April MM Randoms

[ohgillian]

What's up money or finances wise?

[ohgillian]

I asked last month about my life insurance issue - where we had a policy of DH's that the company wanted to transform into something else. This was on top of the term we already have. Anyway, you guys were helpful and I have a call this morning to talk to the LI guy about it finally. I plan to end the policy.

ETA: zaneyzoo, thanks for recommending I ask about a "reduced paid up" option and whether it is dividend producing. There is an option like that, and the guy is going to find out about the dividend part. 

[simpsongal]

April is FINALLY the month where we can start chunking off our HELOC [ETA: hehe, moments after posting DH came down to tell me he split $5K toward savings, HELOC, and DS's 529 - YAY!]. We had recently bought a sectional and did another essential home project after the addition last year, so it's just been more money out the door and minimum HELOC payments thus far. The last couple months were expensive too b/c we paid for some summer camps, auto insurance, life insurance, etc.

I'm still planning to spend $$ on some landscaping, but otherwise, it shouldn't be an expensive month. I've pretty much accepted that we can't pay down the HELOC to the point we can do our master bath this year

[Covergirl82]

Well, my company announced a huge workforce reduction, so I may be out of a job in September. I'll know in August if I have a job or not. Because of that, we're saving what we can from DH's bonus, which means no paying down the mortgage principal or making an extra contribution to each kids' 529. I'm also going to really cut back on unnecessary/frivolous spending so we can put extra money into savings until we know if I have a job or not.

[simpsongal]

I'm sorry Covergirl82,

[moonpie]

The appraisal and title work came back ok for our refinance, so now we are just waiting on the title company to schedule a date to sign. 2.875% for 30 years. If we keep our current payment it will take 6 years off our original amortization. And we paid no fees including the appraisal!

Dh and I both have jobs up in the air. Trying to plan for the summer while not knowing if I’m employed is giving me so much anxiety. This is my third merger in four years so it may be time to find a different industry. I’m tired of putting my life on hold just because I may not have a job.

[Susie]

We're having a big MM month!

We're in contract to buy a new house, and locked 2.875% for 30 years on Monday, with a mortgage broker that most people locally haven't heard much about.  I'm feeling angsty about it.  We did our preapproval with our credit union, and last Fri. when we were preparing to submit an offer they'd gone up to 3.25% for conventional/fixed/30 year.  Then Monday when we had a signed contract, it was up again to 3.375%.  I didn't love that, so I shopped around.  My other credit union was offering 3.00% online, but when I called, they gave me a runaround -- "we're super busy, we can put you on a callback list."  WTF.  I'm a credit union member, with a contract in hand, and an 820+ credit score, and you'll call me back "maybe by late in the week"?  (It's Thurs and they still haven't.)  Another broker who I know could do 3.125%.  And then this other broker was at 2.875%?  I jumped on it, and he's been pretty responsive, but it feels too good to be true.  The loan will ultimately be with Homepoint Financial, and they supposedly are waiving the requirement to escrow on the basis of previous property ownership even though we will initially have <20% down, and will do a recast after we sell our current house and then have 20%+ equity.  Fingers crossed.

We're also listing our house for sale in about 2 weeks, which is terrifying for how much we need to get done.  I keep telling myself that we did the hard part -- we are very much in a seller's market, and we got a house to buy.  We just need to keep moving forward.

[Pom]

We sold our house! 3 days on the market, full price, no contingencies. They wrote us the sweetest letter and it made me feel like they will love it like we have. Now to get through the appraisal process.

Mover is booked, house is sold, household vaccinated for travel. Now I need a place to store our extra stuff. It's always something.

My thoughts are with everyone facing job uncertainties. Good thoughts for you all.

[Covergirl82]

Apr 1, 2021 9:44:54 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

I'm sorry Covergirl82 ,

Thank you, simpsongal! 

[HoneySpider]

I'm paid monthly and DH also was for the longest time, but now his new job is bi-weekly and we've been budgeting off 2 paychecks/month, so we get to enjoy an "extra" paycheck in April. Woohoo!

Sadly it will not go toward anything fun but it's still nice.

[chpmnk1015]

Apr 1, 2021 9:20:27 GMT -5 Covergirl82 said:

Well, my company announced a huge workforce reduction, so I may be out of a job in September. I'll know in August if I have a job or not. Because of that, we're saving what we can from DH's bonus, which means no paying down the mortgage principal or making an extra contribution to each kids' 529. I'm also going to really cut back on unnecessary/frivolous spending so we can put extra money into savings until we know if I have a job or not.

ugh so sorry.. crossing my fingers for you

[chpmnk1015]

As of now I am unemployed at the end of this month. SO looking for a job... we have a couple big expenses that are already planned and saved for and we have been wanting to do for years so I am not stopping that (built ins in the living room).. we painted and did everything else ourselves and furniture had already been ordered and that is saved for as well.
So, just trying to save as much as possible but also have some bills for kids club sports coming up.. good times..

