Banker Gurl's More Bang For Your Buck!

So the new Biggest Loser started today at work. It runs from 9/28/10 to 12/14/10. There are 7 participants, so the winner gets $70! I am so motivated and dedicated this time. I hit the gym today and it felt good. Today was my last morning with naughty breakfast (had to get a meal in before the first weight in...heehhee), and Thursday is my last day with pop. I am going to set aside $20 a week for the money I was spending on pop and breakfasts. I am not sure what I am going to do with the money yet.....but something fun for me.....maybe new clothes after I lose some weight or maybe some new rollerblades or a new bike. New breakfast is fruit, yogurt or cottage cheese. I'm excited to be started on this!

This weekend I traveled to visit the bride to be in a wedding that I am the MOH in. We got her dress picked out and bought as well as the bridesmaids. My dress was $216.....I was prepared to pay up to $200, but it still was a bit of a shock, I guess I was really hoping for $100 - $150. Oh well, that was not the worst part......I am the MOH and there are 3 other BMs. Two of them ordered a size 0. Yup, you could add them together and they are still a size 0. My dress is a size 14. I am feeling pretty depressed about it. I don't feel like a size 14.....my measurements were bust 36.5, waist 33.5 and hips 41.5. Luckily the wedding is not till May 2011, so I have about 8 months to change that, but even if I kicked butt I would say the best I would hope for is a size 8-10. PUKE.
Ok, that is enough of my debbiedowner......here is a pic of the dress.
http://www.dessy.com/dresses/bridesmaid/6575/
The color is a teal color on their color chart called oasis. At least it is chiffon and flowy so will hide my tummy. DH is helping me make a training routine to focus on my abs, arms and back. I am quitting pop on 10/1/10 so I have just a few more days and then it will be gone....no diet pop either, just done with it. Me and the gym are about to get real tight real quick. Wish me luck!

Oh also it was a very cheap weekend other then the dress so that was good. I stayed with my friend, so no hotel costs, and her parents paid for all of my meals for the weekend as well as drinks. So only the dress and one tank of gas were paid for by me.

Here are some savings tips I use. I really like to use tips that help elimate waste of resources. They may be really basic, but they work!

Savings Tips:

1) Don't buy gift bags. I always buy wrapping paper, it lasts much longer and is cheaper. Instead of spending $3-$4 on a GB for one wedding gift, you can buy one roll of wrapping paper for the same amount or cheaper to be used on numerous gifts depending on size. I have had the same wedding wrap for 2-3 years now. For Christmas you can buy a few different kinds of wrap each year when they are on clearance for very cheap, then you never have to buy expensive bags or pay full price for wrap. I have a large gift bag that I save all my wrapping paper scraps in. Lots of pieces that you couldn't use for the gift you have can be saved and work perfect for smaller gifts like DVDs, CDs, books and jewelry. I also save all the gift bags that I get for birthdays and Christmas and keep them all together so if I am in a hurry or a bag will just work better for the gift I do have several to choose from. I also save the tissue paper.

2)Don't spend a lot of money on cards. If you really enjoy cards maybe you disagree with this, but I could not care less about cards with my gift. You read it once, you open your gift.....you go home and throw away the card and never think about it again. So I buy all of my cards at the Dollar Store, 2 for $1. I buy several birthday, wedding, graduation and baby cards at once and keep them with my wrapping supplies so I don't have to make a trip out to buy one card. I just think it is ridiculous to spend $3-$5 on a card that no one will look at again (unless maybe it is a special card for your husband/wife or something that might be saved.) Like I said if you like cards you may feel differently. Or you can always make your own card with a piece of paper folded in half and some crayons or markers.

3) Unplug. We unplug EVERYTHING. There is nothing in our basement that is plugged in right now except the washer and dryer. The TV, all lamps and any electronics are all unplugged. If we happen to spend time in the basement we plug them in while we are down there and then unplug before we go back upstairs. We keep all appliances, can opener, toaster, mixer, and radio in the kitchen unplugged unless in use. Also the laptop, cell phone chargers etc. We have our main TV hooked up to a light switch, so when we hit the switch it turns off the power to the outlet that the TV is connected to, so that is "unplugged" when not in use too. This helps a lot with the electricity bill.

4) Keep the heat/air off as long as you can. Every year when the seasons change we wait as long as we can stand to turn on the heat or air. I live in ND, so that can be a challenge! We are trying to last till October 1st with the heat off this year. It has already snowed here, so it is not easy. But if you wear warm clothes, socks and keep a blanket around if you are laying on the couch you will still be comfy. Open the shades when the sun is out and let it help heat your home. If you made something in the oven leave the oven open after you have removed your food and turned off the over and the heat from it can easily warm a room. Or cuddle! Same goes in the summer, open the windows at night, close the shades, wear layers so you can take some off to stay cool. When we do finally turn it on we still keep it very low, especially in the winter as you can keep yourself warm with clothes and blankets.

