It goes up a few dollars every year Stan. For a family of four (mine) it feels like the cost of a vacation for just a one day trip. Some of my friends have the passes but OMG the cost is nuts. Maybe if I lived a few minutes away but that's a drive, as you know. Throw in food and all that, and that seriously costs more than our HI vacations.
For awhile we were getting passes to the parks that did the buy one day get the year thing. Now that's worth it!
Cost: $13-17k + ~$1k/year dues. Looking to purchase in late 2015, early 2016.
Savings: We have 4 months expenses in general savings. We have 3x our HHI saved for retirement at 30 and 36 respectively. We prioritize retirement savings above all else. We have an additional $13k saved in DD's 529 that obviously won't be touched.
Jobs: Stable. I work PT MWF but can go back to FT and pay ~$500/month for childcare - about half my pay increase from going PT to FT. Currently pay $0 as Mom and MIL watch DD on days I work.
Expenses: All of our fixed expenses are paid by DH's salary and our food, clothes, and fun are paid by mine.
Debt: We have 1 mortgage whose balance is 1.5x our HHI and 1 low interest car loan whose payment is about 7% of our take home.
Where's the money coming from: At least 85% of the cost will be funded by mature savings bonds that are in my name. The remaining 15% would be funded by building up savings between now and purchase time or DH's bonus - not guaranteed but usually low 5 figures.
We need to know your current financial situation! Are you broke (I know you're not) or do you have $6,000 leftover each month? We need more info!
I am not broke, but also do not have $6,000 leftover each month. The fence and renovations would be a combination of pulling from savings and cash flow. The car, well, I would use the trade-in for the down payment and take on a monthly car payment.
I currently have $22k in a savings account that I could pull from to cover the fence and additional home improvement stuff, but I worry about depleting that account so low and only leaving $10k or so in there. On the other hand, I would expect a bonus in the next few months that could replenish it. I just hate counting on that in case it doesn't happen.
With this information, I say yes to the fence if it's currently in disrepair (sounds like it kinda is). Otherwise, wait until it needs to be replaced and continue to build up your savings in the meantime. Fences are stupid expensive. We had to replace our 3-year-old, 150', 6-ft cedar privacy fence (just along the back of our yard) because it was blown completely over in a storm, and it was $3,000. Ugh, I feel your pain!
For the indoor renos and furniture, I think you need to save for them specifically. How much of that $22K is considered your efund? I wouldn't spend that on this stuff because it doesn't seem like an emergency (unlike the fence, if it is indeed falling down).
For the car... I don't know. If you can comfortably fit the payment into your monthly budget, I guess I approve. But no longer than a 3 year loan (isn't that what Suze says?).
It goes up a few dollars every year Stan. For a family of four (mine) it feels like the cost of a vacation for just a one day trip. Some of my friends have the passes but OMG the cost is nuts. Maybe if I lived a few minutes away but that's a drive, as you know. Throw in food and all that, and that seriously costs more than our HI vacations.
For awhile we were getting passes to the parks that did the buy one day get the year thing. Now that's worth it!
Are you coming back to visit BFE?
I am! I'll be like 45 minutes from you if you are still at that base we once talked about a long time ago. I'd love to do a GTG or something if you're game! I'm mostly doing family stuff of course, but there's a few days I should have sort of free before the rest of the family flies in!
I"m out of the military so not on base anymore. I live where I am pretty sure I saw you were from if you were the one that did tours. Still don't know what there was to tour! Ha. Oh wait, tours of the outside of the compound!
With this information, I say yes to the fence if it's currently in disrepair (sounds like it kinda is). Otherwise, wait until it needs to be replaced and continue to build up your savings in the meantime. Fences are stupid expensive. We had to replace our 3-year-old, 150', 6-ft cedar privacy fence (just along the back of our yard) because it was blown completely over in a storm, and it was $3,000. Ugh, I feel your pain!
For the indoor renos and furniture, I think you need to save for them specifically. How much of that $22K is considered your efund? I wouldn't spend that on this stuff because it doesn't seem like an emergency (unlike the fence, if it is indeed falling down).
For the car... I don't know. If you can comfortably fit the payment into your monthly budget, I guess I approve. But no longer than a 3 year loan (isn't that what Suze says?).
I am not broke, but also do not have $6,000 leftover each month. The fence and renovations would be a combination of pulling from savings and cash flow. The car, well, I would use the trade-in for the down payment and take on a monthly car payment.
I currently have $22k in a savings account that I could pull from to cover the fence and additional home improvement stuff, but I worry about depleting that account so low and only leaving $10k or so in there. On the other hand, I would expect a bonus in the next few months that could replenish it. I just hate counting on that in case it doesn't happen.
