debtfreeme

Spending log Friday Nov 13: Dinner at Chicago Fire with K and J $26.00

One more day closer to mom's surgery and I am trying to get a grip on my emotions. I am the only one who is going to be at the hospital in case she has to get transferred to the other hospital if an emergency happens.

One sister can't afford to take the day off and I will text her every 15 minutes if I have to. Other sister talked about coming up after kids are sent to school but i mentioned they might have to transport her if they decide she needs to be at the other hospital and it is close to her house. It would be better for her to sit tight until we know if she is going to be up or down the hill. Mom has packed her bag and got everything together in case she has to be transported and for staying at my sisters for the three nights they want someone with her. My new place is to small and she hates the mattress on my bed. so now we wait......

Spending log: Thursday zero. Went home for lunch today as I live about a mile away now. Nice to do that occassionally and not worry about work. I am moved into the new place and love it. I will write more about that later.

The thing that is really hardright now is that my mom is facing an angioplasty Monday. She went into the doctor a week ago Monday with some chest pains. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure about two and a half years ago but has been good on medication and responding well. The pains came on Sunday night and she took two nitroglycerin and they went away.

I am incredibly scared for her. I want things to go well with the angio and all I think is that we are going to lose her. I am not ready to lose my mom. I know no one is ever ready but I am really scared. Tears come when I think of it.

Will you all say some prayers that we can get her through this and all be ok on the other side of Monday? I could really use the prayers and good thoughts.

Spending Log
Tuesday 14 at food source
Wednesday 21lunch with mom at applebees free meal event for veterans day for her

I got the apartment and signed the lease yesterday. I set up my utilities yesterday too. I decided to get a phone line for now but will re-evaluate after christmas and see if my cell phone is working ok.

I did get cable but got a pretty good deal for a year and lots of extra channels. I will probably do what i did this past year and dvr lots of movies to watch sometime in the future when the movie channels go away.

I am pulling some money from savings to go shopping and buy some furniture and needed items for the apartment. I have been saving money for so long for a house and furniture that I think this is ok. Not a lot of furniture but a love seat that is also a pull out bed, another love seat, a chair that changes into a single bed, a couple of book shelves, dishes, glasses, silverware, etc. and most importantly a bed frame!! Yeah!!

I know what I want and even the prices. I will not go overboard but will enjoy the fruits of my labors and am excited to get some new things for my new to me home.

I wanted to add something about emergency preparedness (EP) to one of my previous blogs but since I did not write it down it was missed.

I often wonder, when people have to evacuate an area, do they know where they should go and how much gas it would take to get there? I know that in my current car (getting 25 mpg) I would need about two gallons to get to my moms house, which is my evacuation point if something happened in the valley. Where is your evacuation point, how many miles away is it located, and how much gas would it take to get you there safely?

During the storm several weeks ago a good portion of the area I in which I was staying lost power. Usually I would not worry about anything except…I let my gas tank get WAY below a quarter of a tank. My little gas tank computer told me I had about 50 miles to go with a 22 mile commute to work.

In the past I would never have let my tank get that low. With the advent of the high cost of gas the past few years I have let the purchasing go about 8-10 days between fill ups. It has become a bad habit to let it get to about 30 miles of gas left before I fill up. This can be dangerous to do for many reasons, but let’s discuss this from the EP side.

As I mentioned before, the power was out in my local area when I left for work that morning. I noticed the gas level and realized that if I got stuck in traffic I could have a severe problem and began to realize that my previous strategy of filling up every Sunday regardless of the level of my tank would have come in handy, had I continued to follow it!

Then a second item hit me.

I used to work for a large petroleum company that ran many stations. When the power went out we often could not process credit cards for purchases, even when the power came back on. I realized that if I had not fallen out of my habit of getting gas on Sundays and keeping about $30 cash (in various denominations) in the glove box for gas emergencies then I would be fine and not have to worry as I would still be able to purchase gas with the cash.

I drove for a bout 5 miles when I found an area where the power was on and I was able to fill up my tank, great news! The bad news was that I was soaking wet by the time I finished filling up my tank and arrived to work wet and looking, shall we say, less than professional. If I had stuck to my usual planning neither the worry nor being wet would have occurred.

I remember there were reports of gas shortages as people tried to evacuate the New Orleans area before Hurricane Katrina and in the Houston area before Hurricane Rita. Not having enough gas can mean a lot of abandoned cars along the road, impeding an evacuation.

I have returned to my habits of getting gas on Sunday (or when the tank gets less than half full) to ensure that I could get to where I need to be without any problems.

How low do you let your tank get before filling up?

Good news: the apartment people called and I get the apartment! Yeah! But I can’t move into the other one as that one was rented the day before I got there. Darn! The next solution to find:

How do you choose which telephone/cable/internet packages to go with???

I have to pay around $35 a month for sewer/water/garbage to the complex on top of my rent. The property manager said for a unit my size he has never seen it go over $37 a month for those three. I budgeted $40.

The manager said natural gas and electricity should be around $100 a month. Gas item is only the water heater and should run about $25 or less a month. Everything else is electric. So, if I continue to keep things around 68 degrees and use layers and the occasional electric lap blanket and dry most of my washables (excluding sheets and towels as I hate scratchy sheets and towels) by air dry and hanging I should be able to keep both under $100. My goal is $75 for the two. The apartment is 700 square feet, surrounded on all but the front wall with other apartments so I don’t think it will be hard. Unfortunately for the winter I am in the back of a building so I get no direct sunlight into the apartment but for summer this should be good as it will keep the apartment cooler, I think?

I am trying to determine if I need to have a land line or if my cell will get enough reception in the apartment to not need it. I’d like to save money and only get cable and internet if I could but I am not sure of the signal strength in the apartment. Talking to the office staff, three of them live at the complex and have only cells phones and have no problems so that is a comfort. I think I am going to try to be cell phone only at this apartment as well for the time being. It will save me some money.

