In my last post I listed some expensive purchases we've made recently. One was a hotel room for my sister's wedding. The hotel was a block away from the wedding venue and it was very nice to leave the kids with my mom at the hotel while we stayed at the wedding to dance. Then it was nice to see everyone again the next morning for the gift opening. It may have been expensive, but it was also a very nice treat for us. I don't get to see that much family that often.
The spa day was also a nice treat for me! The day before the wedding my sister, myself and two other bridesmaids all got massages, manicures and pedicures. My sister and I did the same thing the day before my wedding, 7 years ago. Anyway, I haven't had a professional massage in about a year and I love them so I was so excited to go. It was an expensive day. I guess that's why they happen so rarely.
And then last weekend was our annual BBQ that we have for our friends and family. We had about 60 people coming! I spent $308 at the grocery store. Some of that was on basic groceries for our family (bread, milk, cereal, etc.) but I'd say at least $250 of it was on food for the party. Then Chuck spent another $115 on alcohol! We don't entertain very often so this once a year BBQ is really when we go all out. It sure does drain the budget though!
At least we have a ton of leftovers this week from the party (maybe we went a little overboard on the food?) so we haven't had to hardly cook at all.
Impatient
I'm being very impatient lately...with our rate of savings. And this was a good month for our emergency fund! Now that our non-mortgage debt is gone I want to build our emergency fund as quickly as possible. And not for good reasons like having cash available if something were to happen. No, I want it fully funded so I can spend my money on fun things! I want to finish our basement, pronto. But I know that I need my emergency fund fully funded before I can save and then spend money on the basement. So I'm saving as much money as I can (OK, well maybe not as much as I can, we do like to have a little fun) and still I'm impatient. We're about 20% funded at this point.
I know that there will be good months and not so good months for putting money away in savings. This was a good month thanks to it being a three paycheck month. Next month will not be as good. That's because we have some purchases on credit cards (hotel room for sister's wedding ~$160, spa day charges for sister's wedding ~170, alcohol for annual BBQ ~$115 - more on that in another post) that have to be paid next month. We also finally got our emergency room bill for Jamison's broken arm (that happened on Memorial Day). That's another $150 from next months budget. I guess maybe these "extra" charges, and expensive ones at that, are driving some of my impatience. I don't want to spend $800 on this stuff! I want to put it in savings!
Oh well. At least we have the money to pay for these things and it's not just going on a credit card to collect interest charges. I'll just keep trucking along, saving as much as I can. And I'll also remember that it will all happen and to just relax a little already!
I know that there will be good months and not so good months for putting money away in savings. This was a good month thanks to it being a three paycheck month. Next month will not be as good. That's because we have some purchases on credit cards (hotel room for sister's wedding ~$160, spa day charges for sister's wedding ~170, alcohol for annual BBQ ~$115 - more on that in another post) that have to be paid next month. We also finally got our emergency room bill for Jamison's broken arm (that happened on Memorial Day). That's another $150 from next months budget. I guess maybe these "extra" charges, and expensive ones at that, are driving some of my impatience. I don't want to spend $800 on this stuff! I want to put it in savings!
Oh well. At least we have the money to pay for these things and it's not just going on a credit card to collect interest charges. I'll just keep trucking along, saving as much as I can. And I'll also remember that it will all happen and to just relax a little already!
Frustration
I called my mortgage service provider last week to inquire about the Making Home Affordable (HARP) program. I was told that because I pay PMI on my mortgage that I was ineligible. Hmm. Really? I poked around on the FAQ page of the Making Home Affordable website and saw that question #14 says if you have PMI now that you'll need to keep that same level of coverage with a re-finance. That doesn't sound like it makes me ineligible, now does it? I called back to my provider, surprisingly got the same customer service representative and asked about the PMI once again. He (Mike) told me that they (HSBC) are particpating in the HASP program, but not the HARP program. I clarified with him that if I wanted to refinance I'd have to do it with another lender because they couldn't help me? He said yes, wished me luck and I hung up.
And now I'm frustrated. Does it not say on this page that all servicers are required to participate? I think I need to call back again and ask about that. And if they don't have an answer I'll probably (politely) ask to speak to a supervisor.
I'm also going to be contacting other mortgage servicers listed at that same page. So far I've contacted one, who is participating, but who is only refinancing loans they originated at this time.
