Saturday, October 31, 2009

midweek remodel jazzzzzz

My hopes for the weekend in terms of my condo (taking into effect that I have to work on Sunday, so I only have Monday and Tuesday (I took Tuesday off) to work on the condo-- which means solo projects and phone calls this week... as I won't be around to solicit any friends to help me over "the typical weekend."

I'll be getting a little overtime for Sunday which will be good. =)

Stuff I got done mid-week:

I got rid of the old stove –Listed the sicker on Craigslist for free, but after a long ordeal, I ended up getting $20.00 for it and its gone from my kitchen.

***Moved electrical outlets per kitchen design. Boyfriends co-worker came over to my condo three days this week when he had some spare time and moved all three outlets for me… free of charge.

***Got 4 can lights installed. Boyfriend’s co worker also installed 4 can lights in my kitchen, complete with a dimmer switch. It took 4 trips to home depot because we kept buying the wrong bulbs, but alas, its finished!

Patched holes made when outlets were moved. We did this last night. I’m pretty darn handy… I did things boyfriend couldn’t figure out. Like cutting the free paint stirring sticks we got at the home depot and gluing them to the back of the drywall so we had something to help keep the old dry wall we shoved back in the hole in place while i covered it with spackle. Yup, go me.

Bought cover plates for moved outlets. Some of the “holes” will need cover plates because they still have electrical wires in them and if we don’t plate it, it could be a fire hazard.

I got the correct number for the Plummer who knows how to turn the boiler off, so that saves me at least $130 to have the guy come down to turn the water off. My valves are rusted and we can't turn the water off to put in the new sink and fawcetts I bought, so alas, we have to have athe valves replaced, and the water turned off, which means I should replace all my valves so I never have to worry about turning off the water and knocking out water to four buildings. yup, 4 buildings on one boiler.

I saw one granite company that I like better then home depot because I can get a dark black granite for around the same price, but then I got coupons in the mail for the company so I’ll call them this week to get better idea of how the coupon will affect pricing.

Retirement Perspectives

Of course, as soon as I do the three month perspective the market tanks and eats most of all of my gains… sad sad… but I’m in it for the long haul and that’s what matters. At least only one account is in the negative.

My next update will have a huge boost. My annual CalPERS statement becomes available the first week in Nov. so I’ll see a huge boost in my total retirement amounts. It will also skew the %’s of what my portfolio is made up of.

My Goal is the leave the workforce on my 55th birthday, 11,511 Days from now...

401 Account: Approximately 2.96 % of my portfolio
• $628.06 (Employer Paid 1% of Salary); $646.28 Worth
o Up 5.89% from inception, +$18.22
o Stable Value Money Market Accounts make up 31.40%
o Milestone 2040 makes up 68.70%

457 Account: Approximately 4.74% of my portfolio
• Employer Funded. Future Contributions Discontinued (minimal interest earned—like pennies)… I can’t wait till this makes up less the 1% of my portfolio…
o Positive $1,032.52

ING DIRECT Roth IRA: Approximately 11.72% of my portfolio• $2,500.00 Invested; Worth $2,555.58
o Up 2.22% from inception. Positive $55.58
o CD’s ranging from 1.65% to 4.5% (savings 1.30%).
o Current Average CD rate 2.91%

ShareBuilder Roth IRA Approximately 50.29% of my portfolio
• $11,500 Invested; Worth $10,965.60
o Down 4.64% since inception… Loss of -$534.40
o Strategic Allocation Moderate 95.40%
o Money Market Cash 5.30%
o I have 1,293.558 Shares
o For my account to break even, shares would have to be: $8.51
o currently shares are worth:$8.09

Excluding my Pension, my variable retirement accounts are worth $15,199.98. Of that I’ve only invested $14,000 of my money (the rest has been my employer). So technically I’ve made 8.57%. If I compare all the “free money” and my contributions (Totals 15,660.54), my portfolio is down 2.94% since inception.


