Finance Gets Personal

As 2008 comes to a close, I’d like to share the progress we’ve made on our goals to get out of debt and change careers.

We started the year with $3,479 in low-interest credit card debt, $6,623 in car loans, $14,401 in student loans, $35,179 on our second mortgage and $139,604 on our first mortgage. Our goal was to pay off everything but the first and second mortgages, and we did! In total, we paid off $26,951 in debt this year with an income of approximately $105,000 before taxes. In 2007, we paid off $22,100 in debt, so that’s a slight increase.

I feel we could have done even better had we not had a multitude of home repairs throughout the year (sump pump replacement: $172, heat pump replacement: $3,467, hot water heater replacement: $647, exterior house painting: $2,992, termite treatment: $650).

Our goal for 2009 is to pay off our second mortgage, which currently has a balance of $34,806. We’re already $1,812 closer to that goal due to the remainder of my $5,000 Christmas bonus that is currently sitting in our emergency fund. Since there’s a possibility my husband will be laid off in the first quarter, we’ll be directing our extra debt payments into savings until the layoffs occur, then transfer that money to our second mortgage once we’re (hopefully) in the clear. While my husband would like a new career, we’d prefer to wait until after our debt is paid off (note to husband’s company: could you please pencil in some fat voluntary separation packages for 2012?)!

We’re also trying to get pregnant this year and limit our baby expenses to what’s available in our current budget. Additionally, my husband has the goal of finishing our basement himself for $3,000-$4,000, which we are budgeting $150 per paycheck toward beginning in January.

On a personal note, I’d like to thank everyone for reading this blog. When I started writing in February, I wasn’t sure anyone would be interested in the thoughts of an anonymous office drone with big dreams, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

Happy New Year.

My husband received an email from his employer today announcing “changes to your 401(k) plan.”

Basically, they are lowering the company match from 5% to 4%, and investing the money on a yearly basis instead of on a per-paycheck basis (i.e., the 2009 company match won’t get put in his account until 2010).

Layoffs are looming at his large company, and I’m wondering: By switching from a bi-weekly to a yearly company match, does this mean that they won’t have to pay out the company match for anyone they lay off during the year?

If so, that’s crap.

If not, it’s still crap, but I guess 4% is better than nothing.

Now let’s just hope he survives the latest layoffs.

Time for the almost-Christmas edition of Best Deals on the Web!

Here are some recent deals that have caught my eye:

• Picture Ornaments from Pottery Barn Kids for $3.99 with Free Personalization and Free Shipping
  My stepson and his cousins always have their picture taken together at Christmas and we give copies to all the grandparents, aunts and uncles. This year, we’re going to put the pictures in these ornaments, which we personalized with “2008.” We also ordered one for my stepson’s teacher with the name of her new baby on it.
  
  Because this is a “hidden” sale, you have to shop through this link. However, I found that if you add the items to your cart, then shop through UPromise, you can still get the ornaments at the lower price while earning 3% college savings.
  
  

• Kid’s Adidas, Etnies, Sketchers and Other Name Brand Shoes from $9.21 at Amazon with Free Shipping on Orders of $25 or More
  Is it time to buy a larger pair of shoes for when your child grows out of their current pair?
  
  Styles for Boys: Sketchers from $9.21, Adidas from $9.71, Stride Right from $10.31, New Balance from $10.52, Etnies from $10.76, Marc Ekco from $10.96
  
  Styles for Girls: Adidas from $9.71, New Balance from $10.52, Etnies from $10.84, Sketchers from $10.99, Stride Right from $11.54
  
  Etnies Digit Sneaker Starting at $11.09

• The Simpsons Game for PS3 for $9.99 with Free Shipping at Best Buy
  This game is on my stepson’s Christmas list and normally sells for $49.99. Shop through UPromise to get 2% college savings.
  
  

There are also a few non-web deals that are too good to pass up:

• Free DVD Rentals from WalMart RedBox Locations Every Sunday Through January 4th
  Select “Rent with a promo code” on the RedBox machine, and enter that Sunday’s corresponding code:
  
  12/14 – 11moms4uA
  12/21 – 11moms4uN
  12/28 – 11moms4uT
  1/4 – 11moms4uA
  
  Remember, this only applies to WalMart RedBox machines. Did you know that you can search for specific movies online and reserve them? I didn’t until now! Also, even though you have to get the movie from a WalMart RedBox, I think you can return the movie at any RedBox location.
  