So frustrating! I have great credit, no other debt, am paying ahead on my current loan and have a stable job. Every mortgage provider should be fighting for my business right now! I'll keep investigating. It's my mission now to get this house refinanced.
And now I'm frustrated. Does it not say on this page that all servicers are required to participate? I think I need to call back again and ask about that. And if they don't have an answer I'll probably (politely) ask to speak to a supervisor.
I'm also going to be contacting other mortgage servicers listed at that same page. So far I've contacted one, who is participating, but who is only refinancing loans they originated at this time.
So frustrating! I have great credit, no other debt, am paying ahead on my current loan and have a stable job. Every mortgage provider should be fighting for my business right now! I'll keep investigating. It's my mission now to get this house refinanced.
401k downer
I received an e-mail yesterday at work that completely deflated me. Not only did I have to take a 10% pay cut for six months last spring (due to expire at the end of September – still crossing my fingers I get my pay back) but now they are cutting our 401k match. My company matches 100% up to 8% so that is what I have been contributing, 8%. That makes for a nice 401k contribution (16% between the two). For the foreseeable future, they are cutting that match to 50% meaning I’ll still be putting in 8% but they are only going to match 4%. Unlike the 10% pay cut, this time they did not put a timeline on the change simply saying “While we cannot predict how long this change will be in effect, it is our intention to restore the full match when business conditions improve.” If those aren’t weasel words, I don’t know what are! They could claim business conditions never improve “enough” to get the full match back. It’s so disheartening to be doing everything “right” – living non-mortgage debt free, building an emergency fund, saving for retirement, having life insurance, etc. and still get bit by “the economy”.
I can only hope the match gets restored soon. In the mean time we’ll keep plugging away, just like everyone else.
I can only hope the match gets restored soon. In the mean time we’ll keep plugging away, just like everyone else.
House Maintenance is Expensive!
A couple weekends ago we sent the kids to the grandparents for the weekend and Chuck and I got down to work. We planted a new tree to replace one that had died. We stained the deck. We painted the inside of two exterior doors, which had never been painted since the house was built four years ago. And we did touch up painting on the main level, stairway, master bedroom and hallway on the second level of the house. We were busy! I had budgeted for the tree but the rest was unbudgeted.
I also ordered blinds for the master bathroom window which, four years later, still has a sheet hanging in it. This was also an unplanned, unbudgeted expense. The blinds haven’t arrived yet. I ordered them online last Monday. I do hope the color (faux wood 2” blinds in a natural color tone) looks okay with our woodwork. It is so hard to tell! I even had a drawer from the bathroom next to the computer to try and compare colors.
Why all the work on the house? We’re having our annual BBQ for family and friends on the 25th and we have over 75 people invited. Some of them have never been to our house before and will more than likely want the tour. A little regular house maintenance (deck, tree) and a little vanity updating (blinds, paint) will make our house look nice for the party.
In order to offset the cost of this work, I transferred ~$200 from our short term savings to our checking account and budget for the month. A perfect use for that money!
I also ordered blinds for the master bathroom window which, four years later, still has a sheet hanging in it. This was also an unplanned, unbudgeted expense. The blinds haven’t arrived yet. I ordered them online last Monday. I do hope the color (faux wood 2” blinds in a natural color tone) looks okay with our woodwork. It is so hard to tell! I even had a drawer from the bathroom next to the computer to try and compare colors.
Why all the work on the house? We’re having our annual BBQ for family and friends on the 25th and we have over 75 people invited. Some of them have never been to our house before and will more than likely want the tour. A little regular house maintenance (deck, tree) and a little vanity updating (blinds, paint) will make our house look nice for the party.
In order to offset the cost of this work, I transferred ~$200 from our short term savings to our checking account and budget for the month. A perfect use for that money!
Making Home Affordable Program
Update to the mortgage situation! Just today I was over at WiseBread and saw this article from over a week ago. Did you know about the expanded Making Home Affordable program? It was announced on July 1st. I did not. I’m glad I do now!
According to the program, if your mortgage is backed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and you have a Loan to Value (LTV) ratio under 125% and are current on your mortgage payments then you may qualify.
Just a few clicks and I confirmed we are Fannie Mae customers. (Both sites have a look up feature so you too can check if either holds your mortgage.)
We are current on our mortgage and our LTV is less than 125% ($230.9K mortgage balance /$218K zillow.com value = 106%). In fact, with our current mortgage balance, the appraised value could come back in at less than $185K and we'd still have an LTV of 125%! I’m so excited!
