For about 2 months we had been trying to find time to paint the room we were going to turn into our daughters’ bedroom. Our 2 girls share a room, and we wanted to move them to our smaller bedroom since they don’t spend a lot of time playing in their bedroom.
I finally got it done a little over a week ago, and once it was painted the process was quick! I’m really happy with the results, though it’s not entirely done. I decided not to run out and buy all the accessories I want to put int their rooms, and instead will add to it slowly over time.
Here is a (long!) video I took of the room, and I will update again when I’ve purchased all the accessories I want to add to their room, and we complete some small additions like the lamps we will hang on the walls in their room.
When we first started on the path to fiscal fitness we started with tracking our expenses. We followed that with our first No Spend Month. Since I wasn’t spending money, I spent a lot of time making a detailed budget that included everything we had spent on in the last year. I was shocked by the money we had spent in some areas, but looking at out budget it quickly became apparent that our largest expenses were our mortgage and car payments.
Around this time rates started dropping, so we decided to take a look at mortgage rates to see if we could reduce our biggest monthly expense. Rates had dropped but to enough to justify a refinance. A few months later rates plummeted, and we were looking at refinancing at a rate as low as 5%. The issue was our mortgage lender led us to believe they could get us a lower rate, and we paid to have an appraisal, and then they turned around and said we didn’t qualify. We started exploring other options and found our credit union could offer us great rates (5%), and the customer service was fantastic.
If you haven’t refinanced yet, use this simple rule of thumb. Closing costs should not exceed 12 months of savings for your mortgage. For instance: a savings of $300/month means you shouldn’t spend more than $3,600 on closing costs.
Despite talk of rates rising, you can still find rates hovering around 5% if you have good credit, and a good amount of equity. If you are struggling though, call your lender and see what they can do. Some companies are able to work with you depending on your situation, while others won’t work with you until you miss several payments.
The problem: our car was buried under 16 inches of snow.
The undesirable solution: spend all day taking turns with my hubby, and likely being unable to move today, shoveling the driveway and sidewalks.
The opportunity: 2 teenagers ran our bell and asked if we wanted them to shovel our walk, and driveway for $40.
My husband and I took one look at each other, and said yes. We purchased our day yesterday, and it felt REALLY good. We made good use of our time too, by playing with the kids, getting work done, and relaxing (which is rare in our house).
Many of our neighbor’s have snowblowers, and in years past we’ve never had an issue with someone coming and helping out before we even asked, but there was SO much snow it took hours for everyone to dig out their own drives. Buying a snowblower isn’t cost effective in our area, it’s cheaper for us to pay someone, or rely on the goodwill of neighbors for the rare, big storm.
I admired the kids. They worked hard. They saw an opportunity and a need and dove in. We were the 2nd house they dug out yesterday. Maybe they did 4 or 5 houses altogether. $80-100 each for a day’s work.
Did we plan to spend that $40? No, but we had it thanks to smart spending this holiday season. In this case I saved money in other areas, so when this opportunity came along we were able to take advantage of it.
Did you get snowed in during the big snowstorm of ’09? Did you pay someone to dig you out, live in a development with an association that manages it for you, or did you do it yourself?
I’m not done shopping yet. Are you? Snow is pouring down, and I’m not one to drive in snow (especially with a 2WD minivan), so I will be finishing up the rest of my shopping online. You might think shipping won’t happen until after the holiday, but many websites are offering free expedited shipping. I’m happy to avoid the headache of going to out in the snow, and the craziness that I witnessed last night at the grocery store.
5 last minute gift ideas
Restaurant.com started offering gift cards. You can find them here. They are also having an 80% off sale on gift certificates, and their Dinner of the Month club. That’s $2 for a $25 gift certificate! Buy Restaurant.com Gift Certificates here!
Amazon still offers guaranteed Christmas delivery for many items. You can avoid shipping costs by signing up for a FREE trial of Amazon Prime. All you have to do is remember to cancel after 20-25 days (do this by marking your calendar). Sign up for Amazon Prime by clicking on the link. I ordered a few items for my husband, and finished up the kids’ list as well. My items are arriving on Monday!
Bake something! We (well I should say my husband) make cookies, and other treats for holiday gifts. These are great to add to gift baskets. While we are snowed in he’ll be baking cookies, and some other treats, and I’ll box them up. In years past I have included them in a gift basket I made myself with specialty items from Trader Joe’s and a basket from Ten Thousand Villages.
If all else fails you can always get an Amazon gift card, that can be delivered via email to your recipient, so you can buy them as late as Christmas Day! Personally I love getting gift cards since I’m notoriously hard to shop for.
What about you? Are you done shopping? What are the last minute gifts you need to get?
It’s here! For those of us who procrastinate, or have a few items left on our list, this is a great way to get what you need without paying exorbitant shipping costs. For more info on what retailers are participating, head over to FreeShipping.com. Be sure to check out their list of online order deadlines [...]
We all like to spend money on our friends and family at Christmas time and there are few things as satisfying as being able to buy and give a gift you just know the recipient will love. However, if you need to tighten your belt a little this year in the Christmas gift department, or [...]
T.J. wrote me an email and said: Thank you for offering to provide me some kid toy suggestions. I have loads of friends with kids who are around the ages of 4/5 and 1/2 – I’m always at a loss of what time buy them. For example, my Goddaughter who is 4 is truly girlie, [...]
What a Thanksgiving treat to wake up to! Starting today for the next 29 days you can send friends FREE $10 gift certificates from Restaurant.com ! Simply click on this link head down to Feed It Forward 2009 and follow the instructions! It’s super easy to do. Feel free to leave me your email address [...]
. All you have to do is remember to cancel after 20-25 days (do this by marking your calendar). Sign up for 
