We’re excited to go on a little vacation to the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area in June. It’s a total tourist trap, but we’re going because it’s close enough for us to get there in a day, the scenery will be beautiful, and we think we’ll have fun :). Shane has made the trip many times with his parents as a kid, and I’ve been there a few times as well.

We have some money set aside for a vacation, and our biggest expense will be the lodging.

After exploring the idea of renting a cabin for more space (and seeing the big price tag for peak season!), we opted to go with a hotel. We wanted one that included breakfast, had a fun pool, a mini fridge and microwave, and great reviews.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t come cheap.

We could have saved money by going with a different hotel — but at the same time, if we’re staying somewhere for four nights, I want it to be comfortable, clean and nice.

Hopefully it’ll be worth it. I’ve booked some “budget” hotels before and uh…sometimes you totally get what you pay for (arriving at a non-air-conditioned dirty room late at night in Seattle rings a bell…and we were able to cancel that without fee and switch to something much better that night. Phew).

We’ve also scored an amazing suite with a fireplace (!?!) and a good breakfast by naming our own price in Columbus, Ohio while we were moving back to Indiana. It was like $50? What a deal. But that was one night.

While you can save money by naming your own price via Priceline, or booking otherwise unknown hotels, we wanted to be sure we’d have enough beds (and two double beds wouldn’t cut it for us). So, we picked our room and booked directly through the hotel’s website since that was our cheapest option. They even were running a promo of 50% off your third night.

Our next expense to contend with will be food. Breakfasts are covered, and we’ll pack plenty of snacks for the trip and our stay. I’ll buy what I can before we head out so I can be sure to get decent deals, and then we’ll stop at a grocery when we get there if we need to.

We’ll do a few lunches and dinners on our own, either a picnic somewhere or at our hotel.

Things like pb&j sandwiches, lunch meat & cheese, fruit, trail mix, pretzels, carrot sticks…you know, normal lunch fare. We can pack our cooler and keep items in the hotel fridge.

See the comments section of this post at Money Saving Mom about meals you can prepare in your hotel room

One idea is to take along a slow cooker, but I doubt that arrangement would fly with hotel housekeeping — probably a fire/liability risk. I might take my electric griddle or borrow my mom’s electric skillet, though, because food prepared on that will surely taste better than something in the microwave (though I’m not afraid to use that thing, either).

I’m also toying with the idea of making some meals (or meal components) ahead of time, freezing it and reheating it in the microwave/skillet.

Keeping meals simple and not eating every meal in a restaurant will save us a ton, but we will go to restaurants a few times to sample local fare.

As far as attractions, we’re planning on going to the Ripley’s Aquarium, doing some sort of elevator/lift thing so we can get a great view of the area, and spending plenty of time in the Smoky Mountain National Park. Also — some time enjoying the hotel pool and just relaxing!

I don’t want this to be a go-go-go vacation. I want to just have a nice time with my family.

How about you? Going anywhere this summer? How are you saving? And, any tips for me going to Gatlinburg? 

Photo credit

Additional related posts:

1. Financial lessons learned from a business trip abroad
2. Trip to Florida update: Lodging
3. The in-laws are coming! the in-laws are coming!

Our current kitchen, sorta. But now, visually add chipped counters. Oh, and random counter top clutter.

There’s nothing like a baby on the way to make house projects seem way urgent, amirite?

Our eyesore of a kitchen has been on our to-fix list pretty much since we bought the house in 2011.

The cheap white laminate counters were stain magnets and icky, so we tried the Giani Granite paint, thinking that hey if we could get a good solution for $100 it would be worth a shot. Well, our counter paint didn’t cure worth a darn and is peeling all over the place. Ok then!

Despite the failed experiment, I am glad we went that route. For one thing, we thought we might want a darker, patterned counter. Turns out, that’s NOT what we want for the long-term. It hides messes a little too well, and I accidentally touch little drops of jelly or applesauce or things that splattered on the counter but went unnoticed during clean-up. Ugh. I think for our kitchen, a lighter palate is what we want.

