The “Cheaper” Wedding – Part One

When my husband and I decided to get married, we had some differences in our thought processes.

Him: “Wedding! I want a wedding!”
Me: “No wedding! Courthouse!”

As you can see, our thinking varied quite a bit from the beginning.

Once we decided to actually have a wedding, we were pretty lazy about it. I am not the girl that is often stereotyped as planning her dream wedding her entire life. In fact, I found myself resenting most of the things I had to do in order to get through the process. I found myself harboring resentment whenever something had to do be done or if a problem arose. In the end, I really enjoyed our wedding and many of our friends told us it was the most fun they have ever had at a wedding.

Having a wedding, however, can be an overwhelmingly expensive ordeal. My husband and I paid for almost the entire wedding ourselves and living in an expensive city did not make things any easier. I lost count of how many times people told us “you’ll get it back” or “it’s only once” as an excuse to spend even more money. In the end, we found ourselves sticking to our budget and making our wedding work for us. According to Reuters, the average cost of a U.S. wedding was $27,021 and in New York the average skyrockets to $65,824. With numbers this overwhelming, one might wonder how they can have their “dream” wedding on a budget.

Budgeting – The First & Most Important Step

Many people advise against being “house poor” in the same way I would advise against being “wedding poor.” Could my husband and I have had a wedding for $65,824 without going into debt? Absolutely, if we wanted to wipe out our savings accounts. However, many people end up going into debt for weddings which is something I cannot fathom. I cannot wrap my head around the idea of starting a life together in massive amounts of debt or, if you’re already in debt, adding to that monstrosity.

The biggest thing people need to give up is the sense of entitlement that they deserve or are somehow owed a big wedding if they cannot afford it. My mom and all of her siblings either eloped or had courthouse weddings; my husband’s family loves to have big, catered affairs. We were obviously used to very different things and had to really assert ourselves in terms of what we wanted and ignoring other people.

At the beginning, I was a little unrealistic to the cost of our wedding once I came up with a theme. I had a budget but once we got into the actual planning a couple of months before our wedding, I realized I’d have to adjust my budget appropriately. Given that we were having a wedding where the average cost is $65,824, I realized that having a wedding around $13,000 wasn’t the end of the world for us. So how can you begin your initial budgeting?

LOCATION

The biggest thing you need to budget for first is your location. For this, you need to take several factors into account:

• Are you having a ceremony and reception in the same place or at different locations?
• Are you having food catered at the location or are you able to bring in your own catering?
• Is there an additional cost for a rental on top of catering or is everything batched together?
• Does the rental space come with anything, such as tables, chairs, etc?
• Is it accessible to the people you are inviting?
• And most importantly, can you afford this location?

My husband and I saved a lot of money and time by having our ceremony immediately before our reception. After searching for hours, I found an incredibly affordable place that I could rent out for four hours. The cost of the rental was approximately $1400 and we paid for one more additional hour in case we ran over our time, which we ended up using in its entirety anyway. One way we saved money was by simply asking them if we could have our ceremony directly outside of the building—and the answer was yes! I found that most people rented out a separate area for $500 extra and you had to pay for the entire thing even if it was being used for a short ceremony. Additionally, nothing else in the area rented for anywhere close to $1400—in fact, most rentals were $5,000 and above. Even though it was a little further away then I wanted it to be, people could still access our wedding by public transportation or taxi if they didn’t have their own vehicles.

We detest catering halls so finding this place which felt like you were outdoors was amazing and well-worth the research I put into it. The best part about it was that we were allowed to bring in our own catering company or could cater food any way we wanted to. This one thing saved us a ton of money and will be discussed in my next wedding post.

Why We’re Keeping Our Car

My husband and I have grown up in a major city our entire lives. Every one of our relatives, all older than us, has a car. Yet you will find that the younger generations, people around our age, do not seem to have a car. In fact, amongst our friends, we are one of the few to own a car. Most conversations will go something like this:

Disbelieving Friend: You have a car?
Us: Yes.
Disbelieving Friend: Why?
Us: Because we want one?
Disbelieving Friend: Do you have to drive around your neighborhood?
Us: No, we can walk. We also have trains and buses just like you because we all live in the same city.

Costs of Having Our Car

Owning a car is quite costly. My husband and I bought a car years ago, way before we were married, and split the cost. We bought a used car that was only two years old at the time and in pretty good condition. The best part was that it cost us no additional money because we each paid for the car with our own money and didn’t have to take out a loan.

