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Some good news and some bad news

January 31st, 2013 at 04:14 pm

Lets do good news first..

Taxes are done! Filed them last night and got a text (love that!) confirmation that they have been accepted by the IRS. $2076 is our total refund. This is a lot more then normal, so I was very surprised. I know many say to try to reduce your withholdings so that you are not giving the IRS an interest free loan, and I agree with that, but it is nice to get a couple grand back in one lump sum. I would prefer it to be less then $1500 though, $2K seems to be getting high, so I need to look into changing that a little.
This year DH is deciding what to do with the money. The plan is to put the $76 into savings. Then the $2000 we are taking on a mini get away for DH's BD in March, either going to MN or SD for a little casino time. We have a system when we gamble (penny machines! LOL) that we put in $10, and if we get that up to $20 or higher then we will cash out, and we won't play that specific money again. That wat we are guaranteed to not go home empty handed. This system works very well for us so that we can play a long time without losing a lot. Anything that we bring back we will put against the mortgage principle. Who knows maybe we will even come home ahead!

And now the bad news......

Got a notice from the mortgage company yesterday that our Escrow Account came out behind last year, and to make up the difference our monthly mortgage payment is going up $94.05 a month. Frown So almost a $100 jump and no extra reduction of principle. YUCK. I am hoping whatever we bring home from the tax refund and put towards the house will help balance out the additional monthly amount. It's a bummer, but we will still make great headway this year.

Posted in Mortgage/Debt Payoff | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Some good news and some bad news”

  1. twest Says:
    January 31st, 2013 at 05:18 pm 1359652722
    1359652722

    We need to change our taxes too! We usually get back $4500. For the longest time we would get very little or even have to pay in. One year we paid in $1000 and I said "no more." It just upset me that everyone was getting all these big checks and I was paying Uncle Sam. I know I have to go back and change our deductions again cause we could definitely see some interest from that money throughout the year.

    On the mortgage it seems every year our escrow is not adequate but our mortgage company alows us to either just add to the payment each month or pay it in one lump sum. You may could pay it one lump sum if you wanted to. Our payment itself really hasn't gone up much in the last 4 years and that allows our prinicpal to keep working the best it can. Just a thought.

  2. Beawealthywarrior Says:
    January 31st, 2013 at 05:30 pm 1359653428
    1359653428

    When I got my new home almost 2 years ago that's the exact reason I didn't escrow. I now pay my own taxes and insurance.

  3. mjrube94 Says:
    February 1st, 2013 at 02:11 am 1359684685
    1359684685

    I agree with Wealthy Warrior. Call your mortgage company and ask if they require the escrow (usually only if you pay PMI or have less than 20% equity). If you can pay on your own, you'll get the amount that they have in escrow back (and it's usually more than the amount you need to pay, because the mortgage company is allowed to hold back extra). Definitely worth a call...

  4. Banker Gurl Says:
    February 1st, 2013 at 03:46 pm 1359733607
    1359733607

    Hmmm...interesting. I will need to check this out! We have almost 50% equity and no PMI. So this is something I need to learn more about! Thanks!

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