Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

OMG. My finances look really crazy right now, but it's going to be all good soon.

I got the amount I need to bring to condo sale closing, and because it's over $15K I needed to wire the funds instead of getting a cashier's check. I headed over to the bank and set one up for tomorrow morning.

It was about $260 more than I estimated, BUT part of that is paying half of 2015 property taxes, which we've also been saving up for in our escrow. Either our mortgage company or the county will refund us a few hundred bucks eventually. So it's not too bad.

I also heard from the broker on the duplex refi; we do need to pay off the promissory note at closing. I'm glad I was already planning to do that soon! Now it's a few weeks sooner than I planned, so the checking account is going to be very light for a few weeks. We'll close on the duplex refi and pay off the promissory note April 15.

Now I'm super glad the tax guy told us the minimum AS has to prepay in taxes April 15! I can put off paying the additional money I was planning to pay until a later date when we're not as tight.

I wrote down everything that's happened since March 16 and will happen by April 15 and had to laugh/shudder. It looks really crazy. But when it's all over we'll be in a much better position and can start to rebuild our savings and pay down debt.

UK reno: Paid $22,320 to the management company for renovation; borrowed $2400 from NT's mum to help with this. (May need to borrow about $400 more from her if we don't receive new rental income by June 1.)

Condo sale: Paying out $29,594.50 to pay off the mortgage and cover seller fees and half of buyer's closing costs. Borrowing $10,500 via a 0% credit card and $4500 via a student loan to help cover this.

Duplex refi: Paying $26,559.35 to pay off the promissory note when we refinance the main mortgage. Borrowing $15,000 on an unsecured line of credit to help cover this.

In total, we're paying out $78,473.85 in home-related stuff this month!

$32,400 is paid via new debt; the other $46,073.85 is "real" money.

As a result, we'll be eliminating $174,500 of old debt, getting rid of the US condo and raising the value/rental potential of the UK flat. Oh, and the cumulative result of selling the condo, refinancing the duplex and paying off the promissory note will mean about $1860 per month less "money out," which will make funding retirement and paying off debt a LOT easier.

Our UK and US accounts are going down to virtually zero April 15, but we've got great cash flow, including over $4000 of freelance income expected from AS's work in late April/early May.

Crazy, crazy times, but it's almost over.

Easter weekend went well. We probably put less effort into it than usual, and the grandparents sent less stuff for the Easter baskets than usual, but the kids didn't notice any of that.

Friday afternoon there was a little gathering for parents at the daycare. Saturday morning I took the kids to Target to spend their Easter money from one set of grandparents. I also bought some sparkling cider there and stopped at the liquor store for some sparkling wine. We'll pop both bottles open Thursday evening to celebrating the sale of the condo; our downstairs neighbors are cooking for us that night too.

Saturday night we had a friend plus our downstairs neighbors for dinner; I made chili mac with various easy toppings and sides and it was a low-effort hit.

After our guests left, we opened the package from another set of grandparents and used that plus the plastic eggs the girls had collected at daycare. (I set up plausibility by telling the older girl that we could leave a note for the Easter Bunny to use the eggs we already had so there would be less waste; we also ended up leaving him some carrots and lettuce to snack on!)

I could only find one Easter basket from a previous year, so I just put little labeled goodie bags for both girls into the one basket. Our new cat is rather people-food-obsessed, so I "hid" it in a cabinet vs. leaving it out like I normally do. Then we hid all the plastic eggs we had, putting some pocket money into a few of them.

This morning the girls had a lot of fun hunting for eggs and also getting to eat candy before breakfast. NT had bought cross buns which we all had; that was never a tradition in my family but they're quite good.

Our downstairs neighbors coordinated Easter dinner and we just had to bring a few designated dishes. Altogether we had a vegan ham found at a Vietnamese grocery store, asparagus with vegan hollandaise, potato salad, carrot puree, biscuits, and pineapple upside-down cake.

So, cheap and pretty low-key Easter weekend, which with all the anticipation building in us was about all we wanted.

This should be a very big week; a lot of things will be squared away by the end of it.

- Hope to receive the payoff quote from the duplex mortgage Monday. If I don't I'll call them to get an estimated turnaround time.

- Once I have that, I can send all the info the broker needs to get the refi going. Hopefully then I'll also get exact details of when we close, which month's mortgage payment we'll be skipping, and what our new monthly payment will be.

- I need two more things before closing on the condo sale: a final amount for the cashier's check I'll be taking out to cover the loss, and a paid-in-full notice for the electrical work we got done. Hopefully those will both be coming Monday or Tuesday.

- Thursday morning we close on the condo! Hard to believe it's finally happening. Even with the hefty loss we're taking, it feels like a victory because other parts of our life can get moving soon.

- Sunday is the expiration date for the WV option. I'm not really expecting we'll get the money anymore, but as long as it's a possibility it's always going to be causing me to have to consider multiple future scenarios. I'll be glad to know one way or the other and only mildly disappointed if it doesn't happen.

- Depending on how all that plays out and when AS's outstanding freelance checks come in, we could soon start scheduling some small improvements on the duplex. Probably just outdoor stuff to start with, because AS is only expecting small amounts until late April/early May, when a couple of her bigger invoices should get paid. And we may not use all the money for just home improvements; there are plenty of other wants that all of us have put off for a long time, so we may also use it to loosen up our spending a little.