We haven’t gotten around to painting the walls yet, because we wanted a color that will go well with our new counters. Still, I think it would be worth at least priming them in a light color asap while we look at color samples for other things.

Our wish list includes:

• New light fixtures for above the island and table (and I want to do this FIRST so that I can have a better sense of how the light will look. Then I can make a more informed decision on paint colors).
• Paint the walls. Toning it down supermuch. Bye, bold red. Thinking something light and neutral.
• New cabinets. This wasn’t in the original plan, but as we’ve been here and used the thermafoil cabinets regularly, we’ve seen that these just will not hold up. We’d like cabinets that are taller than the current 30″ and are made with better materials than sawdust+glue with a sticker on it.
• Counters. I would love solid surface counters and I hope we can swing it. If not, a nicer grade laminate ought to suffice. Not loving granite, so it’s between those two.
• New sink (perhaps undermount, or even a solid surface one so it’s all integrated)
• New faucet. Something taller than what we have now
• Maybe tile backsplash?

I’ve obtained quotes from kitchen companies, and ow ow ow the price! It would be great if I could just give a company my wish list and have them go to town on it, and have it not cost a small fortune. But alas. They want a small fortune.

So, the light fixtures we’ll buy ourselves and maybe pay an electrician to install, or maybe DIY…I dunno. Electricity sort of scares me, even though I know how to use the circuit breaker.

We will paint. And paint and paint. The ceiling, the walls will need primed and painted a lot, likely, and the trim since there’s red drips on that.

The cabinets? Yeah I dunno about installing cabinets. Shane did the one in our laundry room, but it was one. I’m trying to find a good deal on cabinets. I have seen some great prices online, but I’m sort of unsure about buying from an online retailer. I know we can hire someone to do the actual installation. Maybe we can handle at least part of the demo to save money there. We might use some of those cabinets in our garage for storage, and the rest of them in decent shape we can donate to Habitat for Humanity.

I wish we had the kind of cabinets that we could just paint, and they would look great. But these are the kind that would not take to paint well at all. And oddly enough, I’m sort of considering white cabinets again. I like the overall effect. We may still go a stained wood route, but I dunno.

Would love to hear from someone who has purchased cabinets from an online retailer — either RTA or pre-assembled. The price is just shockingly less, but it’s like…is that one of those too good to be true sort of things? Or are they just cutting out overhead? I’d hate to spend $2-3k on cabinets, and have them not work out and then have to spend gobs more on top of that to have a functional kitchen.

I’ve obtained a few quotes on counters, and it looks like my best bet is from a solid surface counter fabricator in the city. No overhead, so the price is better. Their price includes a sink.

We can probably in theory install back splash tile ourselves. Yeah? I guess?

My husband really doesn’t have a lot of free time to devote to kitchen labor, and we don’t want him to take time off of work to do it. Would rather save those days for an actual vacation, or for when the baby comes. So we’d like to strike a good balance of projects we can handle ourselves, with saving money and not spending an obscene amount, and with getting the kitchen we want.

Additional related posts:

1. Check out my “new” kitchen countertops
2. A few things going on in my kitchen
3. Meal-planning inspiration

My husband and 2 kids are on one private insurance plan. It’s a high deductible, at $5,500/year for the family. Blech.

We got the ER bill, to the tune of $2,421. For real?! That’s insanity.

I compared it to my explanation of benefits from the insurance company, and something wasn’t right. After some phone calls, it turns out we were billed the full amount, vs. the slightly discounted insurance amount. Our bill was reduced by a little more than $500. Definitely helps, but it’s still expensive.

I asked if there was any sort of pay-in-full discount. It would be worth it to me to just pay the full bill if we got, say, a 10% off discount. But nope, the billing lady said those discounts are only for those without insurance discounts.

She did say we could do a minimum monthly payment of $200, with no interest.

So…there’s really not much incentive to pay in full. We thankfully happen to have the money in savings, earmarked for medical bills. As far as I’m concerned, making payments in this situation is probably fine, though I don’t like the idea that it’s a debt.