DH's best friend is considering moving here from another state and moving in with us. He has a "lady friend" that lives here and they broke up a year ago, but are talking about getting back together. He is staying with us for about a week now while he decides. So I think it would be awesome if he moves in, he is a great friend, it be fun to have him around, plus he would pay some rent too. We figured $250.00 a month, which would cover rent and utilities. He would have his own room and bathroom, plus we never use the living room downstairs so he would have an area to himself with a TV. Then we could put that full $250.00 to mortgage principle. Of course I have had roomates before and I know it is not all fun and smiles. But the friend is very laid back and sweet and don't think it will be like when I had female roomates when I was 18, lol. So probably getting ahead of ourselves already, but if he did move in that would be awesome for the mortgage, so we shall see!

Current Balance $6,805.00
+$50.00 to EF from DH's Paycheck
+$50.00 to Vacation Fund from DH's paycheck
+$100.00 to Anniversary Cruise Account
+$250.00 Rummage Sale Money to New Car Account
New Balance $7,255.00

Current Balance $6,655.00
+$50.00 to EF from Paycheck
+$50.00 to Vacation Fund from paycheck
+$100.00 to Retirement Hold Account from paycheck
+$1.12 ING CD King mattress Interest
+$60.88 Even out Amounts
-$112.00 To 2010 Roth IRA
New Balance $6,805.00

As soon as I get my rummage sale money from my Mom I will add that. I also got a small bonus at work that will be in my paycheck on Friday, and if I can swing it I will add some of that too.

The rummage sale was C R A Z Y Busy! The street I live on is like "rummage sale central" in my city and this weekend is the big rummage sale weekend of the year. It was so ridiculously busy all weekend and we are exhausted! DH and I made $350, $100 of that was sportscards my husband sold, and about $80 was snacks. The rest was "junk", books, clothes, and misc house stuff. I sold everything from the box of bathroom supplies I just marked including a shower cady for $1, shower curtain - liner - rings for $5, cup - toothbrush holder - soap dispenser for $5, bathroom rug for $2, and a few misc for another $3. So I am really glad I marked that box, cause that box alone made us $16. DH also sold the dartboard from the garage that wasn't for sale....lol. But it has been sitting in the same spot on the shelf since we moved in 3 years ago, so I am glad someone wanted to buy it for $5! The rummage sale as a whole made a little over $2800!! Outrageous! Most of that was my Mom's stuff, but my brother, SIL and my Mom's friend also made a couple hundred between them. I told DH he can do what he wants with the $100 he made on sportscards (he will probably buy some more, like he needs them!) and I am putting the other $250 into savings for a new to us car. Glad to be rid of some junk and very happy with how the sale went. We are still getting everything seperated and packed back up that was left, but have already put 4 boxes together for Goodwill as well.

We are having one more rummage sale this weekend. Today it was rainy, but hopefully it will be nicer out this weekend. I finally unpacked a box of old bathroom decor from when we moved into this house 3 years ago, toothbrush holder, cup, rugs, shower curtain, shower cady etc. Everything is nice, but did not match the color scheme we picked when we moved in. So got all of that marked, plus our old printer, lots of books and clothes. Hopefully we will make some cash and get rid of some junk.

Our home appraisal for our refinance came in today. Our house went up in value $15K! WHOOOOHOOOO! This is good news on numerous levels. $15K in just 3 years since we bought it! I am surprised and happy. The only thing we have renovated on the house is the second bathroom. Which we only spent $800 on that. Soooooo, the increase in our home value means that we are D O N E paying PMI on our mortgage! YEAH! We were paying about $70 a month for the PMI, so now we can redirect that full amount to principle on the mortgage. Now we just have to wait for the paper work to be all prepared, will be all done soon I hope!

I though DH's pay would start on 8/31/10, but turns out he will not get his first paycheck till 9/15/10. So I had to transfer $1000 back out of savings to cover until he gets paid. Hopefully I won't have to transfer any more then that.

Current Balance $7,600.00
-$1000.00 To Checking account
+$5.23 ING Monthly Interest
+$49.77 Even out Amounts
New Balance $6,655.00

As soon as we see DH's first paycheck I am going to make a new, usuable budget! Savings needs to be the priority!