- I also need to spend the rest of April figuring out how to be a person who doesn't obsess over spreadsheets, scenarios and finances, and isn't glued to the computer every chance I get. I have a few ideas but I'm definitely going to have to be intentional about the change if I want it to be serious and significant. And I do!

After a mildly threatening-to-go-elsewhere email from me, my broker finally checked our streamline refi option again.

He said we should be able to do the option and it will basically work out to cost nothing. Should lower our interest rate slightly, lower our payment by $400 per month, and we could close by late April. He also said we'd have a month where no mortgage payment was due. (May, I assume.)

That's all very good news. If all this works out, we should be able to pay off the promissory note (we'd have to take out the $15K line of credit to do so) in late April or early May. The money we save on the mortgage plus not having a promissory note payment anymore should easily cover that additional debt payment, with some left over to pay extra on debt.

I requested a payoff quote fax from my mortgage company. They didn't give me any idea of turnaround time on that, but it's the only thing between us and scheduling the refi. So I hope it comes in Monday!

This would mean we could start putting some of AS's freelance money toward home improvements. Very exciting! We've been doing the bare minimum, furnishing our home with mismatched free and cheap stuff, not even investing in paint to cover the terrible color choices of the previous owner. It would be nice to make even small changes, like buying more comfortable, attractive outdoor seating, and chipping in with our neighbors to get the back yard fenced in.

So we'll see, but it seems like a sure thing since they don't need income verification, assessment or any upfront money to close.

Yay!

I took a day of PTO because I had nothing on my plate at work. Not a great feeling, but I know I have five ongoing projects, it's just that they're all in other people's courts at the moment so there's no work I can do on any of them. I offered to do other stuff for my boss but he told me to just take the PTO day. Fingers crossed this is just a momentary lull!

We got the invoice for the electrical work--$130, much of which was exploring the issue they ended up not fixing. But that's fine. I sent off a payment that should get to him by 4/7--I need a proof of payment by closing on 4/9, but hopefully it will work out.

Then I got an email from our agent: The buyer's mortgage broker said it could delay things if they tried to do the $200 off the purchase price as they hoped in exchange for us not repairing one of the two issues. So the buyer decided to waive that new condition. Now we're selling for $133K again instead of $132,800. Hopefully that means my estimate of what we need to bring to closing is a bit high, but I'm going to leave it as is in my budget spreadsheet until I hear an exact number of what we need to pay. (I haven't heard yet, but as I recall when you're a buyer you don't get the number until a couple days before closing, so maybe it's the same when you're a seller who is losing money on the deal.)

Emailed our broker about the refi--no response. AS said I should call him. I'll see tomorrow morning.

No word on any of the other things we're waiting to hear about (WV deal, UK reno).

No new freelance checks for AS. She's expecting quite a few but turnaround time on pay can vary pretty wildly, so not sure when we'll see them.

NT realized his British passport expired, so we'll need to pay for that before we get any outdoor furniture or gardening stuff.

Everything's so close to starting to turn around. Must be patient!

Today was the first time in my life that I haven't paid a mortgage payment on time. The title company recommended I not pay the April condo mortgage payment, since we're closing the 9th and they'll get paid off before a late fee would be triggered. Still, it feels weird!

Also, when I logged into the duplex mortgage account, I got an unpleasant surprise--our payment has increased by $66 per month. If they notified us about it, I missed that, so I emailed them just to know. I'm sure it's something to do with property taxes or whatever. I emailed the broker, since now I even more want to refi and try to bring the payment lower. Shame that whatever refi we get will now have $66 less positive impact than I thought it would.

Anyway, the duplex mortgage and the three UK mortgages all hit:
US: $638 to principal
UK1: $221
UK2: $46
UK3: $48

In addition, NT's student loan payment hit. I thought I'd enrolled in autodebit, but when I noticed the payment hadn't posted by the due date I logged in, and it was overdue. I had to pay it manually and I couldn't try to enroll in autodebit until the payment had posted. It finally posted today and I did the autodebit process again. Hopefully it takes this time--not sure what I might have done wrong last time!

So the payment did finally hit, and $43 went to principal.

All told, that's $996 down, $104 to go on the April debt goal.

Last night I went to my friend's place to help her with her finances. It was interesting and fun, and she provided wine and takeout Chinese (plus gave me the leftovers!). So it felt like quite the treat.

Luckily she's in a pretty good spot; she'd been afraid to really examine her finances for fear that she was way out of balance. But not really. We sketched out some goals: to stick to a budget using the Mint app, to try and get her student loan payments reduced since she's now getting divorced, and to set aside some money to save up for a future trip and for eventually replacing her car. Then we put a follow-up meeting on our calendars to check on her progress in a month.

Today we signed the amendment to the condo purchase agreement and sent it back to our agent. I emailed the broker about the duplex refi and he said he'd look into whether it was a possibility now. I'll email him every morning until he gets back to me.

AS got $400 of freelance money in the mail. We're at the point where I haven't figured her money into the budget, so when it comes in, it's actually exciting even though I know to expect it. That gets us a bit closer to being able to pay off our duplex seller without borrowing from the LOC with the high interest rate. We need about $2500 more to be able to do that.

After that I'm going to designate some funds to spruce up our outdoor spaces. We've got three balconies and a bricked yard space, and we'd like to get some furniture and gardening supplies. (Cheap, like on Craigslist and such.) Just enough to make the spaces comfy places to hang out.