How about you? Do you pay medical bills in full, or make interest-free payments?

Additional related posts:

1. Make installment payments to yourself
2. On not making extra mortgage payments
3. Saving on car insurance: We’re making a one-time payment

Over the last few months, we’ve tried a few boxes on a short-term basis. In the end, I couldn’t justify continuing any given box. I think these work for some people in some circumstances, but I decided that there was too much waste going on for me to want to continue.

What is a subscription box?

There are boxes that fit just about any niche you can think of — kids’ toys, clothing, kid products, crafts, books, makeup, beauty products, food (and many subcategories within), household products…any so many more.

The premise:

Typically, you subscribe month-to-month, or 3 at a time, or 6 or 12 and with each shipment, you get a box containing items fitting that company’s niche. The retail value of the items are often higher than the price you paid for the box, so in some ways it’s a good value. The actual contents of a box will usually vary each month, and you won’t know ahead of time what will be in it. You can’t select which specific items you’ll receive. It’s a surprise, and that’s part of the fun.

The good:

If you select a subscription box company that fits a shopping need you have, and the products are mostly a good fit, then you might be able to save time and money with a box. You might discover products you wouldn’t have otherwise, and maybe even find new favorites.

The bad:

There will perhaps be some waste. You may not like the contents of a given box, and have little to no use for the contents. Even if the retail value vs. the price you paid is a good deal, it’s not a good deal if you won’t use everything (or at least, most things).

What do subscription boxes do to our consumption habits?

Ya know? This is where I have the most trouble I think. It is SO easy for me to say yep, I want that and that and that, without really thinking about the extra clutter in my house, or the waste, or even the extra expense. Instead of subscribing to a $25 box with things for moms, what if I just took that $25 and picked out items I actually knew I needed and wanted? Would I even need to spend $25 in a given month? Probably not.

Boxes I’ve tried:

Kiwi Crate was my first. I had an excellent promo code, and that code made it too good of a deal to pass up. Kiwi Crates are boxes with craft ideas and all the supplies needed for 3-7 year-olds to do certain crafts within that month’s theme. This box was great for me because I’m not that creative when it comes to coming up with crafty ideas. Sure, there’s untold amounts of inspiration on Pinterest, but I appreciated having a kit in a box. My kids have completed 2 crates, with one waiting for when we’re needing something new to do.

I did pause this one, though, because at $20/month, it was still kind of pricey. I do like that you can now buy individual crates while knowing the contents/projects ahead of time. I might buy a few a la carte to have ready after the baby comes. I haven’t decided though. I can get a lot of craft materials at the Dollar Tree for $20, for example. Ideas to go with it…not as much. The other plus with Kiwi Crate were the high-quality materials. Our first two crates included some materials that we could use in the future (oil pastels, watercolors, nice scissors, markers).

Goodies Co. This one is inexpensive, at $7/month. The contents are snacks/sample sized foods. Some of them were healthy, but some were total junk. And plenty contained nuts, so if you have a nut issue then this one is not for you. The idea behind this one is to discover new favorite foods/snacks/on-the-go things, and then you can buy them directly from the company or look for them in stores.

I canceled this one after 3 deliveries (I tried to cancel after two, but I missed the cancellation deadline so I have another box on the way. Grumble grumble). I just didn’t like the contents enough and figured I could try something new that I chose and have better success.

Citrus Lane — I signed up for a month because there was a 50% off promo code (TAKEHALF) that made it seem like a great deal ($12.50 for that month vs. $25, though if you subscribe for a few months out, you can get a better price). I ordered one for each child.  In each box, the retail value was around $30 each so I definitely got a good value…except I think we’ll only get use out of the shampoo/bath wash and the apple sauce snack that my daughter already ate. There was a juice box holder that might get used on trips, and each box had a Melissa & Doug arts & crafts thing (one was a paint-with-water book; the other some stampers and an ink pad).

