Sorry for the long silence, folks. I have spent most of the last four days buried in Magic cards. Not playing — selling.
Tim decided he wanted to take a break from constructed (ie, build your own deck, bring it with you) tournaments until October. That’s when some of the more frustrating cards rotate out of use. He pointed out that it nicely coincided with our goal to get a house by the time our lease is up at the end of September.
I have to say, it helped quite a bit.
I logged on to some sites that buy cards. Less than 100 cards later we had — try not to puke or swallow your tongue or anything — $399.15 at one place and $60ish at another. And that’s what the stores will pay, not what they’ll sell the things for.
Granted, we got a decent chunk of these for free (trading with other people or winning packs/store credit). Others were from eBay where I scoured for deals. And some were just the cost of our hobby. It’s a mixed lot.
Once the big stuff was out of the way, it was mainly nickel-and-dime time. Kind of literally. Some cards were worth 80 cents, others a quarter and still others were one or two cents. There were a few that paid $6-8. But mainly it was the small change that added up. Added up to another $250, actually.
Proof once again that even a penny or two can add up quickly, eh?
Of course, we will have to pay for shipping (and insure the things) which will take maybe $10 or 15 out of the profit. Also, the totals are before grading. But I expect less than $50 will get taken off overall. The cards are in good shape.
We still have 6 biggies to sell on eBay. After fees from PayPal and eBay, I expect to get at least $300 total. That means we’re looking at just about $1,000 toward our down payment.
If we can get an FHA loan, we’d only need 3.5% down. On a $60,000 house that’s $2,100. If I bank the money from the side project at work, we’ll be pretty close to that amount.
Coming from the Seattle housing market, I’m still somewhat flabbergasted that there are decent houses to be had for $40,000-60,000. In addition, a friend’s neighbor is a broker specializing in foreclosures. That could help boost our buying power, assuming there aren’t too many extra risks involved. (I’ve started doing some reading on buying foreclosures.)
Of course, a down payment isn’t the only savings we’ll need. As I recall, banks like to see 2-3 months’ expenses put by. But we need an emergency fund anyway, so that’s just more incentive to save extra. That means we should have $3,000-4,500 in the bank.
Ideally, we’d also have the closing costs, so that we don’t have to roll into the loan. I used an online calculator that estimated $2,300 in closing costs. However, I believe some FHA loans let you pay only part of the closing costs yourself. I have to research that a bit more.
In all, then, we need to save between $4,000-7500 before September. Preferably sooner, so that we can get approved for a loan and still have a couple months of house hunting.
So that’s the plan of attack. I’ll write a bit more later about some of the ways we’re thinking about finding money in our budget.
Practical Parsimony says
Part 1
Congratulations on your decision to buy a home. Saving money requires work. I mean that you will need to take time and energy to do things the "cheap way" to reach your goals. After your posts about hiring a cleaning person and having food brought in, I wonder if you can sustain the effort/energy it will take. I do realize you have a unique set of health problems, so I am not really blaming you. You seem really tired and depressed. Quite frankly, I was so horrified about the pizza on the weekend and the only $50 for the weekend. I could not respond to congratulate you (not) or express my horror.
seattlegirluw says
Practical Parsimony,
I know my posts horrify you — and for the record, I didn't end up hiring anyone or getting someone to help with food, just couldn't pull the trigger — but you also have to remember that, from what I understand of your money situation, we're in vastly different situations. We have the luxury of spending more than is ideal. You don't. It's not fair, it's not good. But there it is.
If you had more money, you might still choose to live the way you do. But for whatever reason, we cannot keep up the same habits you have. Blame it on generational differences, on the depression, and probably a few other things.
To our generation, takeout/eating out is a lot more acceptable. My mom was horrified back when I ate takeout once a week — and was shocked to learn that I was about the only one of my friends who ate out "that little."
To our generation, certain luxuries are more necessary. We don't have a phone but, since we're home all the time, we have satellite TV and video games. We could cut them, but they're last-gasp type things.
Then there's the depression. I have no doubt that your medical conditions have, at least in the past, caused some level of depression. So you may have an inkling of what it is like. But you aren't bipolar. While mine is a more moderate form, it is still a big factor in how we live. I go through times where it's all I can do to keep from running out to the casino or going clothes shopping. Then I go through times where I'm fine and even penny-pinching. Then sometimes it's all I can do to get my basic work done each day, and it's the only level of functioning I can handle.
If these sound like excuses, they're not meant to. They're simply reasons why priorities are different and, yes, abilities are different. Also, I choose not to rein Tim in as much as I could because it is an issue of quality of life. When I tried to make him as frugal as I try to be, we fought. A lot. There was a lot of recrimination from me, since I didn't really understand ADD, and a lot of resentment and bewilderment from him. So I compromise more than is perhaps financially prudent. But it is emotionally prudent.
