Forecast: sporadic blogging ahead

I've got a huge team-based homework project to work on this week, so I will have very little time to blog. Hope the week after next is a little more relaxed!

A university that gives money back?!

This morning when I checked on my credit card accounts online (as I do every morning, I must admit) I discovered a $1000 credit from the university offering my PI program. I sent an email to the program manager asking what it was for, or if a mistake had been made. I was told that since this was the inaugural session of the program, they decided to reduce the cost since they knew they were "asking a lot" of us by asking for our feedback, and because we'd possibly been inconvenienced by reporters visiting the class. !!!

As Napoleon Dynamite would say: Yesssss!

This and that

Good things on the money front. The following is the outcome of a financial discussion J and I had after calculating our net worth. We’re going to try to have one of these financial “dates” once a month:

I’ve ratcheted my retirement contributions back up to 20%. I’ve had a general feeling of unease ever since bringing my contribution down to 6%. On the debt front, we’ve decided to exercise some stock options to pay off ALL of our credit card debt. It won’t make much of a difference in our net worth, but oh, to be rid of the headache! And finally, given the poor outcome of the appraisal, we have also decided to temporarily suspend extra payments toward our mortgage principal in order to pad our emergency savings account. Due to some recent developments which I’m not yet in a position to divulge, I’d like to get some more money in the bank.

In other news, I’ve given up thinking I know what people will buy on Ebay. The lovely pea-green silk skirt from Esprit didn’t sell, but the Old Navy jeans went for $26! (I’m not even sure I paid that much for them.) That sale nearly made up for the other disappointments. I have two more non-clothing items on Ebay right now, and one of them already has a bid, so it’s not over yet.

Happy Presidents' Day

There were a number of places I thought of that I could go to today since I had the day off. As luck would have it, all the places where I'd save money (the bank, library) are closed, while the places where I'd spend money (Brooks, BJ's) are open.

I snapped awake at 2:30 last night and decided I would make pancakes and cafe au lait for myself for breakfast. When I opened the refrigerator this morning, however, I discovered I had only a 1/2 cup or so of milk. The milkman was due this afternoon, but I was so excited about the idea of pancakes that I decided to walk to the corner store and buy a pint. I was a little annoyed, but I found 11 cents on the way which eased the pain somewhat. And I remembered I could use the rest of the milk to make yogurt, which I'm doing now.

Hope everyone has a Happy President's Day!

Net worth!

This afternoon I made myself a pot of wonderful green Rooibos tea and created a net worth spreadsheet. The number's lower than I would have guessed, but not enough to worry me a great deal. I think I low-balled a couple of things--I put our personal possessions at $10,000 and it's conceivably twice that, and I used the home value the stinky appraiser came up with, though I feel quite confident we could sell our house for at least $15,000 more. So, without further ado, I present our net worth:

$213,553.16

Maybe I'll feel brave enough at some point to put a graphic of the spreadsheet up here. Right now there's a little more in the liabilities column than I care to share. :) It is nice to have a figure to work from, though--any goals we set are likely to be more concrete as a result.

Bah, feh, bother, and so on...

We got a copy of the appraisal in the mail yesterday. The appraised value was $30,000 short of what we needed to drop PMI. A letter from the mortgage company will follow, telling me what I already know.

On to plan B (which is not yet formulated)...

Ebay etc.

Not terribly thrilled with how the Ebay stuff has been going. The two Old Navy down vests netted about $5 each. Sadly, the J. Crew skirt didn't sell. I have two more items on for another few days, but no watchers yet. Fine, gimme the tax deduction.

I've been doing homework for my Professional Investigation class for the past few nights. We had a take-home exam for the first module, which was an overview of the "component method" that's used in modern investigations. We had to create an investigation journal based on sample data, and critique an example of a Report of Investigation. For extra credit, we could identify any "loose ends" or inconsistencies within that report. I'm finally done, and I'm tired (but I also feel happy and smart). Our next module covers in-depth Investigative Research Techniques--I'm practically salivating in anticipation.

What does this have to do with my finances? Well, if you'll recall I put this class on my credit card. I'm happy to report that since then (January 26th), I have paid $1150 towards that card!

I could have been a contender

I followed Tired But Happy's example and signed up with Focus Pointe today. I got a call from them tonight, to see if I qualified for an 8-part focus group on financial services. Unfortunately, I didn't get in--they were "over quota" for my demographic/type/whatever. She did say she'd put me on a waiting list in case they had a drop-out, and took down the rest of my information so she'd have it on file.

