(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000
(1) $5318 (16%)
(2) $9000 (90%)
(3) $462 (5%)
(4) $150 (3%)
(5) $0
(6) $0
Total - $14,932 (20%)
With our tax refund, we have done some catch up work but we are still about $3000 behind on our 2009 saving goals.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Taxes are done!
Our taxes are done
The bad news, we took a pretty big loss on our real estate investments this year. While all of our units are rented we have had to reduce our rent and we continue to put money into the properties.
The good news, we get a great tax benefit from the real estate investment losses. We are able to greatly reduce our tax burden and I'm happy to report we are receiving a $5000 refund.
Our tentative plan is to put $4000 of the refund monies stratight towards our 2009 savings goal, most likely Mr. Sam's IRA, and $1000 for whatever spending (which we don't do very much of). So we will each get $500 to spend as we like on whatever we like.
The bad news, we took a pretty big loss on our real estate investments this year. While all of our units are rented we have had to reduce our rent and we continue to put money into the properties.
The good news, we get a great tax benefit from the real estate investment losses. We are able to greatly reduce our tax burden and I'm happy to report we are receiving a $5000 refund.
Our tentative plan is to put $4000 of the refund monies stratight towards our 2009 savings goal, most likely Mr. Sam's IRA, and $1000 for whatever spending (which we don't do very much of). So we will each get $500 to spend as we like on whatever we like.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Lucky Friday the 13th
Between the expense of the mortgage refi and the car accident (rental car for a month), we've made little progress on our goals.
(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000
(1) $5318 (16%)
(2) $5000 (50%)
(3) $412 (4%)
(4) $150 (3%)
(5) $0
(6) $0 ($17,475 currently in ING e/r fund)**
Total - $10,932 (15%)
**Yes, we are going backwards on the e/r fund. If you followed my 2008 goal fiscal fitness journal, you'll note that when we closed out our 2008 goals we had $4098 more in our e/r fund than we do now. I won't count additions to our e/r fund until we are back up to $21,881.
(1) Max out 401ks - $33,000
(2) Max out 2009 IRAs - $10,000
(3) House project and furniture - $10,000
(4) Add to baby fund - $5,000
(5) Lasik surgery for Mr. Sam - $5,000
(6) Add to emergency fund - $10,000
Total - $73,000
(1) $5318 (16%)
(2) $5000 (50%)
(3) $412 (4%)
(4) $150 (3%)
(5) $0
(6) $0 ($17,475 currently in ING e/r fund)**
Total - $10,932 (15%)
**Yes, we are going backwards on the e/r fund. If you followed my 2008 goal fiscal fitness journal, you'll note that when we closed out our 2008 goals we had $4098 more in our e/r fund than we do now. I won't count additions to our e/r fund until we are back up to $21,881.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
2009 IRA
One down and one to go. We have fully funded my 2009 IRA, we will now turn our attention to Mr. Sam's 2009 IRA.
Friday, February 27, 2009
REFI done!
We closed on our refinance today!! We have locked in a great rate and gone from a 30 year fixed loan to a 25 year fixed loan and in the process knocked off a year from our mortgage (we were 4 years into the 30 year mortgage). We also paid down our mortgage balance so we now have 30% equity.
We have gone back and forth on what to do with the extra cash available each month from our reduced mortgage payment. I want to throw the extra money at the mortgage, just keep paying the same payment, and Mr. Sam wants to throw the extra money toward our emergency fund until we replenish it (we took a chunk out during the REFI).
We have gone back and forth on what to do with the extra cash available each month from our reduced mortgage payment. I want to throw the extra money at the mortgage, just keep paying the same payment, and Mr. Sam wants to throw the extra money toward our emergency fund until we replenish it (we took a chunk out during the REFI).
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Stock
You may have seen the article in CNN.Money.com that according to Warren Buffet's magic metric, now is a good time to buy stock.
Buffet, himself, announced back in October 2008 that he was personally buying stocks.
Not that I make my investing decisions based on what Buffet or his magic metric say or don't say, we bought more stock today when the market dipped.
Buffet, himself, announced back in October 2008 that he was personally buying stocks.
Not that I make my investing decisions based on what Buffet or his magic metric say or don't say, we bought more stock today when the market dipped.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
REFI appraisal
We had the property inspection part of the appraisal completed yesterday. This is probably the 5th appraisal I have been present for and it was certainly the most in depth (likely a result of the down mortgage market). The appraiser measured and photographed each room in our home and our carriage house (we have two structures that make up our primary home). She also inspected each and every closet.
We are in a tough valuation area because (1) our house is historic and unique and therefore hard to compare to other properties (2) our neighborhood is made up of other historic and unique properties so its hard to find recent sales of similar homes to use as comps (3) South Florida is full of short sales and foreclosures which push the values down even if the appraiser can't use those sales in her valuation.
We are in a tough valuation area because (1) our house is historic and unique and therefore hard to compare to other properties (2) our neighborhood is made up of other historic and unique properties so its hard to find recent sales of similar homes to use as comps (3) South Florida is full of short sales and foreclosures which push the values down even if the appraiser can't use those sales in her valuation.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
REFI
We have our appraisal on Monday which is the last step to qualify for our refinance on our primary home. We have a great low interest rate locked in, but we have to get past the appraisal.
I'm nervous about whether our house will appraise for what we paid for it in 2004. Reasons, we bought our house in 2004 (not at the top of the market but on the way up), we live in South Florida (ground 0 for mortgage/foreclosure mess) and our house is hard to value because its (1) historic, (2) unusual, (3) located in an eclectic neighborhood.
Keep your fingers crossed for us. A new lower interest rate will help us to pay off our house in less than 25 years (because we will keep paying our current payment each month, about $200 more than the new payment) and save us $70,000+ in interest.
I'm nervous about whether our house will appraise for what we paid for it in 2004. Reasons, we bought our house in 2004 (not at the top of the market but on the way up), we live in South Florida (ground 0 for mortgage/foreclosure mess) and our house is hard to value because its (1) historic, (2) unusual, (3) located in an eclectic neighborhood.
Keep your fingers crossed for us. A new lower interest rate will help us to pay off our house in less than 25 years (because we will keep paying our current payment each month, about $200 more than the new payment) and save us $70,000+ in interest.
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