Earlier this month I posted about giving to the Starbucks's Jobs for USA campaign. Today I saw that they have raised more than $1 million since launching at the beginning of the month. With Starbucks initial kick-in of $5 million, the total amount of money available for small business grants is over $42 million. Hopefully there are plenty of small entrepreneurs benefiting from this type of grass roots giving.
Here's a list of the first round of groups that have been given the grant money. Although I'm more interested in reading about the individuals that will get loans for their business.
Have you given to this campaign? Why or why not?
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Time for .... End of year Investment Snap Shot
It's time to prepare for my end-of-the-year "look-sie" into our investment world. To see how much money is in each brokerage account and which retirement account has how much money. And of course, see how the total portfolio is weighted. This also lets us ask the age-old question: How are we doing relative to our age group? And there are the calculators that let you plug these figures in to see "how much we'll have at retirement".
My goal for this is more for the insight, rather than the need to take action.
I'm not much for re-balancing because as 30-something-year olds, we don't mind carrying a very aggressively-weighted portfolio. I don't have any interest in moving funds from one type of investment into another. I pretty much keep everything in equities and cash (with the latter meant as an emergency fund). In the past I've used some of the online tools to track this (think mint.com) but i think a good part of this exercise is to manually enter these numbers into a spreadsheet and have the raw data in a simple format. And of course lets some simple graphs or charts be created from this data.
I generally haven't had a schedule for taking a look at this info, but I would like to keep more up-to-date on these numbers on at least a quarterly basis, if not quicker. How do you track your total portfolio? How often do you check it?
My goal for this is more for the insight, rather than the need to take action.
I'm not much for re-balancing because as 30-something-year olds, we don't mind carrying a very aggressively-weighted portfolio. I don't have any interest in moving funds from one type of investment into another. I pretty much keep everything in equities and cash (with the latter meant as an emergency fund). In the past I've used some of the online tools to track this (think mint.com) but i think a good part of this exercise is to manually enter these numbers into a spreadsheet and have the raw data in a simple format. And of course lets some simple graphs or charts be created from this data.
I generally haven't had a schedule for taking a look at this info, but I would like to keep more up-to-date on these numbers on at least a quarterly basis, if not quicker. How do you track your total portfolio? How often do you check it?
Friday, November 25, 2011
Saving Money and Giving Money at the same time.
Each holiday we find ourselves buying more and more gifts online. While we may not get the absolute best deals compared to limited Black Friday deals, we do get exactly what we need without the hassle (and excitement) of the crowds. And prices have been very good lately. This also lets us shop for xmas gifts early so we don't have to wait til the last few weeks (or days, yikes!) before the bid day.
Awhile back I listened to a podcast where the host talked about supporting the show by purchasing goods from Amazon through the podcast show's website so the show gets a little kickback from Amazon. This got me to thinking to see if there were any nonprofit groups that had this arrangement with Amazon so I could help out a charity while saving money shopping at Amazon. I didn't find anything on Amazon directly that showed these relationships. Searching online didn't turn up a hole lot, certainly not a list of options. I did find a reference to Surfrider Foundation, but the link was old and invalid. The other place I found was Mercycorp, an organization that as their website states: "Focuses on disaster response, sustainable economic development, health services, and emergency and natural disaster relief." Sounds like a cause worthy of getting my Amazon business so they can get back an extra 1% or so of my order from Amazon.
Here's the link I use to buy through Amazon to give to Mercycorps: http://www.amazon.com/?tag=mercycorps-20
Do you find ways to give while you shop online? If so, which organizations do you give to and how do you donate?
