Today I received a couple snowflakes -
$50 PayPal from Swagbucks
$25 AGC from PerkTV
$5 AGC from Bing
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I'm seriously considering dropping my gym membership. I don't know how much it'd cost me to break my contract, but I'm just not using it. And I really don't see myself using it ... the traffic to get there is just miserable.
There is another gym where I wouldn't have to deal with such miserable traffic - no contracts. I drove there today after work in 7 minutes flat, even with kind of guessing how to get there. (I didn't go in because I was in the wrong lane to get into it ...)
I need to find out how much both the new place would cost and how much it will take to get out of my old place.
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NE and I were talking a bit more about houses last night. There really aren't too many in the price range I could qualify for by myself. I told him that if he really wants something in a higher price range, then the only way we'd be able to do it is by combining our income qualifications. Which means he really needs to work on his credit score.
He told me that he'd paid all his bills on time since the last time we'd started talking more seriously about this.
I was saying something about maybe looking into getting a small installment loan of some type to help build the score as well - he was wondering if the medical bill might not qualify as that. Hmm... He'd been thinking of paying it off in one lump sum once he gets his inheritance money, but maybe it'd be better to stretch it a bit longer.
It seems a bit of a catch 22 though ... the medical debt would count as debt (obviously) but could also be a way of showing on-time monthly installment payments. By the time we'd be doing the house looking, my one installment payment loan (car) would be nearly 2 years old, so wouldn't count too much I think.
There was this one house on FB yesterday that was just *perfect* Walk-out basement (so he could come home from work and go through the basement without waking me up at 3 or 4 a.m.) finished basement area, two bedrooms upstairs (my space!) and a finished attic space - 1 1/2 bathrooms. And a 2 car garage, porch, and good sized yard with mature trees.
Only problem was it was listed at $123k. I really need to stop looking at the home listings on FB ... at least for another 6 months or so. 
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When I was getting ready to walk to the library today I realized I'd misplaced my library card/work badge! Thankfully the library took my driver's license to check out the book that was on hold (Homebuying for Dummies) ... but I still need to find the card/id..
Only three places I usually keep it - my car console, my purse, or in the bag I take to the library to carry books. Hopefully it'll turn up soon.
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It looks like my 401(b) is FINALLY migrating to Vanguard. I got an email notice today that they'd gotten a check - but it hasn't shown up in my accounts yet. It'll be so nice to have that all finished for once and all.
Speaking of retirement accounts ... I emailed the city's person who deals with that stuff to ask about whether people in my particular union have any other retirement savings options other than the one the city contributes to. He said there are two other options which he'll send me info on.
He also told me that I could contribute more than 7% (9% match) BUT it would not be pre-tax and it wouldn't be through payroll deduction (and no extra match). Hmm ... kind of takes away the desire to do it when it isn't pre-tax. (Not that I'm anywhere near being able to do that yet anyway ... need to get my ROTH to compacity first before thinking about upping other contributions.)
I'm curious to see what the other options are. The lady I met at my MMM meetup said she contributed $20 a pay period to a 457? and got a 100% match (up to $20.) She works for the city too, just in a different union.
Snowflakes, Gym Membership, Credit Score
October 20th, 2015 at 01:12 am
October 20th, 2015 at 01:45 am 1445305516
You described a house that sounds like one my sister lives in with her husband and daughter.
October 20th, 2015 at 01:49 am 1445305793
Do you know if the medical debt counts as an installment loan? (And yes, I don't have any late payments on my credit history.
October 20th, 2015 at 01:57 am 1445306245
October 20th, 2015 at 02:09 am 1445306962
October 20th, 2015 at 02:15 am 1445307309
October 20th, 2015 at 02:18 am 1445307530
October 20th, 2015 at 09:22 am 1445332951
October 20th, 2015 at 05:57 pm 1445363839
October 20th, 2015 at 11:19 pm 1445383160
Snafu - I'm hoping we'll have 20% downpayment, because I'd love to avoid PMI too. If it's a 100k house though .... that might not be doable. (20% down)