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Home > Archive: April, 2014

Archive for April, 2014

Plotting out the LOC

April 30th, 2014 at 05:16 pm

Our LOC went through today.

I think it is weird how you get money out, but Ive never had one before. You have to call the bank and tell them how much money you need, and then they transfer it to your checking account.

That is a pain if your going to purchase something at a store and you have no clue how much it is going to cost. Or if it is out of regular banking hours, which is when I do ALL my shopping.


To simplify things I think I will just buy what I need on my credit card. Then the next day I can call the bank, transfer to checking, then pay the credit card online.

Does that make sense? Not only will I not have to worry about calling the bank before buying the items, but I will also get 1% back. Also if I wanted to wait until the statement was due on the credit card before paying it with the LOC I would get one month interest free technically.

Has anyone else done it like this?

Excited to purchase some of our trim tomorrow! Its a long overdue project.

Payday Progress

April 28th, 2014 at 03:15 pm

My parents are paid in full! Hurray!

I also put back $200 for the next car payment. I will give him $500 next week.

We were denied from the snobby bank for the 2% HELOC. Our credit score was good, but they said we didnt have enough credit history established because we have paid back all our loans too quickly. *eye roll*

Well I am sorry I dont like being in debt...

They offered to refinance my house though? I was like, heck no. If you wont give me a loan for a couple thousand there is no way I am going to give you my business for our mortgage.

I walked right into the other nicer bank, and told our loan officer I wanted a LOC and he said, how much?

They are much nicer to work with, I should have went there in the first place. He approved me on the spot. There is a price to pay though. The interest rate is 6.5%. But its just a LOC not a HELOC so Im not taking away from my equity. And with the small amount we are borrowing, really its only a couple extra dollars a month.

I HATE taking out a loan. But I am also excited to get some much needed projects done on the house.

School is almost done, and then I will start drumming up some freelance jobs to help keep working on our goals. We have been on a stand still for a while now.

Baby Goat Pictures

April 22nd, 2014 at 03:15 pm

Just for cuteness factor here are a couple pictures of the unexpected surprise!





It doesn't get much cuter than that!

Unexpected Surprise & Progress

April 21st, 2014 at 03:27 pm

Received another freelance payment.

Put $100 in animal fund, and saved $100 for car payment.

Had a big surprise a couple days ago. I am getting ready to breed the goats that didnt take last fall, so I had to give each one their shots and health check. Well when I was holding down one I could have sworn I felt a baby in her belly, but I just laughed it off and thought I was crazy.

The buck I used last year got really sick during breeding season, so I figured he didnt do his job. I even pregnancy tested one of the does he was suppose to be bred to and it came back negative. So I just considered the season a loss.

Well I came home from work the other day, and low and behold there was a baby... From the doe that tested negative... ?? Im guessing that the result didnt come back correct because they have to be so far along for it to work, and he must have bred her right at the end.

Well that made me suspicious. So I felt again on the doe which I thought I felt a baby, and also the other goat he was bred too... Pregnant!

Looks like I will be having babies after all! Hurray!

Sold some goats

April 18th, 2014 at 03:16 pm

Sold my first goats of the year. Smile

I spent $100 on fencing, and put the rest in the animal fund.

Still waiting on payment for one of them. Once that goes through, I will have the cash to pay my parents back the rest of what I owe them. Whoot!

Double Value House

April 14th, 2014 at 08:10 pm

I check on the estimated value of my house from time to time on Zillow. Im not sure how close it really is although when we got our appraisal 2 years ago it was spot on.

Well checking today it said the value has went up close to $13,000 in the last month!

That puts the estimated value at just a little under double of what we bought it for! Wow!

That is amazing for an old farm house that was destined to be torn down before we saved it.

We do more work on it all the time, so the value will continue to go up. I feel we made a great financial move, even though at the time we were not sure if we were ready.

Good Payday & Taxes Done

April 14th, 2014 at 03:01 pm

I finally sent my two state taxes. I may get one back, because it wouldnt let me submit it online, so Im guessing something is wrong with it.

Today was a good payday. I paid off my credit card, paid the $63 I owed for taxes, paid the $75 electric work, paid all our utilities, bought $40 worth of materials for our house improvement projects, and I still have $100 left to put back for my next car payment! Big Grin

Speaking of house improvement. We finally built our first raised garden bed. We planted tomatoes and peppers. Hoping to build another one and plant several kinds of berries and some onions. Just waiting to save up another $30 to build it.