Awhile back I listened to a podcast where the host talked about supporting the show by purchasing goods from Amazon through the podcast show's website so the show gets a little kickback from Amazon. This got me to thinking to see if there were any nonprofit groups that had this arrangement with Amazon so I could help out a charity while saving money shopping at Amazon. I didn't find anything on Amazon directly that showed these relationships. Searching online didn't turn up a hole lot, certainly not a list of options. I did find a reference to Surfrider Foundation, but the link was old and invalid. The other place I found was Mercycorp, an organization that as their website states: "Focuses on disaster response, sustainable economic development, health services, and emergency and natural disaster relief." Sounds like a cause worthy of getting my Amazon business so they can get back an extra 1% or so of my order from Amazon.
Here's the link I use to buy through Amazon to give to Mercycorps: http://www.amazon.com/?tag=mercycorps-20
Do you find ways to give while you shop online? If so, which organizations do you give to and how do you donate?
Saturday, November 19, 2011
A budget methodology that really (finally) works (for us)
For years I've attempted and abandoned budgets countless times. There's been the written note pad, Excel spreadsheet, online apps and gadgets, mobile phone apps, google docs, etc.... Nothing ever stuck for more than a few months. Perhaps part of the problem is that we have already demonstrated living within our means quite well by carrying no debt aside from the mortgage kind. I imagine for many people, the motivation to budget everything is a determination to pay off debt. So without that motivation my budget efforts have petered out and eventually stopped.
However, I still recognize the importance of knowing what money comes in and (more importantly) where money goes. So I've taken a more methodical approach looking at our family like it is a business. At least in the sense that we need to consider the monthly budget as s necessity. Another problem with budget tracking is I never knew what good estimations should be for different categories. And some budget tools I used didn't really address or track expenses in this manner. Well I am pleased that I found a system and modified it for our needs and liking.
The base of the system I use is the Envelope System, which I came across via Dave Ramsey. Essentially this is meant to have a number of envelopes that cash is placed in each month for specific categories. Since we use a rewards credit cards for almost all purchases we don't physically use envelopes but I created a spreadsheet that mimics the envelopes with each specific category in its own column.
Another issue was determining what categories and how much money into each would be appropriate. Again I used Dave Ramsey. He has a free budget lite tool on his website that gives you rough breakdown (depending on monthly income) for how much to spend on basic categories like food, savings, housing, clothing, etc... Initially I adjusted his recommendations because he doesn't address total members of household which affects food costs and didn't have a category to address day care cost (out largest expense ... yikes!). Over a few months I further tweaked our amounts and have been content with this system. It provides a good sense of monthly income and outlay. It also lets balance leftover from one month to be carried over, such as the "eating out envelope."
I feel that this new method for our budgeting is easy and convenient enough that we'll stick with it for the long haul. And more importantly, it gives very simple data back to us so we can quickly see where we spend our money on a monthly basis.
What budget method do you use? What tricks, if any, do you use to keep on top of it?
However, I still recognize the importance of knowing what money comes in and (more importantly) where money goes. So I've taken a more methodical approach looking at our family like it is a business. At least in the sense that we need to consider the monthly budget as s necessity. Another problem with budget tracking is I never knew what good estimations should be for different categories. And some budget tools I used didn't really address or track expenses in this manner. Well I am pleased that I found a system and modified it for our needs and liking.
The base of the system I use is the Envelope System, which I came across via Dave Ramsey. Essentially this is meant to have a number of envelopes that cash is placed in each month for specific categories. Since we use a rewards credit cards for almost all purchases we don't physically use envelopes but I created a spreadsheet that mimics the envelopes with each specific category in its own column.
Another issue was determining what categories and how much money into each would be appropriate. Again I used Dave Ramsey. He has a free budget lite tool on his website that gives you rough breakdown (depending on monthly income) for how much to spend on basic categories like food, savings, housing, clothing, etc... Initially I adjusted his recommendations because he doesn't address total members of household which affects food costs and didn't have a category to address day care cost (out largest expense ... yikes!). Over a few months I further tweaked our amounts and have been content with this system. It provides a good sense of monthly income and outlay. It also lets balance leftover from one month to be carried over, such as the "eating out envelope."
