Regent Youth Car Seat (really a car seat and booster, as it fits children 22 to 80 lbs) on sale for $179.99. This seat is usually $249-$279, and shipping is free. This comes at just the right time for us, we are going to turn in our one rental seat and buy this one. It's longevity makes it a good bargain.

More money moving around

A couple months ago I posted that our CC debt from our home improvement projects was below the $20,000 mark, a big milestone for us since we've seen lots of unemployment, and quite a few unexpected expenses in those two years (including a $7,000 car when Baby Savvy was born, about $10,000 in home repairs, oh, and Baby Savvy himself!). We'll, we decided to do something I've wanted to do for awhile. We used 0% money to pay off the second mortgage on the apartment building... $22,000. We have enough in our HELOC to cover it if we need to, and the 7.8% interest rate on a second mortgage for a commercial property was just too high for me to keep much longer (but also low enough that we can't get a better rate anywhere else). So we paid it off with 0% money, with the backup plan of using our HELOC should the 0% offers run dry. That being said, we are back up around the $40,000 mark for debt we are carrying on our 0% credit cards. $25,000 is backed with our HELOC, the rest we would have to pull out of other reserves (cash or otherwise) to pay if it came down to it. Another option is taking advantage of some of the low (not 0%) interest rate balance transfer for life offers out there... but for now I'm fine with rolling it from 0% to 0% offer.

penny wise, but pound foolish?

Just yesterday we received a notice in the mail that our house had been revalued by our local assessor. The notice was complete with supporting documentation, including recent home sales in our neighborhood, annual home price fluctuations for our community of 1,500, and laws and ordinances regarding home assessments. Long story short, our house is now assessed for $39,100 more than it was just a few days ago, a 22% increase. My gut reaction was to fight the revaluation. We have recent appraisals that support a much lower value (and could probably successfully fight to get it lowered), but I know that our house is worth the new assessed value, and we would be fairly likely to sell it for that amount if we choose to. As a matter of fact, we are pretty lucky that we've gotten by this long without a revaluation. However, the new value also means a potential property tax increase of $600+ annually. This number is dependent on how much our mil rate ends up being, as well as the amount of which all the other households were impacted by the revaluation. If everyone's house is now worth 22% more, then our taxes won't go up much, if at all. If everyone's value stayed stagnant while ours went up, we are in for a big bill. But then I was thinking... should we decide to sell our house in the near future, that higher assessed value would actually be beneficial. Not because people like paying property taxes, but because lots of people compare the assessed value to the asking price when evaluating the "value" of a property. I know it doesn't work that way, and so do many other people, but that doesn't stop it from happening. So I'm still debating. The cheapskate in me wants to fight the new assessment, but the logical part of my brain is telling me to let it be... we might be happy to have that high valuation someday.

new car!

We've had our new Fit for over a week now and love it! It's everything we wanted and more... I'm glad we waited to get what we wanted, but I'm also glad we were able to buy it when we did. Despite thinking we had everything lined up for the purchase, it did NOT go as we planned. Our check from the lender didn't show up in time, so we ended up taking money out of our checking account to pay for it. We will refinance into a car loan when the title gets here. We also had an appointment at the dealer to buy the car, but while we were early, the car was several hours late (it was being transferred from another dealer). Because we bought on 7/31, which was almost the last day of the CARS program, the dealership was crazy busy, and we didn't get home until 9:30 at night (we were at the dealer by 3pm). To top it all off... the truck we traded in had the brakes fail on the way to the dealer. We were on the interstate, brake pedal was to the floor. Luckily there was no weight in the back and it's has a manual transmission or we would have really been in trouble. Let's just say that Mr. Savvy and I were happy to leave it at the dealer. Bonus - Our first tank of gas averaged 43 miles per gallon (by both the MPG gauge on the car and the math I did when I refilled it).

we are closing the deal on our new car today... of course not without some extra stress. This is the last day the dealership we are working with will honor the Cash for Clunkers program, and our loan check from PenFed hasn't arrived. We are going to get a check from a HELOC we have with a local credit union and refi into an auto-loan with Penfed once we have the title. I don't want to miss this opportunity. edit: As much as I have benefited from online banking, there's something to be said to having access to money locally as well.

taking the plunge!

