We are budget billed on our gas and electric provider, still using less than previous owner as our budget bill was set-up using their average 12 months. We pay the budget amount every month, but the meters are read every two months.

I logged on our account and noticed the meter has been read, and I compared it to same time last year:

Electric:
2014/01/10 703kWH $139.76
2013/01/09 731kWH $137.64

**Average daily cost for billing period was $2.1838/ day.
**Average cost of energy purchased was $0.06605/ kWH.

Gas:
2014/01/10 226CCF $314.09
2013/01/09 232CCF $320.02

**Average daily cost for billing period was $4.9077/ day.
**Average cost of energy purchased was $0.56027/ CCF.

Using less, however, obviously, it appears electric was cheaper the previous year for the same period.

In addition, it appears we could have done even better in the gas department if it wasn't for the Polar Vortex!

Sent $115.00 extra to mortgage principal and $275 extra to auto loan principal!

Both 'thousand place' digits changed, even though it was intentional! Haha!

Sitting at:

Mortgage - $167,998.42
Auto Loan - $1,994.11

In addition, the 'ten thousand' digit changed on our total debt, which is just the two added together, also intentional, which is why I took advantage of this whole "unique" situation!

Total Debt - $169,992.53

Happy New Year!

It's that time again; 2014 Goals!

Debt Service:

1. Auto Loan paid off by June 2014. This will actually happen by itself with regular payments, which will be 18 months early on our 48 month loan. Once it gets down below $1,000 I may reevaluate with a lump sum payoff. Right now, it costing us less than $6/ mo. in interest.

2. Mortgage principal only payments. Sending $50/ mo. additional principal only payments for 2014. I have automatic payments set-up from our savings account.

Retirement/ Savings:

1. ROTH IRA (ME), fund $50/ mo. I have automatic contributions set-up from our savings account.

2. ROTH IRA (DW), fund $50/ mo. I have automatic contributions set-up from our savings account.

3. Emergency Fund to $10,000.

Home Improvements:

1. Fence for rear yard. DIY project. $1,500-2,500 depending on materials used.

I made the goals a little more accessible this year. I had hoped to have the auto loan paid off six months ago, but other things came up and DW switched job to a much less stressful one, but at the expense of less wages.

Here's to 2014!

Our Auto Loan had a minor milestone of under the $3K mark! I did add $55 to principal only for that to happen. I get an "extra" paycheck extremely early in 2014, January to be exact, so a good chunk will most likely be going to the Auto Loan. Once it is down around $1300 is probably when a lump sum pay off will occur.

The Mortgage also had a minor milestone of under the $169K mark this month. Not much progress there at all besides regular payments. There is a home for sale a street over that is very similar in size and style to ours that is listed for $169K, so I will keep an eye on final sale price once and if it sells. I expect high $150's low $160's.

The reduction of Verizon services is already paying off, the first bill saw a savings of $61, so that works for me.

DW changed jobs, less hourly pay, less hours until January 1 and much less stress. After that, a raise and back to 30-35 hours instead of the current 25.5 hours. So the dept shovel has been reduced a bit, for the short term. However, the new job at the Dental office does provide opportunity for a monthly bonus of $500-$5,000, so in reality, the effective pay could be significantly more than her previous employer. There is also a yearly bonus on top. I just had to rework our budget schedule as she now gets paid weekly and not bi-weekly.

DW got her Chase Sapphire Preferred card statement with the bonus points. Also sent in the auto insurance policy net difference with it, so, $700 total went to the auto loan.

$3,664.42 remaining.

$500 will be sent toward the end of the month when my other Chase CC sign-up bonus hits.

In addition, the regular September 2013 payment will put it under $3,000 by end of month!

So the last week I received an email from our current auto insurance company, but through a different agent. The email stated they had a new "plan" and rate reductions in the area I live. Usually I am like "yeah right" and delete it, but this time I decided to humor them. Same exact coverage through the same insurance carrier just different "plan" and agent, our 6 month premium went from $1,410 to $948. We pay in full upon renewal and what does this mean for the monthly budget? A decrease of $75! Usually I would budget $235/ mo. for the old plan and now I am budgeting $160/ mo. for the new plan for the same coverage limits, deductibles etc. Glad I humored them and didn't brush it off like in the past. It also means we will receive a prorated check from the old policy as I paid the new policy in full over the phone with a cc. The difference between the unused portion of the old and new will be about $310 we will net. Not sure what to do with the money yet.