We went to the bar down the street yesterday to play Bingo. It is only a $1 a card and we only play one card per game (3 games) and a nice way to relax on Friday after work. But we never ever win at Bingo. They have good jackpots (up to $1200) if you hit the blackout within so many numbers. Yesterday the blackout prize was $600 if you hit it in like 58 numbers. Nobody got it, but DH did get the consolation blackout Bingo.....$21! Which he had to share with another person....LOL! YEAH $11! Oh well he was happy anyways just to finally get to say BINGO!

After Bingo we went with a friend to the casino. We were not going to go today, (we have not gone since we won the $800 over a month ago) but a coworker was talking about it all day and really gave me the casino itch. So we went for a few hours. I ended up hitting $270 betting .90 cents on a penny machine! Yeah! So had about 4 hrs of free entertainment yesterday and even came out ahead.

And lastly we got another comp flyer from the Hooters Hotel and Casino in Vegas. We got :
4 night free stay
$100 in free play
8 free breakfast buffets
Unfortunatley the freebies are only good until 10/31/2010 and we will not being going to Vegas again until next August. But we were excited that we got more comps, hopefully we will get more closer to our visit.

I went to buy some gifts today at Target. I got a diaper genie for my brother's baby, it was one of the things that no one got them from the registry, so I figured I would pick it up. Then I have a friend who is getting married in November, so I figured we might as well get her gift today too before everything was off the registry. I usually spend about $30 for a friend's (not a super close friend) wedding gift. The only thing on her registry for around $30 was a Brita water pitcher. It was $30.79, so we went to find it and it was $5 off, plus you get a $5 gift card to Target for buying it! Yeah! So got a $30 present for $20. Happy with that deal.

I went to Kohl's this week to buy rugs for our bathroom that is FINALLY finished! I will post pictures soon, I just need to find a picture to put on the wall and then it is ALL done! Anyways.....I bought 3 black rugs, they were all on sale for 50% off, but still came to $40. I was also going to buy a small black garbage can for the bathroom, but this teeny tiny black garbage can was $26! Ummm no way! I figured I could go find one at Target for cheap, but my Mom actually suggested the Dollar Store, so I will have to go check there first.
I had an extra lavender rug from our other bathroom that I had received as a house warming gift when we moved into this house in 2007. They gave us 3 rugs, but only 2 fit nicely in the bathroom. I had it sitting in the linen closet since then cause I was not sure what to do with it. Since I was going to buy those new rugs for the other bathroom I figured I would just return this one. But they told me they could only give me $2 for it since they clearanced out that color. So I told them I would just keep it. Not sure what I should do with it....I would try to sell it at the rummage sale but the person that gave it to us helps my Mom with the rummage sale, so I wouldn't want her to see that and feel bad. Hmmmm...

Mortgage for September 2010

Balance $131,400.00
+$533.81 Interest
+$345.57 Escrow
-$1286.00 Regular Payment
-$43.38 Principle Payment
New Balance $130,950.00

I can't wait till we are done with the refi so that we can get back to making bigger principle payments!

I counted the change we brought home from Vegas, $49.72! Yeah! So I will save that $50 to put towards the mortgage as soon as the refi goes through. Also DH was cleaning out my bag that I took to Vegas and found $30 more dollars that I had missed when I counted the money we brough back. So that is $80 more then we thought we had!

Current Balance $7,500.00
+100.00 To Anniversary Cruise account
New Balance $7,600.00

Mortgage for August

Balance $131,850.00
+$535.64 Interest
+$345.57 Escrow
-$1286.00 Regular Payment
-$45.21 Principle Payment
New Balance $131,400.00

Additional Principle Payments 2010 = $3457.29
Current Position on Mortgage Amortization Schedule....December 2015...5 years and 5 months ahead of schedule!

A little behind on the mortgage postings......

Mortgage for July

Balance $132,370.00
+$537.75 Interest
+$345.57 Escrow
-$1286.00 Regular Payment
-$117.32 Principle Payment
New Balance $131,850.00

Additional Principle Payments 2010 = $3412.08
Current Position on Mortgage Amortization Schedule....October 2015...5 years and 3 months ahead of schedule!

Current Balance $8,285.00
-$28.00 to ROTH IRA
-$2100.00 for Vegas
+$1000.00 to Vacation 2011 account
+$100.00 to EF
+$100.00 to retirement hold account
+$143.00 Even out amounts
New Balance $7,500.00

I am hoping to put the remaining $600 back to the vacation account soon, but right now I need to leave it in checking until DH gets paid. There is a lapse in pay between his summer job and the school year pay so we are a little low right now.