We pick up our new Honda Fit this week! I blogged about our hopes/plans back in May to trade in our truck and sell our Civic in favor of buying something that had at least four doors and could accommodate two car seats. After much research, discussion, planning, and weighing our options, we have decided to take the plunge. Mr. Savvy's truck is being traded for a $4,500 rebate under the CARS program. We are going to sell our Civic private party, leaving us with just the Impala and the Fit, and a small car payment (boo). We are getting the Fit Sport model with a manual transmission for $15,555 plus $710 in destination fees, and then tax/title/license, etc. We are also planning to take advantage of the federal tax deduction on new car sales tax that was made available earlier this year. We are financing the Fit with a 3.99%, 60-month loan from PenFed.

Deal for those with student loan debt!

Penfed has a great balance transfer offer on their credit cards... 2.99% for the life of the loan. The transfer fee is a reasonable 2.5%, with a max of $100, making this a great deal for those with high interest rate student loans (or those with lots of credit card debt who aren't comfortable rolling from 0% to 0% deal). I believe the minimum monthly payment is 2% of the total balance, but I could be wrong. Interest on this card is not tax deductible, but it would still make sense for those that make too much money to deduct their student loan interest, or those that have high rate private loans.

Balance Transfer Cards

I've received a handful of emails over the past month wondering if I had any good sources for 0% balance transfer offers. This list offers a rundown of current offers that either have no fee or a capped fee. Although the market for deals like this is pretty dry, there are still a couple on there that are okay. Thinking ahead to an offer we currently have that will expire when our baby is still a newborn, I just applied for two this morning, and plan to call in for another one later today. I haven't been overlapping offers much lately because it isn't very lucrative, but I'd rather not have to worry about applying for cards when I'm sleep-deprived and in a baby-love fog.

Networth Update!!!

It's a few days early but it's been so long since I published a networth update that I wanted to get one out while I had a chance... It's been a good six months. Mr. Savvy's been working a lot more than he did last year, his industry is starting to pick up..... however he was told last week that he may not be working at all in July. We'll see what happens. We still work on limiting our spending. I'm in total declutter mode, so we are getting rid of a lot more than comes in, which is nice. I haven't been selling a lot, opting instead to give it away for the tax deductions. I just want it out of the house/garage/basement/yard/porch/attic. We have a second baby on the way, expected in early winter. It's very reassuring to know that we don't have to buy much for this one since he/she is due just a month after our first child's birthday. We have plenty of seasonally-appropriate clothes (although most are pretty boy-ish, so if this is a girl we might have to buy some stuff eventually), we already have slings and a co-sleeper, we will re-use our cloth diapers (which I'm thrilled about!), and I will nurse again (and I already have a good pump and we have bottles for daycare). We will have to pay for more daycare, and probably up the 529 contribution amount, but we'll manage. One thing we found out recently is that the eight-year-old roof on our house needs to be replaced. It was a complete tear-off and re-do that the previous owner had done in 2001, but the company that did it put the shingles on incorrectly. They are literally blowing off now. We have no recourse against the company that did the work, and we are looking at another complete tear off. No idea what it will cost. Our networth is starting to creep back up. We've been making progress on debt and maintaining our consistent contributions to our retirement accounts. Houses in our neighborhood are selling for pre-burst amounts. Cash versus Credit Card: -19,383 (Jan 2009: -29,294, up $9,911) Retirement: 146,657 (up $29,862 from Jan 09) Real Estate Equity: 84,939 529: 4,640 Random Stocks: 1,922 Total: 218,776 (up $44,504 from Jan 09)

Update on 2009 goals

Update on 2009 goals.... 1. Declutter! - We always have a stack (okay, pile) of towels in our bathroom that doesn't fit in the cupboard. Today I finally decided to bite the bullet and get rid of some towels. It wasn't difficult to sort out the ones we don't like, and now we have plenty of room to keep our towels folded neatly in the cupboard. This took about 20 minutes to solve a clutter problem I've been fighting for two years. 2. Garden more! Most of our garden is in the ground, thanks to my dad. We even have a raised bed that has a hoop over it, so we should be able to plant veggies early in the spring and late in the fall. 3. Install our rain barrels. One is in (after much trial and error), and one is waiting for me to buy some parts to hook it up. 4. Clean and organize our basement. No progress. 5. Knit. I've been knitting less and less, but I'm trying to carve out more time, even if it is just a few minutes a day. I haven't been making it to any knitting groups... needs effort.