  

• Free Regular Roast Beef Sandwich at Arby’s with Any Purchase Through Sunday
  Use this coupon, and you can get a roast beef sandwich and curly fries for $1.29 plus tax today, tomorrow, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
  
  

• Free Lambie with Any Purchase and Bath & Body Works Today and Tomorrow
  Buy a gift bag for $1, and get Lambie plush for free! Click here and download the PDF file - valid for in-store use only today and tomorrow. This would make a great gift for a little girl!
  

Tonight was my turn to host the monthly Girls’ Dinner Club.

I served:
Italian Tomato & Cheese Bread
Spinach Salad with Warm Balsamic Walnut Dressing
Ricotta Manicotti with Tomato Sauce
Tiramisu

Like last time, my total cost was around $35 (well, $55 if you count the $20 bottle of amaretto I needed two tablespoons of).

And while I’ve always felt the amount of money I spend on hosting the dinner parties is more than I can afford, I now realize it’s an even larger problem for my friends.

In the course of two hours, I found out that one friend has $19K in credit card debt in addition to her growing mountain of medical school loans, and the other has $30K in credit card debt and two cars that are in danger of being repossessed. The second friend is probably filing for bankruptcy in January.

But what shocked me most is that they both are fairly nonchalant about their situations. Like that it comes with the territory when you want to become a doctor, or is completely beyond your control when you’re fighting to collect disability payments. And I sympathize. And almost understand.

But believe me, if I had that much credit card debt and it was my turn to host the dinner party, I’d be serving this.

When I hear people talk about treating their house for termites, I’ve always assumed the cost was somewhere in the $2,000-$3,000 range.

Happily, it’s not!

We had a company my co-worker recommended out to the house today and they are going to treat the entire perimeter and interior of the garage with holes drilled and filled with Termidor for $650. Then, we’ll pay $70 a year to have it checked and retreated for free if termites are found anytime in the next 10 years (we’re not obligated to have them come every year - but we will!).

Needless to say, I’m relieved.

And, we discovered the termites before they had a chance to do any damage or spread to other parts of the house, so that’s good news too.

The sad part is, I know my parents have had termite problems for at least the past 5-10 years, but have never treated it (to my knowledge). I don’t understand their priorities, which allow them to take yearly vacations to places like Hawaii and Mexico, while not keeping their own house from falling apart.

I know they are aware of the problem, because I’ve heard my dad say things like “the termites ate up that step.” I’m worried they have major structural problems since the termites have been allowed to stay that long, but I’m not sure how to bring it up to them. Maybe if they knew the cost of getting rid of them was so low, that would at least be a start (and prevent any further damage)?

I really dislike having to parent my parents.

Photo Credit: Termite Building by Zapgun, used under Creative Commons licensing.

One of the things that sold me on our house was the windows.

The dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows - well, very long windows with smaller windows on top of them. Ten windows in all. They overlook the backyard, and are beautiful.

The problem is, at night, the windows give half the neighborhood and anyone driving down the street parallel to ours a great view of the entire house. So we mostly keep the cheap, yellowed, falling-apart blinds that came with the house closed.

I’ve been wanting to replace the blinds with wooden blinds ever since we moved in. Faux wood, at least. Hell…I’d settle for bamboo at this point. But at a price of $100+ per window, it’s something that will have to wait.

Recently, the strings in one of the blinds snapped. Well - not so recently - I tied the string in a knot and the blinds have been hanging haphazardly half-open, half-closed at a diagonal for at least the past six months.

This drove me crazy. And today, I decided to do something about it: visit Lowe’s.

Did I break down and buy the $100 blinds for all 10 windows?

No, I special-ordered white vinyl blinds to replace the one that broke (and the side-window blind that broke and was taken down three years ago).

I felt like I was giving up on ever having nice blinds.

Which is irrational.

But it was still hard.

Photo Credit: After: Dining Room by srbyug, used under Creative Commons licensing.