[rooster222]

I've been doing a lot of work on our finances. We got new home & auto insurance and are saving $1800/year. We refinanced our house to a 15 year at 2.6%. We've fully funded our emergency fund. I also went back to work part time after being at home for 3 years.

[lilypad1126]

I got a letter from a previous employer about my 401k and instead of ignoring, I called the company that holds it and started the process of rolling it into a different account. It’s a long convoluted story, but mostly I’m just proud of myself for immediately taking action. Also, the advisor I spoke with took a look at everything and assured me I was definitely on track to retire when I’m hoping to, so that was nice.

[simpsongal]

Apr 1, 2021 15:11:52 GMT -5 chpmnk1015 said:

As of now I am unemployed at the end of this month. SO looking for a job... we have a couple big expenses that are already planned and saved for and we have been wanting to do for years so I am not stopping that (built ins in the living room).. we painted and did everything else ourselves and furniture had already been ordered and that is saved for as well.
So, just trying to save as much as possible but also have some bills for kids club sports coming up.. good times..

im sorry about the unemployment but yay for being prepared. I hope good things are ahead!

[aprilsails]

Best wishes for all those with employment losses and uncertainties. It’s not fun. DH is beginning to get antsy at his current job since he’s been there for three years. Usually he’s been laid off at this point so I think he feels like he needs to jump instead.

We didn’t spend much money in January and February and now it’s like we’ve gone crazy to make up for it. @@@ Three weeks of summer camp and a whole pile of school supplies for DD in anticipation of another month of school closures. A used bike trailer for DS and a new bike on sale for me. We bought a bench for the front entry and I have a console table and mirror picked out I just need to pull the trigger.

On the good news front we both got massive tax returns, and DH received a bonus which he was not expecting. My annual review should take place this month and I have positioned myself to go for it and get my money. I have partners in the head office who love me now and I’m working exclusively on French language projects which not many people in my company can do, so I am pretty valuable at the moment and have some leverage. I’ve worked my ass off through this fall and winter.

[Mushe]

I have to thank MM for giving me a push to figure out our refi earlier this year. It was so fast and easy, and we went from a 3.375 (30yr loan that we were paying faster because we’re early and late 40s) to a 2% 15yr loan. Our loan was sold before we even made the first payment, but I got autopay set up for our first payment this month, and the servicer seems good. It’s actually $100 less than what we’d been paying. 🤦‍♀️

I also just made a change to split my retirement contributions 50/50 to Roth 401k and pre-tax 457. I can actually Max both with my job, and am close, but not there yet. But dang, putting half in post-tax was a big change to my net! I basically haven’t qualified for a regular Roth since I started working post grad school, and they only recently added this option for us.

[mlkgls]

Annual raises should hit soon and I am planning to tweak my retirement contributions again. Obviously nothing in life is guaranteed, but hearing my advisor tell me I’m already well on track was music to my ears last month.

I had completely forgotten April was a three paycheck month. I’m very goal focused when it comes to budgeting and barring any unforeseen big expenses I should meet my car fund goal by this time next year. My car will be 15 years old at that point and while I’m not 100% sure that I’ll buy one then, it will be nice to be fully funded. Knock on wood.

[dellabear]

We need to do our taxes. I think we should end up with a refund but H has some investment income that he has to pay tax on and i think he may have been under taxed due to an error on his employer’s part.

One of my goals is to donate more. I just signed up for a year long commitment for a monthly donation to the children’s hospital as they had a matched funding drive. Also, the government where I live is handing out some COVID relief money to everyone with kids, but since we were not affected financially by the pandemic, I am going to look for a charity or cause to donate it to.

[cricketwife]

I filed my taxes on Feb 15. We got a nice refund and also our stimulus money, so H wants to pay down our car loan, which is our only debt. I’m also going crazy on (refundable) travel for later in the year. I’ve booked flights to see my 83 yr old father over Labor Day weekend @@@ with the boys. The boys have never been to my hometown and there’s family there they've never met so I want to make that happen. I’ve also booked flights and Legoland for Thanksgiving. The boys will be so excited! And my brother is closing on a house in CT later this month, I’m hoping he will host our parents and us for Christmas. My boys have never seen real snow and we could go into the city, which would be so fun.