DIY blunders

The NY Times has an entertaining article on DIY Blunders - Even to Save Cash, Don't Try This Stuff at Home, that I just couldn't resist posting. The author is trying to make a good point, sometimes it is worth it to go to the professionals, but I have to laugh at the examples used in the article. Most DIYers learned long ago to do the research first, before purchasing materials, performing demolition, or otherwise crossing the point of no return. Don't let the article scare you, DIY doesn't always mean a professional will be cleaning up your mistakes at 10x the original cost. Search online, visit the library, ask friends and family. As your DIY skills improve, your confidence will grow and you will become better able to judge the projects within your realm of abailities and desires. This coming from someone who has successfully installed her own toilet, cuts her son's hair, waxes her own eyebrows, hems her own pants, and cooks the majority of her family's food from scratch. I also hire electricians and plumbers, don't do carpentry (although Mr. Savvy does some), and pay someone else to change the oil in our cars and rotate the tires (again, Mr. Savvy does this sometimes, but we've found it saves less than $10 and can take an entire afternoon). DIY can save you time and money (yes, I said time - once you become proficient at something it can save you lots of time), but you also have to know your limits.

Trading in our truck?

I wrote a couple months back about selling our two-door Civic and buying a Fit... at that point we had the check in our hands and were ready to purchase, but we decided to hold off because we were still a little uncomfortable taking out a car loan in an uncertain economy. Now it seems like we might have a great opportunity if the Cash for Clunkers plan gets passed... we might get rid of both our 1997 pickup truck (which gets 17.5 mpg according to FuelEconomy.gov, as well as our Civic. The plan as it is written right now would make the truck worth $4,500 at trade-in, about $3,000 more than it is worth on the open market. We would sell our Civic via private party. I don't like having an third vehicle, and our goal as has been to get down to two, but our truck is worth so little that it hasn't made sense to sell or trade it in since it runs well. It also gets very little use at our house since the gas mileage is so poor and its inability to accommodate a car seat, even in a pinch. If we are able to do this, we would have a Fit and an Impala... eventually we'd like to get something that suits us a little better than the Impala, but for now it runs great and is paid for. This would be a great opportunity for us to reduce the number of vehicles we own, eliminate the two vehicles that don't fit our family anymore, and improve our overall fuel economy. We'll have to see how it all plays out.

An unexpected way to boost the economy

These days you are more likely to catch me reading Mothering instead of Smart Money, but when I saw this article I just had to share. Mothering has an excellent article, ,Nursing by Numbers: How Breastfeeding Boosts the National Economy. The numbers aren't just thought provoking, they are shocking. I've posted some snippets below, but I highly recommend reading the entire article, as it is full of interesting information. In 2001, the USDA concluded that if breastfeeding rates were increased to 75 percent at birth and 50 percent at six months, it would lead to a national government savings of a minimum of $3.6 billion. This amount was easily an underestimation since it represents savings in the treatment of only three of the dozens of illnesses proven to be decreased by breastfeeding: ear infections, gastroenteritis, and necrotizing enterocolitis. ... The AAP says each formula-fed infant costs the healthcare system between $331 and $475 more than a breastfed baby in its first year of life. The cost of treating respiratory viruses resulting from not breastfeeding is $225 million a year. ... The multi-study report estimated that breast cancer rates could be cut by more than half if women increased their lifetime breastfeeding duration. The National Cancer Institute reported the national expenditure on breast cancer treatment in 2004 was $8.1 billion, meaning extended nursing could save upwards of $4 billion a year. ... For the national Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), supporting a breastfeeding mother costs about 45 percent less than a formula-feeding mother. Every year, $578 million in federal funds buys formula for babies who could be breastfeeding. The health benefits of breastfeeding alone is what motivates many families to feed their babies breastmilk, but the individual costs of formula (quoted as anywhere from $700 to $3,000 per year) also has a huge impact on family budgets.

Debt payment update!

Now that Mr. Savvy is back at work on a more regular basis, we've been able to make more progress on our debt repayment. I don't have an exact number because some of my accounts won't update in Yodlee, however a little effort with pen and paper tells me that we have a cash versus cc debt number of ($25,000). This is an increase from ($29,294) on February 1, or $4,294 in just two months! We still haven't completed our 2008 taxes and we have our fingers crossed hoping for a small refund. I'm going to try to update NetworthIQ soon, but probably not today.

