Bogleheads.org

dsmil

We have a joint budget and write everything down. It's annoying but it works.

dsmil

You should get the quotes first and only pay the appraisal fee when you've decided on who you're going with. I recently locked without paying any fees. Once the application was reviewed and the loan was ready to be sent to underwriting, the appraisal was scheduled and paid for.

dsmil

This landscaping company that I hired to cut an acre of a community field behind our house has been also mowing/edging our yard for free. I've told them multiple times that they don't have to do it, but they continue to, so I'll take it at this point. Anyway, that hour per week saved is nice when yo...

dsmil

Looks like a nice career so far. I'm 9 years in, with the first 3 being public, and am at $130k as assistant controller, but that's in the D.C. area. I think you are doing quite well and seem to have nice work/life balance. Keep it up!

dsmil

It's definitely a good time to refinance. I locked in at 3.25% a couple of weeks ago, and I'm seeing 3.5% this week. Our costs to refinance will pay for themselves in about one year.

dsmil

From what I've seen, Sofi's rates aren't very competitive. I'd imagine that their no PMI offer comes with a higher rate, which might be ok if you're only in the home for a few years, but not in the long term. I think you're probably looking at $250 per month or so of PMI, plus you'll pay a slightly ...

dsmil

Ryanlion8506 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2019 10:06 pm Question? If you refinance, is there good chance due to new appraisal property taxes will rise more than if not refinancing? Because I can see that happening and completely negating the refi.

I doubt it. I would think that the only people who see the appraisal are the bank and the buyer.

dsmil

Just refinanced 4.25% 30yr to 3.5% 30yr fixed with no points. Only 5% LTV (308750 loan on 325k house). Originally bought house in January, but only paying $2500 in closing costs, so I will have an 18month recoup period. Sweet deal. I'm about to go from a 3.75% 30 yr loan, to 3.25% 30 yr loan. Lende...

dsmil

I'm about to go from a 3.75% 30 yr loan, to 3.25% 30 yr loan. Lender/title costs are around $2k, and we save $200 per month. We just bought this last year but it was an easy decision considering that we plan on being here for a very long time. We only put 10% down, but I'm expecting our equity to be...

dsmil

3.25% is the rate that I've been seeing for 30 year fixed.

https://mtgprofessor.com/ext/partners/ShopYourLoan.aspx

dsmil

We just got the Zinus Green Tea one from Amazon. We've only had it a month but we've been happy. We're not counting on it to last as long as our last one, but for $200, we're fine with that.

dsmil

It's all about credit card sign-up bonuses for us. We probably spend $2k per year on travel (usually to stay at the beach for a week), and the rest is covered with credit card points from sign-up bonuses. Flights to Europe, flights within the U.S., and hotels for my family have been almost all cover...

dsmil

We bought our house last year and have a similar situation to what you've explained. We have a slope away from the house, and a large maple tree (with exposed roots) which sits on that slope. I have read that maple trees have naturally shallow roots anyway, but I'm sure the ground has eroded over ti...

dsmil

You guys seem to be doing fine, and unless your expenses are very high, I don't see why you couldn't buy a house soon. Are you not able to use any of your savings to use as a down payment? What else would you do with the $130k? Would the monthly payment be too high on the type of house you want?

dsmil

I had a ton of issues with my roof replacement last year. Many of these things I could see with my untrained eye, and I also hired a roof inspector to then come out and write up an inspection report. They wound up coming back to fix things at least a handful of times until I was satisfied.

dsmil

If you're at 830 and have a lot of old credit lines already, I think you'll be fine. That being said, I keep my old ones open with small purchases every so often.

dsmil

You may also be interested in the $250/year/account matching funds MD makes available: https://maryland529.com/MDMatch250. I was wondering about that too. At the bottom of the page, the fine print says: *State Contributions are not guaranteed. The State funding for contributions is limited to (i) $...

dsmil

I've had the same Cuisinart convection toaster oven for 12 years and it's great.

dsmil

Yes, it does go through batteries pretty quickly but I can't tell you exactly how long it takes to run through them. I know that it's not 20 minutes as someone suggested in that review that you read. I don't think he really got bored of the books, but there are some that he just likes better than ot...

dsmil

My son has spent a lot of time on the leap frog. He used it the most when he was 3. We probably have a dozen of those books.

dsmil

Founders All Day IPA.

dsmil

No fees other than expense ratios. Our lowest expense ratio is .52% on a S&P 500 fund.

dsmil

A starter box set is the easiest way to go. Expensive clubs are not the best use of your money when you're trying to learn golf; lessons and time at the driving range are. I buy almost all of my clubs used from Global Golf and they have a Callaway used starter set for $200 (or new for $250). https:/...

dsmil

It's a myth. You can be better or worse off (financially) renting, and it's really more of a life decision than financial decision. I've been a homeowner for 7 years and have spent around $40k on a roof, water and sewer line replacements, carpet, paint, and a looming foundation repair. Not to mentio...

dsmil

EnergySage was a good resource, but they were estimating 5.4% annual increases in electricity costs, which really inflated their savings estimates. The savings were much more modest after using a more realistic estimate like 2.5%. In Maryland, we can switch to a clean energy supplier, so we'll go th...

