Dollar Frugal

It’s halfway through May now, so I’d better start planning on what my goals are for the rest of the year.  I’ve been doing pretty well on my New Year’s Resolutions, so I know I need to come up with more or better goals.

1.  The only current goal I am not meeting is my cutting sugar out of my diet goal, so I will keep this goal.  Mother’s Day is over, so no more treats!  Or I will find fruits and other “treats” that don’t involve processed sugar.

2.  Schedule more of my weekends.  I would like to have my weekends a little more solid, instead of whatever pops up.  This way, I won’t waste them away on my computer surfing the Internet.  I will have the time from 5:30 am to 5 pm scheduled and the evenings will be waste-able!

3.  Input new layout for my blog by July 15.  My current setup is not professional and it could use a lot more “white space”.  This would only require a few hours’ work to transfer everything over.

4.  Be on track to payoff the house by March instead of May.  I might currently already be set up to do this, but I’m not really sure right now.  This was a stretch goal, but it’s becoming a reality.  Now, to just stretch it even farther!

5.  Find a decent living room set and get it to my house by the end of the year - under $500.  I would like to have some decent living room furniture, but I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it.  I also want to surprise DH, so I will have to borrow a truck and some help!

That should be enough.  Here are my original goals, that I am pretty much killing:

1.  Pay off 42,000 of my mortgage.  I don’t have any other debt (beyond monthly utilities and food costs), so this is my only debt payoff.  

2.  Contribute $4,000 to DH’s IRA.  

3.  Pay for DH to return to school.

4.  Cut sugar out of my diet.  

What are your mid-year goals for 1 June?  How are your old New Year’s Resolutions coming along?  Can you refresh them if you’ve given up?

I have personally never used my emergency fund except for an emergency.  I’m no saint, but we’ve perfected how to live thru a real emergency.  Here’s what I have done the approximately two times I have had an emergency:

1.  Transfer the money into our checking account.  This means that the money is accessible via our check card (Visa) or our checkbook.  We had to have someone jackhammer our floor for a day one time because the drainpipe rusted out from our sink.

2.  Spend the money to fix the problem.  This pretty much is self-explanatory.

I never had to worry or fret about where the money was coming from.  This is because they were real emergencies - our water would not drain out of our kitchen sink (I got sick of washing the dishes with the garden hose in the back yard) and our car broke down in the middle of traffic.  Another time, my key was lost to my car and I had to rent a car to drive home 5 hours and get a new key made for about $150.  I’ve never had a real emergency that would have cost anywhere close to the $10k I have in my emergency fund.

What has been your most expensive emergency?  Have you used an emergency fund?  How much is the most a true “emergency” has cost you?

Something I am adamant about on this site is customer advocacy - not getting taken for what you’re worth.  It is important that you are an informed consumer.

If you are going to purchase something, it is inherently against the customer to get funding at the site of purchase - the seller has a conflict of interest - he’s going to get paid!  If you get the funding somewhere else (a credit union, a bank, or even your own pocket) before entering his showroom (the home of your dreams, the car showfloor, or even the auction arena) you enter the marketplace on a much better footing than if you just arrive without a plan.  Always have a plan.

One way you could get financing is by comparing loans at a place like Perfect Mortgage Lender, who sponsored this post in order to keep your regularly scheduled programming running.  They will email you three separate quotes for a mortgage, second mortgage, refinance, debt consolidation, or the impervious “other” that I’m sure includes any other type of loan you could think of.  They also have an excellent “Resources” page with articles about commonly asked mortgage questions.

Here are my favorite articles from the next 5 blogs in the blogroll:

Katie at Novel Experiences talks about slowing down while driving.  I laughed so hard that soda came out of my nose (free soda from CVS bucks, mind you) when she talked about all the SUVs and semis rushing past her.  I always think the same thing, but I don’t think they realize how much money they’re wasting by driving 70 mph.  I also don’t think a lot of people know that when they go over 40 mph with their windows down they are cutting down on MPG in their car.

Aching Debt had an interesting article about only having a little bit of money.  I think that when I have less money, it is harder for spending creep to catch up with me, as I become more resolute in my savings.

At One Big Mortar Board, HC talked about her April spending.  I loved her explanation of “vampy shoes”!

Caveman talked about his hourly pay equating to the items he buys at One Caveman’s Financial Journey.  I don’t understand why he was purchasing such a pricey bike when he owes so much debt (have a look at his right sidebar), but I guess that’s his choice!

At One Frugal Girl, she explained that her net worth is now positive!  This is a monument for each and every one of us in our lives - go congratulate her!

