PF Under 30

Paying off debt and finding my financial lifestyle

Weekend at home to sell, clean and get rid of crap!

Feb 3

Posted by kiki in Organizing, Vacation | No Comments

Staying home to sell stuff this weekend. (Frown)

Usually we go to the “floaty house” for the weekend, but this weekend we’re staying home to get the Mercedes sold, and this time, we’re serious. We originally put it up on the market in October, 2009 but when people called to see it over the weekend, we weren’t home to show it. We lost out BIG time on a lot of potential buyers.

This time we’re staying home. I’ve currently got it at the dealership for all warranty repair needs (they gave me a loaner so I’m bumming around in a new one!). I’ve also got plans to get it waxed today, so it looks all nice and sparkly to show.

We’re also going to CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN this weekend. (My house is atrocious, laundry needs to be done, the dogs need baths, the floors need vacuuming, and all of the bathrooms need cleaning.)

While I’m on the topic, the boyfriend is going to spend some time making our pontoon boat nice and quiet. Pending we can borrow the trailer from the HOA, we’re going to pull it out, clean it, install stuff to make the motor quieter, and repair the pontoons. I can almost guarantee he will spend most of his weekend on this and get out of the rest of the chores.

I’m going to put a bunch of crap on Craigslist. A Tivo, a Zune, two projectors (one with a motorized screen), and one of those fold out laundry jobs I never even took out of the box. I will also be hauling a bunch of crap to Goodwill.

And while I’m at it, I woluld really like to dig through my boxes of pictures in the garage and find stuff of my dad while I was little. His birthday is coming up, and I can’t think of a better present than a really cool Photobook out of iPhoto.

So when it’s all done, we should be leaner, cleaner, and about $10,000 richer. And maybe,Stay finally I can rid myself of that Advanta bill misery!

2009 Resolutions Results – I’m worth a Mil!

Jan 29

Posted by kiki in CC Debt Progress, Insurance | No Comments

In late breaking news, I got notice the other day that my application for additional life insurance thru work was approved. So now, I’m officially worth a million (if I croak, of course), and can cross off #4 on my 2009 New Years Resolutions. (A little late I know, but it’s not too far from New Years Eve!)

Here’s how I did last year:

  1. Pay off car ($3,978) DONE!
  2. Pay off Citibank and close ($8,880) DONE!
  3. Pay off Advanta and close ($10,358) FAIL – Still working on – $4100 left
  4. Close Costco Amex Business in February DONE!
  5. 800 Credit Score with all 3 Bureaus FAIL – This one may never happen
  6. $1 million in life insurance DONE!
  7. New house in the Spring DONE!
  8. Start using an accountant for all personal/business tax needs FAIL
  9. Update my trust to current assets/wishes FAIL
  10. Scan all financial info paperless filing system (put into Evernote)FAIL (About 3/4 complete)

Looks like I got a 50% for the year. Not too great if you’re grading me, but the weighted average would look much better, as paying off debts, getting adequate life insurance, and buying a home are much more important than my credit score. An accountant is a “nice to have” but not critical.  The biggest failure is not updating the trust, which could be a huge issue if something were to happen to me (read International crotch bomber incident here).

But paying of $19,116 is nothing to slouch at – especially since I was unemployed for 6 months. There’s no way we would be where we are today if it wasn’t for the extreme amount of debt that we’ve ridden in our lives the past few years.

2010 Goals havent’ been posted yet, but basically include the final chapter of debt in our lives. We’re going to get rid of the remaining debts left, put $30,000 in the bank for an Emergency Fund, and be in the position to start funding our retirement with 15% of our gross income by the end of the year.

Teamwork is an amazing thing!

Getting Angry at Debt

Nov 10

Posted by kiki in CC Debt Progress, Credit and Debt | No Comments

I’m in a weird mood today. It’s a combination of freaking out that we’re not going to pay off the $5998 on the Advanta card by the end of the year, the fact that I just saw the charge at Home Depot my boyfriend put on the CREDIT CARD for $266 yesterday, (He told me after the fact, but it was supposed to be more like $120) and my mom whining at me this morning that her credit card debt is too high for the umteenth time even though she’s not really willing to take any steps to reduce her um “lifestyle expenses”.

SERIOIUSLY PEOPLE!

It doesn’t matter how good you nickel and dime a home improvement project if you’re going to end up paying 17% on that money! Just like it doesn’t matter to my mom if she cuts out $20 per month on cable and telephone expenses if she’s paying 14% on the money she’s already borrowing!

You have to get ANGRY at your debt, magnet it to the FRIDGE, and stare at it everytime you walk by it. Yeah, we can “maintain” the monthly payment, but WHY? It’s kinda like alimony – if you did something stupid in your past do you want to be writing a check for it every month for the rest of your life?? Or do you want to bust your butt to save your nickels only to hand them over to the bank? (interest) Isn’t it bad enough that our federal goverment is already giving them OUR money?

