Mortgage Update (Jan '13)

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Principle paid down: $167.24
Interest: $483.40
Additional Principle: $54.22

New Balance: $110,300.47

The pay off date is still December 2038 which is 9 months ahead of the initial schedule. If I continue to pay the minimum on my loan, I will pay $111,392.68 in interest instead of the original $116,404.23. The extra $1,538.33 I've tossed at the mortgage over the life of the loan has saved us $5,011.55 in interest to date.

All in all, it took me $7,057.08 to get the keys to my condo... and another $17,672.29 to remodel and repair it...

In short, I was -$24,729.37 in the hole on day one...

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

• 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 ended 2009 with 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 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. Since we tied the knot in 2011 we won't be able to itemize our housing costs so there's no savings there for us.
• 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... 

Leaving us $13,115.42 in the hole...

If we assume our home is worth at least what we paid for it (which in this market you never really know...), then we have $9,699.53 in equity...

Leaving us only $3,415.89 in the hole after 3 years, 4 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.

Thus far for 2013 we have spent $1,119.58 to live in our condo, instead of $1,361.00 to live in the apartment.

• Mortgage (including P&I, Property Taxes, MIP, & additional principle:) $857.08
• HOA:  $262.50
• Small Home Repairs/Improvements:
• Earthquake Insurance: $0
• Homeowners Insurance: $0

As of today, we have saved $241.42 by not renting.

If I sold the condo tomorrow, I'd have to sell the property for $121,006.97 to break even.

• This assumes a 6% total commission ($7,260.42)
• and enough money to refund the amount we are in the hole for ($3,415.89)

January Farmer's Market Rundown

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South County Boy had another opportunity to sell his handmade crafts at the local farmers market in January... and again did really well!!! You can see from the picture off to the side that we now have more display stands and a larger table since we picked up the one he left in Utah at his parents house over Christmas (well technically his mom "bought" that one off us so we could buy a folding one so it would fit in our car for the drive home-- Thanks Mom).

SCB has been able to consistently sell around $100 in merchandise on each visit-- even when the weather has been temperamental and the crowds few and far between. This steady opportunity has allowed him to finally start slowly expanding the items he can make to now include pencils in addition to the pens and the custom order letter openers and the 2 types of bottle openers he makes. 

matching pen and pencil sets ($30 for the pair, or
$18 for pencils and $15 for pens)

We have also found the key chains he makes and sells for $5 have been popular, which is good for us since they don't cost us much to make, especially since we use odd ends of scrap wood or leftover blanks that shatter on him while he's turning. 
This month he debuted a new stylus pen and they seemed fairly popular. We have also been adding a clearance section where he has been selling some of his early work or slightly flawed work at a discount and this seems to help us move inventory along. We now have a good set of what we order and what we don't anymore, and he even gets to experiment with some new items every so often. 
What's really starting to be a blessing is that we are finally getting to a point where we don't have to make sure all our funds from our last sale are in the bank before placing an order for more materials ..  and that means that we can start to slowly stock up on supplies so we can keep a larger inventory so he can either create an Etsy account online and list his items there or pick up venues where he will need a larger inventory (like the 4th of July street fair or the holiday boutique at the community center)!

 So what did he sell at the market?

• 1 stylus pen
• 2 clearance pens
• 3 slimline pen
• 1 Key chain
• 1 Pencil

Pretty much at least one of everything in his regular inventory...

This month we also had a couple custom orders from some friends and people at our church which included:

• 1 Bolt action Pen
• 2 stylus pens
• Matching Pen/Pencil Set with Case
• 1 Fat-line pen

Not too bad if you ask me...and things might be looking up! Since the market has lost a lot of people due to the Friday morning time slot, it looks like they will be changing it to Saturdays in a month or so and then I can go with him and possibly sell some of my crochet items if I want to!
Here's a few sneak peek pictures from his live Etsy account! YUP!!! Were OPEN!!!

Lowering our internet bill

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Normally I don't open my monthly cox statement. It's one of the few bills that actually comes in the mail because I can't seem to get their website to let me view my bill online successfully. We have auto pay and I normally just acknowledge it's arrival by handing it to my husband for his "shred" pile...

But this past month I opened the notice because I knew it had been almost a year since Cox had graciously given us a  "temporarily" rate reduction because SCB wasn't working. If you remember last year, I called them up to drop our internet speed to something slower to save money when they were increasing the fees and instead they offered us a discount to keep our current plan so we leaped on it.

So, I opened the bill and I was glad I read the fine print! 