I went ahead and canceled. Citrus Lane recently expanded their line to include boxes curated for kids older than 3. While the contents of my daughter’s box were somewhat different from my son’s, there was a bit of overlap. I think this box might be better for a young baby. Could make a fun shower gift.

I should point out that some people love their boxes (from many companies). Reviews abound, so if you’re curious about past contents of any particular subscription box, you’re sure to find something on a blog, the company’s Facebook page, or YouTube.

How about you? Are there any subscription boxes out there that are worth it to you? Or does the premise just fall short?

Additional related posts:

1. Is it ever worth it to be a ‘hoarder’?
2. Free magazine subscription
3. It’s worth paying $1.50, even $3 for this week’s coupons

Have you heard about the record highs the stock market is seeing lately? Our IRA and 529 account balances have shot up, reflecting the market. It looks great on paper, but since we won’t be withdrawing the money any time soon it’s … only on paper.

We’re continuing to invest on a regular basis. Prices are high right now, so that means I’m buying fewer shares with my dollar than I could if prices were down. Ya know?

One strategy experts often tout to make the most of market fluctuations, is to do something called dollar-cost averaging.

An example, with numbers pulled out of thin air and simplified (ignoring taxes, fees, dividends, etc.):

On the 1st of the month, a share costs $10. You have $100 to invest, so you were able to buy 10 shares.

On the 15th of the month, a share of that same fund costs $10.50. Your account balance from the investment you made on the 1st of the month would be worth $105. With another $100 to invest, you can now only buy 9.52 shares at $10.50.

So, with those two investments you now have $205 in your investment account and own 19.52 shares of the fund.

Follow that?

If you buy when the prices are low, you can buy more shares for your dollar. When the prices are high, your value is higher of course…but when you buy when prices are high, you can buy fewer shares for your dollar.

Let me make one thing clear right now (if I can get any point clear in this post): I am not talking about trying to time the market. I can’t look at a news report and think, “Well, this looks like prices are about to jump in the coming days. Better buy now!” or “We are topping out. Better stop investing for now/or sell.”

No. I can’t time the market, and Wall Street traders can’t do it consistently, either.

We don’t know when prices will be low, or when they might make a move up. When people do try to time the market, they can get burned, missing a stock market rally and missing out on big gains.

What I’m talking about, is to use these normal price fluctuations to your advantage.

Rather than make one annual lump investment to your IRA (or any investment account) and calling it a day, I’m more into investing multiple times per month. Some months, I’ll buy when my fund is lower-priced and I get more shares. Other months, the prices are higher but I’m still adding more shares to my portfolio.

What’s more, my husband and I invest on different days of the month.

I’ve got the 3rd and the 16th, and he has the 9th and the 23rd. Just picked those dates that are sort of spaced out — no real reason.

Also, we have our kids’ 529 deposits automatically sent each month, but since my only option is a monthly or quarterly contribution for those automatic deposits, I just have Johnny’s sent on the 10th and Vivie’s on the 17th.

Over time, one account might do better than another, or it might not make much difference at all.

I like to view our family’s investments collectively, and try to maximize the money as a whole.

P.S., last year our IRA contributions were a bit lopsided. We didn’t have the money to finish them off until toward the end of the year, so that’s when the bulk of our contributions were made. Do what you can! Investing something, at any time, is better than nothing, no?

P.P.S: It’s really important to note if your investment company charges you fees per transaction. If you’re hit with a fee every time you make a deposit, that can add up fast. Might be worth seeing about switching to a different investment firm.

How about you? Do you spread out your investment contributions? What’s your strategy?

[Photo]

Additional related posts:

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2. Getting a 25% return on investment for college savings
3. Making money through Cash Crate

Oh, I might have done that a few times. After some frustrating and stressful trips, I reevaluated how we handle the library at this stage of life.

My children adore books, and I get such a kick out of reading to them. We try to own plenty of quality titles, but as our money and our bookshelves are limited, we use the library as often as we can. I have a few ways of streamlining the library process.

[...read the rest of my guest post at Vanderbilt Wife. My blog friend Jessie just had her third baby! Hooray!]