Central Air vs. Window A/C Unit electric usage for the past 2 months increased $41.92 over the same time the previous year with window a/c. So the total we have seen over the 4 months has only been an increase of $67.41 over the previous year. That is much less than I originally estimated for the majority of the cooling season.

I received pretty much all of the large reimbursements from my job for our recent medical expenses to the tune of around $7,000. I cashed and deposited them a couple days ago. We are just waiting for about $800 more as I grouped a bunch of smaller ones together. I should receive them this week.

All of them are split between two new cards to receive a total of $900 in sign-up bonuses. The statements will close mid-late September and won't be due until early-mid October. I will keep the money in the savings account as long as possible to to gain the pesky interest.

We received our third paychecks this month today, so, $2,000 to the EF as well, but the account shows $15,000+ and there is a CC payment due mid-September that will be paid in full on my Chase Freedom account. I will probably use a statement credit for the current points worth around $35.

It would be nice if all the $15,000 was 'ours' as that would be $2,000 from a fully funded 6 month EF, or the auto loan would no longer exist! Haha!

At least the EF is now $8,000!

DW received her Chase Sapphire Preferred over the weekend and activated it. Today I paid my tuition and 2 medical bills (all 3 totaling $3,050.09) to reach the $3,000 minimum spend. All of which is being 100% reimbursed by my employer! Therefore, we literally made $400 on the deal!

I just realized that the title I came up with appears to be a gateway phrase to a scam! Haha!

Has anyone ever signed up for one of these cards ever to get the sign-up bonus?

I live in the United States of America, where anyone can be in business for themselves, i.e. Sole Proprietorship.

This goes along with my last post regarding me recently being hospitalized and how my employer reimburses us the deductible and co-insurance (confusing the way it was negotiated, but whatever). Well, I just received yet another bill from the hospital and this one is for $4,500, in which we will be reimbursed 100%.

The Chase Ink Plus Business Card is offering 50,000 sign-up bonus points ($500 statement credit or $625 travel rewards) after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months.

I figured, we could easily spend $500 additional to make the minimum by purchasing already budgeted gas, groceries and some of our Christmas allowances with the card.

With DW signing up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card for the other reimbursable medical bills and tuition we could potentially be making $900 total if I could successfully get approved for the Chase In Plus Business Card.

Worth a shot, and nothing to lose I guess!

I had my wife apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred today for the $400 bonus cash after $3,000 spend in 3 months.

If she is approved, we will be able to reach the requirements in one day, get this, on items we will be reimbursed for anyway!

The health insurance through my job opted for a high deductible insurance plan, but reimburses us the deductible. It is confusing the way Administration negotiated with the Union, but whatever, that could be a whole other 5 posts! Haha!

So I was in the hospital mid-July and we have finally gotten bills and explanation of benefits so I can begin to process everything.

So far we have the following bills to be paid:

$675 Medical Bill (100% reimbursable [Already have check actually]
$1,975 Medical Bill (100% reimbursable)
$635 Tuition and Book (100% reimbursable) [I knew there was a reason I was waiting to pay that!]

= $3,285

A quick easy way to make $400+!

The $400 would either go to Auto Loan or Christmas savings.

These are the actual numbers when comparing this year with Central Air vs. Window A/C unit last year.

As requested by a few:

05/08/2012 - 07/06/2012: 1136 kWh = $194.28

05/07/2013 - 07/08/2013: 1272 kWh = $219.77

Even though there are some variables, we paid $25.49 more over the same time period a year ago with the much less capable window a/c. Not bad. I will update again in September 2013 on our next meter read date!