I feel that this new method for our budgeting is easy and convenient enough that we'll stick with it for the long haul. And more importantly, it gives very simple data back to us so we can quickly see where we spend our money on a monthly basis.
What budget method do you use? What tricks, if any, do you use to keep on top of it?
Monday, November 14, 2011
4 for 4 on that nagging "To Do" List
A clear win this past weekend with getting my quick little nagging to dos done. That's 4 things out of the way before the hectic holidays arrive. Now I won't do this weekly or even monthly but I like the practicality of using this technique when I need to get some quick satisfaction of getting small things taken care of.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Those nagging projects... Quick effort to finish the easy ones before the holidays arrive.
We all have a "to do" list. And I'm sure most of us have one that seemingly only grows in length. My plan for this weekend is to pick some of the low hanging fruit on this list and get that taken care of and off the list. I figure if I can pick 4 things that take 15 mins or less each I'll be happy. Only 1 hour of effort (30 mins each weekend day) to shorten that list. Now that sounds like a good idea.
Among the easy ones (i think) are:
1- We put in new counter tops this past summer. The old laminate ones covered more of the cabinet top than the replacement granite and butcher block tops we installed. This left a small strip of unfinished wood viewable from waist height and below. I just need to get some poly-finish and rub it into the wood. It will likely take me longer to find the finish in the garage than to actually do the task. Time needed: 15 mins
2- A referenced in #1 above, we have 2 sections of our kitchen cabinets that are butcher block (love them by the way). I need to put on a coat of mineral oil. This time I know right where the oil is, unlike the poly-finish. Time needed: 15 mins
3- Close that old money market account. We have an ING account that still has about $500 in it. Earlier this year we switched most of the funds within to a local credit union and SmartyPig. Now I just need to close the transfer off by getting all the funds out. Time needed: 15 mins
4- Clean out and organize our coat closet. The current state of our coat closet is a large pile of kids and adult shoes on the floor and on the shoe shelf. After a summer of just throwing shoes in and out, and having kids feet that grow, I'm sure I can move the summer footwear to storage and find a few kids shoes to donate that are too small now. With fewer footwear in there, I can re-organize it so we can quickly find matching pairs of shoes. Time needed: 15 mins
What easy 4 things can you strike off your "to do" list in an hour?
Among the easy ones (i think) are:
1- We put in new counter tops this past summer. The old laminate ones covered more of the cabinet top than the replacement granite and butcher block tops we installed. This left a small strip of unfinished wood viewable from waist height and below. I just need to get some poly-finish and rub it into the wood. It will likely take me longer to find the finish in the garage than to actually do the task. Time needed: 15 mins
2- A referenced in #1 above, we have 2 sections of our kitchen cabinets that are butcher block (love them by the way). I need to put on a coat of mineral oil. This time I know right where the oil is, unlike the poly-finish. Time needed: 15 mins
3- Close that old money market account. We have an ING account that still has about $500 in it. Earlier this year we switched most of the funds within to a local credit union and SmartyPig. Now I just need to close the transfer off by getting all the funds out. Time needed: 15 mins
4- Clean out and organize our coat closet. The current state of our coat closet is a large pile of kids and adult shoes on the floor and on the shoe shelf. After a summer of just throwing shoes in and out, and having kids feet that grow, I'm sure I can move the summer footwear to storage and find a few kids shoes to donate that are too small now. With fewer footwear in there, I can re-organize it so we can quickly find matching pairs of shoes. Time needed: 15 mins
What easy 4 things can you strike off your "to do" list in an hour?
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The enjoyment of saving money
Like many Americans in the past year, we finally cut the cord to the cable company. Or in our case, one of the satellite TV companies. This decision saves us around $70 a month, over $840 a year. $4200 over 5 years! Now that's a statistic that will put a smile on anyone's face.