Pension: Approximately 30.29% of my portfolio
If I quit tomorrow, I’d just have the cash in the account.
• Up until 2007, Employer paid all contributions. Jan 2007- July 2009 Employee’s contributed 1%. As of August 1st, 2009, employees contribute 2%:
o 2007- $299.74
o 2008- $336.12
o 2009- $393.44
 Total: $1,029.30 (October 23rd, 2009)

Account Cash Value as of 07.01.2008 $6,605.55.

• I’m ALSO buying additional time in my retirement accounts from when I was 16-18 years of age (service prior to membership). It’s less then a year’s worth of service credit, but I’ll be paying $33.06 for 43 more installments.
o 2009- Total Contributions $297.54 (October 23rd, 2009)

My entire portfolio (if I cashed my pension out today) is worth $21,805.53

Friday, October 30, 2009

the DOW right now

is falling... so i'm buying $100.00 of mutual funds since its friday and I would have bought some anyway...

here's the kicker though, without considering today's purchase, if my mutual fund eventually gets up to a share price of $8.51, i'll break even... I remember when I used to buy at $13.48

Thanks goodness for dollar cost averaging. without it, i'd be looking at a longer way to go to make my money back. looks like it will be a ruff quarter... the fear of the 10,000 mark is true... we rallied to get there, but maintaining is and surpassing it I believe is not in the cards this year.

what is cool, the national savings rate went up!

from msn's market dispatch:

Americans managed to save in September, with the personal savings rate rising to 3.3% of disposable income from 2.8% in August.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

KIVA UPDATE (for Taylor from Texas)

Its been awhile since i mentioned KIVA.ORG and micro loans in a while, so here's an update on my loans. I haven't made any new ones because i've been really busy, but I plan to when things settle down. (i did withdraw the funds from my account but i plan on putting them back when i get back into it. I was worried I'd forget to log in for a few months and loose it due to inactivity.)

I've "lent" $250.00 in my KIVA history, but i've really only put $150.00 in. (i've re-loaned the money when it gets repaid. I tend to find shorter loans so more individuals get "blessed" in the long run.)

When things settle, i'll return the money i've "cashed out" and begin making new loans again with it. Normally, I use the money I get back from my 2% CC rebate checks, but since overtime over the year was scare, I didn't contribute any more dollars to be lent. Just used the existing money to re-lend out. I can't wait to get back into KIVA again. Part of me feels like its a way for me to help "teach people to fish" istead of one time donations to help fight poverty and injustice. I'm a social justice radical at heart.


My loans:


Zenaida Daing
Farming, Sta. Josefa, Agusan Del Sur, Philippines
Paying Back
0% repaid (i'm paid in full at the end of the loan.)

Elizabeth Aidoo
Food Market, Wiawso, Ghana
Paying Back
49% repaid

Mobateli Plus Group
Manufacturing, The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Paying Back
100% repaid

Paz y Amor Group
Fruits & Vegetables, Dominican Republic
Paid Back
100% repaid

Dustmatov Eralboy
Livestock, Tajikistan
Paying Back
100% repaid

Seccelambras Group
Food Production/Sales, Peru
Paid Back
100% repaid

Rashidat Mumuni
Fish Selling, Nigeria
Paying Back
100% repaid

Karla Vanessa Montiel Barahona
Housing, Nicaragua
Paid Back
100% repaid

Eal Nub
Fish Selling, Cambodia
Paying Back
87% repaid

Atim Irene's Group
Medical Clinic, Uganda
Paid Back
100% repaid

the weekend projects

I was painting the door to the closet, and I came out to grab a bottle of water and found my "brother" in the living room eating del taco on the floor in his work clothes. unexpectedly, I had more help then I knew I was going to get. We therefore were very productive. WOOT!

