Last friday, I took the day off from work to get a bunch of errands done that couldn't easily be done on a weekend. I set out at about 10 am, in a pretty good mood. Some of the things I had set out to do were things Rosemary and I had been thinking about doing for some time, so I was excited to finally get some of our goals taken care of.
First I went to BECU, and took out the money I would need for the next few stops in my trip. It was a pleasant experience. I gotta say, BECU is quite a bit better than chase, and I'm glad we switched- I was pulling out a large sum of money, and they didn't give me any troubles at all, like Chase always does. Quick and courteous, and the teller had a beautiful new engagement ring on. She glowed when I complemented her, and it's cool to see happy people that are good at their jobs. :)
Second, I went down to Federal Way, to Northwest Territorial Mint, and picked up a gold american eagle coin, and some silver coins. My dad has been pushing me pretty hard to get some precious metals to help hedge against inflation, due to the entire united states economy hanging by a thread of debt. (of course, my opinion is food and supplies first, money second) I was surprised by the huge number of people in the lobby of the mint, waiting to buy or sell precious metals. Seems sort of weird to me, because I didn't think buying and selling gold/silver was that popular to the common population, but I guess it's getting more popular. The sales lady that helped me with my metals purchases also had a beautiful engagement ring on, and she also glowed after I complimented her on it. Again, another great service experience overall.
Third, I went all the way down near mcchord air force base, to a really cool shop called Surplus Arms & Ammo. This place... was completely awesome, in a guy sort of way. The shop was small, but packed out with tons of cool gear. Not junky old surplus stuff, everything was new, wrapped, and super cheap. I managed to pick up all the ammunition I had on my list, at a significantly lower price than I had priced out originally from their website. Quite shocking, when the website pricing was already some of the best I'd ever seen. I even managed to pick up a rear sight for one of my weapons, and still stay several hundred dollars under budget. :) They had cheap magazines, ammo, reloaded ammo, guns, gun parts, and more. So cool, I could spend all day in that little place.
Fourth- I went and got a burrito from Taco Time. A man's gotta eat, right?
Fifth- I dropped off some of the ammo at my parent's place, talked to my dad and Grandpa for a little bit. My dad tried to steal my new gold coin... and he denied all allegations. Liar.
Sixth- I went home and enjoyed spending the rest of the day with my lovely wife, and my son, who after seeing the gold coin, told me it was his, and that he was going to go put it in his piggy bank. I guess it technically is his- if it really does help us secure our future, it's all for him anyways.
I felt like I needed to bash Obama on facebook or something to round out my right wing crazy nutjob day. :) I refrained, of course, in good taste.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Friday, March 11, 2011
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Well, we moved in on Friday the 26th. I took the day off of work, and I had help from my dad, Luke, John, and Richie. We got it pretty much all moved that day. On Saturday, some of Rosemary's family came over and helped us unpack, and John and I spent a few hours reorganizing the garage so we could park both cars in there.
Now, a few weeks later, we only have a few boxes of stuff left. The garage has maybe a dozen boxes of old attic stuff I'd like to clean out/throw away, as well. I went out and bought a bunch of house and garden care things that any homeowner needs, and I brought my dad along with me to guide my purchases of a new homeowner. We got hoses, a lawnmower, sprinklers, moss killer, extension cords, and much more. Rosemary also went shopping and outfitted our two guest bathrooms, as well. They look pretty good- much better than I expected we'd be able to do in the first year. Thankfully we came out of the whole house deal with some extra cash left over, plus not having to pay the mortgage the first month in the house let us have the slack in our budget to afford the new house items we needed like towels, lawn mowers and whatnot.
The last few weeks have been interesting. Lots of yard work, lots of house maintenance stuff. The TV is still sitting on the floor, because it's about an inch too tall for the TV hole in the wall in the living area. We've been moving stuff around, reorganizing the office, the downstairs, and getting things just put away. My commute has been a little better- maybe about 5 to 10 minutes shaved off of the total time, and since my commute is about 5 miles less each way, I've been noticing my gas tank emptying a little slower lately as well.
It's not quite home yet. It's still just a big house we live in. It'll start changing once we decorate more, and once we have some more memories to fill our minds. It sounds like Grandpa will let me have his awesome Weber grill, so I'm excited to throw some BBQs this summer to help create those memories. The backyard is in a pretty sad state right now- it wasn't when we moved in, but I mowed the lawn, and put down some moss killer, so the lawn is patchy and black. Once I rake out the moss, it'll be an embarassing bare patch of dirt. It'll probably take me until middle of summer before it's in a good shape, but it'll be good to have a nice healthy green lawn for Judah to play on.