Favorite WML-Net Articles:

Progress Update @ Dividends 4 Life

Ridiculous to Stay, A Pain in the Ass to Go @ Her Every Cent Counts

I Will Not Save Money Because I Need a New Eye Exam @ How I Save Money

My Emergency Fund Update - May 2008 @ Just Personal Finance

Reporting From Omaha 2 @ Living Off Dividends

EF Goal = $12,000 @ Saving For Home

I am still two years out and I’m already looking at housing markets, walkability and some other items that interest me about a new city.  Here are some things that I found that you might also find interesting:

1.  Cost comparison between cities calculator - CNN has an excellent calculator that can easily be used to compare costs between two cities.  It doesn’t have to compare the current city you live in - just plug one of the cities into that field if your current city is not what you’re comparing.

2.  Walkability Test - I figure if a city is walkable, I can easily bike it.  This is an excellent gauge for how well you’ll be able to save gas.

3.  CVS Store Finder - I’m seriously addicted and couldn’t go without at this point.  Here’s how to find out where the CVSes are located.

4.  School Rankings for the county - each county will vary, but schools drive home prices, etc.

5.  Zillow for Neighborhood Demographics - if you want to see what kind of people live in the neighborhood, you might look at zillow.  It has a demographic at the lower right of each home you’re looking at.

What other web resources am I missing out on?  What is important to you to look at when you’re considering moving?

I don’t have much cash, but an opportunity came up earlier this month to participate in the March of Dimes’ March for Babies.  I never have money budgeted for this type of thing that always seems to come up in the office, but I did have time and this is a cause that I’m willing to support.

In church, we were always taught to give freely of our time, talent and treasure.  Since I don’t have much talent, and I also am short on cash this month, I decided to give my time.  DS and I went on Saturday and did the walk.  We also somehow raised $100 from my family and friends.  DS was born 2 months early to his biological mom - this is why this particular cause really touched my heart.

What do you do if people pass the hat around at work for fundraisers?  What if it is truly a worthy cause for you?  Am I a “bah-humbug” because I didn’t just work this into my budget and instead gave my time and solicited others’ money?

I was so frustrated yesterday because I couldn’t get DH to sell his textbook, but he convinced himself!  He realized that if he ever needs that book again for a class, his grant will buy it for him!  I’m so happy.  One less book to have sitting in a box in our attic someday!

With money, there are always options that will earn you more money, and usually the earning more money for you corresponds to being more work for you (or more hassle at least)  As an example, here are my options right now for my textbooks:

1.  Keep all my textbooks forever.  This means I will not get any money back on them.  This is DH’s method and it KILLS me inside.  Seriously, I think a small part of me dies everytime I think about it.  So, let’s not think about it anymore…

2.  Sell books back to the bookstore at the school.  This is a total scam on the bookstore’s part.  They sell you a used book at $30, then they buy the same book back from you for $15.  Then, they proceed to sell the same book again for $30.  A total scam.  Gross.

3.  Sell books on the Internet.  Your best bet.  Wait until Fall semester right now (around the early August timeframe is best) to get the best prices.  It’s a hassle to have your books sitting around, but worth the extra $10 or so you’ll get for Fall semester vs. Summer semester.

4.  Cut out the middleman by finding a student yourself.  You can make much more money by looking at University bulletin boards or Craigslist.  We have a bulletin board at work that works well for this for local universities and community colleges.

What other methods of unloading your textbooks am I missing?

This is part of the Wealth, Money, Life Network’s Emergency Fund series. 

$10K is not six months of income, or six months of our current expenses.  $10K is my “frugal-person’s” emergency fund.  I have calculated out how much it would take for me if something catastrophic happened and we cut back on all extras (internet, house phone, extra mortgage payment, frivolous groceries).  I’m talking the deductible on the homeowners’ insurance plus the deductible on the car insurance, plus DH not working, plus, well, you get the picture.  Luckily, I’m a government worker, so I have good backup for disability or health coverage.

What special details govern how you have your Emergency Fund set up?  Do you have one?  Are you growing one?  What are your goals for your emergency fund? 

A new girl at work called me yesterday around 4 pm at my desk.  I was so excited because she was asking me to do a price analysis on a home that she was looking at.  She had offered $131,000 and to pay her own closing costs.  Asking price for the home was $145,000 and the counteroffer that the sellers were giving her was $141,000 - a difference of $10,000!

Zillow said her home was worth $120,000 and my old 5% simple compounding rule put the home at $144,000, so I think $131,000 was a very fair offer.  The owners had paid $90,000 12 years ago.  I cheered her up and told her to stick to 131, since the market is horrible.  Her real estate agent pushed her to go up to $135,000.  Of course, the real estate agent doesn’t mind if she makes extra money!

I explained to the new girl that it isn’t often that she gets a chance to make $10,000 in one day and to stick to her guns, but not to feel pressured by me.  There are tons of other homes out there.  I can’t wait to see what she did.  I was just excited that someone actually asked me for advice, instead of spending their money stupidly!