Every mortgage company that uses Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae is required to participate in the program. My next step is to contact our mortgage provider to inquire about the program and how I can get us qualified. Stay tuned!
According to the program, if your mortgage is backed by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac and you have a Loan to Value (LTV) ratio under 125% and are current on your mortgage payments then you may qualify.
Just a few clicks and I confirmed we are Fannie Mae customers. (Both sites have a look up feature so you too can check if either holds your mortgage.)
We are current on our mortgage and our LTV is less than 125% ($230.9K mortgage balance /$218K zillow.com value = 106%). In fact, with our current mortgage balance, the appraised value could come back in at less than $185K and we'd still have an LTV of 125%! I’m so excited!
Every mortgage company that uses Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae is required to participate in the program. My next step is to contact our mortgage provider to inquire about the program and how I can get us qualified. Stay tuned!
Depressing Mortgage Analysis
Chuck’s highest financial priority right now is to get the house refinanced, above emergency fund savings, above all other savings or spending. We have a 5 year ARM at 5.125% that is going to reset in September 2010, a little over a year from now. We’re not worried about not being able to make increased mortgage payments. We’ve paid off all our debts and have a fairly large amount of available cash each month.
However, we don’t want to pay more money each month in interest. The almost $1000/month we pay now makes me physically ill. We’d also really like to take advantage of low mortgage rates right now. We have excellent credit scores and available cash for closing costs. We just need our house appraisal to go up.
Our current mortgage is at $230.9K. I don’t think I’ve revealed that before now! In April, according to zillow.com, our house was worth approximately $236K. Today, according to zillow.com, it’s worth $218K. That foreclosed home across the street from us (same floor plan) that sold for $185K in May does not help! In order to refinance we need to have an appraisal at 105% of our current mortgage principal. No one will give a 100% loan anymore. 95% is the max they’ll do. So at $230.9K, we’d need an appraised value of at least $242.5K in order to qualify for a re-finance right now.
Yeah, I doubt we’d even come close.
What are our options? Get the home prices around us to go up (don’t we wish!) or pay down our mortgage principal. We can only control option #2 of course.
Our current mortgage payment due each month is $1738 for principal, interest, taxes and insurance (taxes and insurance in escrow). We are currently paying $1965 each month which gives us a $226.04 over payment each month which goes directly to the principal. Combined with the minimum payment, we’re paying $564 each month to the principal. That number goes up a few dollars each month as our principal goes down and therefore the amount going to interest goes down.
Because of this overpayment, we’ll pay another $3.4K to the mortgage principal this year alone if we do nothing, bringing our mortgage principal down to $227.5K end of this year, $223.9K mid next year. That brings our needed appraised value down to $238.9K at the end of this year, $235.1K mid next year. Still not close.
That means at the end of this year to mid next year, six months to twelve months from now, unless housing prices go up a fair bit, we’re still unable to refinance. Depressing.
I’m wondering if we should up our mortgage prepayment each month and how much that would help us.
If we upped our payment from $1965 to $2000 each month we’d put $600 to the principal balance each month. Our appraised value needed mid next year would only drop to $234.6K. Not a big jump at all and certainly not big enough.
If we upped our payment from $1965 to $2100 each month we’d put $700 to the principal balance each month. Our appraised value needed mid next year would only drop to $233.4K. That’s still not a big jump at all and certainly not big enough.
The only way I can bring down the mortgage principal to something close to what we need is to up our payment to $2800 each month, a $1K+ mortgage principal reduction each month. That would mean we’d divert all emergency fund savings to the mortgage principal. And that still only brings our appraised value needed mid next year down to $224.6K. Anyone think housing prices are going to rebound much in the next year? I’m not holding out too much hope.
Ugh. OK, this is depressing. I’ll talk to Chuck, show him my analysis I’ve done here and see if or how much he’d like to increase our monthly mortgage payment. I’d be inclined to raise it a little, but not at the expense of the emergency fund.
However, we don’t want to pay more money each month in interest. The almost $1000/month we pay now makes me physically ill. We’d also really like to take advantage of low mortgage rates right now. We have excellent credit scores and available cash for closing costs. We just need our house appraisal to go up.
