Tag Archives: septic field

Which Way to the Way Ahead?

Posted on March 7, 2012 | Leave a comment

Budgeting seems like a fruitless task for my household.

We are careful with our spending.

We typically pay our bills on time.

We are only now just starting to have money left at the end of each pay.

And our new septic field quote has finally arrived.

It seems all forward momentum leads to steps back and we just continue running in place.

The septic field is going to cost $16,000.  We need $8,000 up front, and then can make arrangements for the additional $8k.

The *hope* (such a terrible way to pay for something eh?) is that between our tax returns, hubby’s side hustle and our puny savings, that we can pull off the first $8k

This is followed by the *hope* that hubby goes back to work in May like we expect and earns enough to pay the latter half off by the end of the summer.  Provided that works for the contractor.

I’m really not sure where to go from here.  How to get started, how to get moving, how to not hyper-ventilate from the weight and stress and the inability to plan or budget this project.

We’re treading water.  The same way we have been for more than a year.

Something has to give.

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Septic Saga + Birthday Bash Budgets = Need Another Yard Sale!

Posted on March 6, 2012 | 1 Comment

Let’s take this equation one step at a time.

Septic Saga:

Well we have been assured that a quote really is on the way.  The guy doing it has agreed to some sort of payment plan where we pay for the materials up front and then work out a payment plan with him for the remaining cost (thereby avoiding the bank).  This is a huge relief for us as we can get this issue addressed in a timely manner.  Once the relief settled in, the next feeling that came was a slight panic about getting our savings in order to cover the difference.  Today at this moment, we could probably swing about $1k.  I suspect we need closer to $5k.  So we need to get a move on ASAP!  Between tax returns and home energy audit grants I conservatively guess we will have around $2k – $3k in the next month.  I think things are going to shape up okay.

Birthday Bashes:

May is going to be one festive month!  My husband, my child (1 year!), my sister-in-law (turning the big 4-0), a friend and her son (turning 40 and 1 respectively) and another friend.  So 4 big days really! Plus 2 others, not to mention the two other birthdays in April!  I roughly figure I need about $700 to cover the birthday celebrations.  Especially as hubby really lost out last year because I was overdue at the time!

How am I going to get all this money together?

Another Kijiji/Yard Sale? (UGH!):

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great way to score some extra cash quickly, plus it has worked out really well for us in the past.  The snag is, we’ve thinned out a lot of our stuff already.  Now I know it is recommended to go through all your things a second time anyway, the problem is, we found it a bit emotional the first time, I’m worried the “wounds” from the previous sale might still be a little too fresh to ask my hubby to do this again!

Nonetheless, I’ll have to try again anyway.  I think it might be time to make a real effort to sell my wedding dress.  I had originally hoped to donate it (I liked the idea of sending out my happy wedding day mojo out into the world for someone else to enjoy), but times are tight and I’m not sure that is the way to go anymore.

The only other major items of value that we may consider selling are our camping stuff.  My argument is that we used the stuff once in the last 3 years and now that we have a child we definitely won’t be using it anytime soon.  The snag is that it was such a good deal when we bought the stuff that it’s going to be hard to part with it.  It kind of reminds me of a “How I Met Your Mother” episode where Lily makes Robin delete Don’s phone number.  The argument was that deleting the number was like ruling out that part of you for the future and the camping gear is the same thing.  Realistically we won’t use it, and by the time we reach that stage again, we’ll need something bigger anyway.  But closing the door on that ‘possibility’ is a little tough.

Stay tuned for a potential budget to help reach our goals without anyone’s birthday gifts getting cheaped out on!

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Fess up time

Posted on January 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

I have to share the good with the bad right?

Well, here it is.  Over the last two weeks I basically screwed our budget by the $500 I over-zealously put on Han Solo’s credit card!

Main problem?  We needed a new car seat ($230 – $100 (gift$) = $130). Then came a birthday I forgot about ($60).  Parking at work on days I didn’t take the bus (5 X $9 = $45), my bus pass ($100), extra gas money ($60). Coffee slip ups ($10).  Much needed baby clothes ($25). Han Solo’s automated credit card payment that I forgot to put on the calendar ($92) and finally the student loan payment that I got the days muddled up about ($300).