Also, I dropped the boys from my dental insurance and will add them to H’s in September. This will save $300 now and then $35/month. I got both boys second cleanings for the insurance year, which ended March 31, and DS1 also had a filling and sealants done. So yay for maximizing benefits!
Due to the above and a few other benefit changes, my take hake home pay will be slightly higher starting this month. I have a savings account that I’ve been depositing $225/month to and just increased it to $350. I’m planning a surprise family trip to Hawaii for H’s 50th in 2 yrs! I’m so excited that it looks like it will actually be able to happen! It’s his dream to go back there and bring the boys. It comes up in conversation at least once a week.

So basically all my MM stuff is travel!! 🎉🎉🎉. (Just dreaming and planning is improving my mood greatly.). We REALLY want to move but our ability to move keeps getting pushed back,, and like everywhere, the costs of housing keeps skyrocketing, so idk. I do hold out hope that we will be able to move next summer.

[ny96]

Apr 1, 2021 10:46:04 GMT -5 Susie said:

We're having a big MM month!

Our mortgage loan is through Homepoint. I’ve been very happy so far, and we got it through a mortgage broker we have been working with for several years and trust a lot.

[ny96]

I got a promotion and a small raise that will cover the retirement contributions that I just started at work. We’re still trying to decide whether to remodel or sell, but I haven’t seen anything that would work in our price range unless we move out of our neighborhood which I really don’t want to do. I love looking at real estate though.

[aspentosh]

After almost four months of no income, H is scheduled to start his job on Monday. We've weathered this all ok and I am incredibly grateful for that. Helps that we filed our taxes and got a refund and were eligible for stimulus payments.

[ssmjlm]

Taxes are submitted and accepted. Refunds on both, although I think we'll owe state next year. VA's form is very simple and seems to underestimate once you hit $150k or so. The last couple years have been close to no refund.

I don't make double what DH makes, but I ended up paying almost double of our household taxes. His company despite, being HUGE, still does everything paper, so it's too much work to change anything because he would have to fill out and print forms and then drive to work and go to payroll for an update. Boggles my mind, biggest employer in the state and still sends a paper pay stub every 2 weeks.

Mostly we're just saving a ton. I'm hoping we can put down about 60% of the cost of DH's new truck in the fall and have a pretty small payment.

[Susie]

Apr 2, 2021 9:35:13 GMT -5 ny96 said:

Apr 1, 2021 10:46:04 GMT -5 Susie said:

We're having a big MM month!

Our mortgage loan is through Homepoint. I’ve been very happy so far, and we got it through a mortgage broker we have been working with for several years and trust a lot.

Thank you, that is reassuring!

[dcn]

My H was selected for promotion back in December and Congress finally approved it (he’s in the military) as of March 26! I just looked at the pay chart and he’s getting a 10% bump in pay starting this month! Wahoo!

[dr.girlfriend]

Last month I posted that my husband was going full-time freelance as of early March. We calculated his income and expenses for the first quarter of the year, and he's made more freelance than he did salary-wise, and that's before he really got up and running *and* after a lot of big one-time start-up expenses, like a new computer, desk chair, etc. Fingers crossed! He's SO much happier doing this than he was doing his old job.

[ellipses84]

My thoughts are with all of you dealing with job uncertainty. I was in that position 1 year ago and it really sucks. My industry has a lot of ups and downs and I used to really freak out about it but people who had been in the industry longer were much more chill about it. I think I’ve finally got to the point of realizing you just have to prepare for the worst but know you will end up in a better situation in the long run if you are laid off. That’s been the case for me and my colleagues each time.

For MM this month I have a lot of “housekeeping” on my to-do list. Mostly little stuff related to my consulting business. I still have to finalize my taxes this weekend but since our income was so unpredictable this year I overpaid quarterly taxes and we should get a big refund. I’ve also been saving half my consulting checks and I need to decide what to do with it.

We went on a MM socially distant spring break trip (a redo of our cancelled trip last year). We drove to our family’s vacation home (free stay), went to a national park (we have a free 4th grader pass this year), and stayed in a resort hotel for a few days on the way back and we’re able to see my vaccinated sister. DH knew the hotel was really cheap but when I asked him to guess what the total was his guess was twice what it actually was! Besides that, we only spent money on gas and food (and a lot of food was bought from the grocery store rather than takeout).

[sometimesrunner]

We paid off the loan for our windows last month! We were paying extra since it was 0% and we wanted to make sure we paid it off before the promotional period ended. I upped our kids college fund contributions so that we're now on track to fully pay for in-state tuition, and we still have an extra $600/mo in the budget!

[quesyrah]

DH is going back to work after a furlough that lasted just over a year!!

We had a lot of plans for getting our finances solid again that involved the stimulus but we haven’t gotten it yet so...

I’m 100% sure we qualify- DH is our sole income and he doesn’t make anywhere near $150K so I have no idea what the deal is. We got the last 2.