Our current mortgage is at $230.9K. I don’t think I’ve revealed that before now! In April, according to zillow.com, our house was worth approximately $236K. Today, according to zillow.com, it’s worth $218K. That foreclosed home across the street from us (same floor plan) that sold for $185K in May does not help! In order to refinance we need to have an appraisal at 105% of our current mortgage principal. No one will give a 100% loan anymore. 95% is the max they’ll do. So at $230.9K, we’d need an appraised value of at least $242.5K in order to qualify for a re-finance right now.
Yeah, I doubt we’d even come close.
What are our options? Get the home prices around us to go up (don’t we wish!) or pay down our mortgage principal. We can only control option #2 of course.
Our current mortgage payment due each month is $1738 for principal, interest, taxes and insurance (taxes and insurance in escrow). We are currently paying $1965 each month which gives us a $226.04 over payment each month which goes directly to the principal. Combined with the minimum payment, we’re paying $564 each month to the principal. That number goes up a few dollars each month as our principal goes down and therefore the amount going to interest goes down.
Because of this overpayment, we’ll pay another $3.4K to the mortgage principal this year alone if we do nothing, bringing our mortgage principal down to $227.5K end of this year, $223.9K mid next year. That brings our needed appraised value down to $238.9K at the end of this year, $235.1K mid next year. Still not close.
That means at the end of this year to mid next year, six months to twelve months from now, unless housing prices go up a fair bit, we’re still unable to refinance. Depressing.
I’m wondering if we should up our mortgage prepayment each month and how much that would help us.
If we upped our payment from $1965 to $2000 each month we’d put $600 to the principal balance each month. Our appraised value needed mid next year would only drop to $234.6K. Not a big jump at all and certainly not big enough.
If we upped our payment from $1965 to $2100 each month we’d put $700 to the principal balance each month. Our appraised value needed mid next year would only drop to $233.4K. That’s still not a big jump at all and certainly not big enough.
The only way I can bring down the mortgage principal to something close to what we need is to up our payment to $2800 each month, a $1K+ mortgage principal reduction each month. That would mean we’d divert all emergency fund savings to the mortgage principal. And that still only brings our appraised value needed mid next year down to $224.6K. Anyone think housing prices are going to rebound much in the next year? I’m not holding out too much hope.
Ugh. OK, this is depressing. I’ll talk to Chuck, show him my analysis I’ve done here and see if or how much he’d like to increase our monthly mortgage payment. I’d be inclined to raise it a little, but not at the expense of the emergency fund.
I Heart Three Paycheck Months
I really do love them. Three paycheck months. Who wouldn't, right? So far I've transferred $500 to the emergency fund and I have another transfer of $1000 set for Monday. I'd like to add to that before the end of the month too. Plus there's money in the budget for the travel fund, Christmas savings, basement fund, new car fund, and short term savings. Save, save, save. That's what I'm trying to do.
Of course, there's a bunch of spending going on too. That's life though. Ying. Yang.
At least we haven't run into problems like our neighbor did today - water pipe burst on the second floor of their home, dumping over 80 gallons of water throughout their house. Soaked their master bath, master closet, master bedroom, down into the walls to the main level, laundry room, kitchen, into the finished basement bedroom. Carpet, cabinets, baseboards - so much has to be replaced. What a nightmare. I'll be very thankful for our wants and needs spending and savings this month instead of emergency fund spending!
Of course, there's a bunch of spending going on too. That's life though. Ying. Yang.
At least we haven't run into problems like our neighbor did today - water pipe burst on the second floor of their home, dumping over 80 gallons of water throughout their house. Soaked their master bath, master closet, master bedroom, down into the walls to the main level, laundry room, kitchen, into the finished basement bedroom. Carpet, cabinets, baseboards - so much has to be replaced. What a nightmare. I'll be very thankful for our wants and needs spending and savings this month instead of emergency fund spending!
Truck AC Resolution
Remember that darn truck and it’s non-functioning air conditioning? We had the Freon refilled and the dye test re-done Monday, the 29th of June. We drove the truck on our vacation and noticed the air conditioning getting weaker as the week progressed. We are back to having no air conditioning. Chuck and my dad took a look under the hood Thursday afternoon and found some yellow die around the air conditioning compressor pump. Great. That just sounds expensive.
