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Archive for March, 2009

Reviewing all expenses

March 29th, 2009 at 06:15 pm

I could kick myself. Every year I review all of my expenses but for some reason my homeowner's insurance had gotten away from me. I just checked it and we are waaay over-insured.

We are insured for dwelling extensions which covers unattached buildings on our property- We don't have any!

$175,00 for personal property inside the house? Please. I could refurnish the entire house and re-clothe the whole family for far, far less.

Plus we only had a $500 deductible. That's what I get for not paying attention. So I made the changes, upped the deductible to $2500 and sent it in to my agent. I bet I save at least $400 or $500 a year.

Victory!

March 14th, 2009 at 04:21 pm

I've been fighting a flu-like virus for a little over a week now. I can't believe how long it has taken me to get back to normal but today is a good day!

Paid off the last bit of credit card ($1022)accumulated during grad school.

Added $600 to my savings. My plan is to increase my EF to 15K and then pay off my student loan.

Readjusted the payoff date on my student loan to a month sooner!

Cashed in $13.03 from my fatwallet cashback account-that will go straight to savings.


Next task: do my taxes. Ugh! That will be a chore plus we owe.

Do you ever feel like Sisyphus?

March 6th, 2009 at 05:04 am

Remember the guy from Greek mythology who was doomed to push a rock uphill for an eternity only every time he reached the top it rolled back down? That's the way I'm feeling these days (a little).

I resumed my 401(K) contributions......and the market tanked even more. (Sorry guys!)

I put money in my savings account......and the interest rate drops.

I pay my mortgage.....and my home value drops.


Oh well at least I'm not taking on debt. I am making progress in centimeters. But some days, I tell ya.

Snow outside and Golden Girls on the TV

March 1st, 2009 at 07:49 pm

It's snowing outside but there's a Golden Girls marathon on the Hallmark Channel so I'm in a good place.

This confinement has also gave me a chance to re-evaluate the financial situation. This time it's the husband. A year and a half ago I found he had $42000 of cc debt with an average of 15% interest rate and the balances were climbing. Since then I have worked on it and he is down to 26K. But he's not fully on board. Next weekend he is going on an overnight fishing trip for 3 nights. I prepare his budget so I know how much money he has and how much he doesn't. How does he plan to fund this trip? Furthermore in the words of Suze Orman, he can't afford it. I'm really tired of him; my brow is crinkled as I work out a budget for him, transferring cc balances to various 0% cards and he really is just fine with debt. The only reason I care is because I feel that he is exposing the entire family to risk by carrying so much debt but he doesn't see it that way.