Our alternative means of TV entertainment comes from 3 source; 2 free and 1 paid. We bought over-the-air antenna. We use free internet TV (Hulu, Disney, SpikeTV, etc.) and pay for Netflix -- DVD and streaming service. Didn't really mind their price hike the other month. Percentage wise, it sucks at 60% increase. But $16 is way cheaper than the old bill we had.
For the most part we haven't missed watching anything. There are some shows that we cannot find for free, or at all, but we've moved on with our lives and are surviving. In fact, we often watch some sitcoms in real-time over the air. Something we never did with the DVR at our disposal. And the twins can watch Sesame Street every morning if we want.
Now there's a new possibility arriving. I've recently pre-ordered a $99 Kindle Touch and was excited to see that Amazon launched a free e-book checkout for Amazon Prime members. Right now there are over 5,000 e-books available. And of course Amazon has lots of free TV Shows and Movies for Prime members. In fact, they may have enough to we can stop paying for Netflix streaming and replace it with the $80 yearly Amazon Prime cost. We order lots from Amazon so the free 2-day shipping will be a nice bonus.
Once I get me new Kindle, hopefully this month, I'll have to take a closer looks at dropping the $8 month Netflix cost. We'd save $96 a year and pay $79 for Amazon Price -- realizing a $17 yearly savings.
Our alternative means of TV entertainment comes from 3 source; 2 free and 1 paid. We bought over-the-air antenna. We use free internet TV (Hulu, Disney, SpikeTV, etc.) and pay for Netflix -- DVD and streaming service. Didn't really mind their price hike the other month. Percentage wise, it sucks at 60% increase. But $16 is way cheaper than the old bill we had.
For the most part we haven't missed watching anything. There are some shows that we cannot find for free, or at all, but we've moved on with our lives and are surviving. In fact, we often watch some sitcoms in real-time over the air. Something we never did with the DVR at our disposal. And the twins can watch Sesame Street every morning if we want.
Now there's a new possibility arriving. I've recently pre-ordered a $99 Kindle Touch and was excited to see that Amazon launched a free e-book checkout for Amazon Prime members. Right now there are over 5,000 e-books available. And of course Amazon has lots of free TV Shows and Movies for Prime members. In fact, they may have enough to we can stop paying for Netflix streaming and replace it with the $80 yearly Amazon Prime cost. We order lots from Amazon so the free 2-day shipping will be a nice bonus.
Once I get me new Kindle, hopefully this month, I'll have to take a closer looks at dropping the $8 month Netflix cost. We'd save $96 a year and pay $79 for Amazon Price -- realizing a $17 yearly savings.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Starbucks: Let's Create Jobs for USA
We've bought a couple of these Starbuck's sponsored bracelets in the past week. Each time we chipped in the minimum $5. I'm interested to see how much traction this campaign gets. Howard Schultz has shown himself to be a CEO that wants to change the make-up of how Americans interact and behave. Years ago I worked for his company and recall his (or at least he referenced it) Third Place idea. I like the notion that there can be an environment beyond work and house where everyday social life can occur. (I didn't particularly mind that there's a specific monetarily benefit of driving customers to spend more time within a corporate coffee shop.)
This latest bracelet campaign is akin to raising awareness through a symbolic (the bracelet, not unlike the Live Strong bracelet) item with the notion that everyday Americans can help everyday Americans. Overall, I love the idea of micro-lending and peer-ro-peer lending. In fact we have accounts in both Microplace and LendingClub. In the total picture we don't have much money in these sites, but I like that we do have some money out there helping. Gives us a sense of helping out and getting a higher rate of return on the funds we lend.
The campaign says that for every $5 given by everyday Americans, there is another $35 in waiting, leveraged funds waiting to be given through grants and then through loans. Starbucks fronted at least $5 million to jump start the program. I hope its a good momentum starter to get some sort of micro-business climate going with grass roots job creation. If nothing else, it's at least support Made in USA bracelets.