Initial cost for a 2009 Chevy Impala in 2011? Approximately $8,400 including taxes.

Of course, the costs don’t end there. You have to factor in everything else such as:

1. Gas and tolls
2. Registration and inspections
3. Regular maintenance (i.e. oil changes)
4. Regular repairs (i.e. having your driver’s side mirror knocked off twice in less than a year)
5. Additional desired expenses (i.e. car washes, buying a GPS, installing a new stereo)
6. Insurance

Why Keep Your Car When You Have Insanely Good Public Transportation?

We don’t use our car everyday. In fact, most of its usage occurs on the weekends.

Funnily enough, I have always been terrified of driving. It has always been a very tense situation for me that produces a lot of anxiety. We have had the car for years but I only got my license four months ago. I have to say I love the feeling of freedom my car provides for me.  I love that I can drive a very short distance (though not within walking distance) for sales and do quite a bit of shopping that saves me a lot of money, even including the gas I spend.

Most of all, I love that at any time, we can drive to any place without worrying how we will get there. We love to hike, which involves quite a bit of driving out of the city to get there. How would we do this without a car? My husband needs to go to various camping activities that are outside of the city. How would he do this without his car?

Of course, all of my friends who do not have cars are the first ones willing to snap up a ride from us. One of my friends is getting married and one of the first things another friend asked me was if we were driving there and if so, could they get a ride? I don’t mind giving people rides to places; in fact, when I drive to work (only 1-2x/week) I drop people off at the train. But that expectation that you have a car, therefore you should, gets annoying.

Friend: Want to hang-out?
Me: Okay.
Friend: You want to come to my neighborhood?
Me: Why can’t you come to mine?
Friend: Ugh you’re so far. And you have a car! The trip will be so fast for you. The train takes forever!

My friends act like having a car is some sort of freebie—as if we don’t pay almost $200/month in gas and insurance plus all of the other fees, maintenance costs and repairs over the year—just because we already have a car paid in full. As bewildering as they find it to be for us to have a car in the first place, they sure love any chance to get a ride in our car.

Yes, I Will Probably Have a Car Forever

All of those years I was too scared to drive seem silly to me now. Sometimes I still get anxious, especially driving in a major city, but it no longer prevents me from driving.

I really love the outdoors and there is no foreseeable way of getting there without a car. We are embarking on a nine-night camping trip throughout the state in September, something we wouldn’t be able to do without a car. Considering how expensive it is to rent the smallest car in my area, the cost of a rental would be a couple of months worth of my usual car expenses.

Would I save a lot more money without a car? I would. But I already put all of my paychecks directly into savings, since my husband’s paychecks are enough to cover rent and bills with money leftover. We already live on a budget. We already sacrifice a lot of things. This is a thing we will not sacrifice.

Do You Know About Your Money?

This post should just be a reminder for anyone who has ever had money—so that means you.

My husband is an awesome guy. He really is. But sometimes he is just kind of a ditz. I mean that in the most loving way possible. Sometimes I don’t understand how his brain works or where he is in terms of his thought process but I digress.

Last week I opened up our mail and nervously opened one letter from Chase. “Chase? This isn’t a credit card offer—why are we getting a notice from Chase?”

I open the letter and scan it. It’s for a Certificate of Deposit (CD) at an awful interest rate. I look at the terms of the deposit:

• Maturity Date: June 22, 2012
• Term: 13 Months
• Interest Payment Frequency: Monthly
• Interest Compounding: Daily
• Projected Value at Maturity: $3,518.61

WAIT, WHAT? Just stop right there; I don’t need any more bullets.

My husband, unbeknownst to him, had a CD of $3,500 just sitting around.

Me, to my mother: I don’t understand. It’s not like we’re rich and when this was opened KC probably made 50% less than he does right now. How do you just lose track of $3500???

My Mom: Rich people don’t lose track of their money they know where every penny is—that’s your problem.

At first my husband thought it was a mistake. He had a CD last year that he closed out and it was for less than half of the amount of this newly discovered CD. He thought the lines got crossed somewhere and he did not believe he had a CD. But after going to the bank and confirming it, he now accepts that he does have a CD.

But the question still remains: where did the CD come from???

My husband is pretty insistent that the CD he cashed in last year was the one he opened for himself. Back in the day, he received money from a particular event and put it into a CD without really even knowing what it was. But this CD he has no recollection of opening so our only assumption is that someone must have opened it for him. He had relatives who used to purchase things for him, such as bonds, pretty regularly so we are thinking this is where the money came from. As I said, my husband can tell you twenty-years ago about a game he was playing, the cards in his hands, and whatever else was going on at the time but he can’t remember where this magical $3,500.00 came from.