The American Life

I love listening to This American Life every Sunday, broadcast on my local NPR affiliate. This week's broadcast featured an especially interesting story about what happens when a bank fails. They mention the fact that in the US right now there is an average of one bank failure a week. You read that right, one bank fails every week. What was interesting was the way in which the FDIC goes about taking over the failed banks... in a very covert, SWAT-team-like manner. I recommend listening to the podcast (Scenes from a Recession), also available on iTunes, if you can't catch the broadcast locally.

Updates on the Savvy House

I haven't posted much in the last month. Thinks have been good for us... Mr. Savvy's job is pretty steady again, which is a nice change from this time last year. He thinks he's got solid work through June, with the exception of any weather-related days off. He's employment status is very fluid, so I think the gradual uptick in work is an early indicator that the economy is starting to recover slightly. Yesterday's stock market rally also has us hopeful. We did have to put the Savvy Dog to sleep a couple weeks ago. Her health has been deteriorating, and she was having some issues. It was very sad, and I still miss her greatly. Just yesterday I caught myself looking for her to come running around the corner when I pulled into the driveway. We are considering buying a new car, replacing our 2001 Civic Coupe. The Civic doesn't suit our family much anymore, Baby Savvy is getting big, and it is difficult to get a 25 lb kid into the back seat of a two door car and secured in a car seat. We have selected a 2009 Honda Fit Sport. We've actually negotiated the price and secured a loan, we are just waiting to make sure it is what we really want to do. We like the size, the price, the gas mileage, and the predicted reliability. It is just hard to justify going from a super reliable vehicle with no payments to having payments again. Baby Savvy is doing great. He's an "independent" toddler now, walking, talking, learning everything he can about everything around him. He's tons of fun, and I look forward to summer when we can go to the park and the pool again.

Have you been wanting one of these?

We have wanted a Flip video camera ever since we used my mom's at Christmas. They are so convenient and easy to use, but we have been trying really hard to not spend any money on frivolous things. Well... Amazon has the Flip Ultra in white on sale for $79.99 with free super saver shipping. I think I might have to splurge a little and buy one.... after all Baby Savvy is only a baby once, and that price is hard to beat.

Making progress even when things are tight...

Tight with a capital T is how I'd describe our finances these past couple months. We are trying to not spend (I still haven't ordered the Flip Ultra I mentioned in my last post... I've talked myself out of it for the time being), and save as much as possible, but there isn't a whole lot to save. So we are making due. It's actually not all bad, I think it gives me focus. We are smarter about the cents, and hoping the dollars come naturally. I'm starting to do a few more zero-percent balance transfers... while the big money isn't there anymore, even an extra $100-$200/month helps. We're also smarter with our credit card rewards, using a card that offers 5% cash back on gas purchases when we buy gas, and using another card that offers 2% back in the form of mortgage principle buy down all other purchases. There's also some other arbitrage opportunities, nothing like the heyday of 2005-2006, still out there. You have to look for them, but they can be found.

Net worth update

Just completed our net worth update over at NetworthIQ. Did more adjusting of real estate values, resulting in a further decline, but I don't want to over-estimate the value of our properties. The good news is that we've seen an increase in our cc debt versus cash value. We were at ($31,803), and we are now at ($29,294), for an increase of $2,509! We've really reigned in spending, and are seeing the benefits. Additionally, Mr. Savvy worked three full weeks this month, more than he's been able to work in months.

sold my soul for a cheap car seat

I just placed an order on Wal-Mart.com for an inexpensive car seat. We need a third seat for Mr. Savvy's parents, so they can take Baby Savvy on Fridays during the summer. I didn't want to spend much money, and just needed a utilitarian car seat that was safe. Wal-Mart and Target were both cheap, there was no local purchasing option, and Wal-Mart had the cheapest shipping.... so they got my business. On a happier note, we've recently discovered Signing Time, a series of video episodes that teach babies and toddlers sign language. They were viewable for a brief period of time on some PBS stations, and luckily we can get them from our library. I don't generally like children's DVDs and programming, but these are a gem, being educational, entertaining, engaging, and completely lacking in product placements or any type of marketable toys or characters. I love them, and more importantly, Baby Savvy loves them. He's just recently started having toddler melt-downs and I think knowing signs will help him communicate with us better, avoiding frustration that can often lead to tantrums. We even noticed improvements after watching just one video.

