PF Under 30

Paying off debt and finding my financial lifestyle

Loan Modification Worked!

Oct 15

Posted by kiki in Mortgage | No Comments

Despite all of my friends, and trusted confidants in the industry saying that loan modifications are hard to come by these days, I actually got one. Well, technically I got two.

This is for my first home (now a rental) that I bought when I first moved to Phoenix. This isn’t the one we closed on in May. Anyway, my unemployment was definately the key to my success. I had heard that I did not qualify for Obama’s Forcelosure Prevention plan because the place was not my primary residence, however, they had other modification options, so I filled out the paperwork anyway.

Yesterday I finally got a fax from the mortgage company with a proposal to cut my 1st loan payment by $150 and drop my interest rate to 4.4% for 5 years (basically, an ARM). The other Terms and Conditions of the loan stated that it would raise my principal balance by $3000 and that I would have to make a good faith payment equivalent to one month of my old loan. Not great, but better than a sharp stick in the eye. It kinda pissed me off that they would raise my principal balance an extra 3K.

Anyway, today I was going through the mail and I also received a proposal for my 2nd mortgage on that property. This one went from 9.6% to 2.2% AND included a principal reduction of $17,000! Again, it’s basically an ARM for the next 5 years, but the principal reduction is forever! They’ve gotten their money’s worth though, because I’ve been paying 9.6% for the last 5 years, paying a whopping $1000 of principal.

Anyway, the loan payments have gone down by about $300 a month, which still isn’t quite enough to make it a wash with my rental income, but much closer than it was before! And with foreclosures still booming here in AZ, in all likelihood, my rental rates will increase when the lease expires in March.

So if you’re unemployed, or have recently got hit with an ARM adjustment, apply! It took them a couple of months to go through the whole thing, but it’s SO worth it!

I cut cable, and Cox’s crap.

Aug 19

Posted by kiki in Living Expenses, Uncategorized | No Comments

One of the things I hated most the last time I was unemployed, was the violation of my own principles in order to “cut back” and “survive”. Last time I was driving around a Mercedes SUV, with car insurance (and a car payment), but no health insurance. Some kind of values, boy I tell ya.

Now, I still have that vehicle (with no car payment), cheaper auto insurance (thanks to combining accounts with the BF) AND Health Insurance. I don’t drive it everyday (we take the Prius a lot), but I certainly feel like I’m living much better than I was then.

Case in point… Cox and the cable/internet bill. I have been on a promo for the last 6 months to get “basic” cable for free. We never used it at the old house because it didn’t work. When we moved to the new one, we decided to opt for the basic extended version (the one that includes USA, Lifetime, Fox News, CNN) in addition to the major networks.

Just the other day my “basic” promo expired, thus bringing the cable portion of my bill up to like $47. Whoa! I tried and tried to talk to them and ask for a discount, but they were unwilling to budge. (This is the same company that charged me a $8 “Self Install Fee” for hooking up my own cable and internet – each!) The only thing they would recommend to lower my bill was to drop me to the cheapest ($30) internet package. I said no because for $15 more, we get speeds 13 times higher than the cheap package. This was a conscious decision that we made together when we got rid of the Capital One bill (and the $15/month minimum payment.) It was a zero sum game, and we chose upgraded internet to replace our Crap One bill.

We decided to add the cable package when we moved, because we both agreed to ditch our $25/month gym memberships in lieu of cable. Again, a zero sum game where we had to get rid of something in order to gain something.

Now, we’ve both decided that cable isn’t worth $47/month to us, and we still don’t have our gym memberships. Quite truthfully, that extra $50 per month has been eaten up in increased Utilities at the bigger place.

However, my point is that despite having “less” then we had then, we are in a much better financial position than we were the last time around. And even better than that, we’re spending to match our values, and not feeling stuck to “the man” and his silly rules. Before, we would have just rolled over and paid it.

New Health Insurance- Better Coverage, Less Money

Aug 5

Posted by kiki in Insurance | No Comments

I hate to liken Heath Insurance to shopping around for cheaper car insurance (a la Geico) but there is something to be said for capitalism and putting the customer first.

I have an Individual HSA with Golden Rule. Got it last year from my Dave Ramsey course and I’ve never looked back. I love the concept of an HSA, and it’s been working very well for me, minus the Golden Rule part of it.

When I signed up I did an online payment for my second quarter’s health insurance. My bank issued a check, and promptly mailed it to them. They never got it, and ended up canceling my account. (Despite me calling in ahead of time saying “I sent this to you, I don’t show you cashed it in yet.”) They kept telling me “I’m sure we have it somewhere.”

Anyway, the process for re-instatement took approx 3-4 months, along with additional info from my doctors, and denial of applications from other insurance companies, because I was currently “uninsured.” When they did finally re-instate me, they put a rider on my coverage stating they wouldn’t cover anything related to my previous back injury.