This latest bracelet campaign is akin to raising awareness through a symbolic (the bracelet, not unlike the Live Strong bracelet) item with the notion that everyday Americans can help everyday Americans. Overall, I love the idea of micro-lending and peer-ro-peer lending. In fact we have accounts in both Microplace and LendingClub. In the total picture we don't have much money in these sites, but I like that we do have some money out there helping. Gives us a sense of helping out and getting a higher rate of return on the funds we lend.
The campaign says that for every $5 given by everyday Americans, there is another $35 in waiting, leveraged funds waiting to be given through grants and then through loans. Starbucks fronted at least $5 million to jump start the program. I hope its a good momentum starter to get some sort of micro-business climate going with grass roots job creation. If nothing else, it's at least support Made in USA bracelets.
Monday, November 07, 2011
The reality (warm, good, feeling-ness) of low interest rates
As mentioned in a post last week, this month began a new chapter in our mortgaged home ownership adventure. We moved from a decent-rate 30 year fixed to a low-rate 15 year fixed. We get better value for our money. Simply put, we pay a bit more a month to save a lot more over the next dozen and a half years.
Another aspect I think that adds to the warm, good, feeling-ness is realizing the increasing monthly adjustment to the amount of payment that is applied to the principal, each month thereafter. This is akin to the good feeling that comes from making extra payments over the standard monthly amount, knowing that each month there is more extra money going into the principal.
With our old mortgage we banked about $320 a month towards the principal. Each month thereafter, an extra $1 would be applied to the principal if making no extra payments. $321 the next month, $322 for the next, $323 for the next, and so on and so forth. After a number of months the rate would jump to $2. And after many months, years really, the amount would starting swinging more aggressively.
Now, with the new mortgage payment (with about $900 going to the principal) I am excited to see how much more each additional month we apply towards the principal. My lender showed me an approximated amortization table before we refi'd but I do not recall the difference from month to month. Instead of digging up that document, I will just patiently await next month to review December's payment details to see how much extra we are chunking away towards the principal. More than a $1 for sure. And closer to a mortgage free tomorrow...
Another aspect I think that adds to the warm, good, feeling-ness is realizing the increasing monthly adjustment to the amount of payment that is applied to the principal, each month thereafter. This is akin to the good feeling that comes from making extra payments over the standard monthly amount, knowing that each month there is more extra money going into the principal.
With our old mortgage we banked about $320 a month towards the principal. Each month thereafter, an extra $1 would be applied to the principal if making no extra payments. $321 the next month, $322 for the next, $323 for the next, and so on and so forth. After a number of months the rate would jump to $2. And after many months, years really, the amount would starting swinging more aggressively.
Now, with the new mortgage payment (with about $900 going to the principal) I am excited to see how much more each additional month we apply towards the principal. My lender showed me an approximated amortization table before we refi'd but I do not recall the difference from month to month. Instead of digging up that document, I will just patiently await next month to review December's payment details to see how much extra we are chunking away towards the principal. More than a $1 for sure. And closer to a mortgage free tomorrow...
Friday, November 04, 2011
November Goals
1- Switch Home and Auto Insurance
Our longtime insurance company is upping our rates. Yikes! So much for rewarding loyal customers. (There's such a negative approach to companies only rewarding customers when they threaten to leave. Doesn't leave a warm feeling towards the companies we send money to month after month after month. Probably a topic for another post on its own.) We bundle Auto with Home, so even though I thought we had a good policy I started checking quotes online. By switching to a different major Auto insurer and a different major Home insurer we can save about $630 a year or about $52 a month. That's some good savings for about an hours worth of work shopping around the different quote tools online.
2- Create about 21 square feet of space in house
When our twins switched from toddler beds to twin beds (funny pun in there?) we bought a set that also could be bunk beds. And we looked forward to the day we'd set them up, creating tons more play space in their room. The time has arrived. Unfortunately I've misplaced the instructions and screws/dowels in the years since we first built the beds. After looking high and low around the house (should have taped it all the bottom of one of the beds!) I've figured it's just easier to figure out what is needed and go by it at Home Depot. I couldn't track down the manufacturer and the store no longer sells the same bed. I have tracked down photos of the bed so can see where the side rails and ladder go/attach. Now I just need to secure and parts and build it.