With this information, I say yes to the fence if it's currently in disrepair (sounds like it kinda is). Otherwise, wait until it needs to be replaced and continue to build up your savings in the meantime. Fences are stupid expensive. We had to replace our 3-year-old, 150', 6-ft cedar privacy fence (just along the back of our yard) because it was blown completely over in a storm, and it was $3,000. Ugh, I feel your pain!
For the indoor renos and furniture, I think you need to save for them specifically. How much of that $22K is considered your efund? I wouldn't spend that on this stuff because it doesn't seem like an emergency (unlike the fence, if it is indeed falling down).
For the car... I don't know. If you can comfortably fit the payment into your monthly budget, I guess I approve. But no longer than a 3 year loan (isn't that what Suze says?).
The $22k is separate from the actual OMGWTFBBQ need-ransom-money e-fund. It's just general savings that we contribute to/pull from for various stuff throughout the year. If there was an actual emergency, we'd use that money first.
The fence I would definitely classify more as a need than a want. Like I said, I think we could technically probably do some repair work on it if we couldn't afford the new one, but in any event, it would need to be replaced next year after another long winter. It sucks they are so expensive, but my dog needs a yard. :-)
The other house stuff, not a need, definitely wants, but at some point I just want to be done buying furniture and rugs and lamps and enjoy the dang house, you know?
The car is definitely last on the list and I know it is probably a no. I just don't have any interest in paying for the next needed repair on my current car. So obviously getting a new one is the answer.
Oh, I knew you were TIC ... but I was a bit concerned about itsme!!!
No I wasn't really serious. Well on the is it worth the calories part a little because those things are like a meal in itself calorie-wise. Definitely more of an enabling thing. Also, it's Starbucks and Starbucks usually lacks flavor and I need someone to tell me it's worth it aside from my friend who goes there daily. I need input from people who don't care about Starbucks much but have tasted this drink. Is that frapp really as tasty as she says? I am not so sure. I am spending waaaay too much time on a drink that I already am pretty sure I'm going to try.
I love Sbux, but I hate frapps as a rule. I tried the birthday cake frapp, though, and they messed it up so it was not good. I'm still probably going to try the smores frapp, lol. Although they *could* do a mocha with the graham cracker syrup and marshmallow whip, so I might do that instead...
But I also like the Tiramisu latte, because it's not as sweet as some others.
I really want a new couch. Like horribly. I really don't care what ours looks like, since we rarely have company, but it's soooo uncomfortable. I bought it originally for the 2nd room in my old house that I shared with XH, and it's a sectional that is more of a curve than an L shape. So there is no corner to sit in. My back hurts when I sit most places and it's really hard to cuddle with BF unless we're in "bobsled" position (LOL, I don't know how else to describe it).
What I want to do is find a couch for around 1k and do a 2-3 year no interest payment thing. I don't have 1k sitting around to buy a couch (and if I did, I should use it to pay off my CC) but I could easily fit $50 a month into my budget.
BF thinks we don't need it because he's never bought new furniture in his life and hates spending money (I'm actually not even asking him to spend his money lol. He just thinks I don't need to spend money on it either, which he's probably right about).
We spend probably 20-40 hours a week sitting on this couch. I just want to be comfortable!
Relevant details:
I have about $4500 in CC debt. It's currently at 0% interest until next February. I also owe about 6k on my car and have student loans (which I consider irrelevant to this question since I'm just paying the minimum for the forseeable future).
After bills and fixed expenses, I have $2050 leftover each month. This needs to cover things like groceries (for 2 people and 2 dogs), gas, entertainment, household stuff, clothing, everything else. I plan to use $500 of that to pay down my CC since that will get it paid off by the time the no interest period is up. I hope to use some of the rest to either pay it down quicker, pay off my car, or put toward savings.
Can I afford a new couch? I know I should pay off my CC and maybe my car first, but dammit. I want to be comfortable.
@buckybells, I'd probably buy the couch now if you can find one you like with a no-interest payment plan. Try to sell your current one on CL, though. Even if you only get $100 or so for it, it would be worth it, plus you don't have to worry about disposing of it yourself that way. If I recall correctly, you still have an e-fund, you are just carrying the CC debt while it is zero percent interest, right? If so, I say buy the couch.
kadams767 - yep, I have an efund! It's not fully funded according to MM standards, but I've had the same amount in there for 2 years and haven't touched it I feel pretty comfortable with it.
Cost: $13-17k + ~$1k/year dues. Looking to purchase in late 2015, early 2016.