What You Should Take Away

I urge anyone who has ever had accounts or anything set-up for them, such as bonds, to check and see if they have ever forgotten about any of the funds they had in a bank somewhere. It actually happens quite often and I know this because once in awhile, the newspapers run the names of all of the people with unclaimed funds in various locations. Always be vigilant about knowing how much money you have and where it is going.

For us, this is perfect timing. Since we are looking for homes, this money makes me feel better about putting down 20% on a house. It adds to that little bit of cushion that we want to have before we move into somewhere else.

Ignoring “Advice” When Buying a Home

My husband and I have been looking at homes. We have had our eye on one particular contender. It’s a two bedroom, one bath co-op in a small unit of cooperative units that look like a row of townhouses—highly unusual in my area since most co-ops look like large apartment buildings. Aside from the stress involved in looking for a home, I have found that people tend to be less than supportive in our attempt to purchase a home. Instead, we end up hearing a stream of opinions from people who know absolutely nothing about our situation and who seem to know little about the housing market today.

Opinion #1: Don’t Buy a Co-Op! Ever!

People fear co-ops for a number of reasons. They do not like that you technically do not own a piece of property. They don’t like the idea of boards and people who can raise your maintenance whenever they want for whatever reason. I am perfectly able to understand where they are coming from and why they feel that way.

What I do not appreciate is when people wholeheartedly try to talk us out of purchasing a co-op. They do not know our situation well enough, financial or otherwise, to make that decision for us.  So many people are ready to talk us out of purchasing a co-op without talking to us first and that is something I do not understand.

Why purchase a co-op? Simply put, that is all we can really afford. Occasionally there is a condo that comes on the market that we can afford but that is very rare. Unlike the neighborhoods many of these people live in, co-ops are actually quite commonplace and regularly bought and sold where we reside.

Opinion #2: Try to Get…

My husband and I have what I consider to be a short list of things we want in a home.

• Two bedrooms, one bathroom
• Preferably some type of outdoor space
• Washer and dryer on-site, not even necessarily in our unit
• Dishwasher in the co-operative unit
• Storage or a lot of closet space
• Some type of parking even if there is a waiting period or lottery

Now some of these things are somewhat flexible. For example, the unit we are interested in doesn’t have a washer, dryer, dishwasher or parking on-site. However, we feel as though we must have the option to add some of these things in the future. Not having a parking space is not the end of the world either—it’s a preference but not necessarily a need.

The naysayers, of course, have to insert their own opinions as to what we should be looking for—why not try to get something with a backyard? Why don’t you get something with a big kitchen? Why don’t you get something that has been renovated? Why are you buying a co-op again?

Opinion #3: Why Don’t You Just Buy a House?

I really hate this question because it assumes that I wouldn’t want to buy a house if I could buy one. Do you think I would be purchasing co-operative units if I could afford a house? What makes you think we can easily afford a house? Do you guys mistakenly think my husband and I are rich? My husband and I would gladly purchase a home if we could afford it. Affordability is key and most of the people telling us this bought houses twenty or thirty years ago when houses were still easily affordable in our city.

What to Take Away

It’s always smart to listen to people in terms of housing, especially when you have never purchased a home before. However, you need to remember that this home is for you and that there is a difference between good advice and opinions from your friends and families. When you begin your search, keep these things in mind:

• Always ask for advice but make sure your advice is from the right people
• Before you ask for feedback, make sure whoever you are discussing your situation with has the entire picture
• Don’t allow other people to push their opinions on you and push you into something you don’t want

How have your home buying endeavors been? How have people responded to what you are looking for when you tell them about it?

Getting My Education — For Free (Almost) – Part One

I am one of those people who absolutely hates school but always find myself in school. I think it’s a sick form of mental masochism that I am always doing this to myself. Once again, I applied to school and I am starting to question my sanity.

But the point of this post is not only to allow readers delve deeper into my insanity—it is to tell you how I have received the majority of my education for free.  For this, we must go back in time to nearly ten years ago, when I first found myself applying to colleges.

HIGH SCHOOL

I would consider my high school years as apathetic with a hint of care. I took honors and AP classes but I did the bare minimum required. I rarely ever studied and sometimes I would have to take days off from school because I was so massively behind on homework I needed to stay home just to catch-up. When I was growing up my parents never really pushed us—it was you either go to school or work. So since all of my friends were going to college I thought, “Hey, I don’t want to work. Everyone else is going to college. I might as well just go to college!”