AS got some work at my job today, and while she was here she went to introduce herself to a co-worker who'd told me he liked her writing and would like to use her for some of his projects. Now that she's gotten in front of him, I bet he'll actually get around to giving her some assignments! And apparently his projects pay pretty well too.

SL's birthday party went really well Sunday. Birthday month is over, thank goodness!

I tried out a very structured party with activities and food being brought out at a certain time, and it kept the noise and chaos levels very much under control. Far less cleaning up afterward than when we let kids and adults have the run of our house including the kids' bedrooms!

It was a clown-themed party, so I dressed up in goofy clothes and pigtails and led the activities. We did:
- Tracing kids' body outlines on a big roll of paper.
- Balloon animals (I learned 4 basic ones and custom-made them for kids)
- Clown hunt (I printed little pics of clowns from online and hid them around the house)
- Pin the tail on the donkey (again, I printed out the stuff I needed from the internet)
- Cake walk (or in this case sticker walk, since the prizes were sheets of stickers)
- Musical pillows (instead of musical chairs)
- Ball toss (or rather, stuffed animal toss, into a plastic container)

I didn't spend nothing, but it wasn't too bad. About $5 on balloon animal supplies, $12 on stickers for prizes, and $100 for 5 pizzas and a large salad from our favorite gourmet pizza place. (We were expecting about twice as many people, so we had lots of leftovers, which will do for several days of lunches.)

I'm not a terribly outgoing or high-energy person and I don't like public speaking, so it was a bit of a stretch to be really upbeat and loud. But it worked to keep the kids in line and, at the end of the party, I felt much less exhausted than when we'd just let the kids run all over the place.

Another great enhancement to my party technique: At the appointed time I said the party would end, I started asking people if I could help them get coats, and talking loudly about my kids needing a nap. Got everyone out 5 minutes after the end time. At AA's party, a few people stayed an hour and a half longer than the invite said!

Our 5-year-old REALLY struggled that day, both with the games (she had some bad luck and didn't really win many of them) and with being jealous of SL's presents. Lots of crying meltdowns. But, I was really proud of how hard she tried to curb her poor loser-ness and her envy. I was a very petty kid so I know it's just in her genes. I talked her through it and she was able to calm down periodically, enough to rationally discuss it and even voluntarily apologize to SL for how she was acting. She really is a sweet kid and so smart, but just, you know, wishes she got her way all the time.

Condo news: The electrician took another look at the fixes needed. The quick fix he did, but the other one he said would require knocking into the wall, possibly the ceiling. Luckily, we'd heard from our realtor that the buyer was willing to waive that repair requirement in exchange for us paying $200 more of their closing costs. That sounded like the much better deal, so she's working on an amendment to the purchase agreement now.

Still waiting on:
- The exact amount we need to bring to closing on the condo (will hear before April 9)
- News on whether the refi option is available for our duplex yet (emailed broker this morning but haven't heard back)
- News on the WV deal (will know by April 12)
- An update on how the renovation of the UK flat is going (may not hear anything until May, but I hope we get incremental updates!)

I decided to make the April goal to just pay the minimum on debt, which I believe now that the condo mortgage will be gone will be about $1100.

I do want to start paying extra to debt soon, but since there are a few more things that need clearing up in April, I'm not sure if it will be this month. Definitely by May I want to be paying more than the minimum.

Even if we got the WV money by mid-April, which is seeming less and less likely, we might not pay any extra on debt this month. I'd want to talk to my tax guy and the mortgage broker before I did anything.

I had insomnia last night through this morning, which is why I'm blogging at 6:30 am. Not usually up at this hour! I wasn't worrying about anything in particular, but since I was clearly not going to get back to sleep, I started thinking about how I want my life to change once all this financial stuff is settled.

I've been really really preoccupied with it all, to the point where it's been difficult to turn my mind to other matters. I still do hang out with people, do things with my partners and kids, get stuff done at work, etc., but none of those things have been getting my full attention. Every time I have down time I'm in my head, wondering about various uncertainties and running scenarios. I'm on the computer every chance I get, even if I don't have any new information to add to my spreadsheets, just looking them over and thinking about various items coming in and out, calculating when we might be able to loosen up our uber-tight budget, etc.

I've gotten so used to being in this state that I feel like I need to "consciously uncouple" from it (to steal a nauseating term from pop culture). I used some of my insomnia time to plan how to do that.

One thing is going to be less time on the computer, for sure. So one thing I did today in preparation was pare down my Facebook feed. I love seeing what everyone is up to but it's too time-consuming. So I pretty much hid everything except some news and politics sites and my close friends. (And I only kept the ones that don't post too much boring stuff.) This way I can use Facebook to keep up on news and the people I hang out with regularly. Less close friends will still be able to reach me via Facebook; I just won't know what they post there.

AS's student loan hit. $141 went to principal, taking us to $1629 of debt paid in March. That exceeds the $1550 goal.

Although we'll be eliminating a lot of debt in April due to getting rid of the condo, but I don't think that counts as paying off debt, so I'm not sure what my goal will be. Maybe $1100, since we won't be making mortgage payments anymore. Still have to think about that one.

Our electrician reckons one of the condo repairs will involve going into the wall, which will mean patching it up and repainting. But he thinks it'll only be a couple hundred bucks and not very time-consuming, so that's good. He's going to consult with a more experienced electrician to see if there's another way he's not thinking of.

Monday I'm helping a recently divorced friend figure out a budget. I'm excited to have a second "client"!

