Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Housing Comps 2014

Each November I look at the old apartment complex that I used to live in and I find out what a one bedroom unit would rent for had I not purchased my condo. 

Since it's been 4 years since I purchased my condo... and i'm not 100% sure I would be still living in that same apartment complex if I hadn't purchased the condo... 

I decided to run some numbers for the two apartment complexes right by my current residence in addition to the comp apartment I had been using to make sure I still had a ball park idea on local rent prices. 

  • Complex A: 
    • 726 square feet. $1,295-$1,385 a month. $600 Deposit. 
    • $50 a month in pet rent, $500 pet security deposit. 
  • Complex B:
    •  780 square feet. $1,535.00 a month. $600 Deposit. 
    • $50 a month in pet rent, $500 pet security deposit.
  • The Comp Apartment:
    • 672 square feet. $1285-1495 a month. $400 Deposit (already paid)
    • $35 a month in pet rent, $400 security deposit (already paid)

In terms of livability, both units have more square footage then the comp apartment and are closer to my condo's actual size... but the comp apartment does have a one car garage that we could toss a few boxes in for storage so I think it still evens out since the pricier complex B apartment has a garage and is too steep for our pocket books... If we moved, Complex A would cost us $300 more in security deposits and $25 more a month in total rent... assuming our friends help us move again. 

Since everything seems to be more expensive, we will continue to stay were its cheaper,and just extend our lease for another year. Since this will be year 3 in the same unit, our $400 security deposit will be returned to us when we leave. Last year our unit rented for $1,240.00 and this year that unit rents for $1,285.00 a month. (A 3.6% price increase.)

We will also assume our now 2 year old washer and dryer (that we hypothetically purchased at the beginning of in 2012) will continue to function in 2014.

Costs Associated with Apartment for 2014
We don't include electric bills below since we'd have to pay for those at either place, but my HOA fee includes water, gas, and trash so those will be listed in the apartment costs.

Monthly: $1,441.00, Annual: $17,292
  • Trash: $15 a month
  • Water: $60 a month
  • Gas: $35 a month
  • Rent: $1,285.00 a month
  • Renters Insurance: $11.00 a month
  • Pet Rent: $35 a month
Costs Associated with Condo for 2013
If we make any additional principle payments to our mortgage, we count it as an expense. Monthly: $1,082.33 | Annual: $12,987.96
  • Mortgage: $669.96 a month (P&I)
  • HOA: $270.00 a month.
  • Property Taxes: $102.03 a month.
  • Earthquake and Homeowners Insurance ($187 + $297) a year or $40.34 a month.
Our condo on average, saves us $358.67 a month!
$358.67 more each month, in our pockets... or to pay down our mortgage with.... or to use to fix up our home before we even break even on what it would cost us to rent an apartment. Yup, I'd say it was a smart decision to but my condo when I did! 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Mortgage Update: December 2013

Principle paid down: $322.52
Interest: $347.44
Additional Principle: $0.00
New Balance: $110,857.14

The pay off date is June 2033. If I continue to pay the minimum on my loan, I will still need to pay $45,443.47 in interest (plus the $23,980.71 I've already paid). Before our refinance, we would have paid $116,404.23 in interest.


Getting the Keys...

It took me $7,057.08 to get the keys to my condo and then I spent another $17,672.29 to remodel and repair it... In short, I was -$24,729.37 in the hole on day one...
  • In 2009 I got the First Time Home buyer's Credit giving us $8,000.00. I also got to write off some of the property tax I paid in addition to taking the standard deduction. This gave us an extra $90.10... but then I had to pay an Electrician $95.00 to fix an outlet... We also got a refund from my botched tile job that gave us another $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 gotten back with just the standard deduction).
  • In 2011 I spent $12.97 at home depot and $72.29 on a kitchen door. When we subtract those costs from what we saved by living in our condo instead of renting, we came out ahead $494.04 (See Mortgage Update + Condo Costs December '11 for that break down.) We also received a small $70 refund check from over paid closing costs. We didn't Itemize our taxes in 2011.
  • In 2012 we finished our Kitchen/Laundry door which cost us $103.24.. We also replaced both our glass slider doors which cost us $2,957.00... and repaired our dryer for $81.42....It ended up being $3,383.47 cheaper to OWN our condo than to rent an apartment on a monthly basis, (See Housing Costs 2012 for the break down) so even after we subtract the windows and other minor repairs, we still came out ahead $241.81 by owning our condo instead of renting...
  • In 2013 we got $52.53 back from challenging my property taxes in 2012. I also refinanced our condo, costing us $447.00 up front for our home appraisal... but we got a check back at closing for $747.20 and a check from my old escrow account for $489.74... We also got to skip a mortgage payment too! In addition, they automatically lowered my property tax value, giving us a check for $86.77
All of that "math" leaves us $12,186.18 in the hole. If we assume our home is worth at least what we paid for it ($120k), we have $9,142.86 in equity...