Since I obviously didn’t put any thought into it, I only applied to the college system in my city. For one application fee, you can apply to numerous colleges within the city system. I figured I would live at home like most of the people in the city system and go to school from there. At the time, tuition was only $4,000 for the entire school year as a full-time student, which was a steal compared to other schools.

COLLEGE – THE UNDERGRADUATE YEARS

For whatever reason a last minute decision sent me to a particular school. I hated it there but because of my parents’ income, I was able to at least have my entire tuition covered. I also received a grant because I had maintained a B average or greater in high school. This allowed me to at least pay for additional costs such as books and transportation.

After my first year, I transferred to a different school within the city system and they offered a much better financial package. In fact, I was making money going to school. It was great.

For my third year, something stirred inside of me and I transferred up to a state school. I had practically the same financial package, lost the grant I had from the city schools but gained two other grants from the state school because of my grades. However, to stay in the dorm, I needed to take out a loan. I took out more than I needed, because I didn’t have a job at the time and had no idea how much things would cost me. This was the only loan I ever took out for school—something small like $5,500. I wouldn’t say I regret it but I definitely could have taken a loan for a smaller amount.

After that year, I transferred back to the second city school I was at. (Are you still with me?) I still had no idea what I wanted to major in and I was now in my fourth year of college! Eventually I just picked something I thought I could potentially get a job in and actually followed through with it. I spent two more years as an undergraduate which totals to six, yes six years as an undergraduate. That might not sound so bad except that I was a full-time student the entire time.

Now after my fifth year, I couldn’t receive money anymore from a particularly source of financial aid. Luckily, at the same time, my program told us about a grant we could receive for $3,000 if we wrote an essay. Unlike most people, I did it and ended up getting the grant. And finally, after six years I graduated with a degree—that I didn’t even want to use.

COLLEGE – THE GRADUATE YEARS

I ended up disliking my major and jumped into something else immediately after I graduated. I applied to a program that was very similar to the Teach for America that would essentially pay for your graduate degree. So yes, a month after I graduated I started a graduate program in something completely unrelated to my field.

The program was funded through AmeriCorps so each year I received approximately $4,750 to apply to my tuition. Since I was at a city school again, my tuition remained low even though I was in a graduate program. Two years later, I graduated with my M.S. and left the field. Aside from paying taxes on the over $9,000 I received to pay my tuition, I only had to pay for books and a registration fee at the beginning of the semester. Considering I was working full-time, this was not a problem. I actually had money leftover from my grant, over $1,000, that I was able to apply to my student loans.

POST-GRADUATE SCHOOL

I decided that I would return to the field I had received my undergraduate degree in and although it was difficult, it is far less stressful. I had to study for my exam in order to get state licensure two or three years after I graduated, I did it and became a licensed professional within my state.

Funnily enough, I am now in a place that is associated with a union so I am back in school as of Fall 2012—only I am working backwards and I’ll be pursuing my A.S. The union will pay for up to six credits a semester or twenty-four credits per year.  I am at the point in my life where I figure—why not? In fact, I can see myself pursuing another graduate degree in the future!

Tune in next time for some very specific ways to keep college-related expenses down.

So You Want to Buy a Co-Op—Or Do You?

Co-ops, or housing cooperatives, are one of the many housing options available to people looking to have their own home.  Many people don’t even know what they are, especially if you find yourself living outside of major cities. Where I live, cooperatives are everywhere and they can be highly sought-after.

If you don’t know what a co-op is, or if you’ve heard of it but don’t really understand the purpose, you might find it to be kind of bewildering.  Sarah Siddons sums it up:

When you acquire a home in a housing co-op, you don’t actually buy real estate — you buy shares in a corporation, whose only asset is the property. This corporation owns the home you live in; you own no greater part of it than any other member. You gain the right to occupy it through what’s called a proprietary lease or occupancy agreement.

Technically, unlike a house or condo, you do not actually own the piece of property you are paying for so you might be scratching your head and wondering why anyone would want a co-op in the first place.

Why would anyone want a co-op?

Even though some people might be put-off by the idea of cooperative units, they actually have quite a few benefits.

1. Co-ops are generally more affordable than houses or condos

Where I live, co-ops can be significantly cheaper than condos or houses. By significantly cheaper, I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars less for properties of comparable size. In my area, I could not afford a condo let alone a house. To be fair, I have seen a total of two condos in a year and a half of looking on Trulia that we could afford and both needed work, which is not even a problem for me.