Too bad it is suppose to get down to 30s tonight. Frown Now I will have to find a way to cover them.

We applied for the HELOC on Saturday. Should find out today if we got accepted.

Why the HELOC?

April 11th, 2014 at 06:53 pm

I guess I forgot to post about the loan we are considering.

Getting a HELOC has been in the plan for a long time. We are going to get one to remodel our house hopefully next year. But we actually need some sort of loan right now, so I figure if we get the HELOC now we will use the same one for our remodel.

I have delayed getting a loan as long as possible, but I just dont see a way to go around it. Frown

There are several big expenses that are needed asap. I thought I had talked about it before, but I guess not. lol.

The big expenses that need to be taken care of are:

1.) Put up goat fencing. $3,000 (By June)
2.) Pay for car repair. $1,500 (This month)
3.) Buy new computer. $1,500 (ASAP)
4.) Pay for goat trip. $1,00 (By June)

The fencing is a MUST have. It has to be put in before I go to pick up my new goats in June. I will have goats to sell that will cover the cost, but I wont get the money until Fall.

Cobalt needs fixed so I can sell it. Again I will get my money back from it, but I cant sell it until it is fixed. So need money to make money, as they say.

I need a new computer. Mine is dead. I have been doing my freelance jobs, at my computer at my work. But it does not have some of the programs I need to use, so it is very limited. Plus I cant do it at home. Im to the point now, where I cant really take anymore jobs until I get a new computer. And if I am going to buy a new computer for web design, I am getting a nice one that will work for a while. I have been putting it off for years and years, but it just isnt going to work anymore.

Goat trip is in June. I should have enough cash by then, but it is still a big expense that needs taken care of.

We are looking at getting some sort of loan for $5,000. All extra money would be cash flowed to pay it off, along with profit from goat sales, freelance jobs, and selling my Cobalt. I have no doubt we could pay it off in a couple months.

If anyone has ideas to cash flow these big expenses instead of taking out a loan I am all ears. Ive thought and thought, and I just dont know what else to do.

Catching Up & HELOC

April 11th, 2014 at 03:19 pm

Finally getting somewhere with my debts.

Freelance check was bigger than I was expecting. Besides giving grandpa a car payment, I am able to pay back $250 to my parents and pay $100 to the mechanic for the work he has already done. Whoot.

Got the Electrical Work bill. $75. A little higher than I was expecting, but Im just glad to have it done. I should be able to cash flow that on Monday.

Tomorrow we may stop by the bank and see about the HELOC deal they are running. 2% for 6 months then 4% afterwards. We have to find out all the fees, and how often it goes up and all that fun stuff.

Even if it is a good deal I am not sure we will get accepted. That bank is pretty snobbish, and I dont really think our credit scores will qualify. But we can try I guess. Otherwise we will have to get a 10% personal loan from the other nicer bank.

Mortgage Payment & Car Loan

April 8th, 2014 at 07:09 pm

Finally got paid for some of my freelance work.

Giving $300 to grandpa on tomorrow to bring my car loan down to $2,500.

Mortgage payment hit, new balance $50,592.64.

The mechanic said he would put in a new engine for $400-$500 counting the work he has already done. The couple we have found have been around $1,000 although we are still looking and hoping for the $700 range.

So it looks like if everything goes smoothly I can get the Cobalt in good shape for $1,500 or less. Whew.

Capital One Credit Score & Bad Car News

April 7th, 2014 at 02:59 pm

I recently got a credit card offer from Discover. I use Capital One, but was seriously considering switching because of the free credit score they give you monthly. Well when I logged into Capital One today I was surprised to see that they offer this same service now!

My score is 721. Which is the same score Credit Karma gives me. But I do not think that is right, because I went to my bank and got my credit score pulled about 2 or 3 months ago and he told me it was only 690. So I am not sure it could have jumped that month. Gr. That means it really wont give me an accurate reading. But it will still help me see when my score goes up. I will just remember to subtract 20 to 30 points from it.

I got word back from the mechanic on my Cobalt. It is bad news. Frown The timing chain did in fact fall off, and completely damaged everything in the engine. Which means, the car will not even start again until a new engine is put in. Ouch.

Now I need help deciding on what to do.

A.) Find a used engine and spend $1,500 - $2,000 replacing mine. Then sell the car for $3,000 - $3,500.

B.) Cut my losses and sell the car for scrap. Probably get about $200 from it. But I already owe the mechanic a couple hundred for the work he has already done.

Paid myself back the final $50 for the cabinet today.