I was so concerned about the money disappearing on little things that I moved it before I should have.  Turns out the things I needed the money for weren’t so little.  Next pay I am going to give Han Solo and I some proper credit (metaphorically) and just leave the money where it is and move what is left at the end of the cycle.

Also, I hope to have our November to December progress and a 2011 year in review progress posted over the week-end.  It’s coming…just taking a little longer than I expected!

In Other News…

Remember that banker that I thought screwed our credit score?  Well she called last week to say that the loan expired.  We needed to bring in the written quote from the septic field guys in order to release the money.  There was a mix up at the engineering firm and the permits weren’t ordered when we thought…yadda, yadda, yadda, here we are again.  No written quote.  No loan.  And that loan was a struggle to get in the first place!

To tell you the truth, my first reaction to hear that the loan had expired (keep in mind she gave us no warning that this deadline was approaching) was relief.  I was relieved to never have to deal with this nitwit again.  But now that I think things through a bit more, our credit has taken another hit in the loan application (which we need to reapply for now), and I read this article about interest rates yesterday and it spoke of how banks are less likely to give loans these days if you look remotely financially insecure.  I chuckled a little bit here as we are not appealing candidates on a regular day!  Anyhow.  I’ve applied for some contract work and hope to start bringing in some extra money soon.  I think hubby should be back at work in the next few months, so while our backyard is disgusting if we run the shower and the washing machine on the same day, maybe we can turn this around somehow?

Waiting another month or so to reapply for the loan will give us another $2000 or so.  With that, we can reduce how much we are asking for and in turn have it paid off sooner.

I’m struggling with my inner-Pollyanna here, but I’m determined to rally!  Or collapse under the stress.  Stay tuned next week to see what happens!

 

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Debt vs Savings vs Emergency Savings

Posted on December 6, 2011 | 1 Comment

Oh priorities!  My life runs smoothly with lists and order and structure and knowing (and believing) what needs to be done in a particular sequence.  Ironically my mother once compared me to a barge moving through the water, I tend not to do one project at a time but try to do everything all at once.  So here is my dilemma and how I am trying to prioritize and, unfortunately, remain in my true ‘barge’ nature.  As must as I would like to focus on paying off debt, and then building my emergency savings fund and then saving money for our house renos, there are things outside of my control that messing with this.

Emergency Savings!  So important to have.  I really started putting 10% of hubby’s salary and my income into a savings account this summer while he was working.  Thank goodness I did because it paid for almost half of our new furnace!  The other half was paid for by basically doing the spending fast before I had heard of it.

Savings! My hubby has some courses to do for his job, I have some conferences I should attend this spring that work may not pay for, and we have this old house that needs an insulated basement, a new bathroom and eventually a new kitchen.  Now out of these things the basement and Han Solo’s courses are really the most important, with Han Solo’s courses beating out the basement just slightly.

Debt!  We are doing the spending fast for a reason!  We need to pay off debt, we have more debt coming (the looming septic field loan) and potentially MORE if we borrow money to finish the basement.  The longer we live with the debt, the more interest we pay and the more stress we have in our lives.  Not healthy, not happy, not good.

So where to put the limited funds we have?  Our plan was to put all money left at the end of the month and all bonus money (pay from Han Solo’s boat structure building related jobs) towards our debt.  Han Solo’s credit card being at the top of the list.  The reason we decided to start there rather than rebuild our diminished savings was that if an emergency arose, we could at least tap into the available credit on that card.  Not ideal, but hey, it would be an emergency.

Now we have decided to amend that plan.  Leftover money goes to debt, bonus money is going to the courses Han Solo needs and we are considering borrowing money from our parents for the basement (which should be about $1500 tops).