I get the feeling you tuned in relatively late to the blog, based on the fact that you weren't clear where our debt came from. The fact is that we spent three and a half years living on about $30,000 a year — with Tim's insurance costing $502 and rent $700 each month. That left us about $1,200 for expenses and to pay down bills. And Tim saw a LOT of doctors. Plus I had a prescription that was $350 every three months. Still, in that time frame, we paid off about $35,000 or so of debt.
We can be more frugal than we have been. I can understand why it's hard to see it lately. With the workload, I've been talking more about the ways I feel we fail the frugality test than how we win it. I think it's important to let people know that failing at frugality doesn't mean you have to give up. But that it's a process.
The past six or nine months, we've definitely gotten somewhat off-track. It's been a celebratory "We did it!" kind of a period. And, even in our frugal heyday, I doubt you would have considered us truly frugal. That's the thing about frugality: Up to a certain point, it's relative. And quality of life, when it's an option, has to come into play when you decide what you will and won't splurge on.
Practical Parsimony says
Actually, I have read most of your blog. I don't see any of your or my problems as generational. Frugality does not mean severe deprivation. Actually, I have never suffered any sort of depression. I have been profoundly discouraged. As for a hobby that makes money, I did not mean a business. I actually sort of meant piddling with a few plants that would make/save money. Obviously, we disagree what makes for a good quality of life, so we will just let this lie.
Practical Parsimony says
Also, I was never confused as to where your debt came from, not to my recall. I had read about your medical problems and all. I WAS confused as to how you had gone in debt for a car and then a month or two later announced that you were out of debt. I did think I missed a post about paying off the car.
Practical Parsimony says
Part 2
Maybe your mother does not fuss at you. I will. Finally, my daughter is listening to me about such matters. She got really frustrated and angry at me before she started listening. Or, maybe she became really short of money.
Grit your teeth and eat cheaply. I DON'T mean Ramen noodles. I mean somehow force yourself to not only eat cheaply but well. A person's daily intake of junk will worsen moods and lessen the ability to cope. Ask me how I know. One of you does not like leftovers? Get over it and/or learn to make them look and taste new. A hen can make 6+ meals if you don't make use chicken to fill half your plate at a meal.
seattlegirluw says
PP,
I can grit my teeth and eat cheaply. I actualy just made a pot of rice and beans which is frugal and pretty healthy.
The issue comes in with Tim. Dunno how much you've read posts about his stomach, but it's beyond sensitive. We're not talking about some flighty "Oh that just doesn't sound good" kind of thing. We're talking about the fact that he has, in the past, tried to eat things for me (and his mom and other relatives at various times) that don't appeal to him. The result is his running to the bathroom to throw it up about 10 minutes in.
He's not trying to be fussy. I honestly believe he would give just about anything to be able to just scarf down whatever was available. Each time it comes up, he casts his eyes down and mumbles how sorry he is and then slinks away, upset that he's costing us money.
So I have come to accept that I will generally be the one to be the most frugal when it comes to food. This will help balance out his eating habits, even if it won't really qualify as "frugal." Such is life.
My mom doesn't need to fuss at me, though, because she understands that I do the best I can with the circumstances I have. She raised me to cook and eat one-pot meals. I still use some of them today. I do know, theoretically at least, how to stretch my meals. We'll see how i do putting it back in action.
Practical Parsimony says
Part 3
Cooking makes dishes to wash? Cook some one pot things and add salad to fill out a meal. I put the plate on which I eat a sandwich into the refrigerator and pull it out to use again. Believe me, I hate doing dishes, but the dish fairy does not stop here…lol.
You can learn to easily grow your own celery and onions, two good seasonings, on my blog. Anything, any effort to save money will benefit you and can become a good habit as you grow toward you home and especially as you have to cut costs with the added responsibilities of home ownership.
seattlegirluw says
I definitely am looking forward to being able to grow some things. Lettuce will be one. Tim loves spinach so that may be another. Tomatoes will be a wonderful thing, too. But our current apartment gets pretty much no sun whatsoever, so I discarded the idea of growing in containers here. Once we're ensconced in a house, though, I'll be looking around at Walgreens and CVS for cheap seeds!
Practical Parsimony says
Part 4
I was a housing counselor. The first thing to do is get your credit score up if you can, no matter how high it is. DO NOT cancel any credit card. Selling items is a great way to start your house fund.
You will have to be supervigilant with expenses as a homeowner.Do you read Broke Professionals? Seriously, find a hobby that makes money or saves money, like growing things to eat. Okay, so maybe that is not your thing. It was not mine for years.
Okay, if everyone hates me…so sorry.
seattlegirluw says
Hmm…. I've done the "hobby that makes money thing." It ends up being a lot less fun and a lot more draining. I still keep an eye out for things that might be resellable, but unless you're putting in a lot of time and effort, it's difficult. And trust me when I say NO ONE will buy what I crochet or knit. Not even out of pity.