This group would have paid $50-$200 for each of the 8 parts. Some of them would be online, others in the Boston office. Nice!

I'm not immune, after all

In Acton and Hedonic Adjustment have both recently posted about how easily it is to be consumed by the desire for a shiny new automobile. I’ve had my Civic six years this month, and I’ve realized that I’m now in dangerous territory insofar as that desire is concerned. From my experience, my relationship with a car goes something like this:

1-2 years: The car still seems brand spanking new to me. I’m thrilled.
3 years: I feel like I’m just beginning to know my car, and the idea of giving it up so soon seems ridiculous.
4-5 years: I’m still pleased with the car, and feel smug about hanging on to it when other folks are trading up every few years.
6 years: My car is now noticeably older than others on the road. It begins to feel a tad shabby, especially when it goes a while without being washed. I see new models and fantasize about them; instead, I pay for a detailed cleaning.
7-9 years: I wonder whether I should have the car painted to freshen things up, and ultimately decide not to. I no longer consider having minor (or major) dents and dings repaired.

And 9 years is the longest I’ve owned a car, which was the Sundance RS my parents bought for me my senior year of high school. When I finally sold it to a friend, the paint had oxidized, it was missing the left front body panel and the headliner was sagging—-in other words, it was a perfect candidate for an appearance on How to be Poor.

Now, my Honda is still in quite good shape. There are a few dings here and there, but after a car wash it looks pretty darn good, and mechanically it’s in wonderful condition. Then why, why am I looking at cars like Cooper Minis and Saab 93 convertibles and thinking it would be nice to be driving one of them instead?

I actually do know what's happening here, but it will do me good to hear it from someone else. Words of wisdom and encouragement, please.

More from the "How 'bout that?" department

I ended up listing six items on Ebay. Strangely, all of the Old Navy stuff is getting the most attention. No bids yet, but several folks watching the items. The nearly-new shoes by Banana Republic didn't even sell, and the J. Crew skirt only has two watchers. (I started them both off at $2.99, surely the starting price wasn't a turn-off?)

Who would have known that so many folks turn to Ebay to get cheap clothing even cheaper? In the past I've given all of my cheaper clothing to charity and put only high-dollar items on Ebay. Perhaps I should rethink that strategy.

Meanwhile, I'll try to decide whether I should relist those shoes...

Huh

I don't know what to make of the appraiser's visit. He wasn't here 15 minutes. He wandered around making a sketch, took some pictures of the outside, and left. I thought he'd be there at least an hour and that I'd be able to slip the "magic number" into the conversation. The woman from the mortgage company had even indicated that could very well happen, when she explained the process to me.

He said he'd been to my house before, shortly before we bought it, and that he'd dug out his "old file" before coming out. He noticed the kitchen was new, the floors were refinished and that a "serious deck" had been added to the back. It wasn't until he left, though, that I realized he hadn't mentioned the biggest improvement of all--the siding--and I wondered if he realized that it was new. (I had thought I'd get a chance to discuss improvements in more detail, so didn't think to mention it when he was inside the house.) He knew about the windows and storm door because I'd wanted to wait until they were installed before he came out. He certainly didn't look closely at the windows, though.

He said he'd have the information to the mortgage company by this evening, so I guess I'll call tomorrow and see what it is. I'm not sure what I expected, really, but this wasn't it. He said he could tell we'd done a lot of work and that the house looked really good, but that's not making me feel much better now. It's all fine and good if it works out, but if it doesn't I'm going to have a serious gripe.

The magic number

...is $368,000. That's the value our house needs to appraise at for us to be able to drop PMI. Zillow puts us at $330,000, but Zillow also doesn't know about the >$30,000 in improvements we've made over the past three years. This is going to be close.

The appraiser is coming at 9 a.m. tomorrow. In between shoveling snow, I picked up and cleaned today. I know he's not supposed to be looking at that sort of thing, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I'm also taking the dog to doggie daycare because he has a tendency to jump on guests. He means well, but I'm not taking any chances.

You've got your enormous house, now how to fill it?

I find McMansions depressing. That said, I laughed out loud at this picture of a dog's room in a super-sized Boston area home. Aesthetically speaking, it's adorable. The wallpaper, the tile--it's actually a really tastefully decorated room!

If you've been reading for a while it might have become obvious that I'm a dog person. (3 posts about my dog in January alone!) That's right, folks, I'm a Crazy Dog Lady! But no, I don't want a dog room. Besides, my dog won't even come in the bathroom if I'm in there because he's afraid he'll be thrown in the bathtub. I see the dog bed in this picture and suppose the dog is expected to sleep/hang out there. My dog would never spend time in a room that had an instrument of torture--a shower--in it.