Well we made it back. We did not hit it big But we took $2100 for spending and came back with $1600 plus a big bag of change. We will put the cash back in savings for next years trip, and the change we will put towards the mortgage. I will post new savings numbers in the next few days.

Also my brother looked at my car radio and it is shot, so I will need to buy a new one, but he can install it for me. I went and looked at prices and it looks like it will be about $120.00, that doesn't seem too bad to me.

Current Balance $8,155.00
+$50.00 to EF from paycheck (me)
+$50.00 to Vacation from paycheck (me)
+$50.00 to EF from paycheck (DH)
+$50.00 to Vacation from paycheck (DH)
+$4.68 ING Interest
+$37.32 Even Out Amount
-$112.00 to Roth IRA
New Balance $8,285.00

This will be the last going up update for now since we will be withdrawing our money for the Vegas trip very soon. But then no vacations till November, so should be good to up from Sept till the end of the year. Who knows, maybe we will come back with more then we left with!

Ok so on Monday at work I went for a walk on my lunch break. There are a lot of nice areas to walk at around my work so it's nice to get away and get a little excercise for 30 minutes. Well I get back to the parking lot after my walk and I notice my windows are rolled up all the way, normally I leave them cracked about 1 inch in the summer because of the heat. So I go over to my car and roll my windows down....only for some reason I roll them down like 1/2 way......not sure why I did that as I never do that.... Hmmm......anyways a few hours later they annouce there are tornados in the area and everyone needs to go to the designated shelter areas in the building. NO leaving the building. Rain rolls in and proceeds to monsoon INTO my car. So when I do get to go out to my car my seats are COMPLETELY soaked and there is about an inch of water in my console. And the Big bummer.....now my radio and clock do not work.....no juice going into it. My brother looked at it and could not get it to work, but has a friend that is going to check it out too, hopefully it is just a fuse or something. My own dumb fault and I just can not figure out why I rolled my windows down so much!!??? At least a tornado didn't take my car away!

Yeah we finally got the plumbing done on our bathroom remodel! We were really worried that we were going to have to pay a lot for the plumbing because we had a plumber come look at it and he was telling us that he would have to take the whole shower back out that we had just gotten put in and rip down a wall......UGH> Said could be close to $1K for all the work! But then we had a second plumber come look at it and he said no way he can fix no big deal, only needs to cut a hole in the wall to fix, no ripping it down or taking out the shower. Make hole in wall, put in new hardware and then putty/paint hole. So the new plumber came and hooked the whole shower up, put new hardware on the sink and fixed a running toilet all for only $100! I was so impressed at that price for all 3 items. All that is left now is for my Dad to spackle and put on a new base board, then we will repaint and FINALLY will be done for good with the 2nd bathroom. Hopefully he will have time to come do that in the next week or so.

We went to the casino and came home $850 ahead!! Whoo hoo! I'm still so excited, it was awesome!
Current Balance $7,800.00
-$400.00 Plane tickets for Vegas
+$55.00 To EF
+$300.00 Finish Laptop Account
+$250.00 Finish Matron of Honor Account
+$150.00 FINALLY starting New Car Fund
New Balance $8,155.00

Well plumber finally came today to see what needed to be done for our bathroom remodel. I had called the same one twice and they never showed up, so I called a new one that came today. Apparently there is a lot more work that will need to be done. Basically my Dad and brother had put in new wall on one side of the shower, and now the plumber thinks that will not work and they will need to tear down the brand new wall that they built (and I paid for) plus the glassboard etc. I am super bummed out. My Dad is calling the plumber to see if there is any other way around it, so fingers crossed, but it is not looking good. And we need to get this done now so it is ready when they come to re-appraise the house for the refinance. Blah....

Wow I can't believe it is already July! Over 50% of the year is gone - here is how we are doing on 2010 Goals:
2010 Goals

Debt
-Continue to live debt free other then mortgage (So far so good)
-Pay mortgage down from $138K to $130K or less (Now at $131,850)

Savings
*Emergency Fund
-Go from $2775 to $5000 (Now at $200)
*Vacation Fund
-Go from $820 to $2600 (Now at $2200)
*Anniversary Cruise
-Go from $2000 to $3000 (Now at $2700)
*MN trip
-Go from $50 to $1000 (Goal Met $1000 - Spent)
*Checking Cushion
-$750 to $1300 (Now at $1020)
*HSA
-Go from $0 to $3000 (Contributions of $2500, most spent as we continue to have medical expenses, but balance is up $1000)

Retirement
*401K (3%)
-Go from $8200 to $9000 (Now at $10000)
*ROTH IRA (10%)
-Go from $1620 to $4000 (Now at $2770)
*403B (10%) ($2800 est)
-Not sure on amounts, but continue to contribute 10% of DH income

I bet my husband that I would work out 30 days in a row. That would put my 30th day right before we leave for Vegas. If I work out for 30 days in a row I get an extra $100 to play in Vegas. If I miss even one day then my husband gets $100 of MY money to play in Vegas. Today is day 6 and it is going awesome so far. Yesterday I ran for a full 30 minutes straight, so I am getting my stamina up quickly which makes me happy! Time for me to go to the gym to complete day 6, gonna go watch Cops!

