Weekly Updates (Spending & Money Goals)

Most of  the spending in this post happened prior to the hubby being laid off for a few months????

We wanted to finish everything holiday related before we leave on Saturday so we just had to deal with the trip itself, so we finished the last of the stocking items and holiday ornaments...

After finding out about the "lay off", we discussed our budget and decided to still have a date night, not as a last ha-rah of spending, but because we realized we needed to spend some time together so we picked our little $25 really great seafood place we found that's really casual and it hit the spot.

For groceries this week we picked up essentials for the parties we have planned to attend pot luck style and are planning all of our meals around eating the perishable items from the fridge since we'll be out of town for 2 weeks. I cooked ("heated up and glazed") my first ham to perfection over the weekend! We also loaded our Fresh & Easy points and turned them in for cash and took our $40 grocery tab down to 11.97 since we could use a $5 off $30 coupon!

Weekly Spending:
December 5:

• Gas: $34.35

December 6:

• Mnt Dew: $2.85
• Mortgage: $808.18
• Woot.com $24.99 (Christmas Present for Hubby)
• Hallmark: $69.87 (Present for SCB's Dad... tree ornaments)
• Disneystore: $6.78 (Stocking stuffer)
• Card America: $8.62 (Stocking stuffer)
• Asia Buffet: $23.68 (Date Night)
• Walmart: $29.20 (T-Shirts for SCB)
• Walgreens: $15.95 
• Woot.com $20.00

December 7:

• Electric bill: $44.87

December 8:
December 9:

• Ca Fish Grill: $25.29
• Prescription: $4.00

December 10:

• Fresh & Easy: $11.97

December 11:

Savings Goals:
Roth IRA: $3,850.20/$5000.00 -- Will be maxed out with extra paycheck at end of December... but will hold the rest of the $4,000 for a while before we send it off to Vanguard since the hubby doesn't have work right now.... But I did get my online access codes :)
Dental loan: just waiting for the credit so we can close out and pay the loan...

"Temporarily" Laid Off?

When South County Boy got his paycheck on Friday after a long day of work he and 4 other employees were told that for the next 2 months they would be on call and should NOT assume that they are coming into work at all... or getting paid...

No notice what so-ever...

He was told they may call him in sporadically, and they will try and give notice, but there's no promises... and who knows how long he'll be "on-call" without pay.

He left a message for the HR department to see if he's actually being laid off (and thus can qualify for Unemployment benefits) or if he's unable... but since businesses don't have YOUR best interest at heart, he's also going to go down to the unemployment office on Monday to see if he should apply for benefits.

Then it off to Labor Ready to re-activate his status there (or wait till Thursday and re-take the safety test if its needed)... and a call to our contractor friend to let him know he's looking for work...

Thankfully, well be able to get by this month.  We've eliminated the second paycheck the hubby would have gotten, and we will be spending the "missing January paycheck" for our trip to Utah... and instead of dumping the rest of the Roth IRA money in immediately, we are going to wait until February in case we need to access it between now and then.

We are also now operating under our "one of us is now unemployed budgets."

Thankfully, we have been good about not increasing our budget and focusing on goals with SCB's income... Any money left at the end of this month is getting transferred to savings.

Earlier this week we finished all of the rest of our Christmas shopping so that's out of the way... but what really gets me is the fact that they gave NO notice. The cabinet division they eliminated earlier this year was given some notice about when they would be out of work... but this time, they did nothing to warn my husbands team.

So now we sit in Limbo until Monday trying to find out if he's been laid off or not... Is this even legal for a company to do-- to cut your hours to zero for 2 months, but not fire you?

Click here for the update!

Opening the Roth IRA shouldn't be this hard...

I took a plunge and began opening my actual Roth IRA at Vanguard the other day and it was filled with surprises...

Since they lowered their initial investment to $1,000.00 on some of their funds, I wanted to get it all sorted out before I dump the big amount in come January 1st...

The online application was easy, and I selected a target date account for the funds and everything was set.

I waited for the verification amounts to show up in my ING checking account, saw them the next day (and my $1,000 withdraw)  and called to verify everything and get my online access codes...

After we got my account verified and linked I got disconnected.

