Little Miss Moneybags

Linkfest: Super productive edition

2012-02-12T17:08:00.000-06:00

I have been super productive this weekend. I've always rather enjoyed housework, at least in terms of I enjoy a clean space and this is what it takes to get there. But owning my house has really brought out the Clean Person in me - I've been doing things like washing (and IRONING) curtains and scrubbing the drawer under the stove and otherwise being nitpicky - and I'm loving every minute of it. If this is nesting, Peanut is going to have to watch it when I get pregnant - I'll be scrubbing everything in sight with a toothbrush.

I think I'm done with the big stuff - just finishing up the laundry and baking an apple pie now. Then I'll get to some crafty things, like fixing the elbows on my worn cardigans and finish piecing a quilt top, relaxing in a house that's starting to feel more like my home with every weekend.

I love Cate's advice on writing thank you notes - I am a compulsive thank-you-note-writer, and I think she nails it with all of her recommendations. Writing thank you notes seems to be a lost art - but it's important. (And if you are ever in a situation where you wonder if you should write a thank you note, do it! I've never, ever regretted writing one, but I have regretted the few times when I didn't get to it. I've also never been offended by receiving one, so get to writing!)

Andrea at So Over Debt got rid of a boatload of clothes! I've been feeling an itch to declutter my own closet, even though I'm pretty sure I only want to do it as an excuse to go buy new stuff.

This post at Lifehacker has what I consider to be a really important point: "The most important thing to remember is that you have complete control over what personal data you choose to provide to any given company. You do not have to post embarrassing photos to Facebook or shop for an erotic massager on Amazon. It's important to be aware of the trade you're making every time you willingly provide information with a company's web site. You should consider each interaction like a conversation with a potentially gossipy friend. Visiting a product page on Amazon while signed in to your account can be considered the same as telling someone "I'm interested in learning more about this product." If you want to keep any information private, simply do not share it. You have to take responsibility for what you do and do not share online."

Some of Google's moves lately have made me a little uncomfortable and I've started to be more careful to log out of my account when I'm not actively using email, docs, reader or calendar. Even though I don't use their search engine (I use Swagbucks), I feel like they're keeping track of what I'm searching for when I'm logged in, and it's just too much information in one place. Unlike Facebook, which is pretty easy to avoid, I use Google to manage my life (see the list above - plus maps, image search, YouTube, Blogger...) so that will be a hard quit to make. But I have a feeling I will be making it eventually.

Five Things Wealthy People Never Say - these aren't cliched Sh*t ____ People Say quips, either, but really good advice.

Here I go getting all morbid on you again - the 25 documents you should have in place before you die (via the Wall Street Journal).

Another good reminder from Zen Habits - pause. Pause before you reach for a second helping or the remote control or a habitual internet timesuck or an angry word. Just pause, and see what happens.

And after you pause and decide to go for the timesuck anyway, here are the 102 best money websites.

EE Musings asks what you'd do if you lost your job - the worst case scenario. It wasn't until reading her post that I realized I have always done my worst case scenarios assuming that there would be no additional income - that either Peanut's or my income would totally disappear. Since unemployment is something that I've paid into with every job I've worked, I would sign up for and accept it without qualms. However, when figuring what we should have in our emergency fund, I'm going to continue to forget about it as an option, and plan for us to be self-sufficient.

I....kind of really want to bake an egg in an avocado for breakfast. That looks so weird, but it combines some of my favorite things, and the meal is the dish! Has anyone tried this?

My post about keeping up appearances was included at the carnival of financial camaraderie.

Scammy McScammerpants

2012-02-12T10:41:00.067-06:00

One of the things I really don't like about becoming a homeowner is the lack of privacy we've just opened ourselves up to. Real estate transactions are public record. It hasn't happened yet, but as soon as the county processes everything, when you google our names you will draw up our real estate tax records and you'll have my physical address right at your fingertips. There's nothing to be done about it without creating a trust and buying the house through the trust, which would make our lives infinitely more complicated than they already are. And I'm probably more paranoid than I need to be, because everyone else I know who owns a house is in the exact same situation. (But I'm mainly irritated because with my new-ish married name, there are fewer than two pages of Google results, all of which are actually me. So this information will be very easy to find.)

However, besides the creepy factor, there's the really annoying deceptive advertising factor. Lots and lots of companies now have our names and mailing address, and there doesn't seem to be much chance of getting that information out of their hands. We're getting all sorts of stupid advertisements in the mail for all sorts of stupid things, but the one that showed up on Friday takes the cake (so far).

It's official looking and addressed to Peanut.* It's from "Nationwide Biweekly Administration" and a big headline says "IMPORTANT SAVINGS NOTICE: OPTIONAL CHANGE OF PAYMENT FREQUENCY" with a note that "A bi-weekly program will eliminate 6-10 years off your current $207,000 loan".

So. The originating name is generic enough that it could be from the bank that holds our mortgage (and since most mortgages are sold soon after closing, as ours was, and we haven't had to make our first payment yet, I'm not even 100% sure at this point who DOES own our mortgage - guaranteed to be confusing). They've also got the amount of our mortgage correct, so it would be pretty easy to mistake this for official paperwork.

We've considered switching to bi-weekly mortgage payments as soon as our student loans are paid off, because it really does save you a lot of money. When we went over our mortgage paperwork, we made sure that this option was available to us and that there was no penalty for paying off the loan earlier than 30 years. The thing is, through our lender, those options are available to us for free - so what's the angle on this offer that just showed up in the mail? Why would they offer to do something for us that we can do free ourselves - unless there was something in it for them? The letter said nothing about fees or charges, just talked about how much we can save by using this method.

So we did some looking around, and Peanut discovered that the most frequent search terms in connection with "Nationwide Biweekly Administration" are words like "scam", "review", "rip off" and "better business bureau". Hmm. The second result for the company's name is a RipoffReport.com review. Hmmmmm. And if you click through to that review, you discover undisclosed nonrefundable fees, even if you never use them to pay your mortgage (I guess you have to give them your account info to register to find out more?). Ah ha! And if you dig around some more, you find out that they charge another $3.50 on every biweekly payment, a neat $91 for them per year. Even if they saved us six years off our mortgage, that would be just over $1,000 made off of something we can do for free ourselves. Multiply that by all the people who fall for this and you can start to see where their profit model comes from. (Also consider the fact that they might be selling your information elsewhere AND the fact that they have your bank account information. It gives me the creeps.)

If you want to pay off your mortgage on a biweekly basis, make arrangements directly with either your lender or your bank to set up automatic payments (watch out for fees from them too!), or set up a calendar reminder to send you an email to write a check or make a payment manually. There is no need to pay for something that you can do for free.

Also make sure to carefully read any paperwork that you get from anyone offering to save you money. Ask yourself why they'd do it for free, and figure out how they make their money. No company is out there doing business for nothing.

Now I'm off to figure out how to get ourselves off this company's mailing list for good...