The auto loan is at an amount that we could just pay off immediately if we wanted. I am tired of waiting for each months payment, but retiring the loan now would leave our EF way too low, but still tempting. Next month is 3 pay periods for us which means an extra ~$2,000 to savings on top of our normal amount. My plan is to bring loan under $4K after August regular payment and additional $400 to principle. We also want to increase our EF to $10K by December 2013. I don't think we can have both and the auto loan is only costing us $14 a month in interest. Of course that gets less with each payment, but I just want to be done with it! At that point we would only have the mortgage!

Some have asked that I keep track of Central Air vs. Window A/C electric usage. The central air was installed around the time we would have put in the window unit which was beginning of June. Our utility bills every 2 months so below is the kWh usage for both 2012 and 2013. Keep in mind that I needed to read the meter yesterday and estimated cost based on the cost for electricity in 2012. I will post actual most likely this coming week when I get the ebill.

05/08/2012 - 7/06/2012 = 1136 kWh --- $194.28
05/07/2013 - 7/06/2013 = 1202 kWh --- $205.00

The window a/c would cool and dehumidify only the living room and dining room, leaving the bathroom, two bedrooms, kitchen, and hallway to be desired. The central air cools and dehumidifies the whole house, including the finished laundry room in the basement. The central air is set for holding 75 degrees at this time. I have it programmed to keep 75 degrees when home and 78 degrees at sleep or work, but during the heat wave I placed it on hold.

I have accumulated a couple cards within the last year or so due to sign-up bonuses etc. and it is time to close all but the Chase Freedom.

The List:

1. Chase Sapphire
2. Chase Freedom
3. Sears (VISA)
4. Sears (Master Card)
5. Sears (Store Card)
6. J.C. Penny (store Card)
7. Best Buy (Store Card)

The Chase Sapphire was closed the other day to make sure the yearly fee didn't kick in and I was sure to transfer all my points to my Chase Freedom before doing so.

All of them except for the two Chase cards remained in our lock box, and quite frankly, I am not sure if they are all activated.

Closing all except for the Chase Freedom will be removing $22,800 in available credit. May effect our credit score slightly, but it is not like we are looking to apply for any loans in the next few months anyway.

Between the Chase Freedom and my local credit union credit card (oldest card), $15,000 total available credit between the two is enough, not that it matters to us anyway.

The auto loan this morning was at about $5,150.00, but I couldn't stand to see it that close to being under $5,000 so (as I already had planned), I transferred an additional $175.00 to the principle and brought the balance down to $4,979.69!

So, in June, two 'milestones' were reached:

1. Mortgage Under $170,000

2. Auto Loan Under $5,000

In other news...

I got into my vehicle this morning and while on my way to work I noticed my clutch pedal having a lot of free play in it, as if there was no hydraulic pressure. I limped it to work, checked the clutch fluid reservoir and the reservoir was empty. I checked and I hope it is just a loose fitting where the clutch line connects to the clutch master cylinder (I can't see that connection unless a few parts are removed [these cab-forward designs on all these new cars make it so difficult to see parts of such), as the other end of the line connecting to the clutch slave cylinder is dry. Inside under the clutch pedal is dry, which hopefully rules out my brand new clutch master cylinder I had installed a few months ago along with the clutch. I put some fluid in it and attempted to pump it a few times and I noticed some fluid that is running down the line and dripping on the ground. I hope it is just a simple clutch line being loose, but it is at the side I can't get to myself. I have an appointment on Wednesday to bring it to the shop, but we may drop it off tonight as I don't want to really to push it.

I will say, I love my 2007 Honda Civic Si Sedan, but they just don't make them like they use to in the 1980's and 1990's. Bummer.

Our central air was installed last Friday and works great. It is nice to have the whole house cool and dehumidified rather than just the immediate room as with a window air conditioner.

Speaking of the window air conditioner, we listed it on Craigslist and sold it last night for $175. I will deposit that tonight and put that toward the principal on the car loan so that it will be below $5K after regular payment hits June 24. I will be sure to blog that milestone separate as well! Haha!

DW bday is June 26, so she asked for a Fitbit One, so they were on sale for $10 off. We purchased at Best Buy and they guy asked if we were using a Best Buy credit card. We said we didn't have one, and asked if we wanted to sign up. I asked if there was any incentive and it was $20 off current purchase if approved. So after we were approved, we walked out spending $75 after tax on a $99 purchase before tax! Plus, we didn't need to use that card to pay for it! Now, just another card with a ridiculous amount of credit for a retail store I need to cancel. Haha!

