Another month in the books, and based on how busy I've been the last few weeks, I'm not sorry to see it go. Work has picked up, and grad school has REALLY picked up. I'm in an accelerated part-time MBA program at GMU, with two night classes a week after work. Each class meets for 3.5 hours per week (6:30 to 10:05!), and I've probably got to put in at least twice that amount of time to get the work done outside of class. I'm so exhausted by Thursday. To top off the work and school one-two punch, I'm also still trying to keep up with the blog and meet all my New Year's resolutions. Anyway, enough complaining, here's how I did:
FINANCES: Put $2000/month away in savings (target of $24,000 for the year and max out a Roth IRA ($5500/year).
We put another $4,380 in savings this month, bringing our yearly total to $8,398. That amount is kind of misleading because we got our tax return this month. We really should have been up in the $5,200-$5,400 range this month. I ended up spending $450 total for two tickets to Montreal over labor day weekend (which was actually an insanely good deal, and I'll get paid back for one of those tickets), another $150 for a race entry fee, $300 for a photography class for my wife, $120 to get a passport renewed, and a bunch of small but unexpected expenses. February was an expensive damn month.
I'm revising the goal from January. With a crazy wedding season looming, no more saving for a $4,500 trip. We have three weddings to go to this summer, two of which have bachelor parties in Canada (one in Montreal and one in Vancouver), and one of them is in Maine which promises to be about a $1,500 trip for the wife and I. All in all, I estimate we will spend between $3,500-$4,500 on wedding-related expenses this year. UGH.
I just opened a Roth IRA, and the yearly contribution limit is $5,500 which I fully intend to meet. More on this to come in a future post.
FITNESS: Do 15 pull-ups in a row before Christmas and complete a Tough Mudder by August.
I went to the gym yesterday to see where I'm at with the pull-ups. I did 10 in a row, probably could have squeezed out one or two more as well, but it would have been ugly. I feel pretty good about where I am right now. I still hate pull-ups, but I'm seeing some improvement.
I made some progress on the second half of the goal by signing up for a Tough Mudder (hence the $150 entry fee I mentioned). I'm doing it with my Dad who, at 63, physically puts most people my age to shame. Speaking of shame, NONE OF MY FRIENDS WOULD AGREE TO SIGN UP FOR IT. #sad #supersad #theywillbedeadby40. Anyway, June 14th. Get pummmmmped.
CREATIVITY: Average 4 blog posts a month by end of the year and complete at least 3 "projects" before next year.
I did more reading of blogs than I did writing of blogs this month. I've been consuming all the information I can find on building wealth responsibly, personal finance, and investing in general, and there's a lot of information out there. Despite that time dump, I still managed to pump out 5 blog posts. I'm changing the goal from 2 posts per month to 4 posts per month, which is pretty much a layup. I NEED AN EASY WIN OK!?
I also posted one project! Check out these shelves I made for the wife, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.
CAREER: Become a GS-13 by September.
Not much movement on this front. I did speak with my boss to see how to get this process started but I haven't had the chance to follow-up on his advice. This is definitely a huge priority for me, The position comes with a nice pay raise and added responsibility that I wouldn't mind at all.
SPIRITUAL: Find a Church by April and volunteer for Habitat for Humanity by the end of the year.
I FAILED! Still no church for me. I totally missed on this goal, and I'll be honest, I didn't even know I set the 1st of March as the deadline!! I'm going to push it back one month and get off my ass Sunday mornings.
At a school meeting a couple weeks ago, we were discussing different volunteering opportunities that students could take part in. One of them was Habitat for Humanity. I'm kind of holding out hope that I can volunteer with my classmates.
Whole 30: Complete the Whole 30 Challenge (again!).
We already completed the Whole 30 challenge in January and it was awesome, but since I haven't been as strict with my diet, I'm starting to fall back into some of my old bad habits. No, I haven't been eating fast food, but I'd estimate that only 50% of what I eat is Paleo and I can definitely feel a difference. Ideally, I'd like to do Whole 30 around the same time I do the Tough Mudder in June, but I'll set a loose goal and say that I'd like to do it once more this year.