*Can I complain for a second that everything is showing up in Peanut's name? We took this house as joint tenancy, and my name is on every official document that his name is on, but the water bill shows up automatically to MR. Lastname, as does the gas/electric, trash, mortgage paperwork and everything else. I suddenly became Mrs. Doesn'thandlethebills,she'stoopretty. (I don't think our joint name causes this issue, but maybe it does. Anyone own a house with a partner with a different last name can clarify that for me?) I'd say it doesn't matter, but I may be missing out on valuable credit history information here!

Guest Post: 5 Ways to Save for Your Kid’s Education

2012-02-11T09:40:00.002-06:00

Congratulations, you are a parent and that sweet bundle of joy is going to become an 18 year old college student before you know it. We all want our kids to have it better than we had it. And for most that means providing our children with a college education and we know that degree isn’t cheap. Here are a few ways to start saving for your child’s education:

Start Early: The sooner you start saving the better. Your baby may not be walking yet but in a blink of an eye it will be time for college applications and campus visits. Putting a little bit away now helps, try to start saving $100 a month.

Different Aids: Remember there will be plenty of options for when the time comes. Aim for scholarships, these do not require pay back unlike loans. There are many different types of scholarships for students like athletic, academic and some unusual scholarships for students who are left handed or even have a twin. If all else fails you have federal grants and loans. Avoid student loans from private lenders if possible. Start researching now.

529 Plan: Each state has a 529 plan and you should highly consider looking into this for your child. According to howstuffworks.com, a 529 plan has many benefits including:

You pay no taxes on the account's earnings.
The child doesn't have control of or access to the account -- you do.
If the child doesn't want to go to college, you can roll the account over to another family member.
Anyone can contribute to the account.
There are no income limitations that might make you ineligible for an account.
Most states have no age limit for when the money has to be used.
If the child gets a scholarship, any unused money can be withdrawn without paying any penalty (just the tax).

Tax Break: Whether you take out a loan or pay out of pocket, you may be eligible for a tax break. If you have a loan, you can deduct the interest you pay up to a certain amount based on how you file. If you pay for college out of pocket, in the years you pay tuition you may be able to take federal tax credits: the American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit.

Stocks: Tuition costs are rising and don’t have any plan on stopping. Having a portfolio for stocks is a good way to build savings for the long term. When your child gets older and closer to college, you are able to protect your returns by moving your money into bonds and/or cash.

This is a guest post from Laura Backes, she enjoys writing about all kinds of subjects and also topics related to internet providers in my area. You can reach her at: laurabackes8 @ gmail.com.

Review: The Behavior Gap

2012-02-09T21:54:00.000-06:00

Reading and reviewing personal finance books can be a very hit or miss proposition for me. I have done a lot of pf reading over the years, and I'm pretty well set in terms of how I view things. I don't need budgeting advice. I don't want investment advice. I'm not looking to coupon so hard that I get a basement full of nonperishables, nor am I so close to retirement that it'll be hard to fund it. Inspiration is nice, but I tend to find that through bloggers instead of through books. I don't want a four-hour work week, I don't need you to teach me to be rich, my dads are neither rich nor poor, and I definitely don't want sexist advice from either gender. Instead, I'm looking for something a little more difficult to define - something inspirational yet educational that doesn't actually tell me what to do but helps me refine my understanding of my own goals and how to reach them with my particular finances.

Basically, I'm looking for someone to give me advice that actually pertains to my exact situation - something that by the very nature of mass media is impossible.
Well, The Behavior Gap does it. The book promises to help you:

avoid the tendency to buy high and sell low;
avoid the pitfalls of generic financial advice;
invest all of your assets—time and energy as well as savings—more wisely;
quit spending money and time on things that don’t matter;
identify your real financial goals;
start meaningful conversations about money;
simplify your financial life;
stop losing money

It seems like a tall order for a book that weighs quite a bit less than a doorstop - but I think it's pulled off really well. For one thing, the concepts are cleverly illustrated with (literal) back-of-the-napkin drawings. Seeing things detailed as a Venn diagram or simple line graph sometimes does more to explain human behavior than six paragraphs of words could ever do.

In addition, Carl Richards is pretty explicit that he can't give you advice in this book that would be beneficial to your situation - there are just too many variables! Instead, his goal is to help you question your own motives so you can make the decisions that are right for you - the person with all the information you need.

Now, on to some of the specific things that really inspired me about this book:

Planning and strategy are first and foremost. As Dave Ramsey says, If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. In The Behavior Gap, Carl Richards details how to develop a strategy that works for YOU to achieve YOUR goals in a framework that's realistic for your life. As he puts it, "Financial decisions almost always are life decisions. Before you decide on your financial decisions, you need to choose your life goals." Create a plan that will act as guidelines for your behavior, and when you make a financial decision, whether it's a large one or a small one, check it against your plan. If it doesn't match up - no matter what a "great deal" it might be - you owe it to yourself to pass it up.

Seems simple, right? But consider a framework wherein you want to limit risk in order to slowly develop a nest egg. And then somehow you are offered a chance to go in on early stock from Facebook's IPO - and somehow in our hypothetical world, you're offered the stock for 50% off. Sounds like an awesome opportunity - but it would be the wrong decision in terms of the framework of your strategy. You'd have to stop your emotional reaction in order to focus on the parameters that you've set up for yourself. It's really hard - but in a way, it's also a relief. I've used this effectively myself, by setting a "policy" for my life. Sorry, my policy is to not use store credit cards - I'm not going to apply for that card, even though it offers me 10% off, because that's my policy. Sorry, I'm a nonsmoker. Nonsmokers don't buy cigarettes, so therefore I will not be buying that pack of cigarettes or bumming a cigarette. Nonsmokers don't smoke, and I'm a nonsmoker. Therefore...

This isn't financial planning - it's psychology. And it WORKS.

Back to our Facebook example. If you succumb to every whim of investing, you'll wind up with a collection of hot stocks that don't have a cohesive strategy behind them. You'll tend to fall for the funds that come recommended in slick magazines or websites (which only make money by trying to sell you stuff) instead of the ones that actually would serve your short and long-term goals the best. My goals will be different from your goals - maybe vastly different. Given that, is it likely to make the best financial sense for us to both invest in the same stock that's been recommended to everyone in the world? Probably not.

Who do we look to as experts? This is important because it not only helps us define our own goals, but as Carl Richards says "We have a tendency to assume that what we do know is more important than what we don't know." Reading widely to determine what it is we don't know - and to learn more about it, explained by people who don't have their hands in our pocketbooks - is really important.

Science fiction author Robert Heinlein wrote in Time Enough For Love that "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." Expanding on this, I'd say that any adult should be able to balance a checkbook, create a budget, forecast expenses, calculate compound interest, save for a rainy day, negotiate the price of a large purchase, research an investment or large expense, and qualify for a loan. We should not make the mistake of thinking that what we do know about any of these facets of personal finance is more important than what we don't know.

In addition, listening to anyone - family members, friends, experts - can be misleading for one big reason that we tend to overlook. "People tend to give you advice that's based on their own fears, their own experience, their own expertise, their own motivations. Their advice typically has little to do with the reality of your life," he notes. Not just about finances - think abut they kind of advice you get from people about your love life, restaurants to go to, where to live. Of course it can only be based on their own experiences.