I am looking at bundling the cable/internet/land line into one product. Do I have to have a landline to get internet services? Can I get internet through the cable wires and still have it be wireless through out the house? I won’t have a TV or cable in my bedroom but I would like to be able to use my laptop or netbook in my bedroom and watch a movie if I want online.

How can you tell which is a better service: 1.5 mbs or 12 mbs? Is it worth paying $30 more for the second service over the other? How about $5 or $10 to increase it up to 6?

Is there anyone out there will to give me questions to ask as I begin to look for these packages? I have never had cable/phone/internet at any place I lived that I had to set up other than dial up internet about 15 years ago and have always been cell phone only.

What should I be looking for speed wise to be able to down load and watch movies and TV shows from places like Netflix?

Ugh…I knew this was going to be a learning curve but really do they have to make it soooo confusing? The people I spoke with were really confusing me yesterday when I called to compare some different plans and get information.

So I found an apartment to rent. It looked nice online and the community looked good. I wandered through the complex yesterday and spoke to a couple who live there and they like it a lot. Very safe and quiet and people seem respectful.

So I went and looked at the 2 one bedrooms they had available. I decided on one but today I am calling to see if I could have the other instead. It has an extra window and neighbors only on one side, not two, and it was right across from the “gym (had three pieces of equipment and some weights) so I would never have an excuse for not at least taking a walk on the tread mill.

I filled out an application and paid the deposit to hold it so once they process it I will find out if I am approved. It is 677 square feet for $700 a month. It has a small patio accessible through the bedroom or the living room. The carpets, appliances and counters were all replaced within the last year. The carpets were freshly steam cleaned right before our walk through. It is across a small courtyard from the pool area but all the people I spoke with who also live there say there is little noise and the pool is not used that much. It will be great for when my nieces and nephews come to visit me!

It is within walking distance of my office! A short 20 minute walk and I would be at work. That is kind of exciting to me.

I am taking a class at a local college that allows me to put my student loans into deferment. I make payments but do not accrue any interest. My goal is to have accrued less than $4,000 in interest over the life of the loan when I finally pay it all off.

The course is actually a move class. Yep, you heard right, a class all on movies and has been a lot of fun. The first course was westerns, and while I still don’t care for them I learned to appreciate them and the art that they are. This second course is on musicals and we watch movies like The Wizard of Oz and Meet me in St. Louis to the Disney Beauty and The Beast and it has truly been a fun course.

For a couple looking for a cheap date night twice a week it would be perfect. See a couple of movies and have a nice evening. The total course was $60 for the 8 weeks so that makes each evening about $3.75 per person. I am usually home by 8:30 so it is not a late night but is still a fun outing. I have even brought a few friends to the movies because about 80% of the class leaves after the ten minute lecture so there is plenty of room. I have even brought in movie theater popcorn for the whole class. It has been quite a kick!

They announced next semester’s topics: Fantasy (which I will struggle with because I don’t really like this genre) and Romantic Comedies. I think it will be a fun semester next spring too. The fall looks like it will be foreign films and then maybe black and white.

I think I am really enjoying these classes because I never got to study the fun stuff in college. I was so focused on getting through school that I only really took courses that were geared toward my major.

I have a friend who will be joining me for the fantasy class. She loves the movies they talked about showing and would love to see them on the big screen instead of her little TV. We never get a chance to just hang out so this should be fun.

Just something to consider if you are looking for some weekly cheap fun or dates.

Movie Quiz:
Anyone name the musical my blog title song comes from?

So….I made an additional deposit of $420 to the house down payment account. I should be able to put another $75 on Monday.

Work is going OK although I am a bit bored at present. I was able to order a new chair and being the state we have to order from a specific company. $760 for a chair is ridiculous but having one that fits me, goes up and down etc is almost priceless.

This week and next are the longest weeks of my life. I have to work 5 days a week and it feels weird to after all the furlough days. I sometimes think that going to full pay, full days is going to be really hard to do after this furlough stuff goes away. But bring on the full pay!

Nothing else really happening right now financially and I still have almost $300 until payday a week from Friday so that is good.

I keep meaning to write a series of posts about how to take a year, frugally and with some careful thought, and prepare your home and supplies for an emergency. I know this industry really well and that storm we had last week (which they likened as a small hurricane) caused many people to scramble for supplies and materials for the loss of power we experienced. (Ironically me as well as I was house sitting and could not find her supply of candles and matches or flashlights. I used the one flash light from my car emergency kit and bought candles the next day to put into my house sitting kit.)

Would you guys be interested in a series of articles around this topic?

Of the things I wanted to accomplish Sunday:

1 Met A for coffee and we talked for three hours. I have not seen her for a month so it was so good to hear about her trip to Portland and rehash the FSOT exam I took several weeks ago.

I reset the closet item and reconfigured furniture in my one room. It looks a little different but it will work for now.

I washed several loads of laundry but need to do two more and the sheets/pillow cases off the bed. But I feel good about what I did do.

I went and looked at three houses and almost made an offer on one but the seller has accepted an offer already. It has been on the market two days.

Could not balance check book because I left it on my desk at work. First time I have ever done that! I will work on it later this week.

I did get gas and the mail.

Tomorrow I will:

1. Meet A for coffee.
2. reset closet thingy with basket usually blocking the attic.
3. wash laundry, dry, fold an dput away.
4. look at 2 houses
5. balance check book for the rest of the month.
6. get mail and fill up gas tank.

Today was a quiet day. I slept in and read late in the morning. I went to my nephews soccer game and then we got jamba juice. It was 80 and HUMID today. Awful for October. i hung out with my nephew and nieces while my sister had a couple hours to herself to grocery shop and unwind. I told her she could NOT return for a minimum of 2.5 hours and gave her money to pick up pizza.

We enjoyed dinner and a movie (Aliens vs. Monsters was pretty good) before i headed home. I returned home later then I wanted but it was a nice day and good to spend time with the kids. Tomorrow is pretty low key too. But the next two weeks are long non-furlough weeks and i wanted a pretty quiet day. So it is going to be a looooong month.