2. Co-ops are good for people who aren’t good with maintenance or lack the funds for upkeep

Currently, I am a renter in a co-operative building. People who actually own units in my building pay maintenance fees somewhere between $500-$800/month depending on the size of their unit on top of their mortgage payment. Maintenance includes a lot of things, which I will discuss below, but it also includes contributing to the buildings finances. If the elevator breaks down or if the building needs a new roof, you are not suddenly finding yourself responsible for thousands of dollars in repairs.

3. Co-op maintenance fees may work in your favor

Maintenance fees in co-operative units can range quite drastically depending on the building you’re in and may benefit you in a number of ways. You may find that :

• Some of these fees include certain utilities such as gas or electric
• Some co-ops have additional things like gyms, doormen, storage units, maintained gardens and a live-in super
• Taxes and other charges such as water and heat are often included
• And the biggest factor— maintenance can be anywhere from 30%-70% tax deductible

Why would I avoid a co-op?

Just like anything else, co-ops can their disadvantages. Many of these are really off-putting to potential homeowners.

1. You never technically own your property and may not be able to make a profit

As mentioned above, you are just purchasing shares of a property so you do not technically own the property itself. On top of that, some co-ops have a flip tax which may take all or part of any money you would otherwise make from a sale. Additionally, because most co-ops do not allow subletting, it virtually eliminates the potential for an investment property.

2. Co-op boards can be a hassle

If you know anybody who owns a co-op, you might have heard about the infamous “board” that may be the bane of his or her existence. Depending on where you are looking for a home, co-op boards can be barely noticeable or a constant annoyance. Boards can be notoriously choosy as to the people they allow into their units and can reject people for a variety of reasons. On top of that, restrictions on what you can do to your unit can be placed at any time. For example, my uncle had a washer installed in co-op and not too long after that the board decided that people could no longer install them.

3. Maintenance can be awfully high for not very much

Maintenance can vary widely from co-op to co-op. In some buildings, you get a lot more for your money than in others. For example, a co-op that I looked at this past weekend had the maintenance listed at 32% tax deductible, which is far cry from the other co-op I looked at that had the maintenance listed at 50% tax deductible. While some will include certain utilities and other extras, others will include only the very basics. Many people will find that maintenance can be prohibitively expensive for people on-top of a mortgage payment.

How do you feel about co-ops? Would they be a viable option for you? For us, it’s currently the only option.

To Buy or Not to Buy – Our First Home

I am currently in the midst of freaking out and incessantly thinking about the possibility of purchasing a home.

I thought I had most of the figures down until I found myself on this link: Is It Better to Buy or Rent? According to the numbers that I put in, it would be better for us to rent for the time being, which makes me sad in a way.

Purchasing our first home is an incredibly scary thing for us. We have been saving up money for a few years now and we finally have enough to put 20% down on certain properties. In our area, a major city, we cannot afford anything but co-ops and the occasional condo. I have a feeling that when I ask for a cashier’s check of nearly $70,000 to put down as a down payment, I might throw up. Really.

Part of me feels conflicted because I want a place of my own. Part of me feels conflicted because a co-op is not my dream home. My dream home has space, a backyard and a pool. My dream home is not what I could only describe as “having that apartment feel.” By space, I don’t mean a huge house—I just mean something we could grow into together.

My husband and I have been pretty set on purchasing a two-bedroom co-op. Right now we rent a one-bedroom apartment for $1300.00/month. We actually live in a pretty nice building but it has a lot of things I don’t like such as:

• The only thing the kitchen has going for it is the space—it’s actually a big kitchen for most apartments I have seen in the area and has a lot of cabinet space. The kitchen has an ugly laminate floor that is not only coming up in certain areas but is put on in such an incredibly lazy way that the second half of the kitchen “tiles” do not line up with the first half. The backboard is crooked and not even against the wall. There are holes/spaces near the floor.
• The bathroom is disgusting. Both the pipes in the sink and tub seem to ALWAYS be clogged. For whatever reason the ventilation is awful and we always have mold growing. The stuff is coming up off of the tub floor.
• Last year we had an awful storm and water started to leak through the brick. The building had to be repointed and the super said after it was finished, he would come in and paint over where the water leaked through and left yellow stains. Never happened. We have a live-in super and considering he had to do this on every floor for multiple sections of the building I find it hard to “forget.”
• Awkward things like a door to the living room, a super dark hallway, small foyer that ends up being a haphazard desk area
• Roaches!