It’s important to figure out what will really make you happy and focus on that - ultimately, you’re the one who has to live with it. Your own happiness is dependent on what you expect out of life - if you can come up with realistic expectations that will satisfy your major goals, how much money you have is beside the point.

Carl Richards goes on to offer both some general and specific ideas about how you can define that happiness for yourself, and by defining, achieve it. My happiness will not look like your happiness. My goals will not look like yours. Our roads to our respective happy endings may look totally different from each other’s, but hopefully one thing will be similar - the behavior we exhibit along the way. Not the specific acts, but the means of getting there. Identifying our destination and, like a good pilot, making course corrections along the way to ensure we get there.

The Behavior Gap is so full of fantastic information and quotable quotes that I filled up pages and pages for this post - but really, all of that is to say this: go read this book.

Full disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book to read for review. That in no way influenced by opinion of it, and in fact I intend to go buy a copy to keep on my shelf and maybe a second to loan out to people who need to read it.

Keeping Up Appearances

2012-02-07T11:18:00.001-06:00

When I was about twelve, I needed a Caboodle. I mean, NEEDED. My life - not to mention my popularity and the ability to even show my face at school - was in jeopardy. My mom refused to buy me one since I had a whole drawer to myself in the bathroom, so I saved up my money and spent about $20 on a purple and pink Caboodle with a sea-green C clasp. Like the pastel tacklebox it really was, when it opened a tray lifted out of it so that I could see all my Love My Lips makeup products in one easy glance. I could show up for sleepovers without shame. I even took it on camping and backpacking trips.

Looking back on it now, I'd rather have the twenty bucks. I currently use an old mesh bag to store my makeup in - I'm not sure where I got it, but I've had it for years and years. It might have come from a thrift store or it might have been a hand-me-down. I don't remember purchasing it, but if I did buy it new, I'd bet I didn't spend more than $5 on it. I also have a few other cosmetics bags which hold other things, like extra q-tips or sample-sized shampoos, and all of those are of similarly obscure heritage - received with samples from Target's annual beauty giveaway, picked up from free piles in dorms.

All of these bags work just fine - they hold my cosmetics and keep my medicine cabinet clean. They are easy to toss in a bag for traveling. I don't remember the last time another person saw them, and I certainly don't care what anyone else would think of them.

Similarly, I've noticed that a coworker brings his lunch to work in a bag that has his son's name written on it. I would have been horrified to carry my lunch to school in a bag that had someone else's name on it. I'm not sure which would be worse - a parent's name or a sibling's name. Either would have been the kiss of death! I went through a phase of "needing" a certain type of lunch bag, and when I didn't get it, I refused to use anything reusable, insisting on paper bags (so wasteful!). (I was a vegetarian, and my school didn't offer vegetarian lunch options, hence packed lunches.)

Nowadays, I toss my lunch in a bag leftover from a book conference, or in my purse, or just carry it in my hands between the house and the car, and the car and the office. It never occurs to me to think about what other people - or Teenage Me - would think about my food-transport methods. I don't even really care if people notice that I bring lunch instead of buying lunch every day - it's my business.

Were these matters simple quirks of being a teenager or am I still keeping up appearances in other ways - to the detriment of my finances?

I have an iPhone. We replaced our glasses with a matching set when we got married. I washed my car the other day because it was filthy - but more out of not wanting to be judged than worrying about the paint. I rejected any houses I found ugly. Let's not even get into money spent on clothing and physical appearance.

I'd argue that pretty much all money spent aside from bare necessities and certainly over-and-above the bare necessities is at least partially spent in order to keep up an appearance of some type. The problem comes when money is being spent solely to keep up appearances - replacing a perfectly good television for a bigger, sleeker one to impress guests that come over twice a year. Spending more for an iconic design covering the outside of a handbag. Financing a new car to replace one that has many years of life left in it. It's all about identifying the hidden motivations behind a purchase, and making intentional choices.

Are there areas in which you spend to keep up appearances? Are they necessary expenditures? How could you reduce them?

Linkfest

2012-02-05T15:22:00.001-06:00

Katy at The Non-Consumer Advocate talks about what a travesty it is when your only home project is to figure out where to place your gorgeous perfect furniture - or the disservice of having everything at your fingertips. I find this so true. Our house was in great condition when we moved in, mechanically speaking. But it wasn't mine. It's becoming mine, as I deep clean appliances, make small repairs that could easily be ignored, as I make plans to paint. The curry I made last week wasn't all that great, but I made it out of leftovers that were already in my fridge, and I learned something for next time. Isn't that ultimately much more satisfying than ordering out for a quick meal that's forgotten as soon as the takeout containers are thrown away?

"I will be as gentle with myself as I am with other people" - a great reminder from Small Notebook.

How to donate your body to science - very timely! I mean, well, not that I'm hoping to do that soon, but Peanut and I are looking into creating wills and all that, and this is one of the options we wanted to look into.

Lifehacker on the stupid things you do online and how to fix them.

I had an ah-ha moment this week. When we moved in to the house I realized I hated all of our picture frames, because they're black and they look really bad against our blue living room walls. I hate buying frames, and I kept grumbling to myself about how I'd have to watch for a sale at Michael's and then I saw this post at Fiscally Chic. DUH - paint the frames!

I read a rumor a few weeks ago that JD had sold Get Rich Slowly for over a million dollars within the last few years, but I searched GRS and didn't find any mention of it so I figured it was just a rumor. Turns out, it was true (JD doesn't name the amount he was paid, but I'd say a million - or close to it - is reasonable). I understand why he didn't say anything at the time - I probably would have unsubscribed, expecting the content to turn into marketing-speak, but as a reader I do feel a little misled. I tend to prefer pf blogs written by real people writing honestly about their actual finances, so I was already on the fence about what GRS has turned into. It seems like it's going back to its roots a little, which is nice to see.

Another Non-Consumer post, about the daily frugality Katy takes advantage of. I have a ways to go (see the link above about my eureka moment regarding painted frames vs. new ones!) but I do things like take my lunch to work, not have cable, get books from the library, and try to remember my favorite line from that post: Frugality is about feeling empowered, not embittered by these hundreds of daily decisions.

Fortune Magazine and CNN says executives are lamenting the skills and attitudes that new graduates have in the workplace. I also recently read a book that mentioned that twenty and thirty-somethings are developing a reputation for being rude to real estate agents and other third-party sales people. Is this a casual-ization of our society or a sign that those of us accustomed to interacting online are losing valuable real-life skills?

I expected this post about unexpected uses for microwaves to be the same-old, same-old, but I learned something new: soften brown sugar! I also love the advice about using it to proof bread dough (or in our case, pizza dough).

I've been compiling a list of chores to do around our house that are things we've never had to face as renters - things like cleaning the furnace filter and dryer ducts, and watching for ice dams on the roof. I'm going to create an ongoing calendar of those tasks, so I was pleased to see a post by Money Beagle about what got done in January.