Dad talked to the mechanic Friday morning and the mechanic said he could get a new GM pump for $275 or an off-brand one for $225. By the time it was installed we’d be looking at $400-$500 to fix the air conditioning. I haven’t talked to Chuck yet but I’m pretty sure we won’t be fixing the air conditioning. I’m thinking we’ll limp through this summer with the windows open. (Dad has offered his vehicle for any long trips we need to take. He is so generous!) This winter we should be fine. No air conditioning required in Minnesota from September – May!
If Chuck agrees with this approach, I think maybe next spring we’ll take another look at our finances and see if we can find a replacement vehicle. I don’t want to go through three summers with no air conditioning. (It stopped working mid last summer.)
I’m tempted to look now but really want more money in savings before taking on a car payment again. And I don’t want to use any emergency fund money to pay cash for a car. With this economy, I’d rather have that money in savings instead. We’ll just work the aggressive debt pay-off strategies again like we’ve just done. Some day we can aggressively fund the replacement car fund so we can pay cash for cars, but that will be after the emergency fund is fully funded.
Dad talked to the mechanic Friday morning and the mechanic said he could get a new GM pump for $275 or an off-brand one for $225. By the time it was installed we’d be looking at $400-$500 to fix the air conditioning. I haven’t talked to Chuck yet but I’m pretty sure we won’t be fixing the air conditioning. I’m thinking we’ll limp through this summer with the windows open. (Dad has offered his vehicle for any long trips we need to take. He is so generous!) This winter we should be fine. No air conditioning required in Minnesota from September – May!
If Chuck agrees with this approach, I think maybe next spring we’ll take another look at our finances and see if we can find a replacement vehicle. I don’t want to go through three summers with no air conditioning. (It stopped working mid last summer.)
I’m tempted to look now but really want more money in savings before taking on a car payment again. And I don’t want to use any emergency fund money to pay cash for a car. With this economy, I’d rather have that money in savings instead. We’ll just work the aggressive debt pay-off strategies again like we’ve just done. Some day we can aggressively fund the replacement car fund so we can pay cash for cars, but that will be after the emergency fund is fully funded.
Vacation Budget Numbers
Time to update that vacation budget!
If you’ll remember, our original budget was $738.44, broken down like this:
- $347.37 – hotel
- $116.07 – attractions
- $150 – food
- $50 – souvenirs
- $75 – gas
We ended up at $758.57 which is $20.13 over our budget.
Our actual spending broke out like this:
- $347.37 (+$0.00) – hotel
- $106.10 (-$9.97) – attractions
- $224.21 (+$74.21) – food
- $17.00 (-$33.00) – souvenirs
- $63.89 (-$11.11) – gas
As you can see, we weren’t too far off for our overall budget but we blew our food budget out of the water! It was more expensive for us to eat out all those meals than I had anticipated. Maybe that was bad planning on my part because I don’t think food prices were much higher than they are around home. I guess I now have a better baseline for future vacations so I can budget better.
I’ll be setting up the transfer from savings this weekend and will be paying these credit card charges in full next week. The little extra needed above the money saved in the travel fund will come from our July budget.
Vacation Budget Actuals
We're back! We had a great family vacation! It was so much fun to play in the water parks and at the hotel pool.
We stayed at the RainTree Waterpark Resort. It was the perfect hotel for us for this stay. Both the indoor and outdoor pool areas are geared for children aged 10 and under. The water was bathtub warm and there were lots of different areas for the kids to play. The room itself wasn't anything special. It had a full size bed and a pull out couch. The kids slept on the couch which they thought was neat that it changed into a bed. We had a mini refrigerator and a microwave in our room. It was great to have the refrigerator and we used it for leftovers from the meals we ate. The microwave was super small and wouldn't even pop a bag of popcorn. It was also in a nice location, literally across the street from Noah's Ark Waterpark.
Friday we went to Noah's Ark and spent the entire day there - from 9am to 5pm! We ate snacks and left over pizza for lunch, never having to leave the park. We went on a ton of waterslides and the kids played in every kiddie pool area. They loved it!
Saturday we went to Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf and Family Fun Center. The kids made it about 6 holes before they were done. Chuck and I finished the 18 holes and then we went to the Family Fun Center. The jumping pillow was a huge hit. The place wasn't busy so Chuck, the kids and I all got on the jumping pillow together and bounced for a while. So fun!
We ate out for every meal except for Friday's leftover lunch. Those meals sure added up and I think we're about $25 over our total budget. I'm waiting for one balance to clear on the credit card (lost the receipt) and then I can re-cap what we spent where.