I know how easily house expenses can creep up. I've been a homeowner (actually, a landlord) before and it was hell at times. This time, I have already queried a friend (who also works at home) about their utility costs, to be sure that those won't send the bills out of our price range. And I need to be ready for everything to break. I once had 4 different $300+ items break within a 3 month period — in which I made $1,200 a month at my job and my tenants' rent didn't quite cover my mortgage — after which there was a house fire that evacuated the place for over two months. In short, I'm about as prepared as you can be for home owner costs. By which I mean, no one is ever truly prepared for all the "surprises" that take place.
Christina says
I often feel the same way as Parsimony when it comes to your spending, but have mostly learned that its just a difference in personalities and life plans. For me I don't think it's a generational thing (I'm 28 and I believe you are somewhere in the ballpark) because I went through a take-out phase in college with everyone else, but have since grown out of it.
It could be a difference in upbringing as I was raised in a wealthy family, but my mother cooked everything from scratch and we spent a lot of time together doing things that were cheap or free like camping, hiking, picnicing, and so forth. We did take vacations, but we enjoyed being together more than we enjoyed being in Hawaii.
I became frugal when I moved away and learned that I wouldn't have the same luxuries that I had enjoyed at home if I didn't learn to change my spending dramatically. I taught my husband the same lesson when we met.
seattlegirluw says
Christina,
This is another reminder that I do need to get back on track when it comes to writing about our successes as well as our failures. But, yes, I do admit to being hugely slacker-ish in frugality over the better part of a year. Again, better get back on track.
My parents did well enough to be considered staunchly middle class but, like yours, my mom cooked everything from scratch. We really didn't take vacations, other than going to visit family on the East Coast.
We definitely eat too much takeout, and it's something I've been trying to work on (without success) for quite awhile. Though I suppose this will sound defensive, I would like to remind folks that most of my cooking halted because I got a full-time job. And kept another job that takes me another 10 hours a week. Balancing that — along with severe fatigue and depression — and cooking… Well, cooking has lost out. Big time. But maybe this is the push I need to get back on track. I guess time will tell.
Christina says
(cont'd)
I am interested in hearing about your house hunting as my husband and I recently snatched up a forclosure in the Phx area for 139k and felt it was a steal even though we had to put in 25k to make it liveable (paint, carpet, patching holes in walls, replacing stolen fixtures…etc.) I had no idea that there were areas in which 40-60k would purchase you a decent place, let alone one with a guest house. The only house we saw with a guest house was over 500k and our realtor 'just wanted to show it to us' like we were going to triple our budget because it was so pretty. Watch out for those realtors!
And in comment to being ready for homeownership, I would say that if you're looking to buy a foreclosure you need to be even more prepared for the expenses. A five thousand dollar air conditioning unit won't wait until you've saved up the money to replace it when it's 118 degrees outside. We hired an outside inspector in addition to the one that our realtor had and they both missed a $3,500 bathroom repair that needed to be done to make the garden tub functional. It's amazing what pops up in the months after you move in.
Good luck!
Christina says
(cont'd)
I am interested in hearing about your house hunting as my husband and I recently snatched up a forclosure in the Phx area for 139k and felt it was a steal even though we had to put in 25k to make it liveable (paint, carpet, patching holes in walls, replacing stolen fixtures…etc.) I had no idea that there were areas in which 40-60k would purchase you a decent place, let alone one with a guest house. The only house we saw with a guest house was over 500k and our realtor 'just wanted to show it to us' like we were going to triple our budget because it was so pretty. Watch out for those realtors!
And in comment to being ready for homeownership, I would say that if you're looking to buy a foreclosure you need to be even more prepared for the expenses. A five thousand dollar air conditioning unit won't wait until you've saved up the money to replace it when it's 118 degrees outside. We hired an outside inspector in addition to the one that our realtor had and they both missed a $3,500 bathroom repair that needed to be done to make the garden tub functional. It's amazing what pops up in the months after you move in.
Good luck!
seattlegirluw says
Hmmm, well I'll definitely keep everyone apprised. Could be that we find out the $40,000-60,000 houses are too much work. But at least half of them that I've seen look pretty good. And the one with the guest house was $40,000. And I'm looking mainly in the area of Camelback to Thomas, 10th St to 44th. Not a ton of options but more than you might think. I guess it'll be better to report once we've seen a few places.
Plothole Tsi says
I don't know if it will show anything useful in your area, but I've been using crimereports.com lately to scope out what areas tend to have higher or lower crime in a town. Sometimes the nicer looking areas have high burglary, and sometimes the older sections of town are quiet as a mouse. It's a good additional resource while you're looking! 🙂
Julie S says
This is probably neither here nor there, but with FHA loans, the seller is forced to pay most (if not all, depending on the lender) of the closing costs. I found this out the hard way after we had to sell our home at the beginning of the bubble when my huz lost his job and found another where we had originally moved from. FHA closing costs are generally a little higher than conventional and there are stricter inspection standards as well (although that wasn't an issue in our case). I will never do another FHA sell again. Ever. We'll take our chances and wait for a cash or conventional buyer. It was too much of a financial hit, even though we consider ourselves luckier than lucky to have sold our house so fast (three weeks!).