Additional related posts:

1. Why I love the library: Reason # 232
2. Why I love the library: Reason # 23
3. Two kids in diapers

=> THIS BLOGGER!

I’m around 12 weeks along, due early October.

It has been a bit harder on me this time around in terms of fatigue and nausea, but it still hasn’t been terrible thankfully. I’m starting to get my fizz back now that I’m close to (or in? I have no idea) the 2nd trimester.

Looking forward to a baby born in the beginning of fall, rather than the tail end of fall. December babies are tough. But a Sept/Oct baby? There will still be sunshine and warmer temps, in theory! That changes everything with recovery. Yay.

Would appreciate your prayers, as you might recall I had preeclampsia with both Johnny and Vivie. It developed when I was already full-term and in labor. We’ll be on high-alert this time, as my chances are high for getting it yet again.

We had been hoping for another baby, which is why I elected to go on COBRA when my husband changed employers last year. His current employer does not offer health insurance, and won’t likely offer anything until after my baby is born (because insuring for pregnant women is expensive. Ugh). If I didn’t elect COBRA, then I would be unable to get insurance elsewhere. There are no private health insurance policies in Indiana that cover pregnancy. Well, there’s one, but it has an 18-month waiting period, high premiums, and a fairly low payout. Such a joke. I know that maternity benefits will be available in 2014, but I didn’t want to wait around that long.

While the COBRA premiums are pricey, it’s going to cover the many expenses associated with the prenatal stuff and the birth. I’m thankful we can afford the insurance. After the baby is born, we’ll shop around for a different private family plan for all of us. Or, maybe Shane’s boss will offer a good insurance plan.

The health insurance I was on when Johnny and Vivie was born was extremely affordable and comprehensive. Our out-of-pocket expenses each time were under $300, plus the monthly premium that was less than $200/month, I’m wanting to say. So, dollar-cost-averaging these three kids and it all sorta evens out :).

I’m not too worried about buying baby stuff. We have plenty of gear, though I may need to borrow a swing, bouncy seat and a spare pack n play would be nice to have downstairs. Minor details! Economy of scale is really showing up now, since we already have the van and enough space for the kid, and plenty of baby clothes and whatnot.

So far, so good!

We are very, very blessed.

Additional related posts:

1. Our $10,650.50 bill (sort of)
2. The ‘right time’ to have children

It was that change that spurred me to question whether I should stay or go.

For me, it wasn’t a tough decision.

Capital One’s credit card division had/has a lousy reputation. I didn’t like that. To be sure, their shady business practices won’t necessarily translate to Capital One 360. They’d be really dumb to pull stunts, because they’d lose their client base.

Still. I decided, why should I stay with a company that I wouldn’t have chosen to do business with in the first place?

A few years ago, I banked with National City. They were bought out by PNC and First Niagara. Somehow, my money got split during the sale — some accounts went to PNC and a savings account went to First Niagara. I thought I’d give both a chance, and then either pick my favorite to switch to, or find a new bank.

First Niagara was a joke. I loved PNC. It was a bank that I would have chosen to do business with anyway, I decided. So, I closed my First Niagara account and have been with PNC ever since.

I use PNC for my checking, bill payment and daily spending. I use my online savings account solely as a place to park most of my emergency fund. Rare transactions come out of it.

I was seeking:

• Solid interest rates — either the same as my current .75% (ugh, I can’t believe that’s ‘solid’ these days) or more
• Great reputation
• No hoops to jump through. I don’t want to switch my checking account, set up direct deposit, make a set number of transactions per month…none of that. I just want a good place for my money to sit.
• Easy access to my money, should I need it. Either a linked debit card, paper checks, or an in-person branch.
• No fees

I found that in Ally Bank. While they don’t have brick & mortar branches, I can get a free debit card and also some free checks. When I initially saw their rates, they were at .9%, but today they are at .84%. Still, this wasn’t necessarily about rate-chasing for me.

The final perk that made me pull the trigger — Ally’s CD rates and terms.