dsmil

We sold last year and paid 2% to our agent and 2.5% to the buyer's agent.

dsmil

I've been using this coded lawnmower for the last year. $150 currently plus you'll need an extension cord (I got a 100 ft one for my 1/4 acre). Sure, the extension cord can be annoying, but it's much cheaper than comparable battery mowers. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZVOLXE/ref=oh_aui_sear...

dsmil

On weekdays it's the k-cups that my office provides. On weekends, I use a Bonavita coffee maker and grind the beans with a manual coffee grinder (takes a couple of minutes). My local grocery store carries beans from a local roastery, and the roast date on them is literally the day before I buy them ...

dsmil

The best redemption value that I ever got was transferring points to Hyatt's program and using them for an expensive hotel in Paris (3 cents per pt). Southwest's redemption value is something around 1.5 cents per pt and that doesn't change since the points needed are always based exactly on the pric...

dsmil

I bought a 3 year old Prius (50k) miles for $14k, which is a lot lower than the new price.

dsmil

I have the same one that you just purchased and have been happy. The cord will always be annoying, but it will get less annoying over time. When I needed to buy lawn equipment, I decided to go with all corded models because I didn't want to deal with gasoline, and the price point was much cheaper th...

dsmil

My company sends past due balances to a collections agency and they only report the balance to the credit agencies if it remains unpaid another 60 days after the collections agency first attempts to collect.

dsmil

We've had the Eufy 30c for a few months and like it, although we've never had anything to compare it to. It's at $300 now but we were able to get it at $210. I'd also suggest the wirecutter review mentioned above.

dsmil

My company recently did something like this where we settled with the residents in exchange for them leaving their DC apartment. An agreement was made between us and the legal counsel of their tenant association. Each tenant received $41k minus $8k of legal fees, for a total of $33k. They were all o...

dsmil

I paid $225 for a home inspector to do a roof inspection last year, and I trusted him more than going with a roofing company to do the inspection.

dsmil

I don't think that your spending is unreasonable. The cleaning lady seems like an obvious $300 cut and once you knock off that and the TSP loan, you'll see a $1,200 difference. Your house seems like a reasonable price for your income, but the 15 year loan is killing you. I'd see if you could refinan...

dsmil

I don't see anything wrong with 5% down, assuming that they are offering the same terms either way. Based on your income, this seems like a very affordable house no matter what you put down, and 3.9% is cheap money.

dsmil

My Charles Tyrwhitt shirts look great, but 3 of them have now been ripped right above the back of my elbow. Maybe I need to order longer sleeves? I'm not sure.

dsmil

Everything is negotiable. When we sold our house, we paid 2% to our seller agent and 2.5% to the buyer's agent. Redfin has obviously changed the game allowing for 1% seller fees.

dsmil

I just bought a used car and the best prices from the dealers were posted online. The dealers really weren't willing to negotiate. I used cargurus.com to get a good sense of what the good and bad deals were. Cargurus also keeps record of price drop history for the vehicles, so you'll be able to tell...

dsmil

9 years into my career and I'm at my 2nd company. I'm likely to stay here for as long as I can.

dsmil

Up at 5:45, leave house at 6:45, at office at 7:30.

dsmil

Years ago, I bought a 13 game package for the Wizards, just to see some of the opposing teams. I went to about half of the games and it wound up not costing me anything. The profits from selling the games against Kobe's Lakers and the Pierce/Garnett/Allen Celtics carried me, and I usually broke even...

dsmil

We'll come out a couple hundred dollars ahead this year. The doubling of the child tax credit helps us more than the loss of the personal exemptions hurts us. We are itemizing even though we are at $21k of deductions, because if take the SD, we'd have to do the same on the MD state return, and the S...

dsmil

I'm considering solar panels and I do like that energysage website, but they are assuming 5.4% increases in electricity costs in Maryland. My proposed savings of $26k over 20 years, would go down to $16k, simply by assuming a 2.5% increase rate instead. I feel like this is more realistic considering...

dsmil

The 5.5% doesn't matter much because you are just moving money from one account to another. I see the cost as the lost opportunity for gains (or losses) from your 401k by taking out the funds. I think the best thing to do is to borrow from your bond funds as much as possible. That may mean first buy...

dsmil

I work in accounting and I'm gone from 6:45-4:45 everyday. My wife is a stay at home mom, so that definitely makes things less hectic. We don't outsource anything, but we'll definitely look towards doing that if our money situation improves. First would be a cleaning service and next would be some h...

dsmil

I just got a Prius last month and am now being a crazy MPG person, by constantly looking at my MPG meter and not using the heat during my morning commute.

dsmil

Enough to cover credit card balances. I basically don't include my checking account or credit card balances in my emergency fund because it's a wash.

dsmil

If you open an account in 2017 or later, you also might qualify (based on income) for a contribution by the state of $250 or $500 per account. We received $500 by the state into an account last year by simply contributing $25. If you do get a contribution from the state, you will not be able to dedu...

Search found 741 matches