3- Clean the garage
Now that winter is arriving I need to turn our garage back into a 2 car garage. There are various boxes, bikes, debris, clutter, etc... preventing both cars to be parked inside. I'm getting tired (after just 4 times) of scraping frost of the windshield. Gotta get this done soon. Hoping this is a first half of month completion rather than latter half.
4- Fix CEL on one car issue and CV Axles
One of our cars has Check Engine Light on. I know it is at a bad O2 Sensor. So I bought a replacement sensor on Amazon and need to install it. That should fix the CEL. Same car also has at least one torn CV boot. Need to either replace boot or axle. I should get both these items taken care of before winter fully arrives.
Our longtime insurance company is upping our rates. Yikes! So much for rewarding loyal customers. (There's such a negative approach to companies only rewarding customers when they threaten to leave. Doesn't leave a warm feeling towards the companies we send money to month after month after month. Probably a topic for another post on its own.) We bundle Auto with Home, so even though I thought we had a good policy I started checking quotes online. By switching to a different major Auto insurer and a different major Home insurer we can save about $630 a year or about $52 a month. That's some good savings for about an hours worth of work shopping around the different quote tools online.
2- Create about 21 square feet of space in house
When our twins switched from toddler beds to twin beds (funny pun in there?) we bought a set that also could be bunk beds. And we looked forward to the day we'd set them up, creating tons more play space in their room. The time has arrived. Unfortunately I've misplaced the instructions and screws/dowels in the years since we first built the beds. After looking high and low around the house (should have taped it all the bottom of one of the beds!) I've figured it's just easier to figure out what is needed and go by it at Home Depot. I couldn't track down the manufacturer and the store no longer sells the same bed. I have tracked down photos of the bed so can see where the side rails and ladder go/attach. Now I just need to secure and parts and build it.
3- Clean the garage
Now that winter is arriving I need to turn our garage back into a 2 car garage. There are various boxes, bikes, debris, clutter, etc... preventing both cars to be parked inside. I'm getting tired (after just 4 times) of scraping frost of the windshield. Gotta get this done soon. Hoping this is a first half of month completion rather than latter half.
4- Fix CEL on one car issue and CV Axles
One of our cars has Check Engine Light on. I know it is at a bad O2 Sensor. So I bought a replacement sensor on Amazon and need to install it. That should fix the CEL. Same car also has at least one torn CV boot. Need to either replace boot or axle. I should get both these items taken care of before winter fully arrives.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
New investment minded Visa Credit Card - Goodbye Schwab and hello Fidelity Investment Rewards
Our household buys almost everything on a credit card. We pay it off every month. This works great in all sorts of ways, but most of all with the rewards we garner.
But we just lost our favorite goto Visa card: Schwab Invest First. Lots of PF folks loved/had this card. Schwab actually cut ties with it months ago. The card is issued by FIA Card Services, a subsidiary of BOA - Bank of America. They kept the card going, and continued to match the 2% cash back that got deposited into our Schwab Brokerage account monthly. From there I'd transfer the money into either a IRA or Roth IRA. And then into one of the Schwab Index funds we have. I never enjoyed a cash back card more than I did the Schwab. No silly need to login and request check or gift cards, like our Chase Visa card requires. Schwab made it very east with everything being automatic each month.
So I had been on the look out for some replacement, that had an investment angle in mind. And the choice was spartan to say the least. In fact, there was only one choice: Fidelity Investments Rewards. (in either Visa or Amex.) We stuck with Visa. 1.5% cash back into a Fidelity investment account. After spending $15,000 the rate bumps up to 2%. The Amex started at 2%, but we felt more comfortable with a Visa.
