Don got a job; he starts work on October 15th in a development position with one of the Big Two -- a major defense contractor. It's full time, so it puts our original plan into total disarray. But we're used to that sort of thing by now. So the money situation will be mostly resolved in about a month, when he starts getting his paychecks.
The Anapurna Girls will be at the Darkover convention over Thanksgiving weekend; if you haven't made plans and are interested in fantasy and science fiction, consider going. And, you know, buying stuff from us.
The HVAC is still not done. The guy came on Friday and spent some time downstairs doing SOMETHING, although I'm not sure what, since nothing appears to have changed. We thought he was supposed to come back Monday; needless to say, he didn't. We finally got hold of him yesterday and he said he'd call us back today. Sure thing. [For those counting, we started this whole nonsense on JULY NINTH. This has been THREE WHOLE MONTHS of nonsense for a job that should have taken a week.]
The holidays are coming up, and with them a slew of family visits. Don's whole family lives relatively nearby -- the furthest away is his brother in Norfolk -- but mine is strewn about all over the country. So getting to see them is often a treat. My father and grandparents will be coming down from New Jersey the weekend before Thanksgiving; my mother will be flying out from Washington for Thanksgiving proper; and my sister is coming to visit for a whole week in December. Very exciting!
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
we still love you, window people
Our window order is officially on hold. Because the window guys will be doing a bunch of framing when they put in the windows (both because some are bay windows and because several windows are getting moved around), they need us to have all of the appropriate walls laid bare. Unfortunately, this STILL can't happen without the HVAC being finished so we can move downstairs and gut the upstairs. So Don told the window people to go ahead and put the whole thing on hold until we get the stupid HVAC finished, whenever that is. I think HVAC guy is supposed to call today or tomorrow to let us know when he can come out and finish.
On the plus side, that's one bill we won't have to start paying for a while, which is a good thing since Don is still unemployed. Anyone have any jobs?
On the plus side, that's one bill we won't have to start paying for a while, which is a good thing since Don is still unemployed. Anyone have any jobs?
Friday, July 13, 2007
now i can say it
So the big, bad thing that I couldn't talk about before is now officially on safe-to-say territory. This week, Don was forced to resign from his job. As of today, he is no longer working for his previous employer -- or for anybody, actually.
It's a mixed blessing. He was pretty unhappy at that job, and he absolutely hated the commute (no sympathy from me, though -- remember my two-hour-each-way commute that he used to insist wasn't so bad? Karma!). We have enough money in the "F Fund" -- and tangent here: this is something everyone should have. You should have a separate savings account that is totally untouchable, one that has enough money in it to approximately equal one person in the household's salary for a period of time, usually between three and six months. It's so, so crucial. Ours is called the "F Fund" -- for when all you can say is "Oh, f---!" (We also keep separate savings accounts for a Christmas budget, a repair fund, and our regular savings. Eventually we'll have a vacation fund in there too, but for now that money just gets sucked into the house.)
Anyway. We have enough money in the F Fund to keep us the way we've been going (paying double to the home equity loan, putting about four hundred dollars a month into savings, etc.) for two months, and for four months if we cut out the extra payments and things. So Don has the rest of the summer to look for a new job, hopefully one that's more to his liking (he's hoping for something in the finance industry, since that's what he wants to do) and that's closer to home. He'll be able to spend some time working on the house while he's job hunting, which is a bonus.
It was pretty stressful during the week, while we were talking the whole thing over and struggling with the decision, and then while I was waiting for Don to finish agonizing over the possibility of having to do new things (he's not a huge fan of drastic changes, so he dithered for a while). But there was really only one option to take, and now that it's done we're really looking forward to moving on to more positive things.
Deep breaths. Here comes life.
It's a mixed blessing. He was pretty unhappy at that job, and he absolutely hated the commute (no sympathy from me, though -- remember my two-hour-each-way commute that he used to insist wasn't so bad? Karma!). We have enough money in the "F Fund" -- and tangent here: this is something everyone should have. You should have a separate savings account that is totally untouchable, one that has enough money in it to approximately equal one person in the household's salary for a period of time, usually between three and six months. It's so, so crucial. Ours is called the "F Fund" -- for when all you can say is "Oh, f---!" (We also keep separate savings accounts for a Christmas budget, a repair fund, and our regular savings. Eventually we'll have a vacation fund in there too, but for now that money just gets sucked into the house.)
Anyway. We have enough money in the F Fund to keep us the way we've been going (paying double to the home equity loan, putting about four hundred dollars a month into savings, etc.) for two months, and for four months if we cut out the extra payments and things. So Don has the rest of the summer to look for a new job, hopefully one that's more to his liking (he's hoping for something in the finance industry, since that's what he wants to do) and that's closer to home. He'll be able to spend some time working on the house while he's job hunting, which is a bonus.
It was pretty stressful during the week, while we were talking the whole thing over and struggling with the decision, and then while I was waiting for Don to finish agonizing over the possibility of having to do new things (he's not a huge fan of drastic changes, so he dithered for a while). But there was really only one option to take, and now that it's done we're really looking forward to moving on to more positive things.
