I have told many people with ambitions of buying a home to take their time and do their due diligence in learning what it will take to afford and maintain property as an American homeowner. My friends who have purchased their own homes have learned there are pitfalls waiting for if you don’t know where to look. It does not matter if you are buying with a conventional mortgage, a VA home loan, or an FHA mortgage--you'll need to anticipate certain … [Read more...]
Car Insurance Deductibles: How Much Can You Afford?
Do you know how much you can afford when it comes to setting car insurance deductibles? There are many things to consider when trying to sort out your car insurance options. It is best to go into that process knowing as many of your options as possible. The Variables Setting your car insurance deductibles means examining several areas of your personal finances. That includes your money needs, emergency fund, your current amount of disposable … [Read more...]
Self-Escrow and Your Mortgage
What goes into mortgage payment? You borrow money from a mortgage company to buy your house and then you pay it back with interest. So your mortgage payment is the principal (the amount you borrowed) and the interest, right? Sometimes. Many times, mortgage companies also require you to pay a portion of your property taxes and home insurance as your mortgage payment. This goes into an escrow account, and then when the bill comes due, you … [Read more...]
Thank goodness for insurance
My poor car is broken. Well, not broken. Her beauty is just marred. Thursday morning, I was pulling into the tiny parking garage at work. It's very tight. And all of a sudden, someone came flying towards me from the other direction (they were probably going 20). I overcorrected and... CRUNCH. Yep. Ran the side of my car all along a concrete barrier. Awesome. I kept driving and pulled into a parking space. I didn't want to get … [Read more...]
Slight underestimation
This year, for the first time, I set up a Flexible Spending Account for my medical expenses. I didn't have a whole lot of time to play with, so I took a general look at my expenses from last year and just picked a number. I knew it would be low, but decided that a low number was better than way overestimating. What I didn't realize was just how low that number was going to be. I'm going to be out of money in my FSA by the middle of the … [Read more...]