I made it home last night after being gone house sitting since August 1 (except for a week in there some place when I was at the house). It has proven to me that I really do not want to live where I live and with the housemates I live with.

For the past two months no stress, no problems, no tension in my upper back and neck. It has been wonderful. I woke up Sunday with so much tension I could barely turn my head. My upper back and neck have been bothering me ever since. It all happened when I realized I only had a couple days left at the house sit and would have to return to the house.

I really need to find a house or move out to some little apartment. If I move out into an apartment that means I will have very little to save for a down payment. So… there is much to consider in the next couple of months.

I am turning in several applications for part time seasonal employment that if I could snag one of these jobs, would help with the saving of some additional money if I decided to move out.

I updated my ticker to show an additional $900 to my down payment account. I should have another $500 or so to add. I was hoping to add in closer to $800 on the second deposit this month but the weight I have gained in the past year has really started to show in my clothes and while I am working to lose it, I need some work clothes!

Someone posted a comment about my goal of working for the foreign service someday and asking where I would want to go. With the FS you have to have world wide availability. You serve at the pleasure of the department and while you bid and work toward a particular post, they really have the final say as the where you serve.

I would be happy anyplace. I speak Spanish and have studied French, Russian and Mandarin in the past ten years. I also studied a bit of Dutch when living in Holland and a semester of Korean in college for a job I had. I would go where ever they want!

The price of gas was $2.85 when I went to fill it last night. The house where i have been house sitting for the past month is about 40 minutes to work on a good day. I have seen my gas bill more than double in the past six weeks. I have no more house sits until the week before Thanksgiving.

The last house sit couple asked me if I would be interested in sitting for a month next year. Of Course I would.

I have been really quiet posting because I really have not had much to say.

I have made offers on three houses/condos and have always been outbid by only a couple thousand dollars. It is interesting that then they come back and have problems with the financing. I have resubmitted offers on the same houses twice because of financing issues. Why not choose the candidate with the best credit and score and less debts owed then the offer that is offering the most money. Even the house I fell in love with 6 months ago is back on the market because of financing issues. I am not willing to bid again because mello roos and how fees equal 315/month on top of the mortgage. Just to rich for me. If it came down 25k then maybe I would consider it again.

Work is going ok. I had my review and had “excellent” in all categories but I will not receive a raise at all because of the budget issues. My 5% came in July and they quickly took 4.8% away for the furlough day they added. So my “raise” this year was .02%. not even close to the cost of living.

Anyone notice the cost of gas? $3.15 per gallon here. It is trading below $70 and it is $3.15?

I signed up for the written foreign service exam in October. That is my dream job. Even my boss knows it and the joke he tells me is he is retiring in one year so I better pass the orals this year and get a job offer so he can retire and know I am ok. I enjoy working with my boss and the team we have. I am just so burned out right now that it is painful to come to work.

I have been house sitting a lot lately, pretty much continuously since August 1 except for two nights spent at my house.

I have added close to $2000 to my house savings account in the past few months by being careful in my shopping, using coupons, not going over my budget, bringing my lunch to work. I have an additional $2400 planned for by the end of October. I stand at $3125 for this additional savings so ….maybe I can make the $2400 addition!

I have been reading even though I have not been posting, glad to see so many regulars and the newer blogs so active.

I am so ready for fall weather and it is supposed to be 103 degrees tomorrow!

The past few months have been pretty stressful. The state has slowly taken away 15% of my salary with another 5-10% expected.

I am frustrated that I have worked long and hard to get where I am and we have a state leader who insists on trying to balance the budget on the backs of state workers or using state workers as pawn in his game. His political career is toast so he wants to take out as many as he can. The thing he doesn’t get: cutting salaries means cutting the taxes he gets from state employees.

Cutting the number of days we work means cutting the amount of time employees have to collect taxes from businesses and tax returns.

He wants to cut employee levels to about 30 % of what it is currently. The largest state in the union should have 30% less employees. California ranks 49th in the amount of employees to population with 235k employees to 33 million residents and estimated 5 million illegal aliens.

All my dreams of having my own house by the time I am 35 are toast. I can’t put any money away toward retirement because the money he is cutting is what I put away each month. Buying a house would just put a greater strain on my budget and make it way to scary without having enough income if anything happened.

I worked hard, educated myself and took a job that would be serving the people of California and ensure they are protected during major event and that the state is prepared to respond or support local governments. I choose public service because I believe in it and believe it is a way to return the blessing I have received. Doing the same job in the private sector is almost impossible.

Trying to think positive in this climate
I have come up with the following things

I think about on a daily basis:

I am lucky I have a job.

I am lucky I still have a job that pays well.

I am preparing for passing the written exam again (having done so in the past) and the oral exam (having come close and missing it by literally .05 points) in my dream job. I have scheduled the written exam for October and hope to have the orals (and pass them) in February or March 2010. If I do well enough there will be a job offer by this time next summer.

I have a family that is healthy and for the most part happy. Tough times are ahead for my sister but as a family we can get through anything.

I have good friends who are fun and loving.

I still love my job and find it fun and exciting and most days I want to be there.

I enjoy (most) of my co workers.

I have interesting hobbies and skills.

I am trying to remember the positive things that I have currently in my life.

I will enjoy my Furlough Fridays and work toward fnding a part time job to supplement my lost income.

I started this entry as a reaction to the story link Baselle posted in her blog. It is based partly upon that story but also on my fears, the current economic situation and the state of the economy for the state of California.

My big fear is if I buy a house I will lose my job or something like that and be forced into losing my house. I am talking about buying a house that has payment of about 1100 per month and I am stressing about it. I want my own place but am I ready for the big burden of owning my own place?

On top of everything I work for the state of California. Yep, that wonderful state that just 20 years ago was the leader in education, financial markets, one of the top 5 economies in the world even compared to some countries. And now where are we? Overspent, looking at bankruptcy, cutting state jobs (you see my worry here right?) and cutting state employee salaries another 10%.