Now, things have changed. They sent me a notice a few months ago raising my rates from $73/month to $93/month. Then, after I updated my address after I moved, I got a notice saying they upped it from $93 to $105 due to “higher rates in my area.” They have no online web access to my claims, and have been less than helpful every time I had to call in.

As of yesterday I’ve been approved to go to Aetna’s Individual HSA for $79 – no riders for my back, and online access to my health history. The BF is on an Aetna Individual HSA too, simplifying things a lot around our house. Better yet, they’ve got better coverage for Chiropractic care, and annual OBGYN exams. All in all, I think I’m going to be much happier in their hands.

My point is that all in all, we have a pretty great health insurance system around here (minus pre-existing condition stuff above) as long as you remember that you have choices in healthcare just as you have choices in restaurants, grocery stores, and gas stations. I chose not to go with my employer sponsored plan when I had the option (albeit cheaper), because even my GoldenRule HSA was a better plan. Yeah, I had to pay more out of pocket for my expenses, but the gov made it much easier when it gave you the option of rolling over an IRA into an HSA. Now, I still have a nice little account from which to pull money from whenever I have medical expenses. Thanks to the Unemployment rule, that same account is paying my health insurance premiums while I’m unemployed. And if anything catastrophic happens to my health this year, worst case scenario, the max I’ll have to come up with is $5000. My insurance will pay the rest, 100%.

God bless america. There will always be good companies and bad companies, but as long as the rules are set so that consumers can walk if they don’t like the service (or price) at one, then capitalism will help weed out the bad guys and leave only the good ones. If you don’t like your doctor, go find one that you do. Insurance companies are the same way.

New Years Resolutions Update

Jun 1

Posted by kiki in CC Debt Progress | 1 Comment

It’s not quite half way through the year yet, but I thought I’d update everybody on my progress. Things have been going very well until now (unemployed again, another post altogether), but I am now faced with the reality that MY finances have now become OUR finances, and with our finances, there is quite a bit of catchup to play.

For the current list:

  1. Pay off car ($3,978 to go!) DONE!
  2. Pay off Citibank and close ($8,868 to go!) (Completed Feb 27, closed May 28th)
  3. Pay off Advanta and close ($10,358 to go!) (Now $9000 to go)
  4. Close Costco Amex Business in February Completed Feb 17
  5. 800 Credit Score with all 3 Bureaus (This one may never happen this year)
  6. $1 million in life insurance (I rejected their offer because of the high premium that they foolishly considered me “high risk”. Will re-evaluate soon as time allows.)
  7. New house in the Spring DONE! Closed May 8th!
  8. Start using an accountant for all personal/business tax needs
  9. Update my trust to current assets/wishes
  10. Scan all financial info paperless filing system (put into Evernote) (About 3/4 complete)

Now that “me” has become “we”, we have a few more obsticles we need to overcome. This year’s new debt snowball:

  1. Payoff Advanta card ($9000 to go)
  2. Payoff Boat Loan ($14,048 to go)
  3. Payoff USAA Amex “car loan” ($26,862 to go)

And our necessary contributions:

  1. $3000 HSA Contribution for me
  2. $3000 HSA Contribution for the BF

I would like to make our Roth contributions as well, but the primary goal of this year is debt elimination. It’s a heafty load, but do-able considering both of our average incomes. I’m not expecting a miracle, but I am holding us accountable for this.

House Update – Close May 8th

Apr 27

Posted by kiki in Big Purchases | No Comments

So, right in line w/ what Escape Brooklyn is up to, I thought I’d update you all on our house progress.

The cute house on the lake was a short sale, and in the month and a half we had an offer on it, we didn’t hear squat back from the bank to accept.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we found another house on the lake, only this one was bigger, and has a bigger lake front lot. The Master Bedroom is upstairs (yes, this one’s a two story) with a balcony overlooking the lake. It’s got a big bathroom, and a walk in closet that’s about 10×10. The front living room will even fit my 15′ Christmas tree.

The only downer is that this one isn’t updated. The kitchen will need to be expanded about 4 feet, the appliances updated, and particularly the flooring, both tile and berber carpet are the original 1996 install.

Still, these are all things that we can do ourselves, but the structure of the house is what we fell in love with. With a little TLC and some sprucing up, this place will be a dream by Christmas!

Lately I’ve been busy gathering financial documents, homeowner’s insurance policies, etc. Good thing I have renters in my old house again, as they wanted a copy of the lease for that one too.

Anyway, still kicking butt on the debt reduction progress as it stands. Next up is Ed’s $2000 student loan from his daughter’s first quarter in college.

Buying a house really tempts you to spend money… LOTS of money! But we’re taking it slow and getting into the swing of things before we go out and buy anything substantial for that place.

I’d love to get a new refrigerator, or washer and dryer, but we’re going to pay cash for them, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable until we free up some monthly cash flow (and debt). $2000 and $50/month for a student loan isn’t going to cut it!