After you've scoffed at all of the pictures, you'll want to read the article, too. Thanks for the link, Jane!

Home appraisal on Monday

We're trying to get rid of our PMI, and our mortgage company is sending an appraiser out on Monday to determine the current value of our home. Even though he's an "independent appraiser," he was selected by the mortgage company to perform the work and I'm wondering whether the value he puts on the home will be influenced by that fact. Have any of you ever been in this situation? If so, what was your experience?

Thanks!

One item on Ebay; more to come

I put one item on Ebay tonight. I actually have about five items to sell, but I can't seem to find the time to sit and get them all listed, especially now that my weekend is one day shorter due to my class. Anyway, I figure I can do anything for 15 minutes, which is about how long it takes me to take a picture and list the item.

I think I'll add one item a night and see what happens. It might result in more trips to the post office, though since I'll have sold the items I'll be motivated by the idea of getting good feedback by shipping quickly. (Luckily, I can walk to a post office during my lunch hour.) I figure this might also be a good way to see what days are best for listing items. I've already gotten one question on my item, so Tuesday is looking good so far.

Craptacular!

I wanted to share two of my favorite PF blog categories, both dealing with...the crap of our lives.

The first is How to Be Poor's Crappy Cars category. I'm not sure why it's such great fun to look at his pictures of old beaters, but it is. Even more funny is how often he's been chased from the "scene of the crime."

The second is Stop Buying Crap's Whoops, Bought Crap category. I suppose I find this funny because it shows that even as we PF geeks educate ourselves daily, we are still human, and still sometimes buy crap.

(I'm full of posts today. Four already and it's just after ten.)

Measurable results

I have a coup to report. This may be my first real one. "Why do you call your blog 'SMB's Financial Coups' when you've mainly reported blunders?" you might ask. What can I say; I'm optimistic.

As I may have mentioned in comments or elsewhere, we recently had installed six new functioning windows, a picture window, and a new storm door. In December I had paid the deposit, minus $100 or so, out of our savings. They finished the work last week, and the balance of $1456.50 was due. In addition, I had my quarterly haircut-and-highlights appointment on Friday, which was $150. (Admittedly, I don't budget for this.)

To back up a bit, for the last few months J and I have noticed that there seemed to be more money than usual in the checking account. It's been a couple of years that we've been able to steer clear of our personal "danger zone"--i.e. under $200 or so in the checking account, but this was different. We didn't do anything with this money, such as move it into savings, I suppose because we might have been subconsciously worried that we'd forgotten to pay a bill or that "something" might come up. Even though I've been carefully watching my spending for the past few months, it still didn't dawn on me that I might be seeing the benefits of that change. So, the money continued to build up.

The result of all of this is that I was able to pay for the balance of the windows, plus my hair appointment, out of our checking account. This did push us into the "danger zone" of having only $150 in checking until the 15th, so I did move a few hundred from savings so that we wouldn't have to worry. (Could we tighten our belts enough that we spend only $150 until the 15th? Yes. I'm sure we won't, but it could be done.)

Seeing quantifiable results from a few lifestyle changes is my inspiration to continue.

I'm goin' to Starbucks

...thanks to Will Kirby, who alerted me to Peerflix's sign-up promotion. I meant to sign up at Peerflix after reading about the site in Real Simple magazine, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. A free latte was just the right incentive, and my $4 Starbucks card arrived yesterday.

It's kind of funny to recall that I used to be one of those folks who would stop off at Starbucks 2-3 times a week on my way to work, thinking nothing of the $3-$4 dollars I plunked down each visit. Then I read Your Money or Your Life and that was the first change I made, without even feeling like I was sacrificing anything. It just wasn't worth it anymore.

I still go to Starbucks occasionally, but it's a treat these days and not something I simply do on autopilot.

Blogger is doing very strange things

Blogger is wiping out some comments on my earlier posts. I'm only aware of this with one entry so far, my Doofus entry, but I should have four comments on that entry and I only have one. Is this happening to anyone else?

Another Blogger weirdness: It won't display my blog in my user profile. Whenever I try to select blogs to display, all I get is a question: "Display?" and a button for saving the settings. Pressing that button does nothing--it tells me my settings are saved, but the blog still doesn't show up. I though maybe something just wasn't showing in my Firefox browser (such as an option to select which blogs show up, though I have only one), but I tried it with a few other browsers with the same result. I ended up listing my blog as "My Web Page." Annoying, but not as annoying as Blogger wiping out comments.