When i called them back, I got some upsetting news. They told me I wasn't able to get online access codes because they have my MAIDEN NAME ON A "PERSPECTIVE ACCOUNT" FILE from over a  YEAR AND A HALF AGO and that file has my SS Number in it (?!?!?!?!?!?) so apparently my new account has been flagged for fraud because they have 2 names with one SS Number...

The gal couldn't comprehend the fact that I didn't have an account with them and essentially told me that my $1,000 would be in limbo until I filled out a name change form and mailed a copy of my marriage certificate to them... (no, I couldn't fax or email them the form back either....)

Mind you this is all to change AN ACCOUNT I NEVER OPENED...

.......

I decided to call back after work.

After hitting Zero a bunch of times I got someone helpful. I asked him to explain to me their policy about keeping individuals social security information when they did not have an account with them... and that got his attention... and profuse apologies.

After again explaining how I had never opened an account, had got married in July and changed my name, and just wanted my online access codes without all this insane legwork FOR AN ACCOUNT I NEVER OPENED, he told me his department would remove the flag, delete the "perspective account" and told me I should get be able to get access codes by Friday without snail mailing them a dime.

Mortgage Update + Condo Costs (December '11)

Mortgage Update:
Principle paid down: $157.26
Interest: $493.38
New Balance: $112,615.47

It's the end of the year and that means I get to factor in my savings from owning instead of renting! Woot!

But first the important stuff. The pay off date is still January 2039 which is 8 months ahead of schedule & if I continue to pay the minimum on my loan I will pay $111,996.75 in interest instead of the original $116,404.23. The extra $1,339.10 I've tossed at the mortgage has saved us $4,407.58 (not bad).

It took us $7,057.08 to get the keys to my condo... and another $17,672.29 to remodel and repair it...

In short, we were -$24,729.37 in the hole on day one... 

But thankfully the hole is getting filled in a little bit each and every month.

• In 2009 I got the First Time Home buyer's Credit giving us $8,000.00 & I got to write off some of the property tax I paid on in addition to taking the standard deduction giving us an extra $90.10 in our pocket. But then I had to pay an Electrician $95.00 to fix an outlet... but the refund from my botched tile job gave us $1,265.00
• In 2010 I saved $1,087.00 on my federal taxes and $461.00 on my State taxes from itemizing my homeowners expenses. (This is what I received ABOVE what I would have with just the standard deduction). I also spent $12.97 at home depot, and $72.29 on a kitchen door... but received a small $70 refund from closing costs that were overpaid. 

Leaving us $13,936.53 in the hole...

• But if we assume our home is worth what we paid for, we have $7,384.53 in equity...

Leaving us about $6,552.00 in the hole.

Since this is the end of the year, I get to factor in how much money I saved owning instead of renting!

An apartment would cost us $14,202.00 for the year, or $1,183.50 a month. This figure includes the rent, trash, water, gas, laundry, & renters insurance. It also assumes I stayed in the previous unit i did the year before so I wouldn't have had moving costs or a new security deposit. I took this rate back in November of 2010 (when I would have had to lock in a new lease if i'd stayed at my old apartment).

Our condo on the other hand only costs us $13,365.16 for the year, or $1,113.77 a month

• Mortgage (MIP, Property taxes, Insurance, Mortgage) = $808.18 a month $9,698.16 a year.
• HOA (includes all utilities but electric) ($250 for 6 months, $262.50 for 6 months) = $3,075.00 a year
• Earthquake Insurance: $257 a year
• Homeowners Insurance: $335 a year

That's $69.74 LESS a month than the apartment (which is actually smaller than my unit). This gives me a buffer of $836.84 a year to spend on improvements or additional mortgage payments without thinking twice.

To date for 2011 I've added: $257.54 in Extra principal payments and spent $12.97 +$72.29 in repairs/modifications, leaving me with $494.04 in the buffer zone... when I add that to the hole were trying to dig out of, were left with


$6,057.96 in the hole.

If I sold the condo tomorrow, I'd have to sell the property for $134,759.11 to break even.