So, time check on the other parts of this month:
- I'll contact my broker tomorrow to see if the streamline refi is open yet.
- 2 weeks until closing on the condo.
- 2 weeks and 3 days until the WV option expires.

I guess that's it for now!

NT's mom loaned us the full amount we needed to complete the UK renovation, so we wired that over to the management company. Now we don't have anything to do on that end except wait for updates from them.

NT scheduled an appointment for Thursday for an electrician to come check out the condo and give us a quote on the work that needs to be done per the purchase agreement. So we should know about that, one of the last uncertainties in terms of expense.

That's it for now! So we still need to:
- Hear about how much we need to bring to closing, and get a cashier's check
- Accept the quote and schedule the electrical work on the condo
- Check in with the broker (this Fri.) to see if the streamline refi is an option yet
- Close April 9
- Hear about WV option one way or the other by April 12

Today was a good mail day! NT got a bday check from my parents, AS got another freelance check, and I got a semi-surprise check for $2000 from my parents.

My dad explained in a letter that this was the one where they were expecting $4000 for each of his kids, but it ended up being less. I'm not complaining! This is to drill a well on the property. I can't believe it's so much less to drill a well vs. build a pipeline through. If I got $2500 on this deal that means it's $10K total. The pipeline, if it goes through, will pay us each $80K or $320K total. Dad mentioned this smaller deal may yield more money if they start producing from the well, so maybe that's why.

Confusing, but I can definitely use the $2K! As long as the repairs we need to do on the condo don't cost much, we're only $2800 away from being able to pay off the duplex seller without taking out the higher-interest reserve line loan, just the LOC loan which has a lower interest rate.

Of course, we're only 3 weeks away from the big WV deal option expiring, so might as well wait to see how that shakes out before paying off the seller promissory note. If I can restrain myself!

Got our tax packet back today, and there was a nice surprise the guy didn't mention in his email: AS is getting a $646 property tax return!

Also, NT got notice from one of his student loans that they're giving him a 1% reduction in his balance for good grades. Only $45, but we'll take it!

I got a callout in the daily work schedule email that it was my nine-year anniversary at work! Seems like a lot, but when I think about how much has changed (and how much I'VE grown and changed) since I started there, it makes sense. I should get a $25 gift card at the next staff meeting.

Annual performance reviews are coming up for everyone at work. My boss stopped by to let me know that I wouldn't be eligible for a raise since I've gotten one so recently, but that he thought I was doing really well and he could see another promotion in my future, maybe next year.

So on to my question: Tax guy said he'd provide a recommendation of how much AS should send in for taxes based on last year. I told him that AS is likely to make a lot more this year and asked if there were a certain percentage or other formula I should use to figure out how much to send in.

His answer: "I would say for AS it's best to pay the Estimates I prepare (as a minimum), unless she wants to increase them. If she keeps making money then start bumping up June 15 estimate etc."

So today, I got his estimated quarterly amounts: $1030 for federal and $240 for state.

I've been setting aside 14% for federal and 6% of state from every check she receives, and so far for Jan-March I have $2,594.86 for federal and $1,112.08 for state. I know I'll have more before March is over.

So my question to you: Is there any reason to pay in the smaller amounts the tax guy suggested, or should I just pay in what I've saved up? I feel like she's going to owe even more than I've saved, so I don't see why I should send less. But maybe I'm missing something.

I heard back from the tax guy that our taxes are done. He's charging us $700 for both sets. Considering the amount of complexity, that seems like a fair amount! The only open-ended thing left there is waiting to see his recommendation for how much AS should be sending in her quarterly payments.

I cleared up a few more things about closing, including how association dues are going to be handled. (I'll pay April, a bit early so the title company can get a final record, and I'll be reimbursed for part of the month at closing.)

So what else is left?
- Finding out the exact amount we need to bring to closing (in the next week or two).
- Finding out about the streamline refi option for the duplex (in the next week or two).
- Getting the loan from NT's mum and sending that to the UK rental management co. so they can complete the renovation (in the next week or two).
- Finding out about the WV land deal (in three and a half weeks at the latest).

After that I can really start to make some projections and goals regarding the bigger picture of our financial situation and future.

Soon soon soon!

The appraisal was scheduled for today. Not worried, but fingers crossed anyway!

We've gotten in touch with our contractor we liked so much during the condo renovation, and he says his electrician will be able to get into our place probably by next week, definitely before the end of the month, to make the two repairs that were part of the purchase agreement.

Our closing is officially set for the morning of April 9! On the advice of the title company, I've canceled autopay and will settle the final (April) payment along with everything else, at closing. I emailed my condo association to see how they'll handle the April dues. I've budgeted to pay the whole amount but I'm really expecting that I'll just have to pay a prorated portion. Who knows, maybe that gets handled at closing too.

We'll probably be frugal on transportation and take a bus to and from vs. a carshare, but I may splurge on some sparkling wine (and sparkling cider for the kids and teetotaller neighbor) so the whole house can celebrate! There are many shared-space (including outdoor) projects that we can now start to discuss with our tenants.

On another bright note, AS keeps hauling in work without even really trying to market herself. And she just invoiced for one $2K job that she worked less than 10 hours on! That's not the norm for her work, but she does have a couple more of those projects possibly going through in the next month or two.

Less than 4 weeks until the WV land deal option expires. Now that I know taxes will be handled before April 15, April 12 is our new "end of all uncertainty" date. Whee!