They scheduled a rate increase not only to remove our "unemployed" discount-- but one that would be across the board for all cox subscribers.

Each month we used to pay a total of $35.14 for internet and for a cox service protection plan with our discount. If I hadn't opened that bill, the next time we would have been charged we would have been paying $49.98 ...

a 42% increase.

Ya, you read that right. Our bill would have been 42% more because our service plan would have gone from $31.19 to $43.99 and the cox service protection plan from $3.95 to $5.99 a month.

So I called cox and asked them to take us out of "Internet Essential" and drop us into the first tier of internet they offer. Essentially we went one level lower than that what we currently had. Then I had them remove our cox protection plan policy... and then I had them lock us into a 2 year contract at our current price to prevent any future price increases from coming and spiking up our bill since they seem to come around every year.

If we cancel them before 2 years, we get hit with a $45 fee, which goes down each month you have the service. I figure if this rate hike alone was $15 the next will be higher and since we aren't moving or canceling our cox for 2 years, we will be okay having a contract.

So our bill should be around $30 even each month, so not only did we not have to eat the increase, we ended up saving around $5 a month from our service bill.

:)

The jobs I didn't get

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My husband often makes fun of me because I'm constantly cataloging events of the past and infusing them with meaning. Case in point: jobs I didn't get. There are several jobs in my career history that I applied for and really felt I should have gotten, but did not. In each case "not getting the job" paved the way for a bigger, better, or more interesting opportunities. Coincidence? You decide...

The first time around, I was a 22 year old promotion assistant at a TV station in Boston. After about a year on the job, I saw a listing for a position in the station's LA branch writing descriptions of TV for the blind. As a creative writing major and TV lover, I instantly thought it was the perfect job for me. Plus, I was dying to leave Boston. I interofficed my resume to HR and gave my boss a heads-up that I might be leaving soon (cocky, right?). A few weeks passed and nothing. Then, the job's no longer posted. Then, I found out someone else in my department got the job. So, I stayed in Boston and a mere two months later met my future husband at a birthday party (hey, it would have been impossible to attend if I was living in LA).

Next time around, I was a 25 year old cultural arts publicist looking for a new job (preferably one that did not mandate grueling weekend & night performance duty in addition to 9-5 office hours). I applied for a PR position at a local hospital. Made it past two rounds of interviews and felt primed to go all the way. Sent endearing, perfect thank-you cards to all involved. Two weeks later I found out they picked the other finalist. Darn. But then four weeks later, I was offered a PR job at another TV station. where I really wanted to be.

And finally there was last year, I was a 29 year old laid off mom pining over a position at a national broadcast agency. The job description felt like I had written it myself, that's how closely aligned it was with my goals and experience, but what I didn't realize (what I couldn't have known) was that the job was specific for a reason: they had an internal candidate. I didn't even make it past the first interview. The afternoon I got the email was one of my lowest in the job hunt. But (as mentioned in a previous post) a mere five hours later I was offered an invitation to apply for a position as COO of a multimedia non-profit. And you know where that got me...

In short, the universe acts in mysterious ways. Sometimes you just have to accept that what seems like the right fit, is not. There's something else in store for you.

What I'm Giving Up

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Unemployment is a time to consider what's essential. Last year when I was laid off, I had a really generous severance package and with lots of job prospects, I felt pretty secure with moderate adjustments. I reduced my gym membership to a restricted hours plan. I cut my allowance in half. We ate out less.

This time around, I'm not quite as confident. For starters, it's possible I'll be out of work longer than the 3 months it took me last time. And without severance, things get real pretty fast. I'm erring on the side of caution and giving up as many non-essentials as I can stomach. In particular, my entire allowance and entire gym membership. If you read my entry about working out for less then you know giving up the gym is not a big deal. I'll run and lift weights at my house for free.

Allowance is the real sacrifice. When my husband and I first got married, we opened a joint checking & savings account, but also opted to each keep a private checking account. All individual purchases come out of this account: clothes, shoes, haircuts, makeup, dining out, classes, entertainment, gum, magazines, books, music, etc.

Luckily, I had a bit of reserve saved up before becoming unemployed, which should get me through the next couple of months if I'm frugal. In the meantime, it's a fascinating study in what is and isn't essential to spend money on in the short run.