As for where we ate:
Thursday dinner was at Pizza Pub just outside our hotel. The pizza was super yummy. The restaurant is a bit dated, dark wood paneling and such but the service was good and so was the food.
Friday dinner was at Mimi's American Grill. While the outdoor patio was nice, albeit noisy being on the main street through town, I was unimpressed with the food. My burger was good but Chuck's prime rib which he ordered medium rare was more like medium to well done. And Anya's macaroni and cheese looked like it was from a box, Kraft-style. It could have been better. I don't think we'll go back there.
For lunch on Saturday we ate at Pedro's Mexican Restaurant. The food there was very good. We should have only ordered one kids meal instead of two as the kids barely ate anything other than the free chips and salsa and their chocolate milk. My taquitos were good and I really liked the spicy raspberry dipping sauce that came with them.
My favorite place we ate at was Marley's Club which was a caribbean style restaurant. We went a little all out at this restaurant ordering an alcoholic drink for Chuck and dessert for me along with our meals. It was all so good though. I loved my seafood alfredo with shrimp, crabmeat and scallops. Our dessert was good too. If we go back to the Dells, we'll definitely go back to Marley's.
Sunday's lunch was Wendy's on the road home. Not much to report about that experience other than to say that their new Sweet & Spicy Asian Chicken is mighty tasty. I liked them!
And that's where we spent our money this past weekend. Hopefully in the next couple days I can detail out our budget, transfer money from our travel savings account and pay the credit cards. Our first family vacation - paid for with cash. You have to love that!
We stayed at the RainTree Waterpark Resort. It was the perfect hotel for us for this stay. Both the indoor and outdoor pool areas are geared for children aged 10 and under. The water was bathtub warm and there were lots of different areas for the kids to play. The room itself wasn't anything special. It had a full size bed and a pull out couch. The kids slept on the couch which they thought was neat that it changed into a bed. We had a mini refrigerator and a microwave in our room. It was great to have the refrigerator and we used it for leftovers from the meals we ate. The microwave was super small and wouldn't even pop a bag of popcorn. It was also in a nice location, literally across the street from Noah's Ark Waterpark.
Friday we went to Noah's Ark and spent the entire day there - from 9am to 5pm! We ate snacks and left over pizza for lunch, never having to leave the park. We went on a ton of waterslides and the kids played in every kiddie pool area. They loved it!
Saturday we went to Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf and Family Fun Center. The kids made it about 6 holes before they were done. Chuck and I finished the 18 holes and then we went to the Family Fun Center. The jumping pillow was a huge hit. The place wasn't busy so Chuck, the kids and I all got on the jumping pillow together and bounced for a while. So fun!
We ate out for every meal except for Friday's leftover lunch. Those meals sure added up and I think we're about $25 over our total budget. I'm waiting for one balance to clear on the credit card (lost the receipt) and then I can re-cap what we spent where.
As for where we ate:
Thursday dinner was at Pizza Pub just outside our hotel. The pizza was super yummy. The restaurant is a bit dated, dark wood paneling and such but the service was good and so was the food.
Friday dinner was at Mimi's American Grill. While the outdoor patio was nice, albeit noisy being on the main street through town, I was unimpressed with the food. My burger was good but Chuck's prime rib which he ordered medium rare was more like medium to well done. And Anya's macaroni and cheese looked like it was from a box, Kraft-style. It could have been better. I don't think we'll go back there.
For lunch on Saturday we ate at Pedro's Mexican Restaurant. The food there was very good. We should have only ordered one kids meal instead of two as the kids barely ate anything other than the free chips and salsa and their chocolate milk. My taquitos were good and I really liked the spicy raspberry dipping sauce that came with them.
My favorite place we ate at was Marley's Club which was a caribbean style restaurant. We went a little all out at this restaurant ordering an alcoholic drink for Chuck and dessert for me along with our meals. It was all so good though. I loved my seafood alfredo with shrimp, crabmeat and scallops. Our dessert was good too. If we go back to the Dells, we'll definitely go back to Marley's.
Sunday's lunch was Wendy's on the road home. Not much to report about that experience other than to say that their new Sweet & Spicy Asian Chicken is mighty tasty. I liked them!
And that's where we spent our money this past weekend. Hopefully in the next couple days I can detail out our budget, transfer money from our travel savings account and pay the credit cards. Our first family vacation - paid for with cash. You have to love that!