End of October marked the termination date of the Schwab card, which is getting rolled into a regular BAC blended cash back Visa. The new Fidelity Visa arrived last week and I made the first purchase shortly thereafter. Nice to know we have rewards again that will continue to feed our retirement accounts in a slow, methodical manner. And I like that the new card is green and cooler looking than the old one. So long Chuck....
But we just lost our favorite goto Visa card: Schwab Invest First. Lots of PF folks loved/had this card. Schwab actually cut ties with it months ago. The card is issued by FIA Card Services, a subsidiary of BOA - Bank of America. They kept the card going, and continued to match the 2% cash back that got deposited into our Schwab Brokerage account monthly. From there I'd transfer the money into either a IRA or Roth IRA. And then into one of the Schwab Index funds we have. I never enjoyed a cash back card more than I did the Schwab. No silly need to login and request check or gift cards, like our Chase Visa card requires. Schwab made it very east with everything being automatic each month.
So I had been on the look out for some replacement, that had an investment angle in mind. And the choice was spartan to say the least. In fact, there was only one choice: Fidelity Investments Rewards. (in either Visa or Amex.) We stuck with Visa. 1.5% cash back into a Fidelity investment account. After spending $15,000 the rate bumps up to 2%. The Amex started at 2%, but we felt more comfortable with a Visa.
End of October marked the termination date of the Schwab card, which is getting rolled into a regular BAC blended cash back Visa. The new Fidelity Visa arrived last week and I made the first purchase shortly thereafter. Nice to know we have rewards again that will continue to feed our retirement accounts in a slow, methodical manner. And I like that the new card is green and cooler looking than the old one. So long Chuck....
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Mortgage refi kicks in this month
This month our new mortgage starts -- moving from a 30 year 4.675 Fixed to a 15 year 3.825 Fixed. Amazingly from Month 1 we pay more to principal than to interest. A lot.
The basic monthly numbers are:
Old payment about $1150.
New payment about $1600.
Old break down about:
$325 to principal. $825 to interest!
New break down about:
$930 to principal! $670 to interest.
Overall, we pay about $450 more per month with the new 15 year mortgage. But we get more than $605 more into the principal. Those are some great numbers and will let us really start building some equity into our house.
This refi originated from our current lender. It didn't cost us anything. From my understanding, our lender got paid from part of the Making Home Affordable program. They sought us out to do the refi, which is great since we were aren't quite 80% LTV so probably couldn't have gotten a good deal on our own.
Even more amazing is when I looked at our old refi docs from about 3 years ago. Because we did refi at that time and paid fees/closing cost, we have only banked a little over $2000 in equity since. I mean, it really was surprising to see our balance only lower by about $2000 those years. However, that refi did save us about $275 a month. So we saved over $9000 since then. But now with our household income up from those days it will be nice switching to the 15 year mortgage where we can really start chewing down the principal.
The basic monthly numbers are:
Old payment about $1150.
New payment about $1600.
Old break down about:
$325 to principal. $825 to interest!
New break down about:
$930 to principal! $670 to interest.
Overall, we pay about $450 more per month with the new 15 year mortgage. But we get more than $605 more into the principal. Those are some great numbers and will let us really start building some equity into our house.
This refi originated from our current lender. It didn't cost us anything. From my understanding, our lender got paid from part of the Making Home Affordable program. They sought us out to do the refi, which is great since we were aren't quite 80% LTV so probably couldn't have gotten a good deal on our own.
Even more amazing is when I looked at our old refi docs from about 3 years ago. Because we did refi at that time and paid fees/closing cost, we have only banked a little over $2000 in equity since. I mean, it really was surprising to see our balance only lower by about $2000 those years. However, that refi did save us about $275 a month. So we saved over $9000 since then. But now with our household income up from those days it will be nice switching to the 15 year mortgage where we can really start chewing down the principal.
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