According to some estimates, every household, on average, wastes 15% of its income (if you make $4,000 a month, this amounts to $600). This wasted money disappears into needless things that do not offer any real and lasting value. Things like lattes and money for useless knick-knacks that do nothing more than gather dust. Impulse [...]

Posted May 20, 2008 in Debt | 7 Comments »

I’ve been running the numbers like crazy and I’ve determined that it will be worth it to jump through hoops to rearrange our finances to refinance. If you are considering a refinance, see when it makes sense to refinance.
I’ve calculated a minimum gain of $12,000 over the next 5 years less any opportunity costs lost [...]

Posted April 2, 2008 in Debt, Savings | 4 Comments »

Photography by: bookish in north park
We’re considering refinancing our house. It’s been two years since we refinanced our construction loan into our existing mortgage and rates are lower now than the interest rate we got two years ago. If you are considering refinancing, here are some situations where it might make sense to refinance.

Posted March 24, 2008 in Debt, Savings | 7 Comments »

The car frenzy is in full swing at our house. Once I decide to do something, it’s usually pretty hard for me to think of anything else. So it’s no surprise that I’m still busy with the car search!
Background
First I made the commitment to sell my car, then I asked readers to tell me what [...]

Posted February 26, 2008 in Debt, Our budget | 4 Comments »

photo credit: nor¤cal¤jeff
I took the first steps and committed to selling my car. I’m ready to move from a “car I love” to a family car. Now I’m moving to the planning and research phases. I revisited my old criteria that I set in the fall and updated it to reflect our needs instead of [...]

Posted February 25, 2008 in Debt, Our budget | 11 Comments »