I’ve been interested in doing a CD ladder to help my savings grow a tiny bit more. Once you open a CD, you’re locked in to the rate for the duration. In a time where rates just keep going down, that kind of rate lock is nice.

Ally’s CD options are way better than Capital One’s. They have several types, including “high yield CDs” which top out at 1.53% for a 5-year; a no-penalty CD that you can withdraw at any time (!?) at a rate of .85%, which is .01% higher than their current money market rate; and a “raise your rate CD” where if the rate goes up after you’ve bought the CD, you can switch to a new, higher rate (you can only do this once or twice, depending on the term).

The best rate at Capital One right now is .9% for a 5-year.

What’s more? The penalty for cashing out your CD ahead of the term at Ally is only 2 months’ worth of interest. To me, that’s no big deal.

Compare that to Capital One: a CD of less than 12m, cashed out early will have a 3-month interest penalty. For longer terms, it’s a 6-month penalty. Not worth it, especially for that lower interest.

I’m not keeping all of our e-fund in CDs. Just a partial amount (I’ll share more details of my CD holdings once they’re finalized).

My move isn’t yet complete. I’ve moved some money, but before I send it all I want to get my debit card and checks in the mail.

I had to confirm my Capital One bank account info through two small deposits Ally made into the account. I ran into trouble when I logged into Ally — I couldn’t find where I needed to confirm those amounts. I was thisclose to calling customer service, when I finally clicked around enough to find it:

Transfers >Transfers between Your Ally and non-Ally Accounts >Manage Accounts > My Other Accounts > Activate (I forget if this last word is Activate or something similar, but it should be next to your external bank)

I’m not sure why it was so hard to find.

Do I think every Capital One 360 customer should find somewhere else to do business? No. You have to do what’s right for you. If you use the bank for a lot of your day-to-day business, it might not be worth it to you to set up shop somewhere else.

The interest rates at Capital One 360 are still competitive with other online offerings. If you wanted to do CDs, then yeah I’d suggest switching.

This is just one gal’s decision. If you switch, consider all of your options. If you’re looking at Ally, verify all that I’ve said here (rates, terms, etc.) are still the same.

How about you? Are you switching banks?

Additional related posts:

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That’s so not where I’m at right now. I have more money, but waaaay less time. I like to get a deal wherever I can, but time really is at a premium.

Lately, I’ve been thinking again about a Costco membership or something similar. My reasoning: I could save some money by buying in bulk, and I could go shopping less often. Save time and money, right?

But these days I just plain don’t like going shopping. It’s not the easiest trip with two little kids in the winter, and when I’m trying to mind them, it’s harder for me to bargain-hunt. And, if I do have some time to myself, I can think of other things I’d rather do than go to the grocery.

Costco membership isn’t free, of course, and then there’s that whole 30-minute one-way drive, plus untold time in the store.

We’ve been loving our Green BEAN grocery delivery and plan to continue that. It offers a variety of grocery items — excellent produce, meats, dairy and some bulk dry goods. But it doesn’t have everything I need.

I need to supplement somewhere else, so I thought I’d take another look at my tried-and-true Amazon.

Amazon’s subscription program has changed some. Your subscribe & save items now arrive on one day per month, rather than a delivery on the 5th, and another on the 12th, and so on. It keeps Amazon’s costs down that way.

Also, if you subscribe to 1-4 items for delivery in a given month, you’ll receive 5% off. But, subscribe to 5+ items to be delivered in a given month, and you’ll get 15% off everything. Note that certain s&s products within the Amazon Mom realm (namely diapers and wipes) can receive 20% off if you also have Prime and join Amazon Mom.