• This assumes a 6% total commission ($8,085.55)
• Enough money to refund the amount i'm in the hole for ($6,057.96)
• and enough money to cover the first time homeowners tax credit i'd have to repay for not living in the property for 3 years. ($8,000.00)

If I wait out the remaining 10 months left on the credit, I'd be able to sell for $122,471.79

• Assuming 6% total commission ($7,348.31)
• and enough money to refund the amount I would be in the hole for 10 months down the line ($4,282.10) 

Weekly Updates (Spending & Money Goals)

We just finished up another busy week for our little household. On Monday I decided not to take my keys outside with me to work and still locked the house. When I got out to my car the panic set in. SCB was in Anaheim with our hide-a key under his car... Thankfully I apparently think fast and called my mom who's down the road, woke her up, and asked if she could drop me off at work because I'm an idiot. Thankfully she obliged and I got there on time. We ended Monday with a "Family Home Evening" at someone home as apart of my husbands church stuff...

Tuesday was another day of work, but early for me... then we had my weekly bible study night to attend... Wednesday was work and missionary night.... Thursday was work and I had dinner with my old roommate who was really wanting to "catch up with me." Finally Friday hit and our first unplanned evening of the week... while we planned on cooking dinner and everything, it just didn't happen since we were finishing up some last minuet Christmas shopping for my sister with the $100 my mom repaid us for the kohl's Black Friday shopping.

Saturday were were up bright and early to take SCB's beater in for its oil change... $630.00 later his car runs a whole lot better and we apparently won't be starting a "car fund" because we spent all the money basically fixing his serpentine belt, getting a new battery, the oil change, new front breaks (the actually breaks), and a few minor things. After that we grocery shopped, did the weekly laundry and cleaning, went to my church for our night service, then went to SCB's ward because they were doing a live nativity with real animals outside... (It was really amazing and what I needed to put me back into the Christmas spirit.)

Sunday started at 7:00am as my friend and I started walking 12.25 miles in 36 degree chilly weather while we continued to marathon train... After finishing that I got cleaned, dressed a turkey, and we popped it into the oven on the way to church at SCB's ward, thankful that church was an hour shorter today so we got home in time to take out the bird, carve it and put it away for today's dinner, make a quick apple crisp, and walk a complex over to meet up with 2 young married couples from "the ward" to watch the Church's "Christmas message" together and have a meal... then home, work on some crochet projects, and sleep....

Yup, a busy week. We're going to pass on tonight's "Family home evening" because SCB and I don't think we are getting enough "us time" so our family night won't be including other people this week. Were going to watch a Christmas movie in bed on the new TV and eat Turkey!

FYI, Subway has $2.00 6-inch subs this month- cold cut, meatball, and veggie..... yum! Since my mom gave me $100.00 by buying the stuff I bought originally at Kohl's, we used that money for the additional Kohl's shopping this week, Walgreens, the unexpected dinner with my friend, & our 2 subway stops since our week was really busy.

Weekly Spending:
December 1:

• Walgreens: $18.24 (Christmas Decoration items)
• Dinner with Friend $15.00

December 2:

• mnt dew $2.68
• Subway: $6.47 
• Kohl's: $37.90 (Sister's Christmas present + 2 pairs of shoes for me... woot woot for kohl's cash... we saved $111.80)

December 3:

• Gas: $44.48
• Subway: $4.16 (It was wither Subway or hot dogs/pizza from Costco, & I won and we did Subway again.)
• Fresh & Easy: $40.43
• Costco: $4.69 (Milk)
• Car Repairs: $630.01

December 4: $0.00

Savings Goals:
Roth IRA: $3,850.20/$5000.00 -- Will be maxed out with extra paycheck at end of December
Missing Paycheck: $429.21/$647.00
Dental loan: just waiting for the credit so we can close out and pay the loan...

December Budget

With all the spending surrounding the thanksgiving holiday and black Friday, I thought it best to post our monthly budget for December and update you all on our annual goals as we look to wrap up 2011.

Roth IRA:
We took the refund from the dental payment and dropped it into our Roth IRA savings account (when we get $5000 were opening the account at Vanguard). When we added that with the planned savings we had in our budget last year, it now stands at $3,850.20. December is a three paycheck month for us so i'll be depositing the $1150.00 more we need on the last day of the year. The Roth will be maxed out by years end!!!!!!!!!

Missing Paycheck:
Since the hubby is taking 2 weeks off without pay, we won't get one of his paychecks in January. Since we can finish the Roth IRA off with my extra paycheck, we are diverting the money we had earmarked for the Roth to keep to replace the paycheck we won't get in January.