I agree that there are some employees out there who do not earn their paychecks but there are others of us who educated ourselves (masters degree here), work hard every day and earn each of those pennies they give us. I take work home and don't claim the OT because we can't earn it right now but my work still needs to be completed. Cutting us an additional 10% and laying off people, that are some hard choices.

Please don’t tell me that I could leave the state service and go do the same work someplace else because that is just not true for the field in which I work. My education, both bachelors and masters were geared to serving people, I left as a peace corps volunteer (and came home injured not finishing my service, something I regret every day). I love my work for the state even if I am not earning what I could be. I feel it is a small piece of service to the community and the state.

But what about cutting some of those contractors the state hires? I am not talking about those contractors who build things and remodel things. I am talking about the grant funding that is used to hire “experts” who (in my PERSONAL ) experience have no idea what they are doing? They are making 90-125k a year (also in my PERSONAL experience) taking a job a state employee could be doing. Let’s look at this from a financial point of view:

The state hires someone through a contract with an “agency”. This agency could be a contract through a non profit, a university research center or another place.

They hire someone and pay the “agency” the salary and an administrative fee that is about 40% of the salary of the person they hired. This is supposed to cover the benefits of the employee and a fee for the “processing” of this employee.
Why do I know all of this? I was a contract employee, hired through an “agency” on loan to the state. I never made close to 100k, indeed my highest salary was between 45 and 50k. I earned the equivalent of the other people doing similar work. For the other contractors across the state this is not true. They make close to twice what a normal state workers makes and add in 40% for the administrative fees.

When I no longer wanted to be a contractor because I wanted a permanent job I took a state exam sponsored by another state office, placed first on the exam list and then was hired in the office where I had been working for several years.

Does me not wanting the state to be paying for contractors make me a hypocrite? Maybe, but I was educated and experienced when I took the contractor position and when I took the exam and through the whole experience. I placed that well on the exam list because I prepared, used my education and experience and worked hard to get ready. This is not always the case for the contractors and why should they make twice the other state workers?

The state could save several million dollars in just the one office I worked in, and hire two employees for each ONE hired as a contractor. Most of the money (in fact 99%) of the money the office I worked at was federal grant money good for 5 year period. Do you know how many people the state could keep on, without losing jobs, if they replaced the contractors with state employees? Almost 2 to 1. Yes this might not affect the budget to much as it is federal money, but, it would mean keeping some jobs without having to lay off state employees.

I am so frustrated with where the state is and about the possibility of people being laid off, including me (I got one of those letters even though I have 6+ years at the state). Now they are saying they are definitely going to lay off 5000 people. My agency says they will not be losing staff as we are going to eliminate vacant positions and save millions through not hiring people. But what happens three months from now? Six months from now? I want to buy a house! This is the year when it is a good time to do it, I am financially stable, have money set aside to do a nice down payment and I want the tax breaks that are being offered. But do I do it when the economy is so bad?