• Clothes: I shouldn't need to buy new clothes. I have enough suits for interviews and jeans and t-shirts to wear around the house. Nonessential
  

• Hair: My hair is really short right now, but no job = no bob. I'll need one last trip to the salon to get things evened out and ready to grow. Semi-essential
  

• Makeup: I don't wear very much, but I stockpiled the expensive stuff at a Christmas sale. All the rest, I buy at the beauty bodega down the street for less than $6 a piece. Semi-essential
  

• Entertainment: First, DC's full of free museums and many lovely parks. Second, my bedside drawer is stacked with books I haven't read. Third, we've got NetFlix, TiVo and various online viewing options. Nonessential
  

• Eating out: This is both an easy & hard one. It's extremely easy for me to eat what's in the house. On the other hand, one expense that's always worth it (especially in unemployment) is connecting with people over lunch and drinks. Essential
  

All told, this is a pretty lush life. And while I guarantee there will be times when I am lusting after some object...be it shoes, clothes, or gadgetry...I'm going to try very hard to keep things in perspective and wait. I know what it's like to have credit card debt, and I don't want to experience that again.

I'm back (Part 2)

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Our tree topper this year was a
panda, wearing a red Santa hat
that I made, holding
a Halo gun from the video game...
All because the star wouldn't stay
up and I decided it could play
second fiddle to the Panda.

I had to break the last post up because it was getting frightfully long. I last left you all about a week and a half before Christmas, and I have to say, it was a nice holiday season for the South County Family...

(hey look at that, I used the word "family" without gagging! 2013 is looking up already!)

I managed to get 2 weeks off from work and for the first time in I don't know how many years, I didn't have to work New Years Day. Christmas was festive. We went and saw a live demonstration of the Christmas story complete with real animals which really helped set the mood for me.

I really enjoyed being apart of the Christmas Concert at church, even if my mom didn't come. It was lovely, moving, and powerful... and I was proud of myself for putting myself out there and jumping into something new. I learned to read music, push myself to be a better singer, and really feel the holiday music the night of the performances... It was a moving experience.

We went to "Candy Cane Lane," one night and walked around the really drastically decorated homes (pictured below). They had fake snow falling from their houses, and even some kids were out selling cookies and coco to buy toys for kids who were in the hospital.

Candy Cane Lane....

We even enjoyed the time when my mom came over and we celebrated our own mini Christmas on Christmas Eve as planned. She came over at Noon and we had fun snacks and munchies. I prayed her "Christmas CD" and SCB and I stayed in our PJ's all day and had a nice visit. She only stayed for an hour and a half, but it was still nice and pleasant and left fond memories of a good and drama free Christmas. The mood wasn't even dampened when my mom would talk about or mention my sister.

Me embracing my inner Taylor Swift at the
Christmas Concert...
Red lipstick Required,
and yes, SCB went CraZY!

I didn't get bitter... or angry... or even sad...

Somewhere along this journey over the past month or so I just let it all go...

I'm not sure when it happened... or even when that moment came... or if it was even a single moment and not small moments all over the place... But I realized that things would be okay for me with or without my biological family members.

Simply removing the drama, stress, and worries that had always been in my life ... apart of my life... the center of my life--- just removing it all gave me such a sense of peace that I felt like I was finally living. Finally moving on and starting fresh and new.

I felt free and burden-less.

It was my holiday, on my terms. We were free to make new traditions, and to bring back some old ones.

When my mom left, my husband and I dragged out our mattress and put it on the floor in our living room right by the tree...  We turned on our fireplace DVD and listened to it crackle as we watched Christmas movies and camped out in the living room with every stuffed animal I owned crammed onto our couch.

The stuffed animal sleep over... Yes, I have a thing for
Pandas and bears...
I swear I only bought 2... the rest were all gifts.

As a firm believer in Santa I made my husband sit through miracle on 24th street too many times this year while I jumped up and down in my seat saying
"I Believe" ... "I Believe."

I even made him watch both versions of the Grinch even though he isn't a fan of the Jim Carrey version.

Ya, we forgot about a few things, like making Santa cookies, and reading from Luke 2 on Christmas eve, but we modified our traditions and left Santa some of the yummy peppermint bark a friend from church brought over randomly.

Christmas with my mom...
and the best stocking ever...

and I love that.

That someone would feel welcome to just knock on my door and say hi. I've always wanted to have friends that just show up at your door without feeling the need to call and see if you are at home just to spend time with you and participate in the thing we call life. I seriously love the church I go to and the people in it. I've never felt so welcomed and at home-- even as an "outsider."

They really restore my faith in human kind.

We had a night that can only be described as ours. And I liked it. I even liked the fact that the christmas bark we left out got nibbled on and while SCB swears it was him... I know it was Santa.

On Christmas Day we opened our home up to the missionaries again to open presents, skype their parents, and eat yummy breakfast sandwiches I made.