Speaking of credit cards, the remaining $2,000 balance of the central air was able to be charged to my Chase Freedom card. We will have no problems paying that before it is due by July 12 or so. I will use my existing $65 in rewards as a statement credit so only really $1,935 will really be due!

I need to renew my NYS drivers license by June 14 as it expires this year, which is $80.50. Again, no issue paying that, but those little things like that tick me off sometimes!

Our June 1, 2013 payment posted and the balance is under $170,000!

Balance: $169,919.19!

Yay!

It looks like the mortgage will be under $170K next payment on June 1, 2013! I can't wait to see that $169,xxx number.

Too bad we are underwater by a good $40K though.

I am going to try to have auto loan under $5K by June 24, 2013.

My car went in the shop yesterday for a clutch replacement, charging labor only as I supplied all the parts. Got the call that it was ready today and he mentioned he prefers cash or check as he will be charged 3% for the swipe. The shop has some really fair prices and someone I can trust. I had originally planned to put it on my Chase Sapphire card to earn some points as I need to cancel it before August or pay the yearly fee. I also wanted it on there to float the payment as it would not have been due until May 9. I have no problem paying by check, but the EF will be seen below $5,000 until April 26. So going against my previous post, I guess I did touch the EF with all the expenses previously posted. Oh well, at least we have the cash available!

Been a couple months so I will give an update on this around here!

DW is getting NYS Certified for the job she has been doing for the previous two years. After the course, she will be able to sit for the exam and get her full certification without being a trainee for two years as she has the experience. All that ran us $2100 and we cash flowed that.

My 2007 Honda Civic Si 4 Door Sedan, after 6 years of ownership, finally needed repairs. The suspension components were wearing out costing me $600 in parts and installed them myself. Brakes were changed, $300 in parts and had DWs grandfather's auto body shop to the work as it was cold outside for me to do them, $185. The major one is scheduled for clutch work. I sourced my own parts as dealership costs are ridiculous, all parts sourced were $860 and a shop to do the work at $75/hr x8 hours is $600. So $2545 in repairs we also cash flowed.

The IRS, also apparently wants money this year, Haha, so $1146 is set to be debited from our account April 1. I was messing with my W4 all year and DW also made about 15k more than previous year. I adjusted myself back to claiming zero allowances on both fed and state for 2013. We always set DW to zero for both, so no changes needed there.

If it wasn't for all that, DWs Auto loan would have pretty much been paid off! At least we didn't touch our EF!

So this weekend I put the snow tire and rim set-up on my car and retired the summer tires and rim set-up for the winter. Back when I had the vehicle inspected in September it was mentioned that I was in need of brakes really soon. Well here it is December and when I made the switch, I had a look at my brakes, yup, extremely low in the front. So I logged on my favorite Honda site, (car enthusiast at heart beneath the frugalness), and ordered up some front and rear brake pads and rotors. The original Honda set finally wore out after 5 years, 3 months and 75K miles! I got some upgraded brakes for $269 for front and rear pads and rotors. The distributer is out of Connecticut and the parts should be here in NY tomorrow according to UPS tracking. I will be installing them some time this month with a friend. I called Honda and their billable book time for all 4 corners brake pads and rotors is 3 hours at probably around $95-$120 an hour. Excellent savings. I do a lot of my own repairs.

I may actually make my goal for 2012 for having auto loan at 50% paid off in 12 months AND $6,000 in th EF by floating my CC statements. Cheating?! Maybe, maybe not. Haha. I got the bill today and the statement balance was about $1,320 less than total charged. Obviously the various items overlapped the billing cycle. The next bill won't be due until end of Jan. 2013, allowing another month of savings etc.

So November 24 the auto loan hit and was at about $8,080. I could not stand to see it that close to being under $8K, so I transferred an additional $115 to bring it to about $7,965! Even with December interest it will not be above $8K ever again! So 44% paid off in 11 months!