I may be considered un-patriotic for not paying the banks interest just so I can earn 4% cash back on my gas purchases. That is dumb logic - if I’m carrying a balance I would still pay them WAY more then they would pay me.

Last night I sold my old 2G iPhone for $200 and immediately gave the cash to the BF for the impending home improvement projects. CASH people! What a concept???

**This has been a Public Service Announcement for the “Stop Being Stupid with Your Hard Earned Money Coalition”. Thank you for listening.**

My Voluntary Deductions

Nov 2

Posted by kiki in 401(K), Insurance | No Comments

Since I just got a new job that has a company HSA (Jumping for Joy!), I thought I would take the time to show you how cool they are, and how much it’s made a difference to my bottom line.

Here it goes:

  Deductions
per year		 You Pay
per deduction		 Employer Pays
per deduction
Medical
Anthem Blue Cross And Blue Shield: Lumenos High Deductible HSA Opt5
Coverage: Yourself and Your Spouse.
Coverage effective beginning 11/01/2009
Family members covered: The BF		 24x $70.36
($1,688.76 per year)		 $211.10
($5,066.40 per year)
Dental
Guardian Life Ins Co Of America: Guardian Dental
Coverage: Yourself and Your Spouse.
Coverage effective beginning 11/01/2009
Family members covered: The BF		 24x $10.00
($240.00 per year)		 $10.74
($257.76 per year)
Life
The Hartford: Supplemental Life and AD&D
Coverage: $150,000.00 (+ $350,000.00 contingent on insurance company’s approval).
Coverage effective beginning 11/01/2009
Beneficiaries: My Living Trust (Primary, 100.00%).  
24x $25.00
($600.00 per year)		 $0.00
($0.00 per year)
Spouse Life
The Hartford: Spouse Life
Coverage: $75,000.00 (+ $175,000.00 contingent on insurance company’s approval).
Coverage effective beginning 11/01/2009
Family members covered: The BF		 24x $8.75
($210.00 per year)		 $0.00
($0.00 per year)
STD
The Hartford: Short Term Disability
Coverage: 60.0% of salary to a maximum of $1,000.00 per week.
Coverage effective beginning 11/01/2009		 24x $0.00
($0.00 per year)		 $8.31
($199.44 per year)

Yeah, Medical and Dental for the 2 of us is $160/month. What we had before was $329 a month with no dental and the equivalent of a $10,000 deductable for two. Now its a $4000 deductable for two. And they give us $2400 per year into our HSA account.

Assuming we get approved for the increased amount, Life Insurance is an additional $68 per month, which includes $500K more for me and $250K more for the BF. This will meet my 2009 goal of 1M in Life Insurance and move his up to $750K. Neither of us are up for a physical this year, and the fact that he could get life insurance at my younger age bracket sort of made it a no brainer.

I will also be having a 4% 401K contribution with a 100% match by my employer. This will increase once I reach baby step #4, but until then, I’m only doing enough to get the maximum match.

That’s it for me…. definately lots of deductions, but all worthwhile given the great HSA benefits and the fact that I can cover the BF as a “domestic partner.” We’ve never felt so lucky to be “domestic partners.”

The Great Advanta Payoff Trek

Nov 2

Posted by kiki in CC Debt Progress | No Comments

So I’ve been doing “mostly” good this year on my 2009 resolutions, (considering I was unemployed for 6 months) but I’ve got $7998 left on my 0% APR transfer before Advanta kicks my APR up to 16.99% come January 1, 2010. Yeah, seriously.

We just eliminated the $2500 American Express debt that my boyfriend had, which also gave us $26 per month back in minimum payments. Yeah, whooptee, I know. But the Advanta $200 minimum monthly payment would create lots more wiggle room in our monthly budget. Even without adding anything extra, I could take that and add it to the $187 minimum monthly payment we’re currently paying on the boat. But adding extra thanks to getting my FAT paycheck back, and the snowball becomes and AVALANCHE!

I’m getting ahead of myself though. Goal #1 for the rest of this year is to pay off that puppy by New Years Eve. I’ve got a large amount of cash sitting in my checking account right now, but it’s been seriously depleted by the fact that I had to front all of the expenses for a business trip to the east coast last week, as well as making the house, etc payments until I get my first check on November 13th.

But when I do get paid… it will be a really FAT paycheck! This will include 3 weeks of work, plus about $1300 in reimbursable expenses from that business trip. Minus approx $90 for health, dental, and extra life insurance for me and the honey, it should be seriously eye-popping!

So, I’m betting that I can kick this pig by the time the ball drops on Times Square, but I will tap into my $2000 Emergency Fund, if need be, to put me over the top by New Years. Cause 16.99%? Are they CRAZY?