Silver lining

I was able to find a renter for our unexpectedly open unit. We did have to offer 1/2 month free with a one-year lease as a promotion, but that isn't too bad this time of year. We aren't in the clear yet, the existing tenant owes a lot on her utility bill (much more than the deposit we are holding), but I have confirmation from her that she will pay the bill before the end of next week.... and I do think she will. Our refinance went off without a hitch, despite not having a signed lease in time for closing. Another silver lining is that the carpet installer honored our quote from last year, as well as a promotion they are running right now, saving us an additional $180 on top of the price we negotiated last year.

Closing on refinance tonight

We close on our 15 year fixed-rate mortgage tonight. We got a rate of 4.75% with no points (although I think I would have preferred a 30 year, but that's another post), and decided to jump on it. The change to our payment is negligible, but the house will be paid off 2 1/2 years sooner!

Continuing to declutter

I'm so proud of myself. I've been on a Craigslist binge recently (maybe purge is a better word?), selling some exercise and sporting equipment. A couple hundred dollars in my pocket, less clutter in the house, and someone else is getting a good deal on some equipment that will hopefully get a lot of use in its new home. Everyone's a winner! In the last few months I've actually been able to get rid of a couple big items. My goal right now is to not replace them, to instead enjoy the extra space and extra play area for Baby Savvy.

Net worth update

I just updated our net worth over at NetWorthIQ. MoneyCenter is being slow today (or maybe it is me) so I didn't bother with the typical chart. A couple of notes... I adjusted the value of our house and our apartment building, resulting in a drop in equity of $9,000. Our house was adjusted down, the apartment adjusted up based on the estimated fair market value on our tax bills. We are still not making any progress on debt paydown, due to the holiday and Mr. Savvy's continued layoff.

Welcome to 2009!

Yeah, 2009 is here! I'm hoping that it beats us up a little less than 2008, but I have a feeling that it will be more about learning to roll with the punches, and appreciating non-material things a little more. 2008 was a really good year for us... if you ignore the stock market crash, the housing crash, the layoffs, and the massive amounts of snow and flooding, 2008 was pretty damn fun. Baby Savvy is growing up to be a handful (but a very fun handful!), I'm learning the importance of having hobbies that aren't work or school, and Mr. Savvy has a lot of time to enjoy being a dad since he's had more time off than expected this year. We had some goals for 2008 that I'd like to recap below.... 1. Become a paper-towel and napkin-free house. Success! We used the last of our paper towels a few months ago and haven't bought any more. We use cloth napkins (hemp ones actually, we've learned to avoid anything with synthetics, and we like hemp ones more than cotton), and it works really, really well. I recommend it to everyone who wants to try... even with three adults and a toddler in the house it doesn't add much any noticeable extra laundry. If you want to try it out, wait for Kohl's to have 50% off their placemats and buy some cotton napkins. If you like it, you might want to consider acquiring some hemp ones from Ecolution. You could also buy some cotton dishtowels and hem them if you want. 2. Continue to increase the amount of food we buy locally. Success, with more room for improvement. We do plan to have a larger garden next year, growing more than garlic, herbs, and tomatoes, and we have planted more fruit trees. We still belong to our CSA and love it, and we buy our meat locally. We've also been trying to eat more game (I'm not a game fan, but I'm learning to cook it in ways that make it more palatable), since Mr. Savvy is a hunter. 3. Make-do. Room for improvement. I've gotten much better at this (otherwise we would have never made it through this year financially), but I still spend a lot of money. I really need to cut back on shopping, especially online. 4. Spend more time with friends and family. Success, with room for improvement. I made efforts at the beginning and ends of the year, but let this slip a lot. Needs work. 5. Compost. Success!!!! We have a compost bin and a bucket and are composting maniacs. Okay, we haven't actually gotten to use any of our compost, but we are making it and should have some nice dirt for next year's garden. It is AMAZING how much trash we have been able to compost. I'm also exploring ways to use cardboard or paper in our compost (anyone have any links or info I would appreciate it). So what goals do we have for 2009? Obviously we have to continue working on the items above, but I want to add a few more things to our list.... 1. Declutter! I've been decluttering a lot the last few months, and it makes keeping the house clean MUCH easier. I also want to eliminate not only physical clutter, but mail clutter, emotional clutter, digital clutter, time clutter, and any other type of clutter I can find. Here's a cool website I've found that has lots of useful information (and some clutter) on decluttering. I also need to remember that clutter gets into our lives because we bring it in, so I will work on eliminating the sources of clutter as well. 2. Garden more! I want to grow more vegetables and herbs, including storage crops. I'm making lists of the things I want to grow, trying to be realistic (will we eat it? do we have the time/space/desire to grow it?), and planning our space and time. We'll start small this year, see what grows well, and go from there. 3. Install our rain barrels. We bought rain barrels at the end of the season last year, but haven't installed them. I want to install and use them this spring, as well as come up with a way to store them for winter that is convenient and protects them from freezing and cracking. 4. Clean and organize our basement. Really. This needs to be done. I did one room a couple months ago (it looks great!), but the rest is a disaster. We buy materials and tools we don't need because we can't find the one we have, and every project is a chore because we have to sort through loads of crap to find a decent paintbrush or the needlenose pliers. 5. Knit. I'm just adding this because I love to knit and it makes me happy. Who doesn't need a resolution that makes them happy? I should add that part of this resolution is also to attend the local knitting groups, they make me happy too. Farewell 2008 and welcome to 2009! I hope everyone has a great year!