At the same time there are things I do like:

• Rooms are a nice size
• Daytime doorman
• Building, overall, is nice and has laundry downstairs; close to train
• Rent is okay for us

WHAT WE WANTED FOR OUR HOME

• Wanted a two-bedroom or a one-bedroom large enough to perhaps alter into a second room
• Wanted a private outdoor space such as a terrace
• Lower maintenance costs
• Washer/dryer on-site

THE CONDO

There has only been one condo for sale that we could remotely afford. Crunching some numbers, paying the mortgage plus the maintenance would actually cost us either slightly less or slightly more than what we pay now. The taxes were relatively low and given the fact we could claim our mortgage interest, I think it would work out to our benefits.

PROS

• Cheaper for us
• Had a terrace
• Had a W/D in the unit
• Had a small storage space in the basement
• Had a parking spot—extremely, extremely rare

CONS

• My guy absolutely hated it
• Definitely need a little work
• Smaller than the place we’re in now

SUMMATION

I guess I have a little more vision but I saw some potential in there to really fix up some things and turn a profit on it. I liked the fact that we could rent it out in the future, unlike most co-ops, and I think we could actually turn a profit on the place either renting or selling. However, as much as I am willing to make an offer, my man is not and I’m not going to force him into something he doesn’t like even though I have really tried to sell it to him.

THE CO-OP

The very first co-op we saw is the one we keep coming back to. It’s approximately 280 square feet larger than the condo (880 square feet) and has two bedrooms.

PROS

• Sick of living in big buildings and this is a very small co-operative unit that looks like a row of houses
• Two bedrooms
• Open feel
• Terrace
• Very low maintenance that is 50% tax deductible—the maintenance rate is unheard of in our area
• Separate/private entrance
• Private storage area in the basement
• Doesn’t need a lot of work—mostly cosmetic stuff that we could live with for now

CONS

• Kitchen is kind of small
• Bedrooms are kind of small
• Currently no W/D on site—we have to see if they’ll let us put one in the basement—additional expense
• Eventually would like to add a dishwasher—another additional expense
• Parking in that area is worse than where we are now and there might be three spots somewhere but they are wait list and I doubt we’re anywhere near the top
• Would cost us more than our current rent
• Cannot sublease in the future

SUMMATION

We are actually working on bidding for this place. We are going to bid quite a bit less than the asking. We’re still in the process of figuring out our loan stuff (trying to get a better rate) and obtaining a lawyer.

Although the money maintenance and mortgage would be more than our rent right now, our rent would eventually increase again. Additionally, the mortgage interest and half of the maintenance are tax deductible, so I think this will almost allow us to break even.

NOT FOR THE WEAK

Buying a house is emotionally draining. It really is. And as much as I try to stay logical about it, I still find it to be such an emotionally wrapped up decision. As much as I can make an argument for the condo, will we be happy in a place we don’t particularly like? I need my home to be a place I enjoy being in—not somewhere I want to run from.

Long-Term & Short-Term Goals – Where Am I?

As of June 7, 2012:

FINANCIALS – WHERE I AM AT AND MY GOALS

High-Yield Savings Account: $72,546.45

• Nearly all of my paychecks are put into this account
• Rate has fallen from 0.65% to 0.55% so now we currently earn about $31.00-$32.00 in interest monthly
• Must maintain a daily balance of $10,000.00 in order to avoid fees
• Money is kept here instead of another entity because I need fast access to it

Checking Account: $3,920.75

• Husband’s paychecks are directly deposited into the account
• Account is for paying bills and in order to secure the use of a particular feature, a $2500.00 minimum daily balance is needed; once the checking account exceeds $4,000, money is moved into the savings account

Total: $76,467.20

Short-Term Goal: Save an additional $2,000-$2,500 this month.

Long-Term Goal: The purpose of this money is to…

• Purchase a home for no more than $340,000-$345,000  including closing costs
• Put down approximately 20% as required by a co-operative unit and to avoid PMI; $66,000-$68,000 will be the approximate down payment
• Have at least $10,000 remaining in savings before moving into our first place in order to rebuild savings, have money as an emergency fund and begin any desired work on our home

Student Loan:

• Very mild student loan in which $50/month is deducted from my bank account
• Current balance is listed at $2,480.42
• Our household income is below the cut-off so I can deduct the minor interest on my taxes; no additional interest is added onto my loan so pay-off is not a concern

RETIREMENT  – WHERE I AM AT AND MY GOALS

My Situation:

