Pennies in a jar

Lots of them! And nickels, dimes, quarters and even a few of the new gold dollar coins...not to mention spare dollars we have here and there. And what was the total...$142 and change!

Every year about this time I dump the big water bottle I have and count the money inside. A few years back I had $131 and thought that was good. I even joked with my husband tonight that I didn't think we would come close to the previous high. I was wrong.

This is how I do it. In July I start collecting all the spare change left in pockets for laundry, on tables, the couch, wherever I find it. I start putting in the water bottle. I also ad spare dollars that we have at the end of weeks floating around, as well as FIP money we receive from aunts, parents, etc. If something is sold on Craigslist, the money goes in the bottle too.

I know $142 isn't a lot. But its nice to have that money NOW and its money we wouldnt otherwise have if we didn't collect and place in the bottle. Even our son has gotten in the habit. He sees spare pennies or dimes on the floor and he runs to place in the big water bottle.

Happy 4th!

The joys of home ownership

We have to have our bathroom redone.

We knew when we bought this place we would have to redo the bathroom before we sold. I was just hoping that when the time came it would be because we chose to do so, and not because we were forced.

As you may remember from last fall, we spent a healthy chunk of change getting the pipes fixed. It appears we will have to spend at least that much again to fix the bathroom. The problem is there is a leak that is slowly spreading water into the base of our son's room. The mold is not bad, so say the experts, but now that we know about the problem both my husband and I want to get fixed. ASAP.

The remodel is not completely huge. We are keeping the sink, toilet, vanity, and mirror (which I hate). We have to have all new shower tile and new floors. And we have to keep our fingers crossed that fixing this will stop the leak in his room AND that when they tear down the walls to get to the leak, that they won't find anything worse.

I haven't been blogging as much as I did before. It seems the thing that is most on my mind is getting out of these 800 sf and what I can do about it. Since there doesn't appear to be an immediate solution, I don't want to sound like a broken record. And since I haven't seen any good deals lately, I haven't been posting those. I hope I can get back to this more, I know now that is a broken record.

What I will say is this though, a friend recently asked me two questions. First, was living here making me miserable? Yes, I quickly replied. I told him that I would do X to get out of this condo and have the banks refinance us so we could rent someplace larger while still paying our obligations here. I said that he could make X just about anything he could think of and the answer would still be the same. I desperately want more space.

His second question was more telling though, for him and for me. He asked if my misery was affecting my life. I said no. Aside from stepping on what seems to be my son's endless supply of blocks and cars (and he is only 2!!!), I am relatively happy. I love my husband, even if he leaves his clothes everywhere. I love my son more everyday. I have great friends and an amazing family. I am grateful for what I have. I know that I am lucky.

But...I am still miserable, something he said was not possible if it was not affecting my life, but I beg to differ, in my 800 sf of love. Hopefully this bathroom renovation will get us one teeny tiny step closer to my goal of getting out of here. At least I am getting my black and white diamond flooring, that's a silver lining for ya!

My book

Like every writer I often fancy myself that I will write the Great American Novel. Those who know me know I already wrote a book, but its more like a reference book and while I am proud of the accomplishment, its not the NYT bestseller I often envision I could write.

I have so many ideas, but the one that is in my head most often is to write a letter to my fresh-out-of-college self. Among tips on dating, girlfriends, boyfriends, roommates, jobs, etc. I would have several chapters on money. This is on my mind now because I am paying my student loan, perhaps THE BIGGEST money mistake of my life!!

No, not going to college or grad school, that was not the mistake. And not putting the majority of my grad school on student loan. No, the mistake was listening to others who swore I had to refinance and consolidate my grad and undergrad loans. As a result of this stupid move, when I locked myself into a 7.35% loan, when all is said and done I will have nearly paid DOUBLE what the original loan was for. DOUBLE!

I had always complained to my husband that my loan was a money pit. But it wasn't until we went and bought a car last fall that he saw in detail how BAD it was. He now wonders how the good people at Citibank sleep at night knowing how bad they are and did take it to the people. It makes me so sick to think about it.

So my biggest piece of money advice for anyone, but especially new college grads or anyone trying to refinance, make sure YOU understand the terms and what you are signing up for. Sure, no one could forsee how low the rates would go so that 7.35% would be sky high, but I had government loans, there was NO NEED to refiniance. NONE.

Now, if only the good people at Citibank (or anywhere else) would allow me to refinance our mortgage....

The mortgage crisis

We pay our mortgage every month. On time. Some months it even arrives early. We pay in full. We bought this condo when we were both employed bringing home about 30percent more than we are now. Our mortgage payment now takes up more than half of our take home pay, which everyone says is a big no-no.

We have tried for more than a year to get Wells Fargo, who I HATE, to refinance or modify our loan. Each time we get rejected for reasons that escape me. We are not asking to pay less than is owed (although we would certainly take it). All I want is to get locked into a 30 year fixed, and if that means we are paying more than we are paying now, than so be it. We can't rent this place out until we refinance, and as I have noted many times, these 800 sf are driving me bonkers!

Each time they reject us they immediately ask us to start short sale proceedings! They called at 8 pm on New Years Eve to do this and I nearly lost it. We do not want to do short sale!!! And why would they? They would lose money. Why won't they help us to pay what is owed? We want to be fair. We are not asking for special treatment.

We have excellent credit, well north of 700 for both of us on all three credit tables. But when I read articles like this, I wonder, should we just stop paying? Would that finally get their attention?

This is what gauls me the most about this crisis. People who don't pay, who are falling behind and over extended and taking advantage of the system, they are the one's who get help. But us, the honest people, get nothing. A very good friend named Pat told us that in order to get the bank to pay attention, Pat stopped paying. Eventually the bank did pay attention, the loan was modified and while Pat still owes the same amount overall, the payments have actually gone down!!

I actually hate Wells Fargo. I am sure they are not alone in their inability or lack of a desire to help. While I don't want to do anything to hurt our credit, something I have to believe will help us in the long run to keep high, I also sometimes wonder if not paying is the way to go?