Last post I wanted to be 50% paid in 12 months, but may be at 48%. We also wanted $6K in the EF by December 31. We can't have both though.

We have $600 budgeted for Christmas spending this year. We are on budget so far on that.

We did rescue a dog three weeks ago, our first dog at that. We have a cat we adopted 2 years ago as well. The dog is a 2.5 year old Pomeranian mix. She came spayed, micro chipped, up-to-date on shots. The donation was $250 and spend about $250 on supplies etc. That we did not budget for, main reason we can't have both $6 in EF and 50% auto loan payoff in 12 months. She is a cutie though.

The Phase 4 of 5 windows are installed and look great! Just the basement left for some time in 2013.

Only random (hopefully) expenses remaining this year is NYS auto inspection for $21 on my wife's car and NYS registration renewal on my car for about $120.

I expect the cc bill to be about $4K from all the above, so when I get it, funds will be transferred to pay it in full.

Every time I look at our EF, it reminds me that it is only 29% what is really should be. Sitting currently at 5K, we are hoping to have it at 7K by December 31, 2012. It should be at 17.1K for a FULL 6 month EF.

As I look back at the year, I can see why it has been stagnant, and I feel slightly better. This year we have paid for the following large purchases/ expenses/ prepayments in cash:

$10,400 = Windows for Phase 1 – 4 of 5 for the house.
$3,100 = Auto related, taxes, licenses, repairs
$3,000 = Additional total prepayments to auto loan.
$4,000 = Disney World Vacation

That is a total of $20,500 paid.

The auto loan was originated December 2011 for $14,300. We have managed to pay off 41% of that to date, yes, 10 months into a 4 year note! I hope to find some money to have it paid down to 50% by December 31, 2012. If we don’t add any additional to principal it will be at 47% by then.

Auto Loan Progress:
12/2011 - $14,300 *Loan Origination*
01/2012 - $14,040
02/2012 - $13,750
03/2012 - $11,775
04/2012 - $10,987
05/2012 - $9,966 *Goal met; below 10K before June 2012*

Mortgage:
Stagnant, focusing on auto loan pre-pay. Remaining balance on side bar.

Home Improvement:
Phase 3 windows (West facing) should be installed within the next week or so. When that's complete remaining 70% payment will be due; $1,920.

Auto Repair:
Bent a rim, and put a nice tear in the sidewall of the tire. Tires wouldn't have passed inspection in August anyway. Got a new rim for $235, and a set of tires for $525 on line. Just need mounted, balanced and aligned. Total will be about $850.

Emergency Fund:
Stagnant at $5,000.

Well, being April is winding down I figured I would blog a spending and rewards update.

Today DWs car loan hit, $34.66 to interest, $287.04 to principal for a total of $10,987.10 remaining.

Chase Freedom - I paid the bill quite a bit early in full. I got the promotion that was spend $500 in first 3 months and get $300 cash back. I had the final 70% payment of Phase 2 windows, first 30% Phase 3 windows plus some other items we were going to purchase anyway. I ordered the check on Monday so $325 or so should be in the mail. That will most likely go to the car loan as extra principal. I may keep this card around rather than canceling.

JCP - DW was in desperate need of some new clothing. I am a guy, but is it me or does women clothing not last as long? She usually does a $250 clothing shop a year about this time. She got a few nice items cheap from a local consignment shop. We went to JC Penny for the rest, got a good amount of clothing. We saved 20% by signing up for their credit card. I got the physical card in the mail yesterday and will not be activating it. I will pay the $284 and close it.

Chase Bank - got a promotion for $150 for opening a checking account with them. I may move my EF there being I have access to two local Chase branches. Depending on the interest rate compared to the credit union we use I may keep the account longer then the minimum 6 months required without them taking the promotion back. We will not have a problem sticking to one of their three guidelines with out a service fee on the account.

Health Insurance - We should be getting $150 back of $200 ER copay from earilier this month. The MVP Difference Card is a pain sometimes the my job implemented 2 years ago, but if it means getting reimbursed, it works for me. Just need to put all the copay money upfront when we forget what we pay and what the Difference Card pays.