My favorite thing... playing in snow!!!
Its even fun to shovel it.

That afternoon when they left, we loaded up the car and headed straight to Utah. We arrived at 1:00 am the morning after Christmas, and by 3:00 am it started snowing and dropped a good 6 inches of fresh powder. Over the next week we got another 6 inches and it was like living in a snow globe.

Snow was a constant companion and I loved it. Snow is perfect. No one can convince me of anything different.

Ya, it's not a family trip without one
day of shooting.. This is my
brother-in-laws AR-15.

We spent time with family, friends, and had a wonderful vacation. We went to temple square via the new train that they have that runs locally and goes all the way up and back for less than the gas it would take for us to get to salt lake City and back. We got to see the lights at temple square and I made sure we revisited "the spot" where SCB proposed to me...

We went to our favorite Utah places... thrift shopped at the local D.I. stores where I found SCB an actual suit jacket for $10.00... It was also where I was reunited with a skirt I had gotten rid of 2 years ago because it was too small on me, only to found it in the now perfect size for me for $5!!!

We spent an afternoon doing the annual shooting gathering/experience... It was snowing the whole time we were out, but despite the cold, i'm pretty decent when I aim and each year i seem to get better and better. I shot mostly a 22 riffle and my sister-in-laws 28 special, but I did take a round or two on my brother-in-laws new AR-15... and hit my target on the first shot.    :)

My friends kid... isn't she cute???

All in all, it was just what we needed when we needed it.

Sure life hasn't been all that awesome at times, like in November when our Dryer heating element blew out and we thought Christmas was going to be cancelled as we tried to figure out how to replace it. But eventually SCB was able to find the part online, get the missionaries to come over and help him move the sucker out of the tiny storage area, and then later install and put the whole thing back together all on his own, --- all for $80 instead of the hundreds it would have cost us to replace the entire thing.

Reuniting with all my utah friends who moved away...

Oh ya, and then there was the fact that it cost us $700 to get my car fixed just days before we headed out to go to Utah (I needed new breaks and had 2 holes in my power steering line)... but that's what emergency funds are for, and why i'm glad I have one :) How else could I make memories with the people I care (like my good friends pictured above who I miss all the time).

Oh and then there was the fact that I spent an entire 24 hours over new years eve and new years day getting so violently that i literally rang in the New Year puking my guts out on the front porch of my Mother-in-Laws house right onto one of her frozen planter boxes because the bathroom was full of people and that was the closest acceptable location to get sick in... Which I did wearing only socks on my feet with snow on the ground and a high in the single digits.

But that's all just life, and we live it. Each day has opportunities to remember the good things and laugh at the bad and I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us.
  

My favorite Utah Neighbor... Blue... Such a nice doggie!

SCB and his dad on the train back from temple square.

Pretty...

 Eating at Kneaders... Yum!

I didn't know it could go negative!

Post Christmas Sale finds for $5 each!!! Can't wait to put
these up next year.

Mortgage Update (Jan '13)

To contact us Click HERE

Principle paid down: $167.24
Interest: $483.40
Additional Principle: $54.22

New Balance: $110,300.47

The pay off date is still December 2038 which is 9 months ahead of the initial schedule. If I continue to pay the minimum on my loan, I will pay $111,392.68 in interest instead of the original $116,404.23. The extra $1,538.33 I've tossed at the mortgage over the life of the loan has saved us $5,011.55 in interest to date.

All in all, it took me $7,057.08 to get the keys to my condo... and another $17,672.29 to remodel and repair it...

In short, I was -$24,729.37 in the hole on day one...

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

• 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 ended 2009 with 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 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. Since we tied the knot in 2011 we won't be able to itemize our housing costs so there's no savings there for us.
• 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... 

Leaving us $13,115.42 in the hole...

If we assume our home is worth at least what we paid for it (which in this market you never really know...), then we have $9,699.53 in equity...

Leaving us only $3,415.89 in the hole after 3 years, 4 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.

Thus far for 2013 we have spent $1,119.58 to live in our condo, instead of $1,361.00 to live in the apartment.

• Mortgage (including P&I, Property Taxes, MIP, & additional principle:) $857.08
• HOA:  $262.50
• Small Home Repairs/Improvements:
• Earthquake Insurance: $0
• Homeowners Insurance: $0

As of today, we have saved $241.42 by not renting.

If I sold the condo tomorrow, I'd have to sell the property for $121,006.97 to break even.

• This assumes a 6% total commission ($7,260.42)
• and enough money to refund the amount we are in the hole for ($3,415.89)