The thought of owing more money rots me.  Plain and simple.  The snag is (and I may have mentioned this in my blog before) that there are tax incentives for increasing the energy efficiency of your home.  If we go through with borrowing the money, however we borrow it or whomever we borrow it from, will be the first priority for our income tax returns in April/May, rather than it going to our debt.  It is far from an ideal situation but it is what it is.

Course #1: $1200

Course #2: $850

Basement project:  $1500

How are we going to come up with $3550 over the next two months?  Currently we have about $700 in our savings account.  It is actually more but the rest of it is what I refer to as “Booboo’s money”, and it is money that will get moved to an RESP eventually.  Back to the $3550.  It is time to get a serious hustle on if we want to keep things under control.

Along with budgeting our income we need to start budgeting our time.  We are not making time for things that could potentially make us more money.  We are simply running out of time everyday.  If we want these things we will have to work for them!

Stay tuned, at the end of the month I will be posting not only how much extra debt we will be able to pay down buy how much of the $3550 we have managed to save scrap together.

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Credit Scores – the confusion sets in….

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 1 Comment

Credit scores.  This mysterious number that runs my life.  Until recently I had no idea how I influenced this number or how it was calculated.  Now that I am trying to pull myself out of debt, I am learning all I can about my credit score.

Your credit score is a number that is represents you as an investment to potential lenders.  It is based on things like your debt to equity ratio (more about that later), your history of paying bills on time, number of loans, credit cards, etc.  There are 5 categories but an in depth lesson of credit scores is for another day.  Today’s post is about how my score has been influenced by other people, specifically, a banker.

Now, this banker lady I must say has worked hard for my husband and I to help us secure our loan for our coming septic field.  However, I have a feeling that while she was working to convince the bank to lend us the money she might have had to fess up to giving us some advice that I think lowered Han Solo’s credit score.

Our first visit to the bank was back in April.  We had a Home Depot credit card -$6500 (our new floors), a Charm credit card -$500 (my 2010 Christmas present from Han Solo) and a car loan -$13,000 and a Canadian Tire credit card (I opened this years ago for a free pen and never used it – I’m not proud).  With a large (and not usual) tax return coming we explained that all those debts would be paid off.  We were informed that “the bank” was uncomfortable with the ‘potential’ debt as well as what was there.  So without clarifying, we paid off all those debts with our tax returns and closed all 4 accounts.

When we returned to the bank in the fall we were asking for less money and we were claiming a higher income and they were still reluctant to lend us the money.  At which point I snap (I am a new mom and was likely in need of sleep – see earlier note about lack of pride) and say that we did everything and more that was asked of us why is this so difficult?  Bank Lady tried to calm me down with more gibber gabber and eventually said she would see what she could do and would get back to us.

Over a week later she calls and says we have been approved for the $15,000 loan we need, runs through the demeaning list of things we need to provide to secure the money and that’s the end of it.

And then I started to read.  And I have been reading pretty steadily since our approval for this loan.  Turns out our credit score is lowered by closing those accounts.  So that credit card I never used, actually made my debt to equity ratio better.  i.e. currently I personally owe $38,000 of $41,000 a ratio of 93% (terrible), if I had left that card open, I would owe $38,000 of $46,000 and my ratio would be 83% (still terrible but not as terrible).  So the impact is even worse for my husband!  He paid off about $20,000 of debt in his name and his ratio is currently $27k/$28k (96%) and if we had just paid off those accounts but left them open his ratio would have been $27k/$48k (56%) !! Which is WAAAAYYYY better!

So our next steps?  Request copies of our credit reports and hopefully we can see our credit history with them.  If I can essentially see that Han Solo’s credit rating has been negatively impacted by Bank Lady’s advice I will go back and ask her (or potentially the bank manager) to send a letter to the credit people to explain that our poor choices were based on her advice.  Not that I expect that will do anything, but I have to try something.

So, which is better?  To show my bank that I don’t have access to a bunch of money (potential debt) when I am applying for a loan?  Or protect my credit score over their advice?

If you have any credit score related questions please ask away!  The more questions I have the more thorough my research and eventual post will be.

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Posted in Bad Habits, Credit Scores, Plan

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