Judah LOVES the new house. He runs around, goes downstairs to play, and has a great time. He does essentially have an 800 square foot play room all to himself, in addition to his bedroom. It'll change once we get some couches for downstairs and a TV, which probably won't happen for quite some time, but for now... it's just this huge cavernous room with tons of toys strewn about.
It's been real nice having new home experiences. A lot of work, but refreshing. And that's been helpful, because work has been pretty stressful lately. The midyear review came and went, and it didn't go very well. My boss continuously tells me I am one of his top employees, but rated me pretty low. There's been some contention lately, and it makes me feel icky when I know I'm partly the cause of that. I've been working on reminding myself that I am a servant, and I am here to serve those around me, as if it was Jesus I was serving. That's always done me well, and I need to stick to what I know works for me.
Now, a few weeks later, we only have a few boxes of stuff left. The garage has maybe a dozen boxes of old attic stuff I'd like to clean out/throw away, as well. I went out and bought a bunch of house and garden care things that any homeowner needs, and I brought my dad along with me to guide my purchases of a new homeowner. We got hoses, a lawnmower, sprinklers, moss killer, extension cords, and much more. Rosemary also went shopping and outfitted our two guest bathrooms, as well. They look pretty good- much better than I expected we'd be able to do in the first year. Thankfully we came out of the whole house deal with some extra cash left over, plus not having to pay the mortgage the first month in the house let us have the slack in our budget to afford the new house items we needed like towels, lawn mowers and whatnot.
The last few weeks have been interesting. Lots of yard work, lots of house maintenance stuff. The TV is still sitting on the floor, because it's about an inch too tall for the TV hole in the wall in the living area. We've been moving stuff around, reorganizing the office, the downstairs, and getting things just put away. My commute has been a little better- maybe about 5 to 10 minutes shaved off of the total time, and since my commute is about 5 miles less each way, I've been noticing my gas tank emptying a little slower lately as well.
It's not quite home yet. It's still just a big house we live in. It'll start changing once we decorate more, and once we have some more memories to fill our minds. It sounds like Grandpa will let me have his awesome Weber grill, so I'm excited to throw some BBQs this summer to help create those memories. The backyard is in a pretty sad state right now- it wasn't when we moved in, but I mowed the lawn, and put down some moss killer, so the lawn is patchy and black. Once I rake out the moss, it'll be an embarassing bare patch of dirt. It'll probably take me until middle of summer before it's in a good shape, but it'll be good to have a nice healthy green lawn for Judah to play on.
Judah LOVES the new house. He runs around, goes downstairs to play, and has a great time. He does essentially have an 800 square foot play room all to himself, in addition to his bedroom. It'll change once we get some couches for downstairs and a TV, which probably won't happen for quite some time, but for now... it's just this huge cavernous room with tons of toys strewn about.
It's been real nice having new home experiences. A lot of work, but refreshing. And that's been helpful, because work has been pretty stressful lately. The midyear review came and went, and it didn't go very well. My boss continuously tells me I am one of his top employees, but rated me pretty low. There's been some contention lately, and it makes me feel icky when I know I'm partly the cause of that. I've been working on reminding myself that I am a servant, and I am here to serve those around me, as if it was Jesus I was serving. That's always done me well, and I need to stick to what I know works for me.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
God is good. Very, very good.
So I took my car into my shop a couple of days ago to have them listen to the motor and give it an oil change. I switched back to redline oil, since there are so many reported problems with mobil1 synth. Well, they do the oil change, listen to the car, put it up on the rack and poke around... and nothing. the motor sounds great. Final word was, the top end of the motor was probably starved for oil, making some metal on metal contact where the springs are. Should be good to go now. That's great to hear, since now I don't haveto drop 3k for a new motor and installation.
I did my taxes on that same day. We increased our deductions last year since our tax return was so large, so I wasn't expecting a huge return- but a little something that would help us with unexpected expenses as we move into our new house here soon. Well, bam, our tax refund was even larger than last year's. The amount we tithe per month has almost doubled throughout the year- because of our personal tithing goals, income increases, and whatnot. God is faithful- that's for sure. The tithe was a big factor in the tax return, as was the interest paid on our home loans, some childcare costs, and all that tax that was paid on my bonus (my bonus for some reason always bumps me up into the higher tax bracket, so it's taxed at something crazy like 50%).
We managed to lock in a 5% interest rate on our new home loan. That's incredible- rates were starting to edge up right when we were getting ready to make an offer, and bam- they dip back down to 5% for just enough time for us to lock in that rate. This drops our payments a good $30 a month from our initial estimates, and gets us in a little more comfortable territory.
We got the house we wanted for 5k less than we expected, further lowering our mohtly payment from our estimates by a good $70 a month.
The sellers agreed to all inspection items to be replaced/repaired, and they might do more than what is requested.
