August Debt Summary August 28, 2008

Since this blog vaguely fits into the personal finance genre, I figure I should start giving you some more specific insight into my personal finance. Since reducing debt is a major focus of mine right now, I will start there.

 

Debt summary:

Loan Type	Current Balance	Interest Rate
Car Loan	$26,614.06	5.75%
Grad School Loan	$8,948.04	6.55%
Undergraduate Loan	$15,474.26	3.35%
Total	$51,036.36

 

 

Currently, I don’t have any credit card debt. Usually this is not the case during a move.  In our previous moves we have ended up with anywhere from $5000-$10,000 in credit card debt.  However, I did a much better job planning for this move, and (fingers crossed) we should be able cover our expenses using savings.  This doesn’t mean we don’t use credit cards, it just means that we pay the balance off each month.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, we do have another car loan, but I don’t count it as “debt” because we have 0% financing.

Update on the big move August 28, 2008

So much has been accomplished it makes me proud!  Here’s a list just so I can show off:

1. Shipped all of our household goods

2. Shipped both of our vehicles (vehicle #2 went today)

3. Booked our plane tickets to Virginia (we leave on Friday already!)

4. Cashed in the change jar (it’s not just a blog name) – we accumulated $52 in change during the 11 months we lived in Hawaii.  We will start again in Virginia.

5. Cleaned up our townhouse, our walk-through with the landlord is tonight, and I’m desperately hoping we will get our entire $2500 deposit back. (Yep, real estate is expensive in Hawaii, even for renters).

6. Emailed our realtor to let her know we want to begin house hunting next week.

7.  Forwarded the mail to my sister’s house in North Carolina — I can pick it up when I go visit her next month.

8. Turned in my letter of resignation at work and had my last day.

9. Cancelled all the utilities

10. Called to get instructions on rolling my company retirement balance (only about $1200, but every bit helps) into my IRA.  

11. Dropped off all furniture/stuff we didn’t need any more at Goodwill and the dump. (Just the stuff with no resale value – I’m hoping to eBay/amazon/garage sale the rest when we get to Virginia).

12. Backed up all my computer files before the move, and made sure we had all our important paper work on hand.

13. Booked our plane tickets to go home (Minnesota) and see the family at the end of September.  (C doesn’t have to start work again til October, so we may as well squeeze in a trip while I’m still jobless — who knows how long it will take to accrue vacation at my next job).

Seeing all of this checked off and finished makes me so happy, I’m actually humming IZ’s Hawaiian version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.

An Unexpected Gift! August 26, 2008

Today was my last day at my job in Hawaii.  Yesterday my coworkers took me out to lunch to say goodbye.  We went to this little Italian place, and my one co-worker had made me this fabulous fushia lei and then we all had chocolate cake back at the office.

It was really sad, I really like my current job, everyone is so friendly.  Apparently, they are even nicer than I even realized!  After lunch they gave me a card and a $70 gift certificate to Amazon.com!  I was astonished! I’ve only worked in the office for 7 months, so it amazed me that they would all chip in so generously.

Before I leave today I am sending out an email to thank everyone and to tell them how wonderful it was to work with them.  It’s so sad to leave a job you enjoy.

Honest and Friendly People Still Exist in the World August 22, 2008

For all the media does to convince us that we live in an alienating and crime-ridden country, I have to say that in my experience, there is still such a thing as being a good neighbor or responsible person. I say this because . . .

I got my wallet back today!  I work at a college, and one of the adult distance learning students found my wallet in the parking lot.  She found my staff ID in the wallet, called the number on it, and we met in the parking lot this morning so she could return my wallet.  All cash and (now canceled) credit cards are intact. 

It’s a bit of a bummer that I already canceled my credit cards, but I really feel it was better to be safe than sorry — especially since I’m moving across the country in a week and need new cards before I leave.

 Also, we got rid of the troublesome couch last night!  Though my efforts on craigslist failed, my friends did not.  My friend M came over with his truck last night and helped us haul the couch away to the dump.  He and his wife D, then invited us over for a fabulous home-cooked meal.  This was extra awesome because we are living in a hotel right now and have pretty much been subsisting on Subway sandwiches for the past few days.

Tonight we check into a nice hotel in downtown Waikiki for a 3-day mini-vacation.  Though moving preparations are keeping us pretty busy right now, we planned this last little adventure so we could make sure we got to be tourists one more time before we leave Hawaii.  It’s been a stressful week, but I’d say things are definitely looking up!

Today was NOT my lucky day. August 20, 2008

I lost my wallet today.  Yep. I went to the store and I bought a paperback book and a roll of packing tape.  I distinctly remember putting my debit card back in my wallet before I left the store.  I then walked out to my car, drove to my office, got out of my car, and opened my purse to take out my cell phone and to my surprise, my wallet was gone. 

I called the store, and security said no one had turned in a wallet.  I then tore apart my car, my purse, my laptop bag, and the bag with my purchase in it, and found no wallet.  I went back to the store, to the exact counter where I had rung up and asked if I had left a wallet.  The shopgirl claimed nothing had been left on the counter.  I then checked with security again — no wallet had been turned in.  I walked around the parking lot, retraced my steps, went back to work, and called security to see if they had found a wallet in the parking lot. Nothing.