Well-Heeled posted about her monthly technology costs. Our costs run to about $150 per month. My iPhone (a low-priced voice and data package that no longer is offered by AT&T) is $66 per month. Peanut's Droid costs $45 per month (he's on his family's plan). Our internet service is around $30 per month (introductory rate for six months). We don't have cable, we don't have netflix, we don't have satellite radio, we don't buy ebooks or music or movies. Peanut buys videos games a few times a year during Steam sales, usually spending $20 each time. The video game I play was bought almost six years ago and has no monthly fee, so it's pennies per month at this point. I'm not sure we could cut our costs any more without cutting our standard of living, and we're a pretty plugged in family. What are your technology costs?

I've been thinking of converting my desk at work to a standing desk. I could benefit from the extra movement (although I'd probably have to downsize from my 3.5-inch heels to something a little lower!) and two of my coworkers regularly use standing desks so it wouldn't be weird, even in my open-floor-plan office. Hmm.

Two tips from Trent: air up all your tires and figure out what's really important. It occurs to me that I don't know if we actually own a tire gauge. Oops. In terms of figuring out what's really important, I've been trying to identify that element in my own hobbies. I tend to try to do too much at once, so figuring out whether there's a common denominator and if that common denominator can be met in a different way is allowing me to streamline the things that vie for my time.

January Recap/February Goals

2012-02-01T09:48:00.001-06:00

January Goals

1. Move with a minimum of fuss. Success! This might be my favorite move of all time. The movers were super quick and pretty cheap, and when some friends stopped by to help with whatever we needed the night of the move, I was sitting on the couch with a book and a glass of wine. Amazing!

2. Live as cheaply as possible. Well...aside from my out-of-control and unplanned hobby spending, we did pretty well here.

3. Go to four yoga classes. I made it to three. So close! I've also been doing a home practice, so at least I have done yoga more than four times in the month!

4. Decide which color to paint the new rooms. Success! I've got plans for what colors to paint the master bedroom, master bathroom, and kitchen - I now just need to set up a painting day to have some helpers show up!

5. Do not buy any new clothes. Success! One could argue that I transferred my new clothes spending to pre-clothes or clothes-making-supplies, but...one would be only sort of correct. :)

February Goals
1. Make an appointment with a lawyer for drawing up wills and medical directives. Yep, that's me, admitting that I'm not going to get it done with NOLO paperwork and a notary. It'll cost some money, but hopefully not more than $200.

2. Pay taxes - or at least fill out TurboTax to the point of readiness. We tried to do this already but we didn't have all the paperwork we needed.

3. Figure out how to fund Roth IRAs for 2012. We've got a lot of plans for what to spend money on (a second car, furniture, minor renovations for the house) but first and foremost, we need to squeeze $10,000 out of somewhere to fund our Roth IRAs for the year.

4. Have a cheap ski weekend. We've been planning a ski weekend for the end of the month. I want to keep it cheap though - no need to go all out! We're splitting a room with a friend and I'll probably only go skiing one day and hang out and read the rest of the time. We also made sure that our lodge has a full kitchen so we can cook most of our own meals - but that doesn't mean they'll wind up being cheap.

5. Get my driver's license. I avoided doing this for one reason or another, but I really need to bite the bullet and change my New York license to a Minnesota one. Did you guys know I've been committing a misdemeanor for the last eight months? (Did you know it's been EIGHT MONTHS since I moved?! How did that happen??)

What are your goals for February?

January Spending Review

2012-02-01T09:48:00.000-06:00

Alcohol $33.57
Blogs $82.47
Business expenses (deductable) $3.89
Car $355.13
Entertainment $24
Food—dining out $190.49
Food—groceries $306.14
Gifts $3.99
Household $37.12
House $29,409.54
Hygiene/Medical $1,137.45
Insurance $657.48
Mystery Shop Expense $33.65
Rent $450
Sewing/Quilting $88.14
Student loans $403.83
Taxes $277
Transportation $90
Utilities $183.22

Total Spending: $33,767.11

Things of note:
Most expensive month ever!!!!! Luckily, it's going to be awfully rare that we buy a whole house. :)

It really felt like a high-spending month in other areas to me, but the numbers show it wasn't really as bad as it seemed. I spent more than usual on sewing supplies, blogging, and the car (a correction to to our car insurance premium that's mostly been refunded), Peanut bought life and disability insurance, and I went to the dentist (remember, all our dental expenses are out of pocket now). But our more variable expenses - groceries, eating out, entertainment, household expenses and so on stayed reasonable and even lower than they have been lately. We also paid our last round of estimated taxes from Peanut's six months of freelancing (I'd rejoice over an upcoming easy tax year, only we just bought a house so I guess my days of 1040EZ are well behind me).

We're still owed a refund of our security deposits from our apartment plus a partial refund for the month's rent (that $450 fee is actually a lease-breaking fee). All in all, it wasn't a bad month, especially if I can rein it in on my hobby spending next month!

Life Insurance

2012-01-31T06:59:00.000-06:00

This weekend, Peanut did the most romantic thing he's ever done for me in the four years I've known him. He paid for a life insurance policy that lists me as the beneficiary.

I know. What a wonderful guy!

This came at my request - back in November while reading Insurance for Dummies (a must-read!) as we prepared to buy a house, I asked Peanut to buy life insurance on himself that would enable me to pay off the house in full and provide additional income or a cash settlement to keep me afloat for several years (or to invest) as well as disability insurance that would cover our entire mortgage payment, were anything to happen to him. I did a lot of research to determine how much I felt I would need to receive, and I presented him with the plans I preferred. He agreed and followed up with both companies to fill out their paperwork and receive a physical exam before being approved and writing checks to solidify the purchase.

We'd never purchased individual life or disability premiums before, and the process was enlightening. I spoke with some local agents, but ultimately we ended up going through Zander Life Insurance, of Dave Ramsey recommendation fame.

The really interesting thing, to me, is the cost. A 20-year term life insurance policy for Peanut, who's in good health and has no bad habits like smoking, is $325 per year. That price is locked in for the entire 20 years he owns the policy - but year 21 will cost him $3,160 and it increases about 10% for every year thereafter. This really goes to show the benefit of buying these kinds of things when you're young! (Disability was also a few hundred dollars a year, but isn't a term policy the way life insurance is, so the costs for that are pretty boring.)

For what it's worth, we decided not to take out individual insurance for me. My company offers a standard 1x salary life insurance for free, and I can double that for about $2 a month, so I opted to do that (those are the only options - 1x for free, or 2x for double. No picking a different amount!). I also opted in to the group disability plan, for about $5 per month. But we chose not to go after additional policies from private insurers to cover me.

We have two reasons for this disparity - the difference in our salaries and the difference in our comfort levels. Peanut could afford our house without my salary pretty easily, and he's close to his family now. If something were to happen to me, he would be very sad but he would stay where he is and continue working and living in our house. I, on the other hand, would struggle at my salary if I suddenly became the only one providing for all my needs, and I live across the country from my family. If something were to happen to Peanut, I doubt I would want to live so far away from them. Whether I permanently moved back to my parents' area or not, I would probably take a leave of absence or quit my job, and I would need a way to either pay off the house or continue paying the mortgage while selling it.