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Monday, February 17, 2014
Changing Gears: Is it OK to not buy a house by the time I'm 30?
Oh Andrew-from-one-week-ago, you beautiful naive bastard. Did you actually think FHA loans were affordable? hahahahahaha lololololol no. You dummy. For starters, you lose half of your 3.5% down payment to an FHA funding fee so you're basically setting a loan for 98.25% of the home value, instead of 96.5% (which, If we're being honest, is ridiculous either way). Second, you get your monthly payment blown up by mortgage insurance. That's a lot of fun. Third, you can't deduct said mortgage insurance payments come tax time. Three hugeeeee reasons to avoid FHA loans if you can. I might even be missing some more reasons but I'm pretty sure I blacked out when the loan officer was talking and If my head hadn't been stuck in a loop of perpetual nodding, we'd still be in his office.
He did introduce us to a more affordable type of loan if we could scrounge up a 5% down payment. I'll give you a brief, possibly inaccurate, description: the bank sets us up with a loan from Fannie Mae up to $417k, and gives us a second loan for the difference between the first loan and the total amount you need to borrow. Overall, the interest rate would be much higher than what FHA offered once the two loans combined, but since you're not paying the mortgage insurance, you're saving quite a bit AND you start off with 5% of the home value paid for.
In an ideal world, we would buy a place we loved, live in it until we both finished up school (Summer 2015), and then move abroad for a year or two while renting the place out. Sadly, even though both of those loans would have technically put us in a house in the neighborhood we love, our monthly payments would have been about half of our take home pay. (Why do banks even let people borrow like that? Isn't that how we got into this whole recession in the first place?) Also, unless we can come up with a 20% down payment right now (impossible), we'd never be able to rent the house out for anywhere near our monthly payment to the bank.
NEW PLAN: Avoid the wanton destruction of our bank account.
Step 1: Don't buy a house right now. We can't afford to buy a place in the area we want to live in and we would have a hard time renting a place in the areas that are cheaper. If we're serious about going abroad, and we are, then buying just doesn't make sense right now. It did get me to thinking about the fact I will be on the other side of 30 (we're both 27 right now) before I'll buy my first place. I'm not sure why this freaks me out but I always thought I'd have a place by 30 and I don't want to feel like I'm falling behind.
Step 2: Continue renting our current apartment until we move abroad. Debtblag.com has a good post about the value of renting. and it makes me feel a little bit better about our situation.
Step 3: Continue saving as much as we can for the eventual 20% down payment. This is pretty much never a bad idea.
Step 4: Find a job overseas that doesn't set us back financially or stall either of our careers (which we believe is possible). I will definitely be posting more on the search for these jobs later!
Step 5: Come back and buy a home. We'd be 31 or 32, and ready to start a family. We'd also have enough in the bank for a down payment of 20% (hopefully).
Well there it is, our 5-step plan in all it's glory. I feel like I should stamp this post with a big fat "subject to change" stamp. Any comments? Suggestions? OVERSEAS JOB OFFERS?!?
He did introduce us to a more affordable type of loan if we could scrounge up a 5% down payment. I'll give you a brief, possibly inaccurate, description: the bank sets us up with a loan from Fannie Mae up to $417k, and gives us a second loan for the difference between the first loan and the total amount you need to borrow. Overall, the interest rate would be much higher than what FHA offered once the two loans combined, but since you're not paying the mortgage insurance, you're saving quite a bit AND you start off with 5% of the home value paid for.
In an ideal world, we would buy a place we loved, live in it until we both finished up school (Summer 2015), and then move abroad for a year or two while renting the place out. Sadly, even though both of those loans would have technically put us in a house in the neighborhood we love, our monthly payments would have been about half of our take home pay. (Why do banks even let people borrow like that? Isn't that how we got into this whole recession in the first place?) Also, unless we can come up with a 20% down payment right now (impossible), we'd never be able to rent the house out for anywhere near our monthly payment to the bank.
NEW PLAN: Avoid the wanton destruction of our bank account.