Bathroom:
• I removed the light kit in the bathroom, and scrapped it clean with a razor blade.
• Bought the paint for the bathroom.
• Painted the first coat of the walls and the ceiling.
• Gave the ceiling a second coat of paint
• Gave the second coat of paint for the walls
• ***Put Light kit back up in the bathroom.
• ***Put the mirror back up
• Look for a new counter top and sink with new fixtures.-- & Purchased
• Put all the electrical outlet covers on the wall.
• Painted the other side of the door & painted one more coat on the side that’s painted.
• Replaced the door handles with a nice happy silver color.

Bedroom:
• We put the smoke detector back on the ceiling (it was removed to paint the ceiling).
• ***Put the new base boards in.
• Painted and sanded 2 of them, 8 to go.
Living Room:
• Put all the outlet covers and switches back on.
• Touched up where wall meets ceiling
Entry way:
• Put all the outlet covers and switches back on.
Dining Room:
• Put all the outlet covers and switches back on.
• bought more ceiling paint and Painted the Ceiling
• outlet measurements complete. 2 moved. (a double switch is all that’s left)
Large Closet:
• Re-painted the closet door (it needed a second coat)
• Bought ceiling paint & Touched up the ceiling
• *** put in the new door frames--- Done, including sanding, repainting, and cutting some of the shelves to make them fit.
• 2 sides of the base boards are in, 4 to go and a small edge.
Kitchen:
• ***Remove popcorn ceiling in places, texture ceiling.
• Clean the kitchen walls & put primer on them.
• Removed the bar area above the counter.
• Removed another set of drawers that was in the kitchen
• Purchased a new kitchen stove
• Cut the holes for the new can lights
• Took the old light fixtures down.
• Home depot is coming out to verify the kitchen design. (install cannot happen before Dec 10th, my contractor is a busy man and since he’s doing this for very little/free I shall order and wait for him.)

This weekend I got my flooring quote from The Tile Company… it’s a bit more then I wanted to spend, but they guarantee the work for 2 years--- any cracks chips, etc. I know I’m at lease getting my carpet done through them, possibly tile, but we shall see. Oh yeah, not doing the fake wood floors anymore. My contractor told me not to do them because in a year I’d have to rip them out and replace because they don’t hold up well to water and since they would be in the kitchen it’s not advisable. So I have my estimate done for the whole place in tile, and my bedroom and closets in carpet. I think I’m re-working the layout to try and get the living room in carpet but the design of the room is funny with how it meant up to the kitchen area. But this is what I got done this weekend.


Sadly, Roommates replacement for me told her she wasn't moving in... Which means no possibility of a partial sublease once their lease is signed... and she might have to move home with her dad.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Retirement Perspectives 3 month overview.

About three months ago I started to track my retirement perspectives. Here’s a sort of how I’ve made progress so far on my variable account. I’ve excluded my pension because I only get statements once a year… in November…

401A Account:
Three Months ago
• 2.71% of my portfolio
• Down 3.5% since inception
• Worth $506.68/$525.32 Loss -18.64
NOW
• 3.01% of my portfolio
• Up 5.89% since inception
• Worth $665.08/$628.06 Gain $37.02

Essentially this account grew 9.39% in three months (I went from negative 3.5% to positive 5.89%). This is great progress. I also decided to make my contributions 20% money market, and 80% target date—starting with my last paycheck.

457 Account:
Three Months ago:
• 5.51% of my portfolio
• Worth $1,031.79
NOW
• 4.67% of my portfolio
• Worth $1,032.48

Well, it gained a whopping $0.69. I hate that I can’t do anything with this money. It’s stuck in some dumb account doing nothing till I quit my job but adding pennies. The only thing I can do is lower the amount this makes in my portfolio, so yeah for a 0.84% drop.