He got back to me with what we'll owe/get back. It was a year of crazy fluctuations with job changes, raises, home buying and new rental income, and he also decided it would be better for me and NT to claim SL instead of AS doing it.

Amazingly, with all that craziness, it balanced out to where we'll owe in a net of just $197! But the actual numbers are all over the map:
CJ/NT federal refund $3,577.00
CJ/NT owe state taxes (240.00)
AS owe federal taxes (3,099.00)
AS owe state taxes (435.00)

I'm glad the net effect of that is so minimal! I asked the tax guy if NT and I should adjust withholding, but he said most of this was from claiming part of the house stuff (points etc.) as losses to our rental income.

I still don't know how much he's going to charge. I had $800 set aside, and $197 is going to pay what we owe. Fingers crossed it's $600 or less!

I also don't know what he's going to recommend AS send in for her estimated quarterly payments. He said he'd work that up and send along with everything else.

Still, it's nice to have some clarity. I was mentally bracing myself to owe a TON this year, so I'm happy.

Today our UK management company needed us to send some money so they could start ordering things for the flat renovation. They also let us know the reno would cost 680 more (plus VAT, so more like 816). We were already going to have to borrow 500 pounds from NT's mum, so he asked if she could front us another 1000. We'll be able to pay her back pretty quickly once we start pulling in rent again.

We're also waiting for the last rental income to post to the account, so I could only send some of the money needed. I was going to send 12,000, but found out that HSBC will only transfer 10,000 per day, so I just did that. We'll transfer the rest once we get the rental income and the loan from NT's mom.

So today's transfer was 10,000 ($16,000). In a day or two we'll send the rest (about 4,000 or $6,400).

It's a lot, but will add at least as much value to the place, so it'll be worth it. At this point the place is barely rentable, but we'll be able to pull in a higher rent once it's fixed up.

It's good to start that process and not have it hanging over our heads anymore.

I also got an email from the tax guy and was hoping I was getting my returns back, but he just needed a bit more information about when we were living where last year. Oh well, at least I know he's looking at our return now.

Assets:
NT's UK pensions:
#1: 17,105 pounds ($27,368)
#2: 20,501 pounds ($32,801)
#3: 4,452 pounds ($7,123)
NT's 401(k): $35,779
NT's Roth IRA: $7,480
AS's trad. IRA: $15,026
AS's Roth IRA: $20,078
CJ's 401(k): $80,016
CJ's Roth IRA: $7,480
NT's flat: 140,000 pounds ($224,000)
CJ & AS's condo: $140,000
CJ/NT/AS house: $440,000
---
Total Assets: $1,037,151

Total Debt: $671,142

Current Estimated Net Worth: $366,009

February 2015 estimate: $365,298

Change in net worth: +$711

Summary: This teeny-weeny net worth increase was only due to paying off debt. Our retirement values actually decreased slightly this month, losing more value than the money we put into them. Ouch!

I'll update the Individual Net Worth page shortly, breaking it out by person.

Notes on the numbers above: House value estimates are approximate. I don't have a way to check NT's UK pensions or flat value, so their values stay static for the purpose of this update (unless I happen to get some info by chance). UK asset values and debt amounts are calculated figuring $1.60 for every British pound..60 for every British pound.

I was looking at the calendar today (we keep everything on a shared Google calendar, and we've also got a Google calendar with our downstairs neighbors that feeds into it). We've got quite the month ahead of us! A lot of financial uncertainties will be settled in the next 30 days.

This Wed. (3/18) is the appraisal of the condo. Not concerned about it, but it'll be one more item checked off.

Sunday (3/22) we've rented a moving van to get the last of our stuff from the condo. We left our couch and dining room table there to give a sense of the size of the place. It'll be good to get them both back!

Friday 3/27 I'm going to contact the broker (if he hasn't gotten back to me yet) to see if the streamline refi option has opened up yet.

Thurs. 4/9 is still the tentative closing date, though it could still move sooner.

Sat. 4/12 is when the WV option expires, so we'll know one way or the other whether that money is coming. That will clear up a lot about our budget for the rest of the year.

And, of course, 4/15 is tax day. Not sure when we'll get our tax return back from our new guy, but it will for sure be by then! That will also clarify our budget because we'll know if we need to be withholding more of AS's freelance money (my guess is probably, just not sure how much).

So yeah, big month!

Our buyer's option to rescind expires at midnight Central. That's a little over 3 hours! I know our realtor would call or email right away if anything had happened, so feeling really good. I'll feel 100% great tomorrow morning, when it's over for sure.

Today I got notice that the appraisal was scheduled for 3/18, so that makes me feel confident too.

Got some answers of sorts from the broker. He's really knowledgable but can be kind of obtuse about when he's not providing a real answer or info that makes sense. As a result, he's quick to reply to emails but they can be kind of cryptic. At the same time I try not to get into phone calls with him because he rambles on and on; it's the opposite of his email style.

So anyway, finally got him to say today that he didn't think the duplex would appraise high enough for a traditional refi. And the streamline wouldn't go through; he thought it hadn't quite been long enough.

I thanked him and asked (just to be clear) if we still had to pay off the promissory note for a streamline refi. And if so, whether it mattered how we did it. One reason I've been in a hurry to do the refi is because we'll have much less cash after we close on the condo sale, and I remember how strict all the rules about cash were when we bought the duplex.