Leaving us $3,043.32 in the hole after 4 yrs & 3 months.

For 2013, we will again assume our monthly mortgage payments are a wash since its cheaper to OWN our home then to RENT an apartment. Check out Housing Comps 2013 for how we figured that one out. For 2013 we have spent $11,785.19 to live in our condo, instead of $16,977.00 to live in the apartment.
  • Mortgage (including additional principle payments:) $9,032.43
  • HOA:  $3,198
  • Small Home Repairs/Improvements:$0
  • Earthquake Insurance: $187
  • Homeowners Insurance: $297
  • Refinance Charges: (-$789.94) This is what we "gained" from refinancing after out of pocket fees.
  • Property tax Rebates (-$52.53) & (-$86.77)
With December here we can close out the year and officially report that we have saved $5,191.81 by not renting this year...

Which means we BREAK EVEN ON OUR CONDO and start 2014 with a profit!!!!!!!

Current Housing Market:
One-Bedrooms Listed for Sale in our Complex:
  • Asking $222,000.00 (Days on Market 90)
  • Sold in last 3 months: N/A
Two-Bedrooms Listed for Sale in our Complex:
  • Asking $264,900 (Days on Market 43)
  • Asking: $275,000 (Days on Market 14)
  • Asking: $285,000 (Days on Market 78)
  • Asking: $285,000 (Days on Market 13)
  • Sold in the last 6 months: $185,000.00 (August, 2013)- Short Sale
  • Sold in the last 6 months: $240,000.00 (June, 2013)
  • Sold in the last 6 months: $257,000.00 (August, 2013)

Monday, December 16, 2013

IKEA!

I'm slowly ever falling in love with Ikea... especially since South County Boy is VERY good at putting their furniture together without complaint.

Not only did we get a new kitchen table last month or so, but we finally decided to say "good-bye" to the horrible over the toilet storage thing we had in our bathroom.

4 hours and a lot of future ideas later, we walked out with 2 $50 cabinets... and SCB came home and installed them.

Now all of our stuff is hidden and I have less to dust every time I clean the bathroom.... and these are really good quality compared to the cheap stuff we would have found at Target and Walmart.

Another plus, the great purge of 2014 has already begun and the bathroom is done!




I'm just wishing we would have thought to look for towel bars at Ikea instead of Target... but I like the ones we did eventually put up when we took down the weird glass shelf and towel holder that was there before.


Now he can't put his towels on the shower curtain!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Picture Post-- Cause the holidays are busy

Church Christmas Concert I was in...

Flowers from said Concert



Ward Christmas Party....

Doggie Time Out....



Yeah... I let her...

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Integrity has a price... often less than you think

Last night we went to the grocery store to pick up some food.

South County Boy and I have been trying to buy the "dirty dozen" organic as a way to be a bit more mindful about what we are eating and to try and help me ditch the weight i've recently put on because I stopped exercising regularly... (and lets face it... i'm a yo-yo when it comes to the scale). 

So, when I was in the produce section, I noticed they didn't have anymore green produce bags for the organic food. Literally all of them were gone and we were in a bit of a hurry so I just pulled the regular white ones down since all the food stickers said organic still... 

Long story short when we had to check out, the guy at the register was trying to speed us through the line and just typed in the codes without looking at the produce numbers. He was going really fast so it took a few moments for the items and prices to appear on the screen.

When it finally appeared on the screen as non-organic-- I stopped him and told him that our apples and green onions and our bell pepper were organic but that they were out of the green produce bags... 

He just kind of stopped and stared at me for a few seconds. 

So I continued. I told him he hadn't charged me enough for the groceries... 

(more pausing)... 

Then, a little flabbergasted, he pulled the produce back and re-entered it into the computer. 

All in all, my purchase was about $2 to $3 more since we weren't buying much... but I knew I just wouldn't have felt right about it... 

When we got to the car I remembered back to a recent general conference talk... that addressed this same issue and remembered a story about selling your soul for a nickle.

Link is below if you want to check it out.

What Shall A Man Give in Exchange For his Soul.

Friday, December 6, 2013

I saw my sister at thanksgiving

Ya, I've been wondering how to mention that on the blog for the past few days... that I saw her.