For more info on the Subscribe & Save program*, visit this page on Amazon

I subscribed to a few products that we’re always running out of:

• toilet paper (I’m thrilled to have two kids who are potty-trained, but wow do we go through a lot of TP these days!). $17.77 with discount and clipped e-coupon, for 3 packs of 6 mega rolls
• contact lens solution (at the moment this product is sold out, but I subscribed and with discount it’s $11.88 for those 2 bottles) $13.98 for the same at Walmart.com
• dishwasher detergent ($11.79/85 ct) ($13.87 at Walmart.com) ($17.99/100 at Costco, so the Amazon is cheaper per unit)
• toothpaste for the kids ($2.97 with discount) ($5.13 at Walmart.com)
• Pull-Ups for night time ($31.15 with 20% discount and $2 off ecoupon. This is $0.34 each) Compared to Walmart.com’s best price of $0.42 each.
• calcium supplement ($14.68) The cheapest I could find elsewhere for this size was $18.71 with free shipping
• dishwashing liquid ($12.15/6 25 oz. bottles with $3 off coupon and discount for the lavender and floral scent) $17.82 for the same quantity at Walmart.com

Some of these items I won’t receive (or need) each month. Some I’ll only need every 5-6 months, and I can set my subscription to that for each item. Next month, I’ll add a few other items such as shampoo, body wash, mouth wash, razors…I don’t even know yet. My thinking is, perhaps I can stagger what we need so we’re always stocked, yet always getting that sweet 15% discount.

I can add grocery items as well.

Browse various subscribe & save categories, including grocery, beauty, health & household, pets, etc.

I used prices at Walmart.com to compare since it was easy to find identical items. With Walmart, shipping is free with certain orders over $45. But, it’s Walmart. Pfft.

I’m optimistic that if I do this right, I can indeed save a lot of time and maybe some money, too. We’re fortunate that we have some storage shelves in our garage for surplus items not ready to be stored inside.

How about you? Do you use the Subscribe & Save program? Which types of items?

___

*links to Amazon are affiliate, which means if you click them and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission. Thank you!

Additional related posts:

1. Time to renew our car insurance: Ideas for saving the most money
2. How I’m automating our money so I save time and meet our goals
3. A time to save and a time to spend

This year, I added tax info as I received it and did a little at a time, rather than a marathon tax filing session.

We are in the small group of Americans who can’t actually file their return just yet — our Mortgage Credit Certificate was one of the forms that was delayed this year (worth the wait though, because that credit alone was worth $1,032 or so this year to us!).

So, I’m hoping we’ll see our refund sometime in March? No idea. Turbo Tax has our forms in the queue and they’ll be submitted once the IRS will allow it.

The refund was a bit larger than I had hoped for. We try to keep it to around $1,000 or less, because we’d rather have the money rolling in steadily with each paycheck than have a big lump.

For one thing, my blog income was less than last year, and I had too much tax withheld because I didn’t want to have to owe a bunch and pay penalties on that. Bummer about my blog income dying, but I am not interested in running sponsored posts and I doubt you’d want to read them here.

Since the government is getting an interest-free loan on my money and I don’t know when we’ll see it for sure, we increased our exemptions on the W4 form.

We’re having less tax taken out of Shane’s paychecks now, and I’ll run the W4 calculator again in a few months to make sure we’re still on track for a $1k refund give or take.

I’d like to use the refund to fill up Shane’s Health Savings Account. We haven’t opened one yet, since I’m still looking at our options. Most of the ones I’ve seen so far have a minimum that your account balance needs to reach, or they’ll assess a monthly fee. No thanks. The money can stay in savings until we can avoid those fees.

The HSA will reduce our income tax liability for the year. It can also grow if we can invest it in decent options (I’m hoping to find something beyond a CD or money market. Barf!). The money will be there for large medical expenses (right now, Shane and the kids have a deductible of $5k — eep!). And if we don’t use the money, it can roll over year after year. Some people contribute every year, but pay for medical expenses out of other funds. They intend to use the HSA as a medical account during retirement (perhaps early retirement?) and I think that’s a cool idea.

How about you? Taxes filed? If you’re getting a refund, what are your plans for it? Do you have an HSA?

Additional related posts:

1. Our 2010 taxes, and filing taxes for bloggers
2. Our financial year in review 2012
3. What we’re doing for preschool this year — Curriculum Fair 2012