He wrote back that NO we don't have to pay off the promissory note for the streamline refi and if we do, it doesn't matter what funds we use to do it.

Oh. He was completely unclear about that before; he made it sound like neither refi would go through unless we paid off the promissory note.

But, even though it's bad news we won't have two options to choose from, it's good news that the one we may qualify for isn't dependent on paying off the promissory note. That means I can take my time on that one, find some lower-interest borrowing options after the condo and possibly the streamline refi. We've been getting some good 0% CC offers and AS has a potential ($2700) big check coming in for an acquisition deal she's been helping with. Plus, by mid-April we'll know about the WV deal, so that's another possibility for the promissory note.

So, not feeling as rushed to get everything taken care of. The broker said he'd get back to me in the next week or two as soon as the streamline refi was available. I'll give him two weeks off from my incessant emails and then bug him again.

For now, we'll just focus on the condo closing, getting that all taken care of. We need to get the electrical repairs done, and I was kind of sweating about how much that would cost. Now that we're not rushing to pay off the promissory note, I'm not as worried.

The UK flat renovation will start shortly. We're about 500 pounds short of what the management is estimating for the cost. NT needs to either borrow the difference from his family, work out a payment plan with the management co., or tell them they need to cut corners somewhere. I can't really do anything about it except nudge him, which I keep doing because we need to get it done ASAP so we can start pulling in rent again.

snafu asked a good question about the interest rates on the debts I'm considering taking on in order to pay off other debt. At this point it's hard to keep everything straight, so I thought I'd lay it out in an entry.

So the two main things I want to do are close on the sale of the condo, which I estimate will cost me $28,300, and pay off the promissory note to the duplex seller, which is $26,500. So $54,800 total.

I have $33,857 in available funds in our checking account. Of that $10,818 is cash we've saved up. The rest was accumulated by either taking on debts or delaying retirement and other contributions:
Owed to a friend $80
Owed to SL & AA Pax funds ($40 each) $80
Owed to AS retirement funds $2,723
Owed to Roth IRAs $5150
Slate credit card balance $10,540
NT extra student loan $4,466

I need $20,943 more to get rid of both the condo and the promissory note. I have a $15,000 line of credit and a $5,500 reserve line with my bank, which leaves just $443 to come up with. AS is expecting a few freelance checks in the next week or two that will easily cover that.

Interest rates/payments of the existing & proposed debts:
Promissory note (what I want to pay off):
5.375% until 08/2016, then 5.875% until 08/2019
Current min. payment (interest only): $118.70
Goes up to $285.96 (interest + principal) 09/2016

Slate credit card:
0% until 12/2015; 12.99% after
Current min. payment: $105

NT extra student loan:
6.365%
Current min. payment: $25
(interest may be variable, and payment may go up at some point since right now it basically just covers interest. The site is terrible -- I'd have to go find the original application or call them to find out.)

Bank line of credit (not borrowed on yet):
9.25%
Min. payment: Dunno...$275? according to online calculator

Bank reserve line (not borrowed on yet):
21.9%
Min. payment: Dunno...$156? according to online calculator

None of the interest rates are as favorable as the promissory note, but everything else about that loan is UNfavorable, so I don't mind paying extra to get rid of it.

***

I haven't really laid out the landscape of what bills will look like if both deals go through, partly because I'm still waiting to hear how the refi would affect the main duplex mortgage payment. But here's how it will look after the condo sale:

Before:
Condo mortgage $1030.32
Condo dues $696.03
Income: parking spot rental $85
Duplex mortgage $3149.72
Income: lower unit rent $1074
Promissory note $118.70
total: $3835.77

After with just condo sale:
Duplex mortgage $3149.72
Income: lower unit rent $1074
Promissory note $118.70
Slate card: $105
Extra student loan: $25
total: $2324.42

And, assuming a refi would take $300 off the payment (don't think I'd consider it worthwhile to do it for less of a benefit than that), here's what it would be:

After with both condo sale and refi/promissory payoff:
Duplex mortgage $2849.72
Income: lower unit rent $1074
Slate card: $105
Extra student loan: $25
Bank LOC $275
Bank reserve line $156
total: $2336.72

So if my estimates of the LOC and reserve line payments are correct, it looks like the refi would only be beneficial to the monthly budget if it took more than $300 off the main duplex mortgage. This is good to keep in mind!

The broker asked me last night about the 2nd mortgage on the duplex; we'd forgotten to discuss at all. I told him it was still there in full because my payments are interest-only at this point.

He said he wasn't sure if he could do anything, since that loan would need to be paid off for a streamline refi with no appraisal. Or he could talk to the appraiser about the likelihood of a high enough valuation to roll the 2nd loan into the refinance.

I'd already been thinking about throwing everything I have (including taking out the line of credit and reserve line I have with my bank) to both get out from under the condo and pay off the crazy duplex seller.

I was torn because the interest rates on the LOC and reserve line would be higher than what I'm paying the seller, but at least I could pay them down piecemeal without being worried it wouldn't get tracked (which I worry about with the seller) and I wouldn't have to worry about him not cashing the checks each month (he still hasn't cashed the March 1 check I sent out Feb 25 and I'm braced for a nasty email from him!).

But, if it meant the difference between a cheap refi of our main duplex mortgage, maybe it would be worth the higher payments to the LOC & RL, because we'd be saving hundreds monthly on the mortgage (plus not having to pay $118 per month to the seller).

I'd be cleaned out, pretty much, but not for long. And in the long run it'd be a big weight off my chest.