Soooo.... all in all, God is GOOD, all the time, and He is faithful to fulfill His promises in the bible.
So I took my car into my shop a couple of days ago to have them listen to the motor and give it an oil change. I switched back to redline oil, since there are so many reported problems with mobil1 synth. Well, they do the oil change, listen to the car, put it up on the rack and poke around... and nothing. the motor sounds great. Final word was, the top end of the motor was probably starved for oil, making some metal on metal contact where the springs are. Should be good to go now. That's great to hear, since now I don't haveto drop 3k for a new motor and installation.
I did my taxes on that same day. We increased our deductions last year since our tax return was so large, so I wasn't expecting a huge return- but a little something that would help us with unexpected expenses as we move into our new house here soon. Well, bam, our tax refund was even larger than last year's. The amount we tithe per month has almost doubled throughout the year- because of our personal tithing goals, income increases, and whatnot. God is faithful- that's for sure. The tithe was a big factor in the tax return, as was the interest paid on our home loans, some childcare costs, and all that tax that was paid on my bonus (my bonus for some reason always bumps me up into the higher tax bracket, so it's taxed at something crazy like 50%).
We managed to lock in a 5% interest rate on our new home loan. That's incredible- rates were starting to edge up right when we were getting ready to make an offer, and bam- they dip back down to 5% for just enough time for us to lock in that rate. This drops our payments a good $30 a month from our initial estimates, and gets us in a little more comfortable territory.
We got the house we wanted for 5k less than we expected, further lowering our mohtly payment from our estimates by a good $70 a month.
The sellers agreed to all inspection items to be replaced/repaired, and they might do more than what is requested.
Soooo.... all in all, God is GOOD, all the time, and He is faithful to fulfill His promises in the bible.
Monday, January 26, 2009
So, Rosemary and I have had to think about our finances a lot lately. A lot of things have come up, not just expenses, but the world's financial situation has had a nasty effect on us lately. My 401k has basically not grown at all last year, despite dumping thousands into it, effectively netting a 40% decline in that account. My personal savings account has lost quite a significant amount as well, due to the huge drops in MSFT stock in the last 12 months.
The world is changing. We are still able to afford everything we need, which is a testament to God's provision, but things have gotten harder. Of course our heating bill grows in the winter, the annual homeowners dues go up every January, and a new assessment was levied against us, due in a few months. I think we can get by, but it leaves us in a strange spot. We can't really afford a new house, nor could we sell our current. But we need to start thinking about that in about a year or so, when we think about a second kid. We have a two bedroom place. We have both kind of decided that we probably won't be able to get into a house within the next two years, because of the housing market. We just couldn't sell our place, or afford a down payment on a new place. We're going to haveto figure out how to be comfortable in our townhouse for a while longer. Especially now that it is made known that no raises will go out to MS employees for at least a year and a half. That is very limiting for our goals.
So, we've decided to look into refinancing, to see if we can eek some extra room out of our monthly house payment. Loans are at pretty low rates right now, and it might net us enough extra per month to be able to jump start our savings enough to get a foothold on a downpayment, or some upgrades to the current place to increase resale value- which is similar to a straight cash downpayment. It would also help with crazy costs like extra assessments, a blown transmission, or emergency purchases for kid(s).
All in all, God is good. He has provided, and as long as we stay debt free and smart with our money, we are in the clear, and will be positioned for financial success in the long run. Truth be told, that's simply amazing for a couple in their early 20's.
The world is changing. We are still able to afford everything we need, which is a testament to God's provision, but things have gotten harder. Of course our heating bill grows in the winter, the annual homeowners dues go up every January, and a new assessment was levied against us, due in a few months. I think we can get by, but it leaves us in a strange spot. We can't really afford a new house, nor could we sell our current. But we need to start thinking about that in about a year or so, when we think about a second kid. We have a two bedroom place. We have both kind of decided that we probably won't be able to get into a house within the next two years, because of the housing market. We just couldn't sell our place, or afford a down payment on a new place. We're going to haveto figure out how to be comfortable in our townhouse for a while longer. Especially now that it is made known that no raises will go out to MS employees for at least a year and a half. That is very limiting for our goals.
So, we've decided to look into refinancing, to see if we can eek some extra room out of our monthly house payment. Loans are at pretty low rates right now, and it might net us enough extra per month to be able to jump start our savings enough to get a foothold on a downpayment, or some upgrades to the current place to increase resale value- which is similar to a straight cash downpayment. It would also help with crazy costs like extra assessments, a blown transmission, or emergency purchases for kid(s).
All in all, God is good. He has provided, and as long as we stay debt free and smart with our money, we are in the clear, and will be positioned for financial success in the long run. Truth be told, that's simply amazing for a couple in their early 20's.