June 2009 Month End
Time to say good bye to another month of 2009!
As I said through out the month, June was going to be expensive. We did go over budget. However, my Dad hasn't cashed that $400+ check yet for the truck repairs so technically we were under budget. I've already moved the "surplus" over to our emergency fund. That "surplus" is less than the check which is why we're still over budget. I've also adjusted the July budget so that $400+ check has a line item there. I'll be keeping a very close eye on the budget in July so we don't go over again. However this, too, is going to be an expensive month with my sister's wedding, our annual BBQ and that truck repair check hitting the books. Good thing July is also a three paycheck month for me so our budget still looks fat and happy. Even with all the expenses I still project us putting almost $2k into the emergency fund plus some more money in the travel fund, the Christmas savings, the basement savings and the car fund. Yay! But, on to the month of June:
Debts:
None! Other than our mortgage which I won't be detailing here other than to say we're paying ahead a couple hundred dollars each month and hope to re-finance out of our ARM sooner rather than later!
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $2,714.94 (+170.42) - We didn't make much progress with the emergency fund last month. I hope to dramatically increase the contribution this month. So far I've already transferred $500 over. Yay!
Short Term Savings: $258.72 (+50.01) - Standard $50 contribution this month. We intend to use this money for initiation dues at the YMCA. My workplace is still checking with corporate to see if we get any health insurance reimbursement for certain chains of gyms. I think the YMCA and Gold's Gym may be options but haven't heard back yet for sure.
Travel Fund: $703.09 (+20.85) - Regular contribution again. This will be gone by the end of this month! I'm looking forward to our vacation. I think I'll be bumping up our monthly contribution to this fund next month. $20 takes too long to accumulate. And I want to travel more!
Christmas Savings: $332.32 (+0.41) - No money for Christmas in June! However, I do have some money budgeted for this account in July. Finally some action!
Basement Finishing Fund: $0.00 (0.00) - No money in this account yet. I plan to create and seed this account in July though!
New Car Fund: $0.00 (0.00) - Ditto to above. Gotta get this one rolling too.
And there you have it. Progres was made to our goals in June. Not as much progress as I would have liked but I'll leave my impatience out of it. Putting money in savings is good! I'll just keep remembering that.
As I said through out the month, June was going to be expensive. We did go over budget. However, my Dad hasn't cashed that $400+ check yet for the truck repairs so technically we were under budget. I've already moved the "surplus" over to our emergency fund. That "surplus" is less than the check which is why we're still over budget. I've also adjusted the July budget so that $400+ check has a line item there. I'll be keeping a very close eye on the budget in July so we don't go over again. However this, too, is going to be an expensive month with my sister's wedding, our annual BBQ and that truck repair check hitting the books. Good thing July is also a three paycheck month for me so our budget still looks fat and happy. Even with all the expenses I still project us putting almost $2k into the emergency fund plus some more money in the travel fund, the Christmas savings, the basement savings and the car fund. Yay! But, on to the month of June:
Debts:
None! Other than our mortgage which I won't be detailing here other than to say we're paying ahead a couple hundred dollars each month and hope to re-finance out of our ARM sooner rather than later!
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $2,714.94 (+170.42) - We didn't make much progress with the emergency fund last month. I hope to dramatically increase the contribution this month. So far I've already transferred $500 over. Yay!
Short Term Savings: $258.72 (+50.01) - Standard $50 contribution this month. We intend to use this money for initiation dues at the YMCA. My workplace is still checking with corporate to see if we get any health insurance reimbursement for certain chains of gyms. I think the YMCA and Gold's Gym may be options but haven't heard back yet for sure.
Travel Fund: $703.09 (+20.85) - Regular contribution again. This will be gone by the end of this month! I'm looking forward to our vacation. I think I'll be bumping up our monthly contribution to this fund next month. $20 takes too long to accumulate. And I want to travel more!
Christmas Savings: $332.32 (+0.41) - No money for Christmas in June! However, I do have some money budgeted for this account in July. Finally some action!
Basement Finishing Fund: $0.00 (0.00) - No money in this account yet. I plan to create and seed this account in July though!
New Car Fund: $0.00 (0.00) - Ditto to above. Gotta get this one rolling too.
And there you have it. Progres was made to our goals in June. Not as much progress as I would have liked but I'll leave my impatience out of it. Putting money in savings is good! I'll just keep remembering that.
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