I just don’t know what to do.
~~~~~
On another note the house I made an offer on was out bid by about 2500k.
There is a foreclosure houw I looked at yesterday. It needs some appliances (as there is nothing there), and door, hardware and handles for the bedroom and bathrooms (why would you take those? Are they really worth any money?) light fixtures in the bed rooms and some covers and a swith or two in other areas. It is a three bed 2 bath home listed for 159900. They are anticipating many offers. Payments would be around 1100 a month, do I make an offer?

There will be many more homes coming up for foreclosure in the next few weeks as the 90 day moratorium is gone. Do I wait or offer?

It is a short sale so it is up to the owner and the bank but I hope it works out!

It is a three bedroom two bath about 1337 square feet and the back yard is nice, not to large but has room on the right side of about 15 feet from the house to the fence line and the left side has about 8-9 feet of clearance so more than the rest of the houses around.

There is a laudry room pass through to the garage so I can do laundry and have plenty of room to set up a lanudry rack. There is a neat little alcove in the laundry room opposite the washer and dryer area. I could almost make the space an office if I needed to. I had a friends dad take a look at the area to see how we could design an office space in there as well as the laundry room area.

It does have an HOA that takes care of all the front yard stuff, watering, lights etc. so no raking of leave for me in the fall and no worrying about taking care of the yard. The monthly fees are $65.

The back yard is another story. I will need to find a reliable lawn mower and learn how to make it work. I am a little afraid of them so this should be interesting.

There are three things I need for the house when I move in: a refrigerator, a washing machine and a lawn mower. I have a gift card to home depot for about $170 so that will help with some of the start up costs. Other savings will come from buying on crigs lists or other services like that.

So....we will see if the offer is accepted and I have bought a house! Then I have to figure out the tax withholding for the rest of the year AND refile my 2008 taxes for the house purchase. I want that money back in my accounts to put toward a house emergency fund.

I have to admit I am scared/nervous that i might have just bought a house. I am a single buyer so buying on one salary is nerve racking. I am just so ready to be out of the place I am living in and own my own place.

Was everyone else nervous when they bought?

I found my house. I have found the one I want to buy. I saw it last week and liked it and saw it again today and like it even more. It is exactly what I want. It has 1537 square feet and a perfect size back yard, a side yards. It is part of a master planned community and has a beautiful pool area and club house for all the people of the community. The mello roos are high (180) and the hoa fees are a little steep (104) but the hoa dues pay for the front yard work, grass cutting, water bills etc and the club house stuff. The mello roos pay for the lighting, sewers and sidewalks etc that the city put in before the houses were built.

So…now I need to make a decision and make an offer. It is in really good condition and was built in 2005 so it is only 4 years old. Of course I am going to go through an inspection and get a pest report to make sure everything is as good as it looks. It is a short sale though so that might take a while and the bank might not take our offer.

The house is perfect because it has the master bedroom/bath on one side and the other two bedrooms and bath on the other. It would make it easier to rent a room or two. The rooms are small but if someone wanted both of them they could have them (for a price) and then they have their own area of the house. It has a large great room concept room for the living / dining rooms and an open kitchen that is open to the large room. I think it is just fantastic and just what I want.
So the decision needs to be made.
I called my tax person to ask what I would need to adjust my with holdings to allow me to take advantage of owning a house but she needs to know the interest I would pay each month and when the payments would start. We also had a conversation about taking advantage of the new tax credits on the 2008 taxes meaning I will get back about 8 k (since I paid 10k in taxes). She didn’t know about being able to do it so I had to tell her and she had to look it up. Turns out I am right and of course now she is encouraging me to do it and to be able to get money back next year.

I know I want a house and am ready but it is still a big decision when you are buying alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I also found out that I came in second rank for a new position with the state. It would mean a nice money bump (about 4-500 a month) but I am not ready for it yet. I want to stay with my boss and the team I work with for as long as possible. They are good, we get a lot of work done and are slowly making progress at this state agency to change the way things have been done to correct them and be in line with the letter of the law for our programs. But it was a nice feeling to know that I placed so well. My position on the list will remain there for a year at which time I will have to retest but I am happy for the time being.

I am having sushi with my friend Amy tomorrow. We have not seen each other in a month or so and I have a gift card from three years ago that I was saving for something special. I think this qualifies.

My nephews going away party is tomorrow. He is going to boot camp and his schooling for the next 9 months or so. I am so very proud of him but also scared for him in the same breath. It will be so hard on my sister to see him go as they have never spent more than 3 days apart in 19 and a half years. At least he will be back in time for my nieces wedding in November. Big changes for the ir family this year.

This has been an interesting week for me. I spent all of this afternoon looking at 10 houses ranging from 170 (short sale) to 215. I have three favorites. The first one is 215k (asking price) and it is exactly the floor plan I want BUT it has Mello Roos fees of 180 PLUS an HOA fee of 135. That one is off my list as I am not adding 300 to the amount I would pay each month (unless they lowered the price significantly.)

The second house (170k, LARGE lot, parking for RV, and room for pool) might have an offer so we are waiting to see and the third I also love is 200K (great patio and yard, good flooring, great storage cabinets in garage, cherry wood laminate floors) which is just over what I want to pay. Both of these have HOA fees of 65 a month and they take care of the front yard, cutting, watering and all. Sees like a good deal to me.
At 170k I know payments on the house would be just about $1180 at 5% which I think is a good interest rate and closing costs at 6300 or a rate of 5.5% makes my payments 1241 and closing costs about 4700. The second rate means I would pay 178k in interest while the 5% means 156K in interest. I want the 5% rate! And to pay it off faster than that!

I spoke to my tax person this week and with the new tax credit for buying a house in 2009 it would wipe out 90% of what I paid the feds based on 2008 taxes but this year I will make about 9% less with the state reductions in pay. I am playing around with my withholding calculator and trying to determine where my withholding would be for the rest of the year. Where would I move it? 5, 6, 7? At 5 my take home is 3659 or so a month, at 6 it is 3705 and at 7 it is 3750. This year with the 10% reduction in pay I will make 57k. So how do I figure where to place the with holding?

Playing with the with holding means that I pay less federal taxes overall so with this new credit, if I pay less than 8k in takes do I get a complete refund up to 8k? for example, if I pay 7k in taxes to feds (salary, new house items, interest on the house etc.) will I get a refund only up to 7 k or the complete 8k? I know usually it is only on what you have paid but at times there is a complete refund. SO…if I bought a hoseu where do I put the withholding to be sure to maximize the credit but not have to pay anything and get the most from my pay check?

I know I will not get the tax credit from CA because the house is not brand new (stupid in my opinion, give a tax credit that helps the builders more than people??) but I am unclear if there are things I can write off for my California taxes…property taxes? Closing costs?