Step 1: Don't buy a house right now. We can't afford to buy a place in the area we want to live in and we would have a hard time renting a place in the areas that are cheaper. If we're serious about going abroad, and we are, then buying just doesn't make sense right now. It did get me to thinking about the fact I will be on the other side of 30 (we're both 27 right now) before I'll buy my first place. I'm not sure why this freaks me out but I always thought I'd have a place by 30 and I don't want to feel like I'm falling behind.
Step 2: Continue renting our current apartment until we move abroad. Debtblag.com has a good post about the value of renting. and it makes me feel a little bit better about our situation.
Step 3: Continue saving as much as we can for the eventual 20% down payment. This is pretty much never a bad idea.
Step 4: Find a job overseas that doesn't set us back financially or stall either of our careers (which we believe is possible). I will definitely be posting more on the search for these jobs later!
Step 5: Come back and buy a home. We'd be 31 or 32, and ready to start a family. We'd also have enough in the bank for a down payment of 20% (hopefully).
Well there it is, our 5-step plan in all it's glory. I feel like I should stamp this post with a big fat "subject to change" stamp. Any comments? Suggestions? OVERSEAS JOB OFFERS?!?
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
January 2014 Goal Recap
One month is in the books, and I'm happy to report that I did pretty well in regards to my New Years Resolutions...
... but I'm not even sure if I like my goals anymore.
My wife and I have done some soul searching, looked at where we are in our lives, and what we want to do, and decided that we want to work abroad after we're through with grad school at the end of the summer 2015. We're juggling a bunch of ideas in the air like do we try to buy a house now then rent it out while we're abroad? Do we buy the house after we go abroad? What kind of work will we do? Are we willing to put some of our goals on hold indefinitely in order to do this? How long will we be gone? Where do we even want to go?! DOES SANTA EVEN GO TO OTHER COUNTRIES OR IS IT JUST AMERICA!? YOU HAVE TO TELL ME.
Anyway, my brain is going crazy. We're meeting with a loan officer today to see if we can even afford the houses were interested which will (hopefully) give us some much needed clarity. I'm also planning on meeting with some career advisors at George Mason University (my school) to see if they have any insight. We'll make a decision sometime in the next 10 years, so you have my permission to hold your breath.
Without further ado, here's how I did on the goals.
FINANCES: Save $3,000 cash for a vacation before September 2014. Save $24,000 cash for a house by January 2015.
I think I said that we needed to save about $2,350/month to hit this goal and we saved $4,018! BOOYAH! I get paid bi-weekly which normally means I only get paid twice a month. Every so often I get a third paycheck and we have a fun month. This was one of those months WHICH was very timely (and I didn't actually know it was gonna happen) as Whole 30 cost more than expected and we weren't going to hit the $2,350 target. Next month, we may get our tax refund back which would give us an even bigger cushion going forward into the summer months which are typically more expensive for us. (wedding season y'all)
FITNESS: Do 15 pull-ups in a row before next Christmas and complete a Tough Mudder by August.
Ummm. Can we skip going over this goal? I did 6 pull-ups last time I tried that out. I freaking hate them. FAIL. I haven't been to the gym very much in January as I was spending a lot of time cooking, being sick, and wrapping up some finals. Excuses, excuses. I'm going to aim for 9 pull-ups by the end of February.
Also, I haven't even registered for the Tough Mudder, but I haven't NOT done a Tough Mudder either. Let's call it a draw.
CREATIVITY: Average 2 blog posts a month by end of the year and complete at least 3 "projects" before next year.
I had 8 posts. At this rate, in two more months I can quit this whole blog thing. I also knocked out 2 projects, which I'll blog about later if my darling wife deems me worthy and takes some photos. Once I reach these goals, I'll set some new ones.
CAREER: Become a GS-13 by September.