So I asked the broker to get me quotes assuming I'd pay off the 2nd duplex mortgage. Once I see how much we could save per month, I'll decide whether it's worth a little hustling or not!

Phew! Got through the most intense week of the birthday month. Even though it's fun, by the end it starts to feel like an endurance test.

Monday was my bday, Wednesday was AS's and Thursday was AA's. Saturday was AA's birthday party, and today one of her daycare friends had her 5th bday party as well.

Now we get to rest for a bit. Just in time, because this is promising to be a busy week at work for me.

The following weekend (21st) is NT's birthday, and the week after that (29th) is SL's birthday (her party will be on the same day).

AA's party was really really great for all the kids, I think, but super noisy and messy and hyper. I felt practically bruised afterward. I'm thinking that for SL's party I'll have a bunch of structured games and activities and basically play coach. Hopefully that'll keep them from spiralling into the heights of excitement they did at AA's.

So, pin the tail on the donkey, some kind of cake walk thing with little prizes maybe. Statues or Simon Says perhaps. Musical chairs? Possibly, though there are all sizes and ages of kids. No balloon popping games; AA spent half of today's bday party with her hands clamped over her ears because kids kept popping balloons.

Any other ideas? Kids' ages range from 2 to 10, with most of them falling in the 4-6 range.

I forgot that NT's federal loan went into repayment since he graduated. I mean, I remembered to set up the payment, but forgot that it would pay down some principal! Of the $50 payment, $35 went to principal. That takes us to $1488 down, $62 to go on the March goal.

Question for those of you who are self-employed/sole proprieters: What kind of retirement plan do you do? It looks like IRS kind of recommends SEP, but there are also 401K and SIMPLE options. Does anyone else participate in any of these? I'm trying to figure out where to put AS's money (besides her Roth, of course) when our budget loosens up.

Our listing officially says "contingent" on the real estate sites! We signed some stuff for the title company today. The contingency expires midnight next Friday, so almost exactly a week. The closing date out there is April 9 but it's not set in stone.

Our broker is still hemming and hawing about our refi prospects. First he was going to tell us Monday. Then he said today. I emailed him at the end of today and he hasn't gotten back to me (I know he checks his email 24/7). If I haven't heard from him Monday I'll email him again, then probably start looking around if he puts me off again. But I think he'll come through.

The big WV option expires in 5 weeks (three days after our tentative condo closing date), so we'll soon have closure on that one way or the other.

So, pretty much everything that's been up in the air will hopefully be cleared up by early April! Then I can really go crazy with planning our future.

All our mortgage payments hit:
US condo $495 to principal
US duplex $635
UK flat #1 $226
UK #2 $46
UK #3 $51

All told, that's $1453 down, $97 to go on the March debt goal.

Not much other news:

NT signed the condo offer and scanned/emailed it to our agent today. That's it on our end for a while, I believe.

I nudged my broker again and now he says it'll be Friday before he's ready with a refi offer for the duplex mortgage.

Birthdays are going well -- 2 down, 3 to go! AA had a little fever tonight and was devastated at the thought of being sick on her bday tomorrow. I think her sheer determination not to be might just heal her faster! We'll see tomorrow morning.

OMG.

So yesterday was my birthday. Sunday I got an email from my agent that a new buyer was interested in the condo and would be submitting an offer on Monday.

Monday I had the day off except one client meeting. I was at the meeting when I felt my phone buzz, so I was desperate for the meeting to end. Finally it did and I called my agent. The offer had come in: $126K, plus we pay half of closing costs, plus we make two small electrical repairs.

We're currently listed at $135K and places have been going for around that, so it was a disappointing offer. Our agent said she'd be meeting another of the interested parties the following morning (today) to get another offer, so we decided to wait and see what that offer amounted to.

Well, that buyer flaked, so we decided to counter the first one. We offered $134K and all the same terms.

The buyer countered back with ... $133K and all the same terms!

AS and I have the day off and were hanging out at a coffee shop, so our agent stopped by and we signed everything.

Since it's a condo, they have 10 days to review association rules etc. and back out if they want. So I guess we'll know for sure next Friday if it's going through.

FINGERS CROSSED!!

Well, I guess it's time to set our March debt goal. Still aiming for the minimum since we haven't heard anything on the potential condo offers. Sigh. So the goal is to pay off $1550 in March.

I'm back from the trip, which was uneventful. Got to see an old friend for dinner, and the co-worker I went with was very easygoing. I'm glad to be home. I woke up at 6 am and didn't sleep soundly last night, so I'm very tired.

We have three birthdays coming up next week. My 41st is on Monday, then AS's 36th on Wednesday, then AA's 5th on Thursday. Then Saturday is her actual party. Oh, and one of her daycare pal's bday party is Sunday.

We've got pretty low-key plans for everything. I'll take part of Monday off (have to go in for a client meeting) and that night have one of my favorite meals with some kind of dessert from AS. She and I might have breakfast at a favorite diner that day, too. Then I have Tuesday off.

On AS's bday Wednesday, we'll get sushi and other deli food from a grocery store for dinner.

Thursday we're making a weird assortment of foods of her choosing for AA's dinner. Molletes, veggie taco "meat," veggies, cheese and spaghettios. *shrug*

Friday all three grownups have the day off. Might have breakfast somewhere, maybe shop for our bday presents (we have $100 each budgeted).