How in the world do people figure out what to do? Buy a house? Where to put the withholding for the first year? What to write off next year?

Mama! I need your advice and EXPERTISE!

It was a quiet day today. I slept late because i went to bed late last night. Am fighting a bit of a cold, coughing a lot is my only symptom. I just wnated to be quiet and get rest.

I did do three quizzes for my online real estate class this morning, watched a little TV, read for a while, talked to one of my sisters, watched a couple of taped Gilmore Girls episodes etc.

I have one more quiz to do to be caught up for the class. I'll do it tomorrow sometime, no hurry.

I did do the budget for the month and i can either put 1425 toward a cc or save it for a month in my house account. I am leaning toward paying off the debt.

I got one of those california state layoff notices but i know it is a mistake because i have twice the time the agency is asking for to continue being employed. It just does not make any sense. I think i am going to pay off the chase card with it. that leaves only two cards left!! For future months i will split the amount half toward debt and half toward house savings. i want to be able to move forward with a house if i find one and i have little in terms of a down payment.

I was contacted by someone who worked as a private consultant with my previuos agency to see if i was interested in doing some side work for her. I said yes! (of course!). Now I just need to fill out the conflict of interest paperwork at work and get it approved. The project actually has noting to do with anything in california so i should be ok with that paperwork.

I sit at my desk at my job every morning thinking one of two thoughts: it is to warm in here or it is to cold. I take off a sweater or put one on thinking, why can’t they do something about the temperature in here?

Then I saw a report on the morning news talking about the homeless tent camp here in Sacramento and I was suddenly ashamed for thinking that I am to hot or cold when there are people who are always to hot or cold. There are children without a place to sleep at night, without a hot meal or something to snuggle as they try to sleep on a cold, rainy night.

With the current struggle in the economy homeless programs are projecting a 10%-15% increase in the homeless population this year and more children impacted than ever before. How many times do we go the store and see one of those buy one get one free items and don’t take the free item or take the free item to our already overflowing pantry or cupboards?

This year I turn 35. I realize how blessed I am to have a roof over my head, a well paying job, friends and family that I can turn to when I need help or support. I have enough money to buy what I need and also what I want.

For my birthday instead of gifts I am asking that people donate something to the Sacramento Loaves & Fishes Homeless program or to those of you far away, to one of your community programs. Many of the items found on program wish lists can be purchased at the dollar store, many for less than a dollar. On the Sacramento Loaves & Fishes website they list their needs:

Toilet paper, Paper napkins, Paper towels, Paper cups, Small Dixie cups
Reading Glass (no Rx, available at the Dollar store)

Dining Room & Food Supplies
Coffee mugs, Metal forks, Large zip lock bags, Fast food coupons, Sugar, Coffee, Tea, Salt & Pepper (Large).

Hygiene Items
Razors and after shave, Q Tips, Tampons/Pads, Depends (adult diapers), Tooth paste and brushes, Shampoos (Large & Small), Conditioners (Small), Lotions (Small), Deodorants, Brushes/Combs, Small sewing kits, Small first aid kits.

Baby Items
Diapers (large & toddler sizes), Baby wipes, Baby juices, powdered formula, baby bottles (plastic), Baby food.

Guest’s Gear
Sleeping bags, Blankets, Small plastic tarps, Backpacks, Towels & Washcloths, Small can openers, Bike tire patch kits, Bike lights, Large candles, AA batteries, Reading glasses, RT bus passes.

Special Clothing
Rain ponchos, New socks, New underwear (Men & Women), New bras, Stretch gloves,
Knit hats, Jackets, Tennis Shoes (Men & Women).

I know my birthday is not until July, but turning 35 has really made me start thinking about those things that are important in my life. I know there are people here who are struggling each and every day but it you have a roof over your head, food to eat, clothes to wear, the love of friends and family, and security to know you are moving forward in your life then you are blessed. I ask each of my friends (in real life or on the saving advice website) to pick up one small item and donate it to one of your local programs before July 24th (my birthday).

There was a report on the news sometime in the past few weeks about how our children are responding to the bombardment of horrible news about the state of our economy. What better way to show your children that your family is doing ok, then by talking with them as you purchase and donate someplace.

Drop me a note or comment here and tell me what you did. I’d like to tally and track what our small community can do to change the lives of those who have very little.

I know it has been a while since I updated, that seems to be the standard thing for me to say!

Things here at the state have been pretty crazy and now we have two days off a month and a ten percent reduction in pay. I did find out today that my step increase (5%) in July should be based upon my regular salary not my salary during these furlough times. Right around the end of the furloughs in June 2010 when our salaries go back up to our regular amounts I also get another step increase so it will be like getting a 15% raise all at one time. I am hoping that if I am making it ok I am going to put 10% toward my 401k (which got cut to almost nothing with these furloughs/10% cuts) and the other 5% toward my 457. We will see how I can live on this salary for the next few years.

I took close to $4350 out of my bank accounts and used it to pay off some credit cards, two of them! Taking those usual monthly payments and putting it toward the final card means I should be out of credit card debt around this same time or a little later next year. Then all I have left is the student loan. At that point I will put the amounts I am currently paying toward the credit card debt and put it toward the student loans, which means I am paying more each month than the minimum payment. If I could up that to $500 then I could pay off 48k in a little less than 10 years. So… we will see how it goes all pie in the sky ideas right now.

Buying a house is a goal in the next 12 months. I want to be able to take advantage of the tax breaks from the state and the feds. It looks like to housing tax breaks by the state are taking 10k and dividing it over three years of returns and the federal tax break is 8k without having to pay it back like last year 7500 credit. That would be awfully nice to take advantage of!! I know the state is limiting to time period and limited to I think 100 million dollars. (?) So my tax person said she would do some more research for me and send it to me with my completed return.

I sent off my tax paperwork and am waiting to hear if I have to pay or if I get money back. I am hoping that I get just a little back and not have to pay anything. Last year I got money back from the Feds but had to pay the state. That scenario would be fine too!

I am waiting for my state union to begin negotiations with the state. One other union has renegotiated their bargaining unit contract and has limited it to one furlough day and only a 5 % cut. That would be so great!

The hard part for me with these furlough days is that I work an alternate work week (every other Friday off) and I just can’t afford to miss every Friday for the next year and a half. It would be nice but realistically when I sit down and see the work load that I have and the expectations of my agency it just cannot be done. But there comes into play the alternate work schedule, what to do? I figured out that I can work half days on Fridays and keep my hours matching the required numbers of hours so that is nice! My boss is happy because I am still here five days a week for the non furlough days but I still have the afternoons off on Fridays and still get that feel of having the time off. It was a good compromise. I will not have to use a vacation day for the next 18 months with this new schedule. Every weekend feels like a mini vacation.

I have been reading all the blogs and keeping up with everyones exciting news!!

Can you believe already 2 months of the year have gone by?