Auto Savings Account:
We are actually coming up with extra money this year that we don't have a plan for... and while it was tempting to toss it on the mortgage, we decided to do something different. We decided to ear mark it towards replacing SCB's car or fixing it up. We know we won't be able to keep it much longer without tossing money into it so instead of tossing it on the house, we'll be tucking it away for safe keeping.

The December Budget:

Paycheck 1: $1,371.00

• Mortgage: $808.18
• HOA: $262.50
• Savings for missing paycheck in January: $300.32

Paycheck 2: $647.00

• 2 Date Nights: $60.00
• Birthday Savings Fund: $50.00
• Gasoline: $60.00
• Savings for missing paycheck in January: $225
• Car Savings account: $252.00

Paycheck 3: $1,371.00

• Christmas Savings Account: $50.00
• Gasoline: $235.00
• Groceries: $250.00
• Insurance Premiums: $143.00
• Car Savings Account: $463.00
• Utility Bills: $230.00

Paycheck 4: $647.00

• Vacation money for Utah- Gas to drive out there & spending money. Anything leftover is going back into our vacation fund to help cover the expenses of going out there in February. 

Paycheck 5: $1200.00

• Roth IRA Fund

Starting in January we'll have a completely different budget. We'll be paying for SCB's health insurance, funding 2 Roth IRA's, and attempting to make 2 additional mortgage payments a year... and add money to our emergency fund. Assuming we both stay employed for 2012, we might just have an awesome financial plan... assuming we can stick with it.  

Spending Updates/Black Friday

All I can say, is were done Christmas shopping... (minus SCB's dad, and my sister because I have to return her gift cause the shoes I got her were too big--- ya she tried them on already... and SCB..)...

I know we spent some serious money, but after tightening out belts for a while and then finding out the great dental news (and the fact that the ROTH IRA WILL GET MAXED OUT BY THE END OF THE YEAR), we decided to get some things we were putting off for a while.

We ended up using the $175 from puppy sitting since we will be able to budget in the paycheck we won't get in January into December's budget. We also spent $250 in extra wedding money we had still set aside for a TV (The extra money from the TV and the puppy sitting paid for the Jewelry item from Zales), and with some overtime... everything was paid for in cash, with out christmas fund, and were still on track with our goals.

Most of what we bought were needs (like clothes), some were wants, some were treats, most were gifts, but in the end nothing was left on the credit card.

November 19:

• Subway: $12.00-- after marathon training I was starving... SCB picked me up lunch :)
• Mimi's: $31.00-- after the funeral I grabbed a bite with my friend and treated since it was near her birthday.

November 20:

• McDonalds: $5.36
• Cell phones: $133.74
• Fresh & Easy: $43.63

November 21:

• Woot Shirt: $10.00 (Stocking stuffer)

November 22:

• Target: $130.23 (Stuff for SCB's family-- will be repaid part of it next month, the rest I believe was )
• Walmart: $57.93 (Christmas lights, Stocking items, wrapping paper, etc)

November 23:

• Gas: $56.66

November 24:

• Ralphs: $15.80 (veggie platter and Mnt Dew for Turkey day)
• Birthday Dinner Party @ Restaurant $50.00

November 25:

• Ralphs: $2.19 (milk for thanksgiving-- mom's was bad...)
• ????? $3.41
• Target: $56.02 (Jeans, + 2 sweaters)
• Amazon: $47.98 (New Running Shoes)
• Kohl's $110.24 My mom repaid me for the clothes I bought for me, and will wrap them as christmas presents. 
• Best buy: $426.27 (Xbox, 2 games, controller, xbox live cards, headphones and a TV!)
• Zales: $316.59 --- Hubby bought me something shinny for Christmas since we got money back from the dental loan!
• Chipotle: $14.92
• JC Penny: $36.81 (jeans, 2 Sweaters)
• Think Geek: $33.67

November 26:

• Red Robin: $32.00
• Target: $28.92 (Christmas light timer, Christmas Lights, Cereal)
• Starbucks: $14.75 (birthday treat for my friends birthday)
• Walmart: $28.77 (Christmas decorations, stocking items, craft supplies)

November 27:

• Fresh & Easy: $47.11

November 28:
November 29:

• EZ Take Out: $12.26
• Internet: $38.94
• HOA: $262.50
• Gas: $32.69

November 30: