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Archive for October, 2013

November 2013 Mortgage Payment - Under $100K!!

October 27th, 2013 at 09:40 pm

UNDER $100K!!!! YEAH!!!!!

So, so excited to be hitting this milestone!! This also met our yearly goal for the mortgage to get under $100K, and we are one month early on our goal! Will be working on goals for next year very soon and hope to have some awesome progress again for next year!

November 2013 Mortgage Payment

Balance $100,900.00
+$231.23 Interest
-$1218.88 Regular Payment
-$237.35 Principle Payment
-$75.00 Mortgage Checking Principle Payment
New Balance $99,600.00

Escrow Savings Account
$3655.00
+$350.00 November Deposit
-$1900.00 Yearly Payment
+$5.00 Even Out Interest Amount
=$2110.00

I know you have felt this way too......

October 22nd, 2013 at 09:19 pm

I know you have felt this way too....everything is needing to be replaced/fixed/paid for...all at once. Booooo! and Hisssss!

Feeling that way to a MEGA degree right now.

*Tires - I need at least 2 new tires on my car. I have 0 tread on the front 2, and I live in ND....and its October...enough said?? (Estimating $400)

*Windshield Wiper - Windshield Wiper on DH's car does not move. And I live in ND...and it's October...lol. We JUST got this fixed a few months ago and it stopped working again. Going to take it back to the same place and ask if they can fix it for free since the original time did not fix it right, but not holding my breathe that they will do it for free. (Estimate $50)

*Hot Tub Cover - Ok of course a hot tub is not a necessity by any stretch of the imagination. But we do have one, so we need to keep up on the maintenance, and the cover is ripped nearly completely in half and of course if it is not covered debris (leaves, bugs, snow) will get in there. So we need to order a new one ASAP. (Estimate $300)

*Home Insurance - I just paid this for the whole year. (Actual $1875)

*Laptop - Again not a necessity per say, but we do not have smart phones or any other access to the internet at home. I have my blog, WIR, and also use it for taxes, spreadsheets, and of course entertainment. Current laptop is about 3-4 years old and is very, very cranky at us. It wants to nap, NOW. (Estimate $1200)

*Class Fee - DH had a class that is required for him to keep his teaching degree. It's already on the Discover Card. (Actual $385)

*Lawn Care - If we pre-pay for our lawn care service for 2014 before 1/1/14 we get a decent discount. (Estimate $350)

And of course CHRISTMAS! (Estimate $800) I did not do very well last year at getting my Christmas shopping done early and that is a big pet peeve of mine to be running around at the last minute and trying to think of gifts. I have a week off in November and my plan is to get all my decorations up, and all of my gifts bought and wrapped that week. That way I can actually enjoy the month of December!

And in case you were keeping track of the fun ahead...that was $5360 smackers! OWWWWIE! Hopefully my estimates are close and we can do this in chunks to not take a whopper of a hit in savings.

So I guess I need to get started on this financial avalanche. Hoping to get the hot tub cover ordered tonight. It's a start!

Mortgage Checking Balance

October 22nd, 2013 at 08:39 pm

$5.00 Mortgage Checking Balance
+$75.00 School Check
=$80.00 New Balance


Got a random school check from DH. Not really sure what it's for....but tossing it in the ole mortgage checking for November's fabulous under $100K payment! Smile

Red Sox Winner!!

October 22nd, 2013 at 08:12 pm

So my husband is a huge Red Sox fan and when we were in Vegas back in August he bet $20.00 that they would go to the World Series. Well here we are in October and they made it! So the ticket pays out $100! I mailed it in a few days ago and DH said I can put that money into savings since that is what we did with the rest of the winners from our trip. So as soon as the check gets here that is where it will go. Wink

$20K Update - OUCHIE

October 22nd, 2013 at 06:07 pm

I have been so out of the loop with my blog this month! Trying to get back into a regular routine with things now that rummage sale time is over, but have had out of state weddings, coed softball league, coed kickball league, poker nights at our house and lots of Red Sox and Braves games to watch. All we have going on right now is the World Series so should have more time now.

It's our first time to pay our Home Insurance/Taxes on our own. I am happy to say that we needed $1900.00 to pay the bill and we had $3660.00 sitting in our Escrow Savings account! So the transition from having the Escrow with the bank to handling it ourselves is going really well. Smile Plus I put the full charge on my Discover Card, so I will get my cashback bonus on that big bill, and then of course pay it in full. That gave me one more month of time to get interest on the money with ING and then enough cashback bonus for another $50 giftcard! Smile WIN!

New Focus = Sept 2014 $900/$1800

Current Balance $29,200.00
+$70.00 Misc Deposit to Sept 2014
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
+$3.00 Even Out Amount
-$1900.00 Yearly Escrow
New Balance $27,445.00

ING $24,440.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2575.00
Total = $27,445.00

$20K Update

October 13th, 2013 at 03:55 pm

New Focus = Sept 2014 $825/$1800

Current Balance $29,000.00
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise
New Balance $29,200.00

ING $26,195.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2575.00
Total = $29,200.00

Menards Deals Week of 10/6/13

October 6th, 2013 at 10:02 pm

Good haul!



Women's 6pk Socks (Limit 4)
$4.99 Each
-$4.00 Mail in Rebate
Final Price .99 Each!!
(Keeping these for myself)

Men's 3pk Socks (Limit 2)
$5.99 each
-$5.99 Mail in Rebate
Final Price - Both Free!!
(Marked $2.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $5.00 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
Profit = $10.00

LED Booklight (Limit 4)
$2.50 Each
-$2.50 Mail in Rebate
Final Price - All 4 Free!!
(Marked $2.00 for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 1 for $4.00 at 9/4/14 rummage sale
3 left to sell

Miracle Gloves 2pk (Limit 4)
$4.99 Each
-$4.99 Mail in Rebate
Final Price - All 4 Free!!
(Marked $3.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 4 for $3.00 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
Profit = $12.00

Touchscreen Cleaning Wipes (Limit 4)
$4.00 Each
-$4.00 Mail in Rebate
Final Price - All 4 Free!!
(Marked $1.50 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $2.00 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
2 left to sell

Tool Set 3 Piece (Limit 2)
$4.99 Each
-$4.00 Mail in Rebate
Final Price - .99 Each!!
(Marked $5.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $5.00 each at 9/4/14 rummage sale
Profit = $10.00

Halloween Candy (Limit 4)
$2.49 Per Bag
-$1.00 Mail in Rebate
Final Price $1.49 Per Bag!!
(Keeping these for Trick or Treaters)

Halloween Lawn Bags (Limit 10) Miscounted and only got 9
$1.99 Each
-$1.99 Mail in Rebate
Final Price - All 9 Free!!
(Marked $1.00 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 9 for $1.00 each
Profit = $9.00

October 2013 Savings Update

October 6th, 2013 at 06:59 pm

October 2013 Savings Update

Regular Savings:
Home Maintenance ING $6055
Cushion $3010
HSA $9999
New Patio Door (cash) $680
Escrow - $3305
September 2014 $3310 - Complete
Short Term Emergency Fund $175
Long Term Emergency Fund $1130 - Complete
New Car $10,135 - Complete
Vacation - $2735 - Complete
Anniversary Cruise $2475
Total Regular Savings = $43,010.00

Retirement Savings:
Retirement Hold Account $1100
Roth IRA $7925
Rollover IRA $815
401K $29,530
403B $23,230 (est)
Total Retirement Savings = $62,600.00

Total Savings $105,610.00

$20K Update

October 3rd, 2013 at 01:58 pm

*ETA - After I posted I realized I was only $20 away from hitting $29K, so I went and transferred an extra $20 to Sept 2014 savings. YEAH! $29K!

Current Focus = Las Vegas $3,000/$3,000 - GOAL MET!
New Focus = Sept 2014 $825/$1800

Current Balance $28,415.00
-$112.00 to ROTH IRA
+$270.00 to Las Vegas Account
+$350.00 to Escrow Savings
+$18.35 Monthly Interest
+$38.65 Even Out Amount
+$20.00 to Sept 2014 to get to $29K!
New Balance $29,000.00

ING $26,095.00 ($5620.00 Bingo Money)
Home Improvements(cash)$430.00
HSBC $2475.00
Total = $29,000.00

No more "Free Phones" with Verizon

October 2nd, 2013 at 07:39 pm

It is time for our "Free phone upgrade" with Verizon. We have been waiting for a looong time as DH is ridiculously hard on his phones and always ends up having to go back to his old cell phones before the upgrade time comes. His current phone went out of commision way back in December and he has been using his old RAZOR since then..that thing is an antique! We have newer phones then the Razor in a box in case we would need one, and I told him to use one of those, but he prefers his trusty Razor, so I guess that is his choice...silly boy. Anyways, I tried to go online and order our new phones, we don't use Smart phones, we just get what ever we can for Free as we only need the phones for calling and texting. I haven't paid for a cellphone since I got my very first cellphone in 2002 and was hoping to keep it that way. I went through the ordering process and when I got to the end it said my total was $60, $30 per phone, for "Upgrade Fee". It showed the phones were $0 each, but the other fee was there. I thought I was doing something wrong so I contacted their web chat, and found out that unfortunatley they have had a $30 upgrade fee since 2012.....bummer! So much for your "free upgrades"! Oh well, nothing I can do about it. So I ended up ordering the Hotshot and DH is getting the Intensity III. They should arrive tomorrow....we shall see how long his lasts before he busts it!