Roth IRA ING DIRECT:
Three Months ago:
• 10.89% of my portfolio
• Up 1.91% since inception
• worth $2,038.53/2,000. Gain $38.53
NOW:
• 11.55% of my portfolio
• Up 2.21% since inception
• Worth $2,555.44/$2,500.00. Gain $55.44

Since this account is made up primarily of CD’s, I won’t lose money… but it won’t get spectacular gains either… It grew 0.3% Mainly, because CD’s are getting such small returns now a days

But I look at it this way, since this is part of my Roth IRA, which I will always max out, keeping the money in CD’s prevented me from losing a lot more money last year .I have one 1,000 CD earning 4.5%... sadly, it expires in 2010…. CD’s also help to balance out my risk. I don’t like risk… but I’m a conservative investor. My pension is safe and I know I should be more radical, but I just wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.


Sharebuilder Roth IRA:
Three Months ago:
• 45.63% of my portfolio
• Down 14.56% since inception.
• Worth $8,544.25/$10,000.00 Loss of -1,455.75
NOW:
• 50.94% of my portfolio
• Down 1.97% from Inception
• Worth $11,273.09/11,500.00 Loss of -226.91

My account grew 12.59% in three months. I hope that by the end of 2009, my account will no longer be negative.

Over all what did I learn? My gains are a lot larger because I continued to buy more mutual funds and cd, etc not knowing what the future held for me. Had I not, I wouldn’t have been able to let shares bought at $7.00 make profit at 8.30 to help offset the loss when I bout shares at 12 or 13 dollars. This is why I dollar cost average. I don’t have to worry about timing the market if I’m continually buying mutual funds throughout the year. Yes, I might lose out on the lowest low point… but I’d never be able to figure that out on my own... hindsight is 2020.

Retirement Perspectives

My Goal is the leave the workforce on my 55th birthday, 11,518 Days from now...

401 Account: Approximately 3.01 % of my portfolio
• $628.06 (Employer Paid 1% of Salary); $655.08 Worth
o Up 5.89% from inception, +$37.02
o Stable Value Money Market Accounts make up 30.50
o Milestone 2040 makes up 69.50%

457 Account: Approximately 4.67% of my portfolio
• Employer Funded. Future Contributions Discontinued (minimal interest earned—like pennies)… I can’t wait till this makes up less the 1% of my portfolio…
o Positive $1,032.48

ING DIRECT Roth IRA: Approximately 11.55% of my portfolio
• $2,500.00 Invested; Worth $2,555.44
o Up 2.21% from inception. Positive $55.44
o CD’s ranging from 1.65% to 4.5% (savings 1.30%).
o Current Average CD rate 2.91%

ShareBuilder Roth IRA Approximately 50.94% of my portfolio
• $11,500 Invested; Worth $11,273.09
o Down 1.97% since inception… Loss of -$226.91
o Strategic Allocation Moderate 94.70%
o Money Market Cash 5.30%

Excluding my Pension, my variable retirement accounts are worth $15,526.09. Of that I’ve only invested $14,000 of my money (the rest has been my employer). So technically I’ve made 10.90%. If I compare all the “free money” and my contributions (Totals 15,660.54), my portfolio is down 0.858% since inception.


Pension: Approximately 29.85% of my portfolio
If I quit tomorrow, I’d just have the cash in the account.
• Up until 2007, Employer paid all contributions. Jan 2007- July 2009 Employee’s contributed 1%. As of August 1st, 2009, employees contribute 2%:
o 2007- $299.74
o 2008- $336.12
o 2009- $393.44
 Total: $1,029.30 (October 23rd, 2009)

Account Cash Value as of 07.01.2008 $6,605.55.

• I’m ALSO buying additional time in my retirement accounts from when I was 16-18 years of age (service prior to membership). It’s less then a year’s worth of service credit, but I’ll be paying $33.06 for 43 more installments.
o 2009- Total Contributions $297.54 (October 23rd, 2009)

My entire portfolio (if I cashed my pension out today) is worth $22,13

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Updated to do list... Kitchen progress...