We may revisit the decision on my life insurance when we have kids (if something were to happen to me, I would want to leave something behind for them) but for now, this makes the best sense for us. It's been both an unpleasant exercise as well as a very interesting one, and it's just phase one of our what-if plans. Next up, determining wills, living wills/medical directives, and that sort of thing. I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and sit down with a lawyer for a few hours.

Do you have private life insurance, or do you plan to get it?

Weekly Money Check-Up

2012-01-30T18:58:00.000-06:00

Weekly Money Check-Up is a weekly series on My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on life insurance! Technically, Peanut spent the money, but it was at my request and for my benefit.
2. Today I am thankful that I like my job. We're in a biannual intense sales conference right now (for THREE WEEKS) so it's a good thing I can remember why I'm doing it.
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was going to a luau party at a friend's apartment - a great reminder that the weather won't last forever!
4. I will consider this week a success if I heal up. I hyperextended my knee yesterday doing a yoga home practice, and I'm limping around today. I have a yoga workshop lined up next week, so I need to get well!
5. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a magician when I grew up. Yep.

Saving for Retirement vs. Kids' College

2012-01-29T22:17:00.000-06:00

Last week, Katie asked about my thoughts on saving for retirement vs. saving for college for our kids. (See her full comment here.)

I heard somewhere on the radio years ago that experts recommend parents focus on saving as much for retirement as possible before even thinking of saving for their children's college costs. After all, their children can get scholarships and take out low-interest loans. I don't believe they offer scholarships for retiring. What are your thoughts, LMM?

My opinion: It's far more important to save for retirement than for your kids' college. Period.

As Katie points out, there are no scholarships for retirement. Furthermore, there are no loans, and I am sure not counting on social security to be around in another 30 or 40 years. Therefore, Peanut and I will be focusing on our retirement rather than stashing away cash to pay for something that could be funded in other ways. We do intend to save money for our kids' college funds - just not at the expense of our own security.

Our personal experiences are vastly different from each other: his parents were unable to help him with college at all so he took out loans for the entire cost of his education. My parents gave me a free ride for my undergraduate studies. My graduate degree was paid for by my employer (1/3) and me, through savings and loans.

We are choosing a middle ground for our kids. I think the big thing that Peanut and I will focus on with our kids is understanding what college costs mean and how they affect the rest of their lives, because of our own experiences.

In Peanut's case, his parents had never been to college and they didn't understand the non-obvious differences between private, public, and for-profit schools or the nuances of the different loans that were taken out for him, some in his name and some in theirs. Had he gone to a state school instead of starting out at a private university and finishing at a for-profit school, he could probably have graduated with much less than $70,000 in loans. He also feels that his education from a for-profit school was not as good as another school might have been, because at a for-profit school, the students are essentially customers and you keep the customers happy by never failing them and you don't push them too hard. (He managed to get a good education for himself and got a good job that he likes, but many of his classmates were not so lucky, and it doesn't have anything to do with the recession.)

In my situation, I felt a lot of resentment about the deal that was offered to me. I didn't want to go to a religious college, but that was the deal that I was given: church school or I was completely on my own. I probably wouldn't have qualified for any financial aid because of my parents' income, but I didn't even know how to find out, because they refused to help me discover other options besides the school they wanted me to go to. I didn't get to do any campus visits other than their choice, and they wouldn't provide their financial information for a FAFSA for any other school (they filled it out and mailed it in for the one they wanted me to attend; I didn't get to see it)*. I didn't feel a lot of ownership over my education. I didn't try for any scholarships or grants. I made a point not to get attached to the school or the people there, I didn't work terribly hard on my grades and I left campus every weekend. In short, I got a degree, but I didn't have a nice college experience, which is as important as the education you're paying for.

All of this is in direct contrast to my graduate education, which I undertook completely on my own, and which was a totally different experience in every possible way. I think that's probably true of grad school in general, since you're older and you're not going because, well, you know, you graduated high school and now you go to college because that's just what you do. But determining a school for myself, comparing my options, and the entire financial aid process were all new experiences for me and I took a lot of ownership for that, and I am very proud of my straight-A grad school GPA, earned while I was working full time.

Because of these experiences, Peanut and I would like to educate our kids about what college costs and how those costs can affect the rest of their lives. We'd like to come up with an arrangement that encourages them to take ownership of their education from the very beginning, and to participate in this transitional period of their lives by paying some of their own way. We plan to be honest with them about our financial situation and what we can afford to help them with and why we choose our priorities. We're already maxing out Roth IRAs each year and contributing to our employer plans up to the match, and otherwise building a secure present and future for our kids. We'll be able to save something for them for college, but we'll be focusing on increasing our retirement savings at the same time, so their educational accounts will always be a step below our retirement in priority.

What do you think? Do you prioritize saving for your own retirement or your kids' college funds first and foremost, and why?

*To be fair, my parents both graduated from that school, and they now live and work there. They weren't being unduly mean - they felt it was important for me to live in a Christian environment and find a spouse who was part of that lifestyle. They both loved going to school there, and they really couldn't comprehend that their kids wouldn't also love it. Their method was faulty, but their hearts were in the right place.

Linkfest

2012-01-28T17:11:00.000-06:00

I just read this scary article about email hacking, and I vow to do a better job of managing my own online data security. I've enabled two-step verification on all of my gmail accounts, and for the ones that I don't use anymore (where all the emails forward to my new gmail inbox), I changed the passwords to gibberish using KeePass.

I love this post by Cate. Love, love, love it. I've been recognizing this tendency in myself, too, imagining a morning where I have time to do some things around the house before leaving for work but (in real life) hanging out in bed reading the news on my phone until the last possible minute. Noticing self-sabotage is the first step in changing it!

This is a really interesting decision by JC Penney - do away with sales, all merchandise is 40% off, all the time.

This book totally looks like something I'd enjoy - and yay for pantry organization tips! (via Unclutterer)

Lifehacker hacks your identity theft prevention attempts by giving you additional terms for Google Alerts to keep an eye on.

On Feeling Broke

2012-01-26T08:03:00.001-06:00

There are certain "frugal" activities that I really relish - things that give me a high and make me feel like I'm being really smart with my money.

Then there are things that just make me feel broke - things that make me feel like I will never get ahead, will never have to stop worrying about my money, things that I wouldn't want other people to know that I'm doing.

Things that make me feel smart about money:

contributing to retirement even when the markets are down or volatile
paying extra on my student loans or mortgage
pairing coupons with a sale at the grocery store
ordering from the kids menu (if there's no age requirement)
ordering only water when dining out instead of soda or alcohol
asking for discounts/credits to a bill (such as when my internet goes out for a few days, or if I get spam text messages)
using the library
unplugging appliances that are not in use
cooking from scratch as much as possible

Things that just make me feel broke (or would if I did them):
Note: these are actual frugal tips I've seen in books or on blogs.

saving the bits of deodorant to melt them together to make a new stick
washing ziploc baggies to reuse (I wish this didn't make me feel broke, since it's good for the environment! Instead, I just try to avoid using baggies altogether.)
sprinkling my head with baby powder to go longer between shampoos
only buying groceries or toiletries for which I have a coupon
arguing about splitting a bill strictly along the orders (I like paying the bill this way - but not arguing about it)
haggling on prices in big box stores like Target
cheaping out on gifts to friends and family
not traveling to visit family
giving up my cell phone

I think these decisions vary from person to person, so the lists are above are what's true for me.