The good news is that no mysterious charges appeared on my credit cards before I finally called and reported them lost.  Also, I was very impressed how easy it was to report my cards lost and order replacements.  The bad news is that I do not have my credit cards, debit card, or drivers license, and I’m moving in less than 2 weeks. Also, I lost at least $20 in cash, paid another $18 in fees to order a new drivers license and to have them overnight a new debit card to me, and wasted an entire afternoon freaking out/searching for my wallet/calling about my credit cards, etc.  I am so stressed out right now I could scream.

Why is it so hard to give away a free couch? August 19, 2008

Our movers came today and packed up all of our stuff, except our couch, because we want to get rid of it before we leave.  Since we don’t have a truck, and we’d need to figure out a way to get the couch to the dump, I figured I’d first try listing the couch under the “free” section on craigslist. The couch isn’t in the best shape, but it has a hide-a-bed, so I figured someone might want it.  I was brutally honest in my ad regarding the condition of the couch and I posted a photo, figuring I didn’t want someone to show up, be disappointed, and refuse to take it away.

The couch has been posted a week and I have gotten 3 inquiries.  The first person emailed me her phone number, but when I called her, she said she needed to call me back.  6 hours later, she called me back, asked if the couch was still available and said she’d have to call me back. 10 minutes later, she calls me back to say she doesn’t want the couch.  Since I was at work during all these phone calls, I was a bit annoyed that all the interruptions yielded no results.

The second person emailed me this message: “wassup I like ur need numbah” and when I replied, I got an undeliverable message.  Frankly, since this guy couldn’t even form a sentence, I was vaguely relieved I didn’t have to deal with him any further.

The third person sounded like a winner.  He had a truck and would be by the next morning at 8 a.m. to pick up the couch.  Around 10 a.m., having not heard from him, C called him back.  He said that he still wanted the couch, but his truck was not available until after 1 p.m. and that he’d call us back.  3 p.m. rolls around, with no call, and no guy, so C calls him again.  This time, no answer.  So our townhouse is now empty, except for the dang couch.

We leave Hawaii in 2 weeks, hopefully by then we can find a taker.

Scaling back my Netflix, Snowflaking my Student Loan August 18, 2008

Since we have been so busy with all of our moving activities, I just don’t find myself watching as much tv.  I’ve decided to cut my 3-at-a-time unlimited Netflix membership down to just 2-at-a-time unlimited.  The savings is only $3 a month, but I figure I will use this as an extra snowflake toward one of my student loans.

Important documents and moving August 15, 2008

Yesterday, C and I went through and set aside all the important documents we don’t want packed by the movers.  As we’ve learned from past moves, it’s important to make sure you carry your most valuable documents with you, rather than risk having them lost/stolen during the moving process. 

In our case, these include:

- passports, birth certificates, marriage license, and social security cards

- credit cards, savings bonds, checks and deposit slips

- wills, medical directives, and powers of attorney

Basically anything we may need while our stuff is in transit, and anything that if lost or stolen, could present major problems for us.

I also set aside my vaulable jewelery to carry with me. I was surprised, when the movers came to do the estimate, aside from the usual restrictions (liquids, flammables) they told us that they will not move ANY jewelery, because they do not want the liability in case it is lost or stolen.  This being said, I’m pretty sure that if I stash some of my inexpensive necklaces in a drawer somewhere, they will get moved.

Car Shipment Arranged August 14, 2008

We finally settled on a company to ship my car from Hawaii to Virginia.  My husband’s company will pay to ship one car, but we have two, and after much discussion, we have decided it’s worth it to pay to ship the second car ourselves rather than selling it before we move and buying a new one when we get back to Virginia.

Shipping a car was a much more complex process than I thought it would be.  Essentially, you pay to have them put your car on a cargo ship and send it to California, and then you can either pick up your car and drive it across country, or pay to have a trucking company transport it the rest of the way for you.  We went online and got quotes, and most of them ranged from $2200 to $4000.  The cheapest quote we found was through Secure Auto Transport, but after looking at transportreviews.com and googling the company name, we found it didn’t sound very reliable.  Instead we went with Magic Carpet Auto.  For sea + ground transport, we were quoted $2314.  This was about $200 more than Secure Auto, but Magic Carpet had much higher customer review ratings, so we figure it’s worth it.

To ensure that we weren’t losing money by not driving the car across country ourselves, I did the math. $700 for plane tickets to CA + $400 for gas for the 2700 mile trip + $150 for two nights hotel + $300 for 3 days worth of meals along the way  =  $1550.  When this is added to the  $1079 for shipping from HI to CA, it comes out to over $2600.  So, having a company transport the car the entire trip will cost me less, and I don’t have to waste 3 days of valuable house and job hunting time to drive the car across country.  Plus, I won’t have to put all that mileage on my car, preserving more of its value.

I’ve never shipped a car myself before, so I’m a bit nervous about how it will go.  We drop the car off at the end of the month.  I will keep you posted on what happens.  If you’ve ever paid to have your car shipped somewhere before, I welcome your story and advice!

Waiting for my $25 from ING August 12, 2008

Does anyone know how long it takes to get your $25 deposit when you open a new ING account and use a referral link?  I opened my account a month ago with the required $250 and still haven’t seen my $25 show up. 

I’m still glad I opened the account, the interest rates are fantastic, but I’m just wondering if I’m missing something when it comes to getting my free $25. Comments?