Savings: We have 4 months expenses in general savings. We have 3x our HHI saved for retirement at 30 and 36 respectively. We prioritize retirement savings above all else. We have an additional $13k saved in DD's 529 that obviously won't be touched.
Jobs: Stable. I work PT MWF but can go back to FT and pay ~$500/month for childcare - about half my pay increase from going PT to FT. Currently pay $0 as Mom and MIL watch DD on days I work.
Expenses: All of our fixed expenses are paid by DH's salary and our food, clothes, and fun are paid by mine.
Debt: We have 1 mortgage whose balance is 1.5x our HHI and 1 low interest car loan whose payment is about 7% of our take home.
Where's the money coming from: At least 85% of the cost will be funded by mature savings bonds that are in my name. The remaining 15% would be funded by building up savings between now and purchase time or DH's bonus - not guaranteed but usually low 5 figures.
So you would basically be going to Disney 1x per year? What would be the cost of the trip OOP each year in airfare, meals and incidentals? Would the $1000 cover accommodations and park tickets? What is the difference between that and paying OOP for a Disney trip each year? Does the DVC have any re-sale value?
my3bears, nice work on your retirement. I think borrowing from health fund is okay if you don’t have any serious likely issues that are going to pop up. Do you have other major house projects coming up (roof, plumbing, etc)? What happens if they find something else wrong or the project goes over budget? @buckybells, I would craiglist it. You can totally find something for cheap (or free) that doesn't hurt your back. If you only want new, I would put you on hold. @mrsspunky, I fell like MMM will give you better feedback on this. How many times would you truly go each year and when would it pay itself off? Are you sure you want this commitment for your vacations? Financially it seems okay given your income situation and retirement. Do you have any other savings outside of retirement and your e-fund? Where do the savings bonds fit in there?
kadams767 - yep, I have an efund! It's not fully funded according to MM standards, but I've had the same amount in there for 2 years and haven't touched it I feel pretty comfortable with it.
Approved! I know you worked hard not to dip into savings while you were un/underemployed, so I'd say you are responsible that you can pay off the couch and the CC debt without paying interest.
Cost: $13-17k + ~$1k/year dues. Looking to purchase in late 2015, early 2016.
Savings: We have 4 months expenses in general savings. We have 3x our HHI saved for retirement at 30 and 36 respectively. We prioritize retirement savings above all else. We have an additional $13k saved in DD's 529 that obviously won't be touched.
Jobs: Stable. I work PT MWF but can go back to FT and pay ~$500/month for childcare - about half my pay increase from going PT to FT. Currently pay $0 as Mom and MIL watch DD on days I work.
Expenses: All of our fixed expenses are paid by DH's salary and our food, clothes, and fun are paid by mine.
Debt: We have 1 mortgage whose balance is 1.5x our HHI and 1 low interest car loan whose payment is about 7% of our take home.
Where's the money coming from: At least 85% of the cost will be funded by mature savings bonds that are in my name. The remaining 15% would be funded by building up savings between now and purchase time or DH's bonus - not guaranteed but usually low 5 figures.
So you would basically be going to Disney 1x per year? What would be the cost of the trip OOP each year in airfare, meals and incidentals? Would the $1000 cover accommodations and park tickets? What is the difference between that and paying OOP for a Disney trip each year? Does the DVC have any re-sale value?
DVC does have rental and resale value. If we did a trip e/o year we could rent out our points on the other year to recoup some of our costs. With DD and hopefully 1-3 more kids on the way, we will be going to Disney for a lonnnnng time. Plane tickets would probably be $1k-$1500/year. Less if we got lucky with sales/dates. Tickets depend on how many days but I think DVC members get them discounted. Let's say $1500/year. I have no idea what to estimate for food maybe $50-60/adult/day? Kids are less.
I already priced out a trip at a value resort (and the DVC places are nicer) during a cheap time + airfare + tickets + meals for 5 days/4 nights and we're looking at $5k for us and my parents (DD is free). That's just 1 trip.
@mrsspunky, so it looks like you'd be saving at least $1k per trip with this, after the $1k/year fee. So it would be 17 trips to make it worth it, either your own, or renting out to someone else probably. It seems like after the up front cost you can easily afford the fee, and the other vacation expenses, so go for it. Especially since you can sell in the future if you change your mind.
@mrsspunky, I fell like MMM will give you better feedback on this. How many times would you truly go each year and when would it pay itself off? Are you sure you want this commitment for your vacations? Financially it seems okay given your income situation and retirement. Do you have any other savings outside of retirement and your e-fund? Where do the savings bonds fit in there?