It is starting to be my tried and true method to wait a few days (or a week or so) after interacting with my family so when I do share on the blog, I have a more level head since my ego and wounds have healed a bit. That way the thoughts I share can come from a place of love instead of hate. Maybe it's a sign of maturity as I embrace my late 20's... or maybe its some inner piece I've found by joining the church. Either way, as I've grown up I've found its been healthier for me to put some time between my posts and my latest family interactions.

So, why did we go?
We were down at the park walking Roxy, talking and walking with a neighbor and his pup from our church. Naturally our discussion revolved around the upcoming holidays and we started to discuss my family situation and our hesitancy's to go and spend Thanksgiving with them after our blissful happy drama free holidays last year.

But our friend said something that really struck a chord with me. "You can't repair a relationship if you aren't present for it." So we decided that I would rather have a bad thanksgiving and a wonderful drama free Christmas than the reverse. So when we accepted the invitation, I told my mom that regardless of how it went, we would NOT be over for Christmas and that we would exchange presents on Christmas Eve again this year.

Turkey Day
While the rest of the family and their guests would be coming over at 10am, we planned to arrive around 2pm since dinner was at 3 or 3:30 and I knew South County Boy could only take so much of them for so long. We also brought Roxy despite the fact that my sister was bringing both her dogs. She did fine because she's bigger than my sister's dogs combined and she generally stayed with SCB and me most of the time. Plus she offered a nice distraction and a neutral third party.

While everyone played "surface nice" with one another, I know we were heavily discussed and bashed after we left. How do I know? I heard my sister's rude remarks under her breath the whole time we were there... and my mom confirmed later that things were mentioned after we left. (Stupid things like how I didn't really care that she went back to dirty blonde instead of brunette... how I was rude since I didn't appear that interested in their new home 3 bedroom 3 bath home... or that when she was speaking, I would occasionally look away to Roxy to start to pet her and then turn back...)

I'll be honest. I caved. There were moments I should have called her out... and I didn't. My year away from them has softened my battle armor. It got worse the longer we were there as they consumed more drinks and got louder...

She wanted to make a point that we weren't going to Utah this year, but weren't coming over to the house either for Christmas to highlight our horribleness and to bait me, but I just let it go.


Why I was so passive
We discovered that being in my sisters presence physically makes my husband ill. He spent most of the time in the other room looking green.

I actually had to dig a fan out of the garage and open a door for him so he felt like he could breathe. He spent the whole "pre-dinner" hour and a half in the other room just off the kitchen alone.

He confided in me afterward when he perked up and was all normal like that he just can't get over how she treated us when we got married and the horrible things she did in the aftermath of our nuptials. Just thinking about it makes him physically ill.

So with that in mind, I knew that any small thing I took the wrong way was going to set him off and 3 years of hurt feelings and misdeeds would have spewed from his mouth. It would have changed something that couldn't be undone... so I backed off... 

Part of me also just didn't have it in me. I guess I just don't need their approval anymore. I used to want it... but unlike my sister, I just don't need it from them. I didn't care that she thought I was rude. I didn't need to let everyone know I felt like the victim... I didn't need to cause a reaction to fee justified in my feelings. 

I guess I am growing up. 


I did get one little act of rebellion in, curtsy of Roxy that I have to share.


Because we came late, I had to automatically sit in a chair near the couch, near my sister. Which meant Roxy was closer to my sister than the other guests because she wanted to be near me.

My sister kept calling "Rosie" over to her, and while Roxy let her scratch her head, she wouldn't get on the couch next to my sister or put her paws up to get more attention like she does with other people. In case you weren't aware, my dog is an attention lap whore.

You stop petting her and she will sit next to you on the couch and nudge you with her cold nose. If that doesn't work, she will put her paw on your chest or your arm as if to say "excuse me, I'm still here"... When that doesn't works or stops working, she will sit in your lap or physically nudge your hand back on her head and look at you with those "why did you stop" eyes that make you break every time.

So, she is an attention whore and we love her.

But she wasn't doing that with my sister. Nope. She was sitting on the carpet, allowing my sister to pet her because she kept insisting... not because she wanted to...

My sister decided she was going to try to convince everyone that "Rosie" must really like her since she's such a nice person and everything... and because all dogs like her.

I refused to let me dog become a chess piece for her to use. When I went to get water, I sat in a chair further away from her that was now vacant and Roxy walked closer to me. When someone abandoned their seat on the love seat, I took it, putting myself the furthest I could from my sister so I could reach the snacks... and Roxy followed me further way so my sister got peeved..