What makes YOU feel smart about money, and what makes you feel poor?

Decluttering--waste vs. saving money

2012-01-25T14:29:00.000-06:00

This is a reprint of an older post.

As I mentioned recently, I feel like I have a bunch of stuff I don't love. An example is a pair of leopard print rain boots. I looked everywhere for rain boots that I liked that were less than $25, and I finally found these a year or two ago at some cheap store in SoHo. And I hate them.

They're really heavy to wear--exhausting, even. They're not really all that cute. But most infuriating is the little "comfort pad" thing in the bottom of the boot. This thing is essential to actually wearing the boots, since they're painful without it. But it's not fastened to the inside of the boot in any way, and as I wear them, the comfort pad will work its way all the up the boot until it's in danger of falling out. I kid you not. I've tried everything--wearing two pairs of socks, supergluing it (there's nothing to attach it to!! That's why the boots are uncomfortable!!)--and they're awful. I don't think I've worn them since last spring. Instead, even in the summer, I wear my snow boots when it's pouring and I can't get away with wearing some other shoe, like rubber flipflops (gross).

But I still have these stupid leopard print boots, because I looked for them for so long and I don't feel like I've got my money's worth out of them. I know, not even all that deep down, that I will never, ever wear them again, unless maybe all my other shoes are stolen. Even then, I'd be tempted to go barefoot first.

This is just one footwear example, and there are other things that I know I don't want (hello, all the clothes my mother sends me). The problem is I do believe in "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" which sort of goes against the whole decluttering mantra. Why throw it out when there really is some useful life left in it? And then another frugal argument is Why keep storing it? That costs money too!

Do you ever feel like frugality and decluttering are at odds?

What Our House Cost

2012-01-24T07:39:00.001-06:00

Here are some of the financial details about the house.

We had saved up almost $30,000 when we were ready to start looking (this is in addition to our $10,000 emergency fund). We weren't sure how much money we were going to need for a downpayment, or how much we would qualify for, or really anything else. So we decided to get pre-qualified to see what was realistic and how much longer we'd need to save. We were thinking we could afford a house that was from $200,000 to $230,000, but we weren't even sure what was out there in that price range.

We'd been recommended a mortgage broker already, so we filled out the form on her website and emailed her a bunch of bank statements and tax paperwork. We met with her a few days later, and she went over things in detail. Peanut and I have pretty good credit (in the mid-700s; his combined scores beat my combined scores by one point) and, along with our downpayment (which they calculated as being every last bit of the money we had in savings), we qualified for a mortgage of $450,000.

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Around here, that would buy a really nice house - and you'd get a really big mortgage payment to go along with it.

The mortgage broker also went over all the closing costs - fees charged by the county, the lender, the notary, the title company, the insurance company, and a million other people to handle the actual transaction of purchasing a house. Those fees added up quickly, even though we got a discount from the broker from the referral we'd received. Still, though - they were affordable with our existing savings if we were comfortable going with a 10% downpayment instead of a 20%.

We were delighted to know that we qualified for enough to buy a house in the range we had in mind and even higher, had enough for a "good" downpayment, and could afford the closing costs, so we started to figure out how much of a monthly payment we felt comfortable with. We knew it would be more than rent for our apartment, but decided that we wanted to keep it doable on one salary, and unofficially, wanted to keep it lower than our rent in New York, which was $1444 when I left in June.

The next step, of course, was looking for a house, which we found on our first day out. Then a bunch of negotiations with the sellers (not about price, incidentally, but closing dates and moving dates - don't buy a house just before the holidays!) and voila - we were ready to close.

What do you really want to know? Hard numbers? Okay:

Overall details
House list price: $235,000
Offer: $230,000 (we probably could have haggled here a little more)
Appraisal: $233,000 (but not too much, as they had priced it just right)

One time fees
Appraisal fee: $450
Inspection: free (family member)
Down payment: $23,000
Closing costs: $8,066.38

Ongoing
Principal and interest: $988.25
Home owners' policy: $75.42
County taxes: $242.37 (will probably go up a bit in June, since the appraisal came in higher than what the sellers had on their tax forms)
Mortgage insurance: $86.25 ($1,035 per year - way more important to kill our 6% student loans before focusing on this!)

Total monthly payment: $1392.29

A few things to note
Although we were approved for a much larger number than we originally thought we could afford, we wound up buying within our original budget. And yes, I did look at some more expensive houses - as soon as we knew we could spend more, I started searching for places from $230,000-$280,000. But ultimately, it made more sense to go cheaper. I think this just goes to show that when you pay close attention to your finances, your gut instinct is frequently right on target.

More important than the total cost of the house was the actual monthly cost. We can easily afford this payment on Peanut's salary alone, or if things were really super tightened, on my salary alone - which was very important to us. We don't want to be tied to jobs because of our house payment. If one of us gets fired or needs to (or wants to!) stay home with a baby, we are capable of doing that, even though we have a mortgage payment.

One more nifty number:
Equity we own: $26,000 (11%)

The amortization schedule is kind of horrifying - it shows just how much of our $988.25 payment goes towards interest and how much towards principal, and it really, truly is almost all interest for the first several years. Still, between what we'll pay into it and the way the value of the house might go up (which seems to be the trend now in our area), we'll probably have 20% equity sooner than the lender forecast, which is November of 2017. To have the PMI canceled, we'll have to alert the lender that we believe we've reached 20% equity and they will set up an appraisal. It'd be nice for that to happen early, but I'm not going to sweat it.

So. That's what it took to buy our house. I'm trying to recover from shock every time I look at our savings account balance, which is back down to our bare emergency fund. I kind of got used to seeing such a higher number in there, but I know that we're covered for the majority of emergencies that would come our way, and now I want to focus on building up savings for our big-ticket purchases: a second car, a built-in bookshelf/desk situation, guest room furniture, new living room furniture, new pots and pans, etc....

Any questions on how we bought our house?

Weekly Money Checkup

2012-01-23T21:50:00.000-06:00

Weekly Money Check-Up is a weekly series on My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on groceries! Rather than move food, we'd kind of let our pantry dwindle down, so I had a $100 grocery store run AND a $100 Costco run in the same day. We're now all set for a blizzard! (Please don't blizzard.)

2. Today I am thankful for all of our friends. We had a housewarming brunch yesterday and had somewhere north of twenty people eating, chatting, and visiting most of the day yesterday. SO not possible in an apartment - but in our house, it was great!

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was re-start my home yoga practice.

4. I will consider this week a success if I get up on time every day. I got in a bad habit of staying under the covers and catching up on blogs, email and the news on my phone before finally jumping out of bed at the last minute. I want to get out of bed when the alarm goes off and get started on my day! I did good this morning; just four more days to go.

5. The craft I am currently interested in right now is quilting. There is a rich quilting tradition in my family - my sister and I have a quilt that was put together by our great-great-grandmother! I'm almost finished with my first full-sized (baby sized) quilt, and I'm looking forward to starting my next project.

–

Quick note: new URL!

2012-01-22T21:54:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note to alert everyone that I've finally got my hands on my domain, www.littlemissmoneybags.com! At this point, it looks like everything's up and running with no change to either RSS or email feeds, but of course if you notice something, please drop me a line. If I'm in your blogroll, I'd appreciate an updated linkback - I've been thinking about moving to Wordpress for some time, and the domain name helps get me one step closer to that. (If I'm not on your blogroll, I'd love to be!)

Which brings me to a second quick thing - I'm going to update my blogroll in the next couple of weeks, so if you're not included and you'd like to be, please leave me a comment with your blog URL so I can check it out!

A third quick note - thanks to those of you on Twitter who had suggestions for my 20-person brunch extravaganza this morning. Egg casserole FTW!

Guest Post: Paid off Your Debt? 4 Tips for Further Developing your Financial Success

2012-01-22T08:46:00.000-06:00

This is a guest post by Eliza Morgan who is a full time blogger. She specializes in writing about business credit cards. You can reach her at: elizamorgan856 at gmail dot com.

Most personal finance articles out there instruct readers how to dig themselves out of whatever financial ditch they may be in. Whether that means paying off debts, learning to cut monthly expenses, or setting up a simple budget, the emphasis is always on correcting spending behaviors to achieve some semblance of financial stability. But what happens when you've already accomplished your basic financial goals, like paying off debt? What if you got a job in which you suddenly make more money than you are used to? Here are a few tips for planning for what comes next.

1. It's never too early to start planning your retirement.

Retirement saving is one area of personal finance that is almost unilaterally ignored by those under 40. Once you've finally found yourself in a position in which you've eliminated all or most of your debt, it's really time to start thinking about saving more aggressively for retirement. Even if you think your 401k offered through your employer is already doing the planning for you, the costs of retirement is skyrocketing, and even employers admit that their 401ks are not sufficient. Start looking into an IRA account, as well as these other retirement options.

2. Put away extra money into an emergency fund.

It may seem like a hassle to set aside money for an emergency, especially when emergencies rarely happen. Even if you do not anticipate suddenly losing your job, there are millions more typical scenarios that can require several hundred or thousands of dollars on short notice. For example, what if your child falls sick and needs hospital treatment? What if you or your spouse are unexpectedly pregnant and must take time off from work for a long period of time? What if your car breaks down and needs substantial repairs? Build an emergency fund that can cover at least three to six months of living expenses so that you can handle whatever slings and arrows life may throw your way.

3. If you have (or plan on having) kids, get serious about saving for college.

Just like it's never too early to start planning your retirement, it's never too early to start saving for your children's college. You can even start saving before your children are born. While it may seem unnecessary now, consider that in the future, college degrees will be much more expensive than they are at present (if you can even imagine that!). Also, consider that a bachelor's degree is now as standard and essential as a high school degree, it's likely that your children will need more than just a BA to succeed in many careers. Look into different college savings plans, like 529s.

4. Revisit your long-term career goals.

Now that you are in a position in which you can do more with the money you have, it may be time to begin serious research into your long-term career goals. Have you ever dreamed of opening your own business, going back to school to switch career tracks, etc.? You may have forgotten completely about these goals while you were still mired in debt. Now, you have the spending power to take the next step in your future. Don't squander it!

Of course, this all isn’t to say that you shouldn't enjoy life now that you have accomplished financial goals that take many their entire lives. You should certainly enhance your lifestyle now that you can afford to. At the same time, remember that planning for the future will ensure financial health for the rest of you and your family's lives.

Linkfest

2012-01-21T18:10:00.000-06:00

The Consumerist on how peroxide is the "batman utility belt" of your medicine cabinet.

Lifehacker takes on prioritization - especially when everything is important. The comments on this one have some great recommendations too!

As a new home (and appliance owner), I thank Trent for alerting me that there is, in fact, a second dryer lint trap I should be cleaning out. I found our external vent, but anything inside of it is well and frozen right now, so I'm making a note to myself when the weather gets above 40 degrees or so to go take another look at it.

A great reminder that when you do something repeatedly, you are in fact practicing to do it even more. Make what you practice a conscious decision.

Awesome. Budgets are Sexy on all the stuff new home owners never think about. I think I need to have a little lie-down. (Luckily, all our appliances are relatively new, the roof and siding are brand-new, and the furnace has about half its lifespan left. We're still going to bulk up the emergency fund to cover the most expensive fix, and then some.)

I'm interested in ALL the books on this reading list from Small Notebook.

I love this little reminder that we're all only human, and often struggling for the same things.

I avoid blogs that send only snippets out in their feed - even if I love the blog, I simply don't have time to click through to a site to read it (plus, I read my feeds usually at work on my lunch break, and I don't like to click through to sites that may be viewable by my IT department). FullTextRSSFeed.com lets me subscribe to a feed that sends snippets but will put the entire post in my reader! I'm trying it out and it appears to be working - so yay! I get to read one of my favorite blogs again.

I was included in the Festival of Frugality hosted by Magical Penny. Thanks!

Online resources for living a more intentional life (via My Pretty Pennies)

Money Q&A lists four benefits for buying a house

This week's PSA - please back up your blogs! Instructions for how to do so with Blogger's new tool are here (at the bottom).

Don't forget about the Money Pros Index Fund Challenge! Currently I'm right in the middle of the pack, up almost 5% overall. I wonder how that compares to my actual investments?

One last item from The Simple Dollar - don't let the power of brand preferences keep you from making the smartest purchases!

Sh*t First Time Homeowners Say

2012-01-20T12:51:00.001-06:00

I saw this on Blonde & Balanced yesterday and it cracked me up. Here's what those first time homebuyers say, when they renege on their agreement to rent forever and move into what they thought was their dream house:

* What's that smell?
* What's that noise?
* Is it supposed to do that?
* Where do you think that goes?
* Oops.
* What's that cable/pipe for?
* I have to pay for that separately?
* Want to go to Home Depot?
* Want to go to Home Depot...again?
* Where do we keep the toilet paper/cups/socks here?
* Do you think we got our whole security deposit back?
* All of our furniture looks weird here; I want new stuff.
* I bet the sellers knew about that.
* A plumber costs how much?
* Did you call your dad to see what he thinks about it?
* Which of these keys do you think unlocks that?
* Did you SEE that bug?
* Wait, we have to shovel how much of the sidewalk?
* I love this house!

Weekly Money Checkup

2012-01-17T21:51:00.000-06:00

Weekly Money Check-Up is a weekly series on My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was - oh, man, I don't even want to think about it. Probably the movers, although that was money so well spent. Friends stopped by the evening of the move to see if they could help, and I was sitting down with a book and a glass of wine because I'd run out of stuff to do. Compare that to their move which took an entire day to move only half their stuff, and a friend stuck in the elevator for two hours. (We have similar sized apartments/houses - so they were very surprised!)

2. Today I am thankful for the move being over, starting to feel settled, and Peanut.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was read a great book from the library.

4. I will consider this week a success if I make it to a yoga class!

5. My purse contains my wallet, a small notebook, my phone, and a small pouch containing earbuds, chapstick and toothpicks. It's normally more full than that, but I seem to have pared down significantly with this move! It actually feels way too empty, and makes me want to get a new, smaller sized purse - but that's seriously unnecessary right now. Instead, I guess I'll go find some junk to put inside it. :)

Details about the house!

2012-01-10T20:58:00.001-06:00

Okay! I'm starting to come up for air after being absolutely SWAMPED since the beginning of November. How come nobody called me on not giving you any FUN details about our shiny new-to-us house?!

So we got approved for a mortgage, somewhat on a whim, and then we found a house on our first day looking . Since then I've been fretting about all the costs we're facing, but mainly I've been thrilled to my toes with the decision we made. I love this house so much.

It's a 1950 Cape Cod with the cutest upstairs dormer windows. It has three bedrooms and 1.5 baths, a half-finished basement and the most beautiful landscaped backyard. The living/dining room has a cove ceiling and charming onion-arched doorways. The front door is purpleish - which if you know me in real life means you know that it is no surprise I picked this house (the kitchen/backdoor will eventually get painted purple too!) (which, Peanut, if you're reading this - by the way, I want to paint that door purple. xo). We've got hardwood, tile, and carpet. The roof and siding is all brand new. It smells terrific, and the previous owners left us a sweet note on the wall in the crawl space - just below the note that was left to them when they bought it. Apparently, this house has been filled with people who want to pass on good vibes!

I'm spending all my time now looking for design ideas - most of the rooms are quite colorful and I'm okay with that but there are two rooms I REALLY want to change (master bedroom and main bathroom - both blue) and one room I'd like to change (kitchen - kind of a boring yellow). The other rooms are lovely and fine (living room - blue, guest room - gray/brown, small bathroom - dark brown, eventual nursery - green). The house needs no work at all - eventually we may decide to expand the "nursery" into the crawl space but that's a ways off. Part of what we loved about this place was that it's move-in ready - up to date appliances, floors in good shape, fresh paint, etc. It's amazing.

I'm also looking for furnishings! We'll be scouring Craigslist and thrift stores - eventually I want a second bed, some side tables, a dining table and chairs (or maybe just new chairs - mine are literally falling apart), a three piece seating set, matching desks and comfortable desk chairs, and a pool table. Wait, what? No, that last thing is something PEANUT wants, not me. I want to put a bowling alley in the basement instead.

Ha!

I'll devote a separate post to the financial specifics, as right now I just want to revel in the details of my own home - a place where we'll live for the foreseeable future. That's the first time I've moved in to somewhere without a somewhat definite plan to leave. I didn't expect that putting down roots would help me feel so....grounded, but it really does.

What were you looking for or do you want to have in your first home? What else - if anything - would you like to know about ours?

Weekly Money Checkup: Home Edition

2012-01-09T13:34:00.000-06:00

Weekly Money Check-Up is a weekly series on My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on a HOUSE. Beat that, please.
2. Today I am thankful for Peanut. As I was writing this post I got an email from him with the subject "To the prettiest girl in the whole world." MELT!
3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was check out eighty gazillion books on home repair and maintenance. My favorite so far: The Virgin Homeowner.

4. I will consider this week a success if I don't succumb to a raging headcold. Oh, and if we successfully move into our house!
5. If I could change one thing about my home I'd be living there already. :)

Linkfest

2012-01-08T22:18:00.000-06:00

Tips for the eco-friendly home. This was a timely post for me to see, since we're about to move into a house that we'll own and can make these improvements in!

Priceonomics - great timing considering how much furniture I'm about to start scoring off Craigslist.

Add Vodka does a food inventory and is startled to see how much she has in her cupboards. I haven't ever done a food inventory but I'd tell you that I'm always likely to have on hand: flour (all purpose, whole wheat, bread, semolina), frozen chicken breasts (breaded and plain), garlic, tortilla chips, oatmeal, white rice, milk, cheese, eggs, some sort of pasta, frozen homemade pizza sauce cubes, baby carrots, and ramen. I'd like to get to a point where I am stocking up on other staples regularly but I still tend to shop like I did in New York: by week, buying only what is needed that week and picking up fresh produce and milk every few days.

I love Katy's description of her frugal activities!

Lipton Onion Soup Mix is the only soup mix I buy - but now that I can make it at home, I won't have to!

20Something Finances details 2012 tax bracket changes. The money quote: "This may also be a good time to revisit what your overall adjusted gross income might be this year and adjust your tax allowances so that you don't end up getting penalized for owing too much in taxes or getting too big of a refund (lending your money to the government, interest-free)." (Ahem, note to self, LMM.)

Great reasons to have a small home. While 1,500 square feet sounds palatial coming from New York City apartments, we realize that it makes for a fairly small single family dwelling.

Stop yourself from saving too much, via The Consumerist. Favorite quote: "Money exists for commerce, and if not for today's commerce, for some time in the future. Money cannot be a goal on its own because it has no meaning, no function beyond what it can be traded for in exchange."

Wondered what phrases like enriched, fortified, organic, sustainable and more? What common grocery store labels mean.

The perfect example of conscious spending: Tammy from Rowdy Kittens gets an iPhone! I love her explanation of how this was a great purchase for her commitments to her lifestyle. I want to introduce this kind of justification to my own shopping habits.

WiseBread introduces me to boomerang - send emails later with gmail. I've been wishing for this! (The whole post is full of good ideas)

7 signs we're in a post-private world - this is a fantastic article about how the world works today.

Trent discusses the 10-second rule and the 30-day rule.

Reality check - this guy ordered commonly advertised fast food items and compared pictures of those items to advertisements. Hmm.

The value of tracking things

2012-01-08T09:12:00.000-06:00

I'm lately obsessed with tracking things.

I've been tracking my spending for....well, longer than I've had this blog, so at least five or six years. I find it incredibly useful - first for keeping to a budget and now for giving me an overview such that I don't feel a need for a strict budget anymore. It shows patterns, helps me encourage savings, and acts as a spending mitigator (if I don't want to have to report the spending...maybe I shouldn't buy it!).

I'm now becoming aware of the usefulness of tracking other things in your life as well. I know people track things like:

weight
temperature (for fertility planning)
savings
debt repayment
times at the gym
car mileage
books read, books to read
chores
home repairs/maintenance
meals

What else can I track?

I'm working on a spreadsheet that will allow me to track all of my trackable New Year's Resolutions as well as any monthly goals - think of it like a slightly grown-up version of a sticker chart. The two biggest criteria for my spreadsheet are that it be quick and easy to use (or else I won't use it!) and that it be available anywhere (so I can update it on the go instead of trying to remember it later). I'm thinking a Google doc but if anyone knows of a free iPhone app, I'd take that too.

I feel a little bit like Benjamin Franklin, when he first put together a chart to track his 13 virtues, or maybe Gretchen Rubin, with her Happiness Project score chart. Five minutes a day to track certain behaviors or situations has given me all sorts of clarity ranging from discovering that our bathtub needs to be cleaned to being able to predict when my face will break out. It's awesome.

Do you track anything in your life? What's missing from my list? How do you keep document the things you're tracking?