I’ve been slowly eliminating small projects that didn’t get accomplished over the weekend… and adding more things to the list to do. I think I have my complete kitchen design done. (Thanks to 2+ hours at the home depot with the design guy saying- “no, that’s not what I want. This is what I want.”)

In the end, and with my prodding and helping him with the computer program, it was complete. I kept telling him why it wasn’t working (cabinets are over lapping here—we have to add a shelf there, etc.). All I can say is that it was a good thing I drank some coffee before I went over there. I also decided to buy my knobs from home depot and not the cabinet company. It’s cheaper and the knobs are nicer.)

Anyways…
I decided I’ll be financing my kitchen remodel. To get everything finished by the time I move in, I’ll need to finance the kitchen so I have the money to pay for the floors and everything else that needs to be done on time. (I can’t do any of the floors until the kitchen is finished—and moving in with no floors is not an option.) The design guy at Home depot told me I can get 12 months no interest finance line of credit for it. I’ll make sure to have it paid off by the 12 months (I get the tax credit money in April which is mainly for my kitchen remodel. If I had that now, I could pay it all in cash.)

I’m keeping the dishwasher and washer/dryer that came with the condo. I’m also keeping my old fridge from my apartment.

In addition to the cabinets and the granite counter top (it was cheaper to get granite… no lie), I’ll be buying a built in microwave, a new garbage disposal, faucets for the sink, a new sink (I may get the sink for free if the granite company runs the same or similar promotion next month.), and a new stove.
-----

Updated to do list (***indicates boyfriend , his daddy, and/or contractor project )

Large Closet (not in any order):
• Re-paint the closet door (it needs a second coat)
• Buy ceiling paint & Touch up the ceiling
• *** put in the new door frames
• ***Put in the new base boards.
• ***New carpet

Small Closet:
• ***Install baseboards
• Buy new mirrored door and ***install it.
• ***New carpet

Bathroom
• ***Remove light kit from the wall for painting the room purposes
• Buy the paint for the bathroom (different color then the rest of the place)
• Paint the ceiling
• Paint the bathroom walls
• *** remove existing tile
• ***replace the tile with new tile
• Paint/BUY the baseboards
• ***Put in the new door frames
• ***Put in the baseboards
• Look for a new counter top and sink with new fixtures and buy it.
• *** Install the countertop and new sink fixtures
• Put all the electrical outlet covers on the wall.
• Paint the other side of the door & paint one more coat on the side that’s painted.
• Replace the door handles with a nice happy silver color.
• Buy and install a towel rod/hanger thing
• Buy and install a shower curtain rod
• Buy a toilet paper holder thing
• Put in the new door stopper

Bedroom:
• Re-paint the bedroom door (it needs a second coat)
• ***Put the smoke detector back in (removed to paint ceiling)
• ***Put the new base boards in
• ***Look at the sliding doors leading out to the patio… replace or fix.
• Put in the new door stopper.
• Measure for Custom plantation shutters, order them… ***install them
• ***New carpet.

Living Room:
• Touch up where wall meets ceiling
• Remove the carpet bit by bit... and the spike strips
• ***Install New fake wood floors
• ***Install door trim
• Paint/Buy baseboards
• ***Install baseboards
• Put all the outlets and switch covers on.
• Find wall A/C unit and buy.
• Submit paperwork for it to be installed.
• ***Install A/C Unit
• ***Fix the sliding Glass doors and screens
• Measure for Custom plantation shutters, order them… ***install them
• Buy new furniture?

Entry Way
• Buy more Ceiling paint and Paint Ceiling
• Put electrical covers on.
• Buy decorative trim
• Paint decorative trim
• ***Install decorative trim
• ***Put new door trim on.
• ***Remove tile.
• Replace old tile with fake Hardwood floors.