Deep breaths. Here comes life.
Monday, July 02, 2007
property values
Just heard from Don's parents that a house on their street -- ten blocks away from us -- has sold for $375,000. And it was just over half the size of our house, on a smaller lot (although recently rehabbed, if it's the one I'm thinking of -- and they did a nice job). That's good news -- it means our house will be worth quite a bit when we're done with the renovations, and it's worth the money we're putting in.
The breakdown so far:
Our house is about 2200 square feet, on one third of an acre of land. It's got three bedrooms, and by the time we're done renovating it'll have either three full baths or two full and one three-quarter bath (depending on who wins that argument), an open floorplan with a main floor family room in addition to the living room, and a moderately "gourmet" kitchen.
We paid $220,000 for it in January of 2006 (it was listed as a four-bedroom, which affected the pricing somewhat then and will affect pricing later by its absence but not absurdly so), and have so far spent (or committed to spending) just over $50,000 on a new roof, new windows, and central HVAC. The cost of the rest of the work we're doing, both structural and finishing, is comparatively negligible, since we're doing it all ourselves and don't need contractors. [Example: we've completely changed the floorplan of the first floor, both removing and adding walls, replaced all the floor joists, and installed a level subfloor for about $1200 -- just the cost of supplies.] This isn't to say that, for instance, the entire house's supply of drywall isn't going to be ridiculously expensive -- but comparatively speaking, DIY is always cheaper. If you know what you're doing. Hospital bills can add up, if you don't.
We plan to live in this house for at least the next ten years or so. But if we don't, at least we'll be able to afford to sell it. Mind you, I'm not endorsing real estate inflation. I'm just grateful that we managed to get in early enough that we could get the house for a reasonable price. As a fixer-upper, it was (rightly) discounted some. But I've seen fixer-uppers now selling for finished prices, which sucks. If you're in the market to buy, be mindful of neighborhood property values and trends, and make sure you're really getting what you're paying for. It can still be done in the market now, it just takes some research.
The breakdown so far:
Our house is about 2200 square feet, on one third of an acre of land. It's got three bedrooms, and by the time we're done renovating it'll have either three full baths or two full and one three-quarter bath (depending on who wins that argument), an open floorplan with a main floor family room in addition to the living room, and a moderately "gourmet" kitchen.
We paid $220,000 for it in January of 2006 (it was listed as a four-bedroom, which affected the pricing somewhat then and will affect pricing later by its absence but not absurdly so), and have so far spent (or committed to spending) just over $50,000 on a new roof, new windows, and central HVAC. The cost of the rest of the work we're doing, both structural and finishing, is comparatively negligible, since we're doing it all ourselves and don't need contractors. [Example: we've completely changed the floorplan of the first floor, both removing and adding walls, replaced all the floor joists, and installed a level subfloor for about $1200 -- just the cost of supplies.] This isn't to say that, for instance, the entire house's supply of drywall isn't going to be ridiculously expensive -- but comparatively speaking, DIY is always cheaper. If you know what you're doing. Hospital bills can add up, if you don't.
We plan to live in this house for at least the next ten years or so. But if we don't, at least we'll be able to afford to sell it. Mind you, I'm not endorsing real estate inflation. I'm just grateful that we managed to get in early enough that we could get the house for a reasonable price. As a fixer-upper, it was (rightly) discounted some. But I've seen fixer-uppers now selling for finished prices, which sucks. If you're in the market to buy, be mindful of neighborhood property values and trends, and make sure you're really getting what you're paying for. It can still be done in the market now, it just takes some research.
Monday, June 11, 2007
what's the deal with that?
I don't understand why contractors, when asked to give you a quote, will give you their price and then give you another, cheaper price but only if you sign RIGHT NOW. If you can afford to give me a price that's fifteen thousand dollars cheaper if I sign right away, doesn't that mean that if I wait and get quotes from other companies like a sensible consumer or even just take a day or two to think about it, you're going to overcharge me by fifteen thousand dollars? How is that supposed to make me want to work with your company?
The whole reason contractors come out to give quotes is to give a quote, right? So how is this unreasonable pricing helping them? Just by bullying people who aren't committed to doing their research? Is that really the best way to make money in the contracting industry? How depressing.
Needless to say, we didn't buy windows on Friday night. I wonder if there's any way we can just sort of let these people know at the beginning of the interview that we'd love to hear their sales pitch and learn about their product but they don't need to bother with the dishonest pricing since we're just asking them to give us a quote and there's no way we're signing something right away. Argh!
The whole reason contractors come out to give quotes is to give a quote, right? So how is this unreasonable pricing helping them? Just by bullying people who aren't committed to doing their research? Is that really the best way to make money in the contracting industry? How depressing.
Needless to say, we didn't buy windows on Friday night. I wonder if there's any way we can just sort of let these people know at the beginning of the interview that we'd love to hear their sales pitch and learn about their product but they don't need to bother with the dishonest pricing since we're just asking them to give us a quote and there's no way we're signing something right away. Argh!
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