well it has been a while since I wrote a truly financial post. I came up with my budget for january 2009. Today was a no spen day, indeed I did not even leave the house. I am still "house sitting" (read getting a break fromy current living situation) at sisters house until they return sometimenext week. Have been here two weeks and have learned hat living in Folsom means my gas expenses would go up about 50 dollars per month than where I currently live for spending time with friends but I would only be minutes my two sisters and their families. So tough decision. Here isy budget for January 2000:

Rent: 465
Utilities (one third): 125
Cell phone: 75
Groceries: 200
Fun: 225
Gas: 160
Ameritrade: 50
Storage unit: 10
Car: 100
Car insurance savings: 100
Rental insurance savings: 35
Car repairs savings: 100
Netflix: 15
Audible.com: 15
CC#1: 75
CC#2: 100
CC#3: 170
CC#4: 130
Amex (paid off monthly): 59
Sierra savings: 100
Savings #2: 75
Gifts savings: 74
College classes: 90
House savings: 875

Leaving around 100 in the budget from my pay check from yesterday. February house savings goes to 1000 then beginning march will be 1200+ each month. That feels good.

With this same planning I will once again be able to pay off the two insurances from savings, gifts saved for, car repair/new car account getting to 5000 etc. It feels nice to have the plan. I love these kinds of plans and haVe been doing this for years now. I usually am pretty good about sticking to the budget but bad at writing everything down. That Is something I want to work on this year.

Resolutions:
Keep written records and receipts for all purchases.
Hit the gym 4-5 times a week and loose weight.
Pack lunch or have food at desk ahead of time for saving money.
Limit tv time to ten hours a week (not including am news).
Figure out the happiness quotient I am missing from my life.
Keep I'm better contact with friends.

I think those are good to start with. Happy New Year everyone!

The house is just over a thousand feet. I think this is size for a single gal.

Still no other offers. I do know it was a short sale on the market for 276 days before they foreclosed on the house. Now what do I do?

MM-Congratulations!

I am looking for advice now…I live in California, near Sacramento, an area that has been hit with this whole mortgage thing and will continue to be affected because of the bad loans made into 2006.
I walked through the house I want to buy last Friday night. It is perfect and everything I said I wanted 5 years ago when I was dreaming (2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, gas range to cook on, no large yard to upkeep (preferred a town house like patio with greenery)) just everything perfect. It is in a gated community (although the gate has been open each time I drove by.) The house even has an east facing master bedroom like I wanted. HOA is $115 a month.

Please do not tell me to keep the emotion out of it, there is no emotion as my line of thinking is either I get it or I don’t. This is the house plan I want but if it is not this house—that is ok.

The bank (it is a foreclosure) is asking 250k. Out of my price range but as they foreclosed on the house for 195k, what is a reasonable offer to make? They have dropped the price 10k since it went on the market Sept. 25th. I really didn’t want to go over 200 but might have to to buy this house. It is in a good neighborhood, nice homes less than 8 years old, they are zero lot lines homes so no large yard to up keep just a stamped concrete patio type with plant containers and a small tree and green zone. What sounds like a good offer? Other properties in the area that are the same floor plan as the one I like are asking around 270k.

(270K for a 2/2/2 with no yard? Are you kidding me??)

Anyway I was approved for a mortgage at 5.3% (and am hoping the rates continue to drop-4.5% would be fantastic!)

I also have to wait and see what happens with the state as I work for them and they are seriously in trouble financially. The latest is up to a 10% reduction in workforce (13k positions gone or open positions not getting filled) AND having state employees take somewhere between 5% and 10% reduction in salary. If they did that, there goes my house dreams.

What I cannot figure out is where the withholding should be to equal out at the end of the year. The whole deduction of mortgage interest thing confuses me. Based upon my current withholdings, what does it mean if you paid 10k in federal taxes in 2008 and paid 12k in home mortgage interest? How much would you get to deduct from your federal taxes, a one for one exchange or a percentage of what you paid interest wise on a mortgage? I know you can write off property taxes too, anything else?

MM-do you do any personal counseling? Since your in the area can I hire your company for my taxes this year?

I bake a good chocolate chip cookie if that helps…

On Friday I tried to get a doctor appointment because I knew how sick I was. They could not fit me in but they told me to go to the clinic associated with their office in the same building. I went, told the doctor all my symptoms and requested a cough syrup to help me sleep and let my house mates sleep. I also told him all my symptoms for the bronchitis. He prescribed the cough syrup but did not tell me (or note it anywhere on the papers he gave me) that he prescribed antibiotics. I went to pharmacy to pick up the prescription (good thing here was news that co pays with the new insurance are only $5, yippee!).
Fast forward to Sunday when I knew I was sicker than ever before and had a fever. Managed to get an appointment on Monday with my own doctor who walks into the room and says, so the antibiotics you are taking are not working?.....um…What antibiotics? The doctor I saw on Friday did not give me anything. Turns out after reviewing my files he decided to prescribe some but NO ONE called me or told me. So here I am very sick and barely moving around, trying to get in to see her when it could have been taken care of by a phone call. His excuse? I figure she had not picked up the syrup yet. Right, I can’t sleep or breather without coughing, let me wait 8 more hours before I feel better. I stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday. I am trying to go Wednesday but don’t expect to spend a whole day. My doctor said she will bring this up at the clinic meeting next week because this is something that has happened before. Oh and my fever on Friday? 101.1, on Sunday 102.9 and 102.7 Monday when I say her. Had he read my file he would have seen the previous notes by my doctor. I am so angry. I could have been a lot better instead of being sicker than I have been the past two years. I may not want to visit that clinic again of this is the kind of service. I mean, all he had to do was open my computer file and there it is, everything about me for the past 10 years.

going to be now as i need as much sleep as i can get. toodles!

It has been an interesting few weeks since I last wrote.

First let me say that I have missed catching up with all of you and the blogs. I fear I will have lots of time to read them over the next couple of days as I am home sick, more on that later. Welcome to all the new bloggers!

I left my old job and started the new one. I love it! The people (several of whom I worked with at the old job) work with me at the new one and gave me a wonderful welcome and just made it feel like family. I love going to work, have no problem getting up when the alarm goes off and will start back to the gym in the AM before work once I am not sick. It is so nice to be working someplace where they use your intelligence and believe in you.

I had not realized until I was leaving the last job how much that place had beaten my self esteem into the ground. It is nice to realize that I am an intelligent smart person and to have it recognized. It is also nice to catch an error in a major document your first day of work that might have cost your agency millions of dollars in the event of an emergency. It is always nice to make your first impression with the bosses a good one. The other people at the job are very nice and I am going to enjoy working there.