She tried to call "Rosie" but she doesn't respond... instead she hopped into my lap, and sat between me and her finance's brother and nudged him to begin to pet her.

Dog's are good judges of character and body language. I was comfortable next to her fiance's brother, therefor Roxy was. I wasn't comfortable by my sister so my dog stood and politely guarded me.

What I learned
My sister hasn't made any real progress in how she treats people... or maybe its just with me.

I know if I had called her out on those mumbled comments and walked into my mom's house on the defense to begin with, we both would have created WWIII.

I mainly did it for my mom... its still a soft spot for me... wanting her to treat me like she does my sister... wanting me to feel equal... but we won't go next year, since my sister was talking about thanksgiving at her house... if its at my mom's, we may try again... but I don't think its fair to SCB to make him go when he's so uncomfortable. Maybe I'll just got for an hour and leave.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Black Friday 2013

We went out and did Black Friday again this year. While we visited a few stores, we generally spent the bulk of our money at Kohl's... $334.22 to be more precise, this year it seems like a lot of people chose to stay home... or perhaps we had a different experience because we weren't at Walmart or Target when they opened.

But we headed to Kohl's because we had the standard 15% off coupon and the free $10 they mailed out and there were some items in the ad we had been meaning to purchase. The 15% and the free $10 saved us an extra $64.62 ... and landed with $90 in Kohl's cash to come back with... but more on that later.

What we got on Black Friday:

  • I got a new wallet ($14.99 instead of $40) since mine has been broken for some time and can't hold coins. (It was a wallet I had back in college when I used to go country line dancing-- so Sophomore year???)
  • We got a toaster oven because I've been wanting to pitch our toaster for some time now because its so hard to clean... and I've always wanted one ($24.99 instead of $40)-- We could have gotten a $10 rebate, but SCB tossed the box before I could cut the Proof of Purchase from the box.
  • We picked up 2 new duffle bags ($20 instead of $100 each) because we noticed that one of our old bags was ripping the last time we used it when we went to Utah. 
  • We picked up 2 small blue tooth speakers so we can better hear our audio books when doing chores and while SCB is in the shower.($15 each instead of $30).
  • I got two purses. A smaller one for the everyday, and a larger one for when I need to take more things with me. These were to replace my current everyday purse that is over a year old that we got from Target that was breaking at the handles and that always managed to get stuck on my emergency break in the car. The first we got for $23 instead of $60, the second $25 instead of $70.
  • SCB wanted a nice toiletry bag - $22 instead of $45 This was a whim purchase.
  • I bought my mom a pair of boots for Christmas ($30.00 instead of $80)
  • I bought 2 pairs of comfortable jeans for $33 each... not really on sale, but I was on a mission for pants and its hard to find ones with a good length and these were ones I wouldn't need to hem.
  • I got one shirt for $15 that I LOVE.
  • SCB got a 3 pack of collar extenders and some of those things you shove in dress shirts to keep the collar straight, together they were around $15.
  • The rest were 4 pairs of gym pants I got to wear at work and while working out ($14, $18, $18, $18 instead of their regular $36 price). -- A large reason we went to kohls in the first place.
We later went back since my mom gave us her $10 coupon that she got in the mail and didn't use... and we used it to purchase a $100 bathroom rug... for free. It was one of those 22 x 60 memory foam mats... the kind that makes standing feel really awesome...

Apparently because it was so large in size, they clearance'd them down to $9.99...

We have been toying with the idea of getting a comfortable mat for our kitchen so standing and doing the dishes or prepping for dinner wouldn't feel like a chore, so when we stumbled upon this one and waived it under the price reader, we were shocked. The much smaller ones (aka more normal sized for bath rooms) were more money.

So we picked it up and went and checked out. With the coupon, we didn't even need to pay tax on the item...

But that wasn't the only awesome moment. I mentioned that $90 in kohl's cash we got? Well I didn't want to forget to use it so I went back on Monday and bought the last 2 large mats they had in the color that matched our kitchen tile (which made SCB so happy), I got 4 new bath towels, bought Roxy a huge dog bed, and got one sweater and only paid $3.16

Awe, the joy of Black Friday...

I also scored 2 shirts and a skirt for less than $20 at JC Penny, picking up my annual mickey snow globe for my collection...

We also hit Walmart and got 2 boxes of our tupperware (now that we have a chest freezer, these will come in handy for all the things we will freeze in there)... but that was it.

We even walked through Target and could have had our pick of TV's and other doorbuster items, well after their opening hours I might add, but we didn't want those things and didn't end up buying anything there.