MMM is a bunch of enablers, lol. We would go once per year maybe once every other year and rent our annual points those years. I see us going to Disney at least another 15 years. The savings bonds are extra, not even counted in our savings/nw calcs bc my mom is in possession of them, they're just in my name. We don't have a lot of extra cash/investments besides our efund - maybe $5k - and a small replace my car fund - currently $3k. Everything possible goes to maxing retirement, paying down our mortgage, or DD's 529. We don't have an interest at this time in hoarding cash. DH's bonus this year went to paying down his car loan so this time next year it will (hopefully!) be gone.
@mrsspunky, I fell like MMM will give you better feedback on this. How many times would you truly go each year and when would it pay itself off? Are you sure you want this commitment for your vacations? Financially it seems okay given your income situation and retirement. Do you have any other savings outside of retirement and your e-fund? Where do the savings bonds fit in there?
MMM is a bunch of enablers, lol. We would go once per year maybe once every other year and rent our annual points those years. I see us going to Disney at least another 15 years. The savings bonds are extra, not even counted in our savings/nw calcs bc my mom is in possession of them, they're just in my name. We don't have a lot of extra cash/investments besides our efund - maybe $5k - and a small replace my car fund - currently $3k. Everything possible goes to maxing retirement, paying down our mortgage, or DD's 529. We don't have an interest at this time in hoarding cash. DH's bonus this year went to paying down his car loan so this time next year it will (hopefully!) be gone.
I have no idea what you are talking about You all do love your Disney!
I think the plan sounds good if you are committed to making this your vacation period. The fact that it has resale value is great too.
So you would basically be going to Disney 1x per year? What would be the cost of the trip OOP each year in airfare, meals and incidentals? Would the $1000 cover accommodations and park tickets? What is the difference between that and paying OOP for a Disney trip each year? Does the DVC have any re-sale value?
DVC does have rental and resale value. If we did a trip e/o year we could rent out our points on the other year to recoup some of our costs. With DD and hopefully 1-3 more kids on the way, we will be going to Disney for a lonnnnng time. Plane tickets would probably be $1k-$1500/year. Less if we got lucky with sales/dates. Tickets depend on how many days but I think DVC members get them discounted. Let's say $1500/year. I have no idea what to estimate for food maybe $50-60/adult/day? Kids are less.
I already priced out a trip at a value resort (and the DVC places are nicer) during a cheap time + airfare + tickets + meals for 5 days/4 nights and we're looking at $5k for us and my parents (DD is free). That's just 1 trip.
DVC does have rental and resale value. If we did a trip e/o year we could rent out our points on the other year to recoup some of our costs. With DD and hopefully 1-3 more kids on the way, we will be going to Disney for a lonnnnng time. Plane tickets would probably be $1k-$1500/year. Less if we got lucky with sales/dates. Tickets depend on how many days but I think DVC members get them discounted. Let's say $1500/year. I have no idea what to estimate for food maybe $50-60/adult/day? Kids are less.
I already priced out a trip at a value resort (and the DVC places are nicer) during a cheap time + airfare + tickets + meals for 5 days/4 nights and we're looking at $5k for us and my parents (DD is free). That's just 1 trip.
@mrsspunky, I fell like MMM will give you better feedback on this. How many times would you truly go each year and when would it pay itself off? Are you sure you want this commitment for your vacations? Financially it seems okay given your income situation and retirement. Do you have any other savings outside of retirement and your e-fund? Where do the savings bonds fit in there?
MMM is a bunch of enablers, lol. We would go once per year maybe once every other year and rent our annual points those years. I see us going to Disney at least another 15 years. The savings bonds are extra, not even counted in our savings/nw calcs bc my mom is in possession of them, they're just in my name. We don't have a lot of extra cash/investments besides our efund - maybe $5k - and a small replace my car fund - currently $3k. Everything possible goes to maxing retirement, paying down our mortgage, or DD's 529. We don't have an interest at this time in hoarding cash. DH's bonus this year went to paying down his car loan so this time next year it will (hopefully!) be gone.
Will the Disney vacation be the only vacation every year? It sounds like you can afford it, but just because you can..:
After that 3-ish hour debate with myself and you guys I got the s'mores frapp at a cost of a whopping $2.50 and an unknown amount of calories (I track in MFP). It's a win. The first Starbucks win ever.
so it was good? we need a better description itsme!!!
