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Archive for February, 2013

Ugh

February 16th, 2013 at 09:15 pm

Well, I am frustrated. Several expenses for needed items and services have forced me to put off other less needed purchases for weeks at a time. For example, our car, which is a Cadillac, needed a tune-up. We just bought it used in January and it had not had a tune-up in awhile. $465!! Also, our AAA membership in January. And that's just the beginning. These expenses have caused me to not be able to put as much towards the credit cards and savings for car, trees, and the house as I want to. Making payments on medical bills also causes problems in this area. Ugh. I went to the credit union and set up two more savings accounts for medical expenses and taxes/AAA membership. I think if I put a little bit every month into these accounts, paying for those expenses will be less problematic. One the other side of the coin, I badly need a new pair of shoes. I wear Asics running shoes daily because I superpronate, which can cause a lot of pain. Maybe I need to start another account for clothing and shoes?

Progress on Goals for 2013 and a Question

February 2nd, 2013 at 08:28 pm

1. Pay Down credit card #1 to $750 by 12-31-2013. I am a bit of a failure on this one. It will get better when I get some more medical debt paid off. 'Nuff said.

2. Pay off credit card #2 by 12-31-2013. I am a bit of a failure on this one. It will get better when I get some more medical debt paid off. 'Nuff said.

3. Bring car savings to $2,000 by 12-31-2013. Update: As of 1-4-2013, we have a different car. We cleaned out our car account to about $500.00 to do it. We were presented with an unprecidented opportunity that we could not turn down. It has turned out to be a pleasant surprise in several ways. I will begin contributing to this account again next payday, though.

4. Minor and major house maintenance and repair. Still plan to do this, but has not happened yet. Need to bring my total up to date.

5. Continue making extra principal payments on the mortgage, even if it is only $5.00 a month. I paid $10.00 extra for January and $5.00 extra for February.

5. Increase regular savings to $3,000. I want to have at least $12,000 in regular savings in five years.Progress being made, but not enough. Insert kick to my butt here.

6. Reduce unnecessary spending. Still working on this, but possibly not as good as I could be. Today, I bought 5 1 liter bottles of Smart Water and 5 bottles of tea to put in my mini fridge at work. I also bought some snack nuts to keep at work. Hopefully, that will keep the hungry beast (me) from wanting to buy something.

7. I plan to greatly expand my gardening venture next spring. I have not planted anything yet, but I have been preparing by buying seeds ahead of time and keeping them in the fridge.

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I am expect a survey check in the mail in a couple of weeks. I will apply it to credit card #1 when it arrives.
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On Friday, I went to Bank of America to pay my mortgage for February. While waiting in line, I heard the teller tell a customer that that branch would become an Arvest bank after March 1st. My brain went into overload. When I went up to the counter, I inquired how that would affect my mortgage. The teller told me my mortgage would still be with BOA. I don't trust BOA even one inch due to how they have been treating other BOA customers by repossessing homes whose mortgages are current or even repossessing homes that don't even have mortgages. I wouldn't be dealing with BOA at all if my mortgage had not been sold to them at the time of closing. I keep copious records, including receipts, printouts of copies of cancelled checks to prove payment, and a detailed spreadsheet. I absolutely refuse to do electronic payments or mail in my payments because I don't want them to get "lost" in the mail. The closest BOA branch to me is 30 miles away and I do not know if it will become an Arvest bank. I could drive there every month to make payments, but it would not be optimum. My question is concerning the fact that I have been paying on this mortgage for only 2 1/2 years. Does anyone know if it is possible to transfer a mortgage to a different bank or credit union without coming up with closing or appraisal costs?