Little bit of background, I am a federal government employee and I am on the General Schedule (GS) pay scale. I am currently a GS-12 (it's a little bit like a rank in the military) and I will be up for a promotion to a GS-13 in September. In order to get there, I have to pass a written test, write some essays, and get interviewed by a board of people I'm gonna have to charm the pants off. I can always become a GS-13 after September, but I can't be one before then because you have to have "time-in-grade". This means I have to be a GS-12 for at least a year before I am eligible for promotion. September is my anniversary date. Anyway, as I get closer to the date, I have to start scheduling the training to prepare for the tests and the interview. I'll probably sweat through my suit and tie when the day comes which, unfortunately, is not very flattering.
SPIRITUAL: Find a church by March and volunteer at Habitat for Humanity by the end of the year.
When I started this post, I was feeling pretty good about myself based on the fact I saved so much more money than expected. Now I feel awful. I didn't even GO to church once this past month. So no, I didn't find a church. I think I may have driven past a few on Sundays.
I did do some research into volunteering in DC with Habitat for Humanity. Definitely seems doable for me and something that would be rewarding.
WHOLE 30: Complete the Whole 30 Challenge
UMMMMMMM YEAH. I FRIGGIN' DID THAT. I plan on doing a wrap up post talking about it, but it was seriously life changing. I recommend it to everyone.
... but I'm not even sure if I like my goals anymore.
My wife and I have done some soul searching, looked at where we are in our lives, and what we want to do, and decided that we want to work abroad after we're through with grad school at the end of the summer 2015. We're juggling a bunch of ideas in the air like do we try to buy a house now then rent it out while we're abroad? Do we buy the house after we go abroad? What kind of work will we do? Are we willing to put some of our goals on hold indefinitely in order to do this? How long will we be gone? Where do we even want to go?! DOES SANTA EVEN GO TO OTHER COUNTRIES OR IS IT JUST AMERICA!? YOU HAVE TO TELL ME.
Anyway, my brain is going crazy. We're meeting with a loan officer today to see if we can even afford the houses were interested which will (hopefully) give us some much needed clarity. I'm also planning on meeting with some career advisors at George Mason University (my school) to see if they have any insight. We'll make a decision sometime in the next 10 years, so you have my permission to hold your breath.
Without further ado, here's how I did on the goals.
FINANCES: Save $3,000 cash for a vacation before September 2014. Save $24,000 cash for a house by January 2015.
I think I said that we needed to save about $2,350/month to hit this goal and we saved $4,018! BOOYAH! I get paid bi-weekly which normally means I only get paid twice a month. Every so often I get a third paycheck and we have a fun month. This was one of those months WHICH was very timely (and I didn't actually know it was gonna happen) as Whole 30 cost more than expected and we weren't going to hit the $2,350 target. Next month, we may get our tax refund back which would give us an even bigger cushion going forward into the summer months which are typically more expensive for us. (wedding season y'all)
FITNESS: Do 15 pull-ups in a row before next Christmas and complete a Tough Mudder by August.
Ummm. Can we skip going over this goal? I did 6 pull-ups last time I tried that out. I freaking hate them. FAIL. I haven't been to the gym very much in January as I was spending a lot of time cooking, being sick, and wrapping up some finals. Excuses, excuses. I'm going to aim for 9 pull-ups by the end of February.
Also, I haven't even registered for the Tough Mudder, but I haven't NOT done a Tough Mudder either. Let's call it a draw.
CREATIVITY: Average 2 blog posts a month by end of the year and complete at least 3 "projects" before next year.
I had 8 posts. At this rate, in two more months I can quit this whole blog thing. I also knocked out 2 projects, which I'll blog about later if my darling wife deems me worthy and takes some photos. Once I reach these goals, I'll set some new ones.
CAREER: Become a GS-13 by September.
Little bit of background, I am a federal government employee and I am on the General Schedule (GS) pay scale. I am currently a GS-12 (it's a little bit like a rank in the military) and I will be up for a promotion to a GS-13 in September. In order to get there, I have to pass a written test, write some essays, and get interviewed by a board of people I'm gonna have to charm the pants off. I can always become a GS-13 after September, but I can't be one before then because you have to have "time-in-grade". This means I have to be a GS-12 for at least a year before I am eligible for promotion. September is my anniversary date. Anyway, as I get closer to the date, I have to start scheduling the training to prepare for the tests and the interview. I'll probably sweat through my suit and tie when the day comes which, unfortunately, is not very flattering.