Dining Room
• Buy more ceiling paint and Paint Ceiling
• Paint wall adjacent to kitchen area. (decide color is other then Teepee Brown)
• Put on switch covers
• Measure to figure out where the outlets need to be moved to.

Kitchen:
• ***Remove popcorn ceiling in places, texture ceiling.
• ***Get 4 can lights installed.
• Paint the ceiling.
• Remove the rest of the cabinetry that needs removal.
• Primer and paint existing, remaining walls.
• ***Move electrical outlets per kitchen design.
• Pick out a new stove
• Get rid of the old stove
• Buy a new microwave to have installed after cabinets.
• Have contractor friend look at kitchen design and get his opinions.
• Order new kitchen cabinets. (wait 3-4 weeks for delivery)
• Order granite countertops and knobs for doors (after cabinets are installed).
• Pick out floor
• ***Finish the switches
• ***Put in new floor.

MOVE ALL MY STUFF IN AND PARTY!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Post weekend update

I figured how to drink coffee at work and not gag (read I didn’t get to bed last night till after 11:30pm and got up at 4:00am). No sugar added hot chocolate packet… Pour coffee over… stir… put over ice. FREE MOCA!

I bought some shinny door handles for my place and some random paint supplies: $63.24 Which brings my total spent to $8,669.62

My trip to Florida is officially cancelled since one of our friends can’t go (and she was signing us into the parks). I talked with my boyfriend, and we decided not to take a big trip. I’m going to get a new couch instead. Well enjoy it more over the short term and none of us wants to lug the black beast from my current place. The rest of the money I might use towards the condo or for a small weekend away.

Boyfriend paid last year’s taxes before the deadline while making all his CC payments. I’m proud of him.

I realized I packed my camera cord which is why I haven’t posted pictures yet, but I’m taking them don’t worry.

And now the breakdown of what we/I did this weekend on the condo:

Large Closet:
• Removed the light fixture and replaced it with the new one
• Finished painting the walls, the ceilings, the shelves, and both sides of the door and the door frame, etc. (no more paint needed in there!!)
• Door handle is now a pretty silver one.
• Baseboards are painted and waiting to be cut and installed.

Small Closet:
• Painted the ceiling and edged the wall.
• Painted the hallway and the ceiling between the two closets.
• Baseboards are painted and waiting to be cut and installed.

Bathroom:
• New tub fixtures were put in.
• The tub/shower was caulked.
• Vanity mirror was removed, scrapped, and the border was re painted to match the base boards and door frames for the whole place.
• The door jamb and one side of the door were painted.
• I decided to keep the old cabinets and just buy a new top so well hunt for that soon.

Bedroom:
• The ceiling was painted.
• Baseboards are painted and waiting to be cut and installed.
• Door jamb was painted.
• Weird cable box thingy was fixed.

Living Room:
• Walls painted
• Door that leads into the bedroom is painted

Kitchen:
In addition to everything mentioned above, my “brother” and my ex (the guy before boyfriend who’s still my friend), came over with crow bars and removed all the old hanging cabinets in my kitchen.

I got a quote for recessed lighting in the kitchen and it was really high… so Boyfriend called a friend he works with who used to be an electrician… I think I’m getting it done with him for wayyyy cheaper.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

I hate to waste food.

I hate wasting food... even if its cheaper to waste food.

For instance the 10 lb bag of XXXXX is $2.00, the 5lb bag of XXXXX is $3.50) and you know you won't be able to finish the 10 lb bag...

I still buy the cheaper one.... but it makes me feel bad when most goes into the trash

I hate to waste food... Its great if you have someone who would use the excess... then its win win... I just hate to waste things.