• Currently part of a union that offers a pension plan
• Was previously part of a union that offers a pension plan
• I am not vested in either of these plans as of yet and I’m not sure that I will ever be at this rate

Husband’s Situation:

• His company began offering a 401K and as of last month he finally set it up
• Has it so that 5% is deducted from every check; the company matches 4%; his contribution will increase by 1% each year until it hits 10%
• Believes he has a 401K with a previous job; must find out information in order to roll it into his current account

Short-Term Goal: Goal is reluctantly put on hold until purchase of a home is complete; now my long-term goal

Long-Term Goal:

• Once we are settled in the house and feel okay with our money, I will open up a Vanguard STAR account
• It only requires $1,000 to start; from there on I will make contributions of $50-$100 every month

PERSONAL LIFE – WHERE I AM AT AND MY GOALS

This part is not as structured for me because I am insane and live inside my own head. I have a lot of things I want to do and possible options so here they are:

• Husband & I continue to look for part-time or per diem work
• Enroll in courses at the local CC; union will reimburse me for six credits per semester
• Continue working on and improving upon my crossword puzzle skills
• Resume my interest in plant identification
• Start reading books again
• Continue volunteering in some capacity
• Continue flossing my teeth which I am usually bad about

How are your goals looking?

Creating & Assessing a Budget

Toward the end of last year, I decided to make a budget for our tiny household.

You see, my husband and I were always decent with money. We have both worked since we have graduated from college and managed to somehow save money even when we weren’t paying attention to our finances. However, once we had to pay for our wedding in its entirety, I started to think we should draw-up a budget.

Budget

My budget, for the most part, is somewhat flexible and somewhat rigid. I am going to share my budget here with you and include the analysis I did via my six-month mark:

Regular Expenses – Regular expenses are those that are generally a fixed amount every month.

• Rent: $1300.00
• Phone Bill: $130.50 (+/- $1.00)
• Auto Insurance: $91.42 (This has occasionally gone up or down but seems set for now.)
• Internet: $39.95
• Student Loan Deduction: $50.00
• Netflix: $8.00
• Gym: $10.00

Variable Expenses – These are expenses I have budgeted for every month but are in no way fixed.

• Home Care: $50.00 – Current six-month analysis says my average spending in this category is between $20-$25/month, including some months in which the amount is zero.
• Groceries: $300.00 – Only had one month where we went over budget; otherwise, a six-month analysis puts our average spending at approximately $222/month.
• Dining Out: $250.00 – I am the first one to admit that eating out is a money pit and this is the only place I lack restraint. The thing is, I rarely spend my money on things I enjoy and this just happens to be something I love. This includes any fast food, coffee stops, etc. I have gone over budget three out of the six months and my average spending is approximately $238/month. Ouch.
• Car Gas: $125.00 – I actually had this at $100/month but I changed my budget around because I realized I hadn’t budgeted enough for gasoline. This especially holds true if we are taking day trips and considering the constant increases in gas prices. Six-month analysis has us spending a little over $100.00/month but I know that will increase.
• Haircuts: $20.00 – In actuality, my husband only gets his hair cut about once every two months and I almost never get my haircut because I grow it out and donate it. Thus our average spending has us at slightly under $5/month. I also do not do anything to my hair—no dyes, no treatments—and I’m lucky to have nice hair.
• Electric+Gas: $125.00 – This is actually an overstatement for most months. Considering we use very little in terms of electricity when it is not summer, our current average is around $71.00. When we are running the air conditioner, however, it is incredibly easy to go over the $125.00 mark so that is why I budgeted for so much.
• Misc: $200.00 – This is for anything we want to buy that is extraneous, such as a new video game, a park pass, etc. I cannot really analyze this area except to say it can be easy for us to stay under it; however, we have made some very large purchases that I put into here (such as a $3500.00 couch) which completely throw off the numbers.
• Transit Card: $25.00 – I actually had this at around $50.00 for when I was trying to take a class but then I took over $25.00 and moved it to the gasoline. I actually haven’t purchased anything for mass transit in months because I no longer take the class and I am lucky enough to walk to work most days.
• Clothes: $50.00 – We actually don’t shop very often so we have averaged out at around $30.91 per month for clothing purchases. This may change in the future though because my husband has recently ripped a ton of clothing.

Irregular Expenses – These are expenses I have listed in my budget but vary so much that I have them in a separate category. I do have a budget set-up for them and hope not to exceed it.