SPIRITUAL: Find a church by March and volunteer at Habitat for Humanity by the end of the year.
When I started this post, I was feeling pretty good about myself based on the fact I saved so much more money than expected. Now I feel awful. I didn't even GO to church once this past month. So no, I didn't find a church. I think I may have driven past a few on Sundays.
I did do some research into volunteering in DC with Habitat for Humanity. Definitely seems doable for me and something that would be rewarding.
WHOLE 30: Complete the Whole 30 Challenge
UMMMMMMM YEAH. I FRIGGIN' DID THAT. I plan on doing a wrap up post talking about it, but it was seriously life changing. I recommend it to everyone.
Monday, January 6, 2014
2014 Project Inspiration
If you remember, one of my goals for 2014 was to complete 3 "projects" in 2014. To me, anything I can paint/stain/seal/sand/etc with materials I can store in my one bedroom apartment counts. Doesn't hurt if it's practical. Also, doesn't hurt if it's easy. Here are the three projects I'm starting off with:
1. Revamped Filing Cabinet Entry Table
Before I was married, my then-fiance-now-wife Whitney went out with my mom for antiques and came home with this really crappy, rusty, $30 steamer trunk that was bug-eaten and looked terrible. I guess she liked it. Well, anyway, it took me close to 100 hours (mostly because I didn't know what I was doing) to strip off its canvas, painstakingly get the rust off, and refinish the thing but it ended up looking really great and unique... and now I'm really tired of the way it looks. It's the first thing I see when I come in the apartment, it's kind of short for an entry room table, and it doesn't match our apartment. I'm trying to find its replacement.
My wife pinned this filing cabinet revamp on Pinterest months ago, and I've been trying to find three matching filing cabinets for a while now. Not owning a truck and Craigslist generally being terrible means I've had no luck, but I really want to do this and I'm keeping an eye out.
2. Photography Equipment Shelves
My wife's getting pretty darn good at her photography, and as a result, we're accumulating cameras and manuals and straps and bags and lenses and other-stuff-I-don't-even-know-what-it-is. Dear God, it's a lot of stuff, and I've heard about these things called "shelves" that people put stuff on. They seem practical. I wanted to get something that looked like this...
... and mix it with this.
1. Revamped Filing Cabinet Entry Table
Before I was married, my then-fiance-now-wife Whitney went out with my mom for antiques and came home with this really crappy, rusty, $30 steamer trunk that was bug-eaten and looked terrible. I guess she liked it. Well, anyway, it took me close to 100 hours (mostly because I didn't know what I was doing) to strip off its canvas, painstakingly get the rust off, and refinish the thing but it ended up looking really great and unique... and now I'm really tired of the way it looks. It's the first thing I see when I come in the apartment, it's kind of short for an entry room table, and it doesn't match our apartment. I'm trying to find its replacement.
My wife pinned this filing cabinet revamp on Pinterest months ago, and I've been trying to find three matching filing cabinets for a while now. Not owning a truck and Craigslist generally being terrible means I've had no luck, but I really want to do this and I'm keeping an eye out.
2. Photography Equipment Shelves
My wife's getting pretty darn good at her photography, and as a result, we're accumulating cameras and manuals and straps and bags and lenses and other-stuff-I-don't-even-know-what-it-is. Dear God, it's a lot of stuff, and I've heard about these things called "shelves" that people put stuff on. They seem practical. I wanted to get something that looked like this...
3. Baseball Bats and Axes
It's no secret that most of the people using Pinterest, which is an amazing website, are female. As a result, it's hard to find DIY ideas for men. When I came across some army surplus axes and some practice squad Louisville Sluggers and I bought them on the cheap, thinking I could do something manly with them. They're officially in the trunk on my car, just rolling around, and I don't know what to do with them. They're officially on my project list.
I'll figure something out, I swear.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)