Monday, December 2, 2013

Stapler Saddness - A Moment in Marriage

SCB's work has two types of staplers... one type sits at the front sales counter, the other type are located at each person's desk. The sales counter staplers take SR4 staples... and the ones at the staff desks take standard staples.

Before the other day, I had litterally no idea staples came in different sizes. Ya, I knew some automatic machines took fancy staples, but I didn't know that a regular manual machine could in fact be size and style specific.

But back to SCB's work and their two types of staplers. This office stapler duality wouldn't normally be an issue if they stocked both types of staples (standard and SR4's)...

But they don't order them... nor will their manager replace the desk standard staplers with SR4 compatable modles.

(He just doesn't like to spend money- proof in point, one of their office desk phone cords keeps falling out of the jack, causing the client on the phone to ovbiously not hear anything on the line. One day after being fed up with asking for a new phone and never getting one, another employee just took the  managers phone off his desk when he was out of the office... and replaced it with his inferrior unit...  and the manager never said a darn thing. He just keeps using the broken phone and when the cord falls out, he just plugs it back in and keeps chatting away claiming they must have bad cell reception.)

So needless to say, it drives SCB absolutely CRAZY that the standard staplers keep jamming. Its a little game. How many times can I staple before is jams. Its russian roulett with paper.

The other day when we were leaving California Fish Grill after a date night and heading to the car, SCB noticed the Staples store. He started jumping up and down like a little kid, begging to go inside, determined to buy a stapler that would take SR4's so he could use that one at his desk.

I love the man I married and thus allowed our date night to conclude in Staples. As a reasonable women, I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on a stapler when the one I have at home was something I got for free, but apparently you can spend north of $30 for a stapler that does nothing but stapel paper apparently...

So I told him under $10 bucks and he was gold since we had already technically gone over budget with spending this month. While we were searching the packaging to figure out which ones were standard and which were SR4 (because picking up staples that actually worked was never a solution?) We found one. It was actually in a little package with some staples and a staple remover for about $8.00... $9.71 with tax.

There's just one problem. The last one they had was pink.... and all the other ones were $30 or more.

Bright shinny pink...

His co-workers already tease him about his little USB Christmas Tree and the 2 inch tall My Little Pony he keeps on his desk at work (a true brony at heart)... but I could tell he was considering its purchase... But, because every good story has a but...  the display model was still there... and it was purple...

Which is SCB's absolute most favorite color ever... (and as a plus, its less likely to be "stolen" to another person's desk who is also suffering from stapler sadness...)

but again, it was the display model...

As SCB continued to stare at the purple stapler with want and desire... I knew what we could do. We could ask the nice employees if we could just have the purple one and leave the pink one on display.

But SCB hates talking to strangers... litterly. Sometimes in large settings he will pretend he didn't either hear someone ask him a question... or he'll pretend they are talking to someone else in the group and he'll just turn to look at someone else randomly for the reply... all so he doesn't have to answer. That or after i've tugged on his shirt, nudged him in the side and gotten his attention.. he mumbles two or three words and looks at me to elaborate for him. After 3 years, I've finally been able to finally get him to talk to resturant staff (like to get a to-go box or to send something back if its wrong) but it took 3 years to get him there and I relish in the victory now... but when it comes to special requests outside of the normal- Do you have more of these?- he's still as shy as the day I met him.

Seeing the need in his eyes and the fact that he was thinking about purchasing the pink stapler and calling it a day, I went and found an employee and presented our case. Before agreeing, she wanted to make sure they didn't have any in the storage bins above... and truth be told, it was the last one in the place. We waited while she talked to her manager, who must have been in a great mood because she relented and they opened the package and swapped them out and sealed them back up.

$9.71 later and all his problems were solved... until we got home.

He started playing with the stapler and the staples, grinning from ear to ear as one by one the staples cleared the mechanize and didn't jam as he clicked down on the lever. On a whim he pulled out our black stapler to show me what he ment about how they jam. (Apparently I needed to be educated on the matter), So he loaded it with the SR4 staples and started clicking away...

It didn't jam.

It continued not to jam...

Apparently the solution to all his problems was the black heafty free stapler I had picked up 5 years ago from a friend who was clearing out an office and told us to take what we wanted...

So now the black stapler is going to go to his work tomorrow (which really takes standard staples... so I don't know what it isn't jaming with the SR4's)... but because its not made of plastic and it's heavy duty, he wanted to take it instead... so now i'm left with the purple SR4 stapler????