• Car Maintenance: So far I have really only had to buy new brakes this year. Note: I am incredibly lucky in this category because my dad is a mechanic so I don’t pay for labor or oil changes.
• Medical Costs: This year I have obtained incredible insurance which allows me office visits, generic prescriptions, etc at no cost. My husband has not-so-great insurance and pays $25 for PCP visits and $40 for specialty visits.
• Medicine: Generics cost him $15 and he has two-ongoing prescriptions for things. I used to pay $15/month for my prescription but not anymore!
• Gifts: This one gets pretty crazy depending on the month. December is a hot mess because of Christmas and we end up spending well-over $500 for gifts because there are so many people we have to buy gifts for so I’m not a fan of December. Certain months are also killers for us — May included three birthdays and Mother’s Day!

Overall, I think the budget has been all right. Considering that we made a large purchase this year (the couch), we have saved a good amount of money. I think if I could change one thing it would be the eating out portion of it but I love food too much. 🙂 Does anyone else have a budget? Do you think mine is crazy in some areas?

Second Opinions & Why They Can Be Worth It

My Situation

Many years ago my mother began going to this dentist a couple of blocks from our house and subsequently, I began going to the same dentist. Aside from having horribly crooked teeth, I only had one cavity or so as a kid. One.

Imagine my surprise when this dentist told me I had eight cavities.

I could not believe I had eight cavities but I was young and naive at the time. I allowed him to drill holes and fill them. I wouldn’t have thought that a dentist was trying to rip me off but then I really started to think about it—I could only see two cavities and they were smaller. How did I get eight all of a sudden?

Now, I believe that he lied. I believe that I only had two cavities and that he was willing to drill holes into my teeth to fill his pockets. I just got back from the dentist and I have no cavities. Isn’t it interesting that I take care of my teeth the exact same way that I did five or six years ago and I have yet to acquire another cavity?

It irks me to see the x-rays in my current dentist’s office and to see all of the fillings that my mom paid for out-of-pocket. She paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars for me to have my teeth filled and now, in retrospect, I think he was completely full of it. It hurts because my parents are low-income and it wasn’t just extra money. He also was a big proponent of getting my wisdom teeth pulled; in fact, he pulled one and was supposed to pull a second one. Then he gave me a referral to an oral surgeon so that I could get the other wisdom teeth removed since they were impacted. My current dentist flat out told me that he saw no real reason for me to get them removed. In fact, at first he said he didn’t recommend it because he doesn’t believe in removing wisdom teeth for the sake of removing them and would only suggest someone remove them if they were infected, pressing on a nerve or causing some type of pain. When I told him I was worried that they would make my teeth crooked again and that sometimes my jaw hurts when they try to push forward, he told me that it was really up to me whether or not I wanted to have it done but he didn’t think it was necessary. Additionally, he told me that I still had leftover glue on my teeth from braces that had been taken off five or more years ago! Annoyingly, this is after a cleaning at my previous dentist’s office. Why hadn’t they seen it and/or removed it?

Considering all of the information, I know in my heart of hearts that the old dentist was a liar.

My Friend’s Situation

My friend told me about a time she went to a dentist. She had never had a cavity in her life and went in there for a routine check-up and a cleaning. The dentist told her she had twenty-four cavities. Yes, you read that correctly—twenty-four cavities. Being that she had never had a cavity before, she was incredibly suspicious and made another appointment with a second dentist. She told her dentist what the first dentist had said. Shocked, he looked at her and said, “You have zero cavities. None.” She could not believe a dentist was willing to drill twenty-four holes into her mouth for what would have been very lengthy and expensive dental work.

How a Second Opinion Can Be Worth It

Although my post is about dental work, the anecdotes here can really be applied to anything. You can think about this in the context of any situation—roof repairs, electronic repairs, medical procedures—anything that might cost you a substantial amount of money. Keep in mind that second opinions can be useful for the following reasons:

1. You Can Save Money – If I had gotten a second opinion, I probably would have saved hundreds of dollars, if not over a thousand dollars, in dental work.
2. You Can Save Time – Can you imagine how much time my friend would have spent at the dentist to drill and fill twenty-four cavities? Getting that second opinion, which didn’t take a lot of time, saved her a lot of future dental work.
3. You Can Save Yourself from Aggravation & Unnecessary Work – Now I am aggravated when I think about my teeth. I am disturbed that someone is willing to perform work on my teeth that is not necessary. What annoys me even more is that my mom went there for a significant amount of dental work and now I question how much of it was actually necessary.

Have you ever had an instance in which you wished you had gotten a second opinion? How about a time when you got a second opinion and heard a completely different answer?