burned by a renter

One of our tenant's lease expired yesterday. About a month ago, we negotiated over the phone a five-month extension, and I dropped off the paperwork at her apartment shortly after. I didn't receive the signed lease back, but expected it to come with the January rent. I'm typically pretty laid back about these things, but I probably won't be after this. Yesterday, I received an email from the tenant giving me 30 days notice. Never mind that a month-to-month was not an option (technically she has no right to be living there right now since her old lease expired and the new one hasn't been signed). So I now have 30 days to find a new tenant. We also need to install new carpet in this unit, something we weren't planning for a few more months. Oh, and we are refinancing our house right now and have to provide signed copies of all our leases to the underwriter by January 5th. Unless a miracle happens, we probably won't be able to refinance at this time. I haven't received her January rent, but she promised it is in the mail (she has until the 5th to get it here). I put ads up last night on Craigslist and a few other places. I've already received some interest, so hopefully it won't be too difficult to rent. My biggest concern is that this unit doesn't show well since the existing carpet is so old.

yikes! four years ago...

It looks like the fourth anniversary of this blog came and went with no fanfare. Here's a link to my first post. My old posts are definitely much more interesting than anything I post now. Probably because I had a lot more time back then, and because it is interesting to read about how much has changed, both personally and from an economic standpoint, since writing them. Archived posts are all available on the right sidebar.

refi time!

We, like many other people, are going to try to refinance our house in the next couple weeks. We just locked in a good rate on a 15 year fixed mortgage, and have been pre-approved, but we still have the agonizing appraisal process to go through. We had a failed refi attempt earlier this year when an appraiser had blatant mistakes on our appraisal, devaluing our house by about $20,000. We currently have two mortgages on our house. Our primary mortgage is a 5.375% and has 16 years left, and our second mortgage is at 5.99% and has 18 years left. The 15 year rate is lower, and our total payment will go up by a few dollars, but it will shave several years off repayment period, saving us tens of thousands of dollars in interest. Aren't sure if you should refinance? Check out Dinkytown for some great calculators that can help. If you don't know where to get a good rate and no closing costs, check out PenFed.org. On a side note, I turn 30 next week! Holy crap, where does the time go? I think I started this blog when I was 25 years old!

Rental unit update

I did the annual books on our rental unit last week to prepare for filing income taxes after the first of the year. There are still a few things outstanding, primarily the receipt and payment of our property tax bill, as well as some maintenance and supply purchases. However, I was able to get a good picture on how we did during our second year as rental property owners, and it was much better than I thought. Our income was buoyed by having zero days of vacancy across all four units. I'm very proud of that number, I've worked hard to keep our building full since we bought it, and I think this year shows that there is benefit in all that hard work. We have all four units coming up for renewal next summer, I know at least two will need new renters. Hopefully I can turn them quickly. We also had much less in the way of maintenance expenses this year compared to last year. We still had some, more than I would like, but it was a very reasonable and expected amount. We will have to replace carpet in one unit next summer, and that will cost a lot of money, but we have started a savings account to pay for it. We still will show a considerable loss on our taxes, so there will be additional tax benefits to our investment. The municipality that the building is in also is predicting the value of the building has gone up slightly this past year. No idea if that number is reality based because no like building are currently for sale nor have any sold recently. We just renewed two leases and took small rent increases (1.5%) to cover the increases in insurance, maintenance, and snow removal. We still have really great renters. We've gotten very lucky in that regard.