Saturday is AA's bday party, which we'll have after swim class and naps. Nothing too organized, just a big noisy playdate but with streamers and cake. I've already bought most of the stuff for it except groceries for snacks, drinks and cake. Sunday is her little friend's 5th bday, but they requested no gifts, so we have nothing to do other than arrange transportation (and there's a chance it'll be on the bus).

Then we get more than a week to refresh before NT's 42nd bday, and another week after that before SL's 3rd bday.

I'm in Chicago right now! (Hi Laura, CB, Rachael! Wish I had time for a meetup!) It's for a work thing; I go back home tomorrow. Just trying to wake up so I can shower and get ready for the day, so of course I check my accounts and go to SA.

AS's student loan hit, with $140 going to principal. That takes us to $1581 of debt paid in February, exceeding the $1550 goal.

No news on any fronts, except I heard from my broker that I'll hear more about my refi chances next week.

AS is gearing up for her time off and daring to think it might actually happen. She has really bad luck with vacation time; either she's had to keep working a little bit during the vacation (when she was at her previous job) or the kids tend to get sick and have to stay home from daycare, and she's the default who has to care for them instead of relaxing.

So I'm determined to help make it happen. I've been watching her freelance commitments like a hawk to help her have the strength to turn down work if it's within the two-week period. She's only agreed to two things, I think: a meeting for a board she serves on, and a poetry-reading contest judging.

I'm also determined that if the kids get sick during her time off, I (or NT if he's able, I suppose) will take sick time to stay home with the kids, and send her out to enjoy herself somewhere else.

We finally heard back from the vet; our new kitty has FIV. We're pretty sure we're keeping her, as long as we can get her and the other cat on civil terms (so they're less likely to bite each other and maybe transmit the disease). We seem to be making slow progress, but at least it's progress. I think they'll settle down as they get more and more time together. We already love her, so we'll definitely give it every chance we can!

Our agent checked in after a week's vacation; she hasn't heard from either potential buyer, but she thinks one is still exploring government reimbursement for the adjustments they'd need to make (plus that agent was on vacation at the same time), and the other one wants to work with the listing agent (her) so has probably been waiting for her to get back in town. She's trying to track them both down.

One bit of maybe-good news she shared: the other 2-bed 1-bath units in our association have been taken off the market. On the one hand it shows what a weak market our buildings have right now. On the other hand, if someone wanted to buy our kind of unit in our building, we'd be the only option. Hopefully the good outweighs the bad.

My old agent finally showed our place, for the first time since we terminated our relationship with her 5 months ago. She works our building a lot because she lives in the complex, so either this was deliberate or she's had no clients. Surprise surprise, we got prompt feedback (which we never got when she was our agent) and it was negative; lower marks than anyone has given us before.

I touched base with our broker last week, and he said he was just running the two refi options to see which one would be preferable. Not sure why that's taking so long, but at least it's not off the table.

I don't expect to hear from the tax guy in a while, and the WV option (the bigger of the two potential deals) doesn't expire for 7 weeks. Not sure if the smaller deal has a time frame.

So, holding pattern continues. Frugal doings in the meantime:

* We're almost $70 under budget on groceries this week, even with bulk cooking for a good cause. Which apparently went over huge! (Most of the food we donated got eaten, but NT brought some containers of salad back and I had one for lunch today.)
* I won the Dietbet, so I got my money back plus $7.50. I'm just glad I won my money back!
* Went to a community chili fest on Sunday. For $3 apiece ($15 total), we got chili with toppings, crackers, cookies, soda and coffee. Plus NT won a poster and I won an assortment of spice blends. Not bad!
* Going to a free documentary tonight with NT and our neighbors, and he's bringing snacks from work so that will also be free.
* Another friend invited us to a reading/music thing that's free including snacks and drinks that's happening on my birthday. So my birthday entertainment will also be free!
* Planned the kids' birthday presents & parties and, not counting food (which we'll cover with grocery money), it came to about $130. I was aiming for $100, but we usually spend $200-plus (combined for both birthdays), so we did really well this year. The grownup bday budget is also cut in half ($100 for each of us) so we're letting one another say what we want for our gifts.

I can't think of a better term for it. I was thinking "seive list," but I know the bucket isn't about collecting experiences, it's about things you want to do before you kick the bucket.

Well, every once in a while I see someone cross something off their bucket list, and I think I'll actually be very happy if I manage to avoid that experience until my dying day.

The list is getting quite long, actually! Since I spend a fair amount of time thinking about the things I *would* like to do once we have money and time again, I thought it would be fun to share my anti-bucket list of things I wouldn't do even if I won the lottery tomorrow and had no responsibilities.

This is of course not to insult anyone else who *would* like to do these things; it's just my personal interests.

So, in no particular order, I hope I never have to:
* Get a fur coat.
* Eat caviar.
* Receive a diamond.
* Go skydiving.
* Go downhill skiing.
* Try surfing.
* Visit Dubai.
* Own a boat.
* Own (or even ride) a motorcycle.
* Go big game (or any game) hunting. Or own a gun, though I might be curious to try one out at a shooting range.
* Get a tattoo.
* Have a fancy wedding.
* Play golf (except mini-golf).
* Attend the Super Bowl.
* Own a horse.
* Go to Disneyland.

I'm sure there are others; maybe I'll edit this entry as I think of them! Do you have an anti-bucket list: experiences or things that are supposedly desirable but more than not caring whether or not you have them, you actually hope you never do?