The only downside is a woman who sits next to me keeps remarking on how young I am. Her first words out of her mouth (and I kid you not) when she picked me up from the lobby on my first day was hello, boy you are young to have this job. (She is right I am about 15 years younger than the next employee but I worked HARD to get here.) Her comments about my age just increased when she read the biography that was sent out by the HRM in our agency. She made one last comment about my age when I wore jeans to the office my first week there. Think dark jeans with great shoes, a professional shirt and jacket and a very polished look. Picture me hearing 10 times a day, including when she introduces me to people that I am so very young to have this job. She mentioned: oh jeans your first week? I would not be caught in jeans my first week at a new job. I just replied: well as you mentioned I am very young and we are of different generations. C’est la vie! But she got the hint and has not mentioned my age since.

She has made it clear she wants to get a promotion from the glorified assistant level, but truly, she is clueless about how to work with people, does not censor herself, she puts herself into every conversation, and generally drives everyone around her nuts. I was warned about her before I started but did not believe it. She also narrates what she is doing. “Now I am calling Roger, asking about the XYZ file, dialing 555-1212, etc.” Thank god for my I-pod and loud opera in a foreign language. It blocks 90% of her narrations.

Somehow between the new job and seeing my sister and her family last weekend I got a cold which in two days turned into bronchitis. Now I am on the watch to see if it turns into pneumonia. I am very susceptible to getting sick with lung issues since the winter I came home from Moldova. I had to finish out the week (big emergency management exercise at work I was evaluating) but am home and bed bound for the weekend. I hope to be better by Monday as I have to go in to finish a project and then I have a day off Tuesday to make up for missing my regular day off Friday. Getting a 9-8-80 work week is just wonderful and if the governor goes through with the one day a month furlough (where state employees get one more day off without pay and lose a little less than 5% of their salary a month) I will have almost 40 days off a year without using vacation. How nice is that? I might never have to take a vacation day unless I want more than 4 days off in a row.

Now that the new job as started I feel like I have gotten my life back. I leave work and have energy and want to go and do something and enjoy it. I have spent more time with friends in the last month than probably 6 months because of how I was feeling for the past year. It is nice to feel like my old self and have friends recognized it and me as the old me. It feels nice to be back.

My niece did amazing at her first state gymnastic competition. Such a wonderful thing but I missed it as I am home. Yeah for her.

I got the job! I got the job!

Comes with a raise and a split 9-8-80 work week. I will get either friday or monday off every other week. (I want fridays personally but we will see what i get.)

I will start approximately the beginning of November with the new pay period.

I already accepted and sent my note to the assistant deputy of my office. It was a very nice note explaning that it was best for me and my current office if i accept a position I was offered someplace else. I think it was nice and i could have been a lot meaner.

I am so excited! Ths is going to be such a better place then where i am currently and i get to be with some of my old team too.

yeah i will have a job i won't be crying about in three weeks!

The sneezes? i seem to have a cold. And i am looking forward to the rain after not having it for 9 months or so!

It went ok. I am not happy about some of my answers after I thought about them in the car on my way to work.

I won't find out until Friday if the job is mine. While it is working for the same supervisor I worked for before and he wants me to work with him now, this is a new agency and all bets are off. I was the first person they called for the interview so I feel good about that.

I really want out of my job but I am not willing to lose the money i make or make a bad decision. I did decided that if this job does not come through I will begin looking to get a job anywhere now that the state budget has been passed.

The other interviewer was difficult. I can imagine this job being hard and wanting the same job but when i started answering the later questions with some material i had used earlier she cut me off and asked if i had new materials.

I was kind of pissed because while i had used part of the project in an earlier answer i was using other pieces of it for the answers to the other questions. i just continued on as if she had not interrupted me as the answers were there if she would just let me. When i looked at her 40 seconds later she was making notes and crossing off things on the work sheet in from of her.

Now, I was given a copy of the questions when i arrived at the interview so would'nt you think i'd note the answers and situatuons from my professional career that would be helpful?

Anyway I won't know until Friday and I hope that it is a good result for me professionally!!

I hate my job. No surprise there but I leave work a couple days a week and cry in my car before I can drive home. That is not a good sign.

I am will interview for the job I applied for 4 weeks ago sometime in the next two weeks. I am almost finished with the 5th major 24 hours training I have written in 15 months and preparing for the 6th.

I have decided on the music I am going to sing for one of the in class concerts and the recital at school: the first one is Danny Boy. Long time readers may say, um...didn't you sing that last year? Um...yes but I forgot the words to the third verse and kind of hummed along until I remember them. I want to redeem myself in my own eyes.

The second song is the Eva Cassidy version of over the rainbow. It is just beautiful and I love it. I hope to be able to do it justice. I am sure it will not sound like Ms. Cassidy as she had an amazing ethereal, jazzy, sexy voice but I am going to try. I practiced for an hour today and got the two rough parts down. There will be one more piece to practice and I have a month or so. The hard part is really getting the breathing down which is why I purchased and decided on this song. Maybe I can post something here and get some comments.

Because I am so unhappy at work I have begun avoiding friends and family. I just don’t want to be around people because I feel like I will snap and say something me because of the pressure and frustration of my job. I also have not been paying attention to spending for the past three months have blown a lot of money I needed to save for a ouse an debt payments. I have not gone to the gym in three months either. I already have a plan of action for getting a new job because a whole new job, new agency, new place of work means a whole change in my schedule and life.

I have two state position exams coming up as well. Both are still in my classification and are promotions (one over the other). While I am prepared to do the job of one, the other is a bit high. I just want to take the exam to see if I can get on the list and see what happens. I believe that I am still a little out of my league for that one. Knowing the people in that sector I would be about 15 ears younger than the next person. How strange it would be to manage people older than me. (and some with more experience.) I have seen the training products that come out of this particular office and it stinks. Maybe I could help to turn that around for the agency. Who knows.
I have a whole chapter of homework and 65 quizzes to do this weekend. It is a lot of work but if I pace myself I’ll be ok. The real estate class if quite boring and the instructor is just horrible but it is pretty easy. The other class is not so easy.

Oh and my friend moved from Hawaii to Michigan! She passed through on Tuesday and it was so nice to see her after almost a year. We are planning for a long visit for me once she gets settled, maybe during thanksgiving week. I could go for a week and only use 2 vacation days so that would be nice. But the frustrating part was that I just saved enough to come and visit her in Hawaii!

I am completly frustrated with the US government for agreeing to these stop gap measure with or money. Currently our national debt stands around 9.4 trillion (yes trillion) dollars. Enough for each person to owe about $32,000 to pay it off. Now we are going to add another half a trillion to it. I made the decision not to buy a house or make poor investments. Now i wish i had. Some of the investment minds think the government may end up makign a profit on the purchase of the mortgages and assisting banks. It just pisses me off that the money is going there. isn't free enterprise mean, if you screw up then you have to

I am going to crawl into bed, listen to a movie for a while and go to bed before 11.