First sip had that smoky marshmallow flavor you get when a marshmallow is toasty and crisp from a camp fire. No sweet at first but then the drink settled and then the sweet came. It was gooey because the bottom layer is the marshmallow whip and chocolate syrup. After that layer is the frapp part which tasted like any other frapp they have.. I got to that about halfway through the drink and by that time it was starting to get watered down even though I drank it quick. The whip topping is possibly the marshmallow again with crumbles of graham cracker. The best pet was the bottom layer.
my3bears, nice work on your retirement. I think borrowing from health fund is okay if you don’t have any serious likely issues that are going to pop up. Do you have other major house projects coming up (roof, plumbing, etc)? What happens if they find something else wrong or the project goes over budget?
We blew through 10k+ in the year or so after DH had a mini stroke, getting multiple opinions and seeing some functional medical doctors that don't take insurance, plus I see some non-traditional doctors that don't take insurance for my back, plus the 3 pets. So we *could* have a serious issue pop up, but it's been some time now since we had anything major, and between the FSA and DH's new (better) health insurance starting in June I think I'm okay with the risk! I can't imagine "borrowing" more than 1-2k and it would be a priority to fill it up again.
Our house was rehabbed but is going on 70 years old at this point, so there's always a project/emergency going on. We've been earmarking about 5k/year for house projects every year. Last year we were under that by "only" spending 3500 on tree trimming! It was a priority to remove and trim the trees before doing the landscaping this year. If something dire comes up we have investments we could sell or we could take out a home equity loan worst-case scenario.
The quote is a firm one at least. The only thing extra we have to pay for is the permit. If the permit says they have to change something then I'm pretty sure a whole new quote would be drafted!
MMM is a bunch of enablers, lol. We would go once per year maybe once every other year and rent our annual points those years. I see us going to Disney at least another 15 years. The savings bonds are extra, not even counted in our savings/nw calcs bc my mom is in possession of them, they're just in my name. We don't have a lot of extra cash/investments besides our efund - maybe $5k - and a small replace my car fund - currently $3k. Everything possible goes to maxing retirement, paying down our mortgage, or DD's 529. We don't have an interest at this time in hoarding cash. DH's bonus this year went to paying down his car loan so this time next year it will (hopefully!) be gone.
Will the Disney vacation be the only vacation every year? It sounds like you can afford it, but just because you can..:
No. We go to the beach with my ILs every August but our only cost is our own groceries (so not much more than a regular week at home) and eating out, since they pay for the rental. If they buy a house in the town they rent (which they said was likely once we had DD and certainly more so once we have #2 and beyond. They've owned there before but sold the homes), we would spend most weekends April-October there + 1-2 full weeks, long weekends, etc.
I am contemplating getting a S'mores Frappuccino after work but am already spending money (and calories) at Sizzler and a gift for a friend. Do I really need to spend more? But now I just remembered that they are half off so the money issue isn't a big deal but the calories are.
Post by delawarejen on May 2, 2015 10:49:00 GMT -5
Ooh, I'll play. Can I afford this house? Specifically, can I afford this house while I haven't sold my current home?
House I might buy: listed at $150K. Haven't seen it yet in person, but based on photos and information from the realtor, it's in contention. It's been on the market since Thursday, and I expect it to sell quickly. Townhouse, 2 bedroom, each with own bathroom, plus a powder room on the main level. Partially finished basement. Located closer to work, and not the same market as my current home (they are about 15 miles apart).
My situation: Income 58K, single with no kids.
Current house: Current home is PIF, and I have no debt of any kind. Would be planning to sell current home. Current home is not on the market yet. I anticipate having to sell it to a investor for something in the neighborhood of 35K, given its age (built in 1909) and condition. (There's no middle market in my current area right now - it's either already renovated houses selling, or foreclosures/short sales bought by flippers. A property on my block just sold for $130K after substantial renovations, which helps make my property more desireable to an investor.)
New house: I have not sought preapproval on a mortgage. The most downpayment I could come up with is 10%, as I was not expecting to buy. 10% plus closing costs would take most of my non-retirement savings.
If I were to take out a 30 year mortgage, I could definitely afford the payments in addition to the carrying costs on my current home. I would likely have to scale back my retirement savings a bit, but those are healthy. My preference would be a 15 year, but that could cause cash flow issues, especially until my current house sells. In either case I would plan to use the proceeds from my current home's sale to replenish my savings and also pay down the mortgage. I would be planning to rent a room to my mother at a not-yet-determined amount, assuming she agrees to this plan. (She wants to live with me, but does not want to live in my current home.).
Edit: extra question. Should I try to sell my house more quickly, put things in storage and live in a motel first? If I had a mortgage on my current home I'd never consider offering on a new home without having sold mine first, but in this instance I dunno.