What I've spent on my condo to date:

What I’ve spent on my Condo:
• Down payment, Closing Costs, Prorated fees… ect $7,057.08
• Locksmith $70.00
• 2 Parking permits $50.00
• Home Depot Weekend #1 (electrical, lighting, tools, etc) $459.83
• Food for Friends Weekend #1 $66.64
• Paint, Primer, Supplies: $231.13
• Medicine Cabinet: $44.00
• Re-surface Tub: $350.00
• Baseboards (bedrooms and closets), Door Frames (all), Tub Fixtures $265.59
• Random: $12.11

Grand Total: $8,606.38

I have 1.92% Equity as of today: $2,309.15/$120,000.00 (purchase price)

I still have $6,294.00 left in my remodel account… I bought the majority of the repair/remodel stuff this month with money I had in my budget (since I’m done with most of my savings goals for the year because I found a home already). I’m trying to keep this amount intact as much as I can for the kitchen which will be my largest expenditure.

Currently I have $7,000.00 in my emergency fund. I know I’ll borrow from this for the kitchen (and replace the money with the tax credit) as the expenses pile up and my remodel account is depleted. At MAX I will borrow $5,000.00 from the emergency fund, and put the whole $8,000 tax credit in there to replenish it and bring it to a full 6 month EF and a nice round $10,000.00

Additionally, I've spent
Property Taxes: $125
PMI & Interest: $568.23
HOA $250.00

If I were to rent a one bedroom apartment in the area, It would cost more then the mortgage, HOA, taxes and interest combined so I won't be tracking these expenses in the idea of "COST" because buying this condo actually saves me money and lowers my expenses. (not looking at itemizing the taxes-- just rent accross the board so each year i'll make money on it as I gain equity.

I'll look at the 2 months of "rent" i'm currently paying for my apartment like the Deposit charges and the over lap that would be associated if i were to find a new apartment so it too is a wash... plus I wouldn't want to live through the remodel.

Remodel update

I don’t know how, but it seems I keep finding stuff I have to re-paint in my condo almost every day I go over there... that I didn’t realize I had to paint before… First it was the ceilings. After we painted the walls in my bedroom and put the white face plates on the new outlets and switches, the ceiling looked really dingy… I bought the paint but we just haven’t gotten that project started because I’m really short and need a taller step stool or an actual ladder (I’m 5’1’’). Then we realized the doors were really icky and they would need the bright white makeover… and so on.

And since the only thing I can really do by myself right now is paint, I’m the painting QUEEN… surprisingly, I’m getting better and better every time. I was getting really frustrated with my closet trim and the shelving unit and then BAM, I looked and it was perfect. Somehow I did the edging perfect without painters tape. I couldn’t get the tape to line up right in this one area, so I tried it without the tape and wow. I’m impressed with myself. So, last night I finished all the trim in my smaller closet so only the ceiling is left.

And my bedroom is all painted with the exception of the ceiling, again due to the lack of a ladder… oh and I also need to paint the door jamb (because I painted one side of the door last night).

My other closet is a nightmare. I have to keep re-painting as I screw up little areas. (Why? Because I’m too short for the deep shelves and my tiny little hands can’t reach far enough with the stool.) Like I said, operation find a ladder shall commence today. By the end of the weekend I want both at least painted if not finished. That way something is completely done and I can rejoice in one tiny area being completely finished.

I also need to paint all the base boards for my bedroom and the two closets. =(
Here’s what still needs to get done off the top of my head. (just so you know we’re starting in the back of the place and moving forward so the bathroom, hall, 2 closets and the bedroom are all getting worked on in various stages.

***indicates boyfriend project, or boyfriend and his daddy project.

Large Closet (not in any order):
• ***Remove the existing light fixture and replace it with the one I already bought.
• Obtain a ladder to finish painting the walls and shelving units.
• Paint the ceiling
• Paint the other side of the door.
• Change out the door handle (to a nice silver).
• *** put in the new door frames
• Paint the baseboards and let them dry.
• ***Put in the new base boards.
• New carpet

Small Closet:
• Paint Ceiling
• Buy new mirrored door and install it.
• Paint baseboards and let them dry
• ***Install baseboards
• New carpet

Bathroom