We locked in at 3.75% today! We shopped around and were quoted $3100 in closing costs from another local bank, so we locked in for 15 years at 3.75%. We will also have to pay the prepaids (escrow and insurance, prob about $2K) but will get a check back from our current bank for about $2200 once we close and we will put that straight onto the new loan. My bank was back up to 4% today, so I am glad that I shopped around. Our payment will go from $1286 to $1316, so a $30 increase. The loan officer pulled our credit scores, 787 for me and 794 for my husband! Don't mind bragging about that cause we are very proud of them. So the ball is rolling on the whole thing and we have a meeting Wednesday. Should be all wrapped up in a nice little bow by 9/1/2010 at the latest. I feel sooooo happy and relieved that even if we were not able to make any additional payments (due to medical or kids or something) the longest we would be paying on our mortgage is until I am 41 and DH is 43. We hope to continue to pay extra every month, but you never know what the future will bring so I am glad to be locked in at a shorter term. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

OK so I crunched some numbers......I estimated the mortgage at $131,000.00 even though we are at $131,850.00 right now, I figured that would be easiest to estimate.

Scenario #1
-Paying off the current mortgage without any additional payments.
-Monthly payment $940
-19 years left on 20 year mortgage at 4.8%
-Payoff date 08/2029
-$68,936.29 paid in interest from now till payoff

Scenario #2
-Paying off the current mortgage and paying $200 extra per month
-Monthly payment $940 + $200
-19 years on 20 year mortgage would be paid off in 15
-Payoff date 07/2024
-$48,840.12 paid in interest from now till payoff

Scenario #3
-Refinance to 15 year mortgage at 3.75%, no extra payments
-Monthly payment of $952 (only increases $12!)
-15 years
-Payoff date 09/2025
-$40,479.18 paid in interest from now till payoff

Scenario #4
-Refinance to 15 yr and pay $200 extra per month
-Monthly payment of $952 + $200
-15 years would be paid off in 12 years
-Payoff date 04/2022
-$31,085.88 paid in interest from now till payoff

So the winner is Scenario #4!! The payment will only go up $12 and we would save $28K in interest if we compare the regular payment scenarios and $17K if we compare the extra payment scenarios plus the benefit of automatically taking 4 years off. I am going to apply to our bank online tomorrow and also fish around and see if I can find a similar rate for less closing costs too. I am not interested in going out of the local area so hopefully I can find something good. But I do really like the bank we are using, they always apply my principle payments correctly, have good internet bank, great customer service, and the BEST free cookies in their lobby! But even if the costs were about $5K we are still saving so much it would be a wash on the closing costs.

Refinance.....Again? - We bought our house in 2007, $160K purchase price (Appraised at $160K), put $10K down (Original loan was $151K), 5.75% 30 year fixed loan. We refinanced in 2009, $140K was the balance on the loan and the house was appraised at $164K, 4.80%, 20 year loan. We paid the closing costs for the refinance out of our savings account. Now it has only been a year since we refinanced and interest has gone down a lot again and we are thinking of refinancing again. Looking at my banks website it looks like we could get a 15 year loan at 3.75%, so we would be going down another full point in interest which is huge. Our loan balance is currently at $131,850.00. We could easily afford the slightly higher payment since we are already paying extra every month and with the drop in interest the actual amount of the payment would not change very much. The only part I am struggling with is the $4K - $5K we would have to pay in fees. We only have about $7K in savings right now, so we would not want to take that money out of savings. We would need to add the closing costs to the loan or possible borrow the money from my Mom, I know she would be cool with giving us a 0% loan for a year or 2 if that is what we really wanted to do. Hmmmm....any thoughts or suggestions????

Current Balance $7,680.00
-$112.00 Transfer to Roth IRA
+$32.00 Even Out Deposit
+$50.00 To EF from Paycheck
+$50.00 To Vacation from Paycheck
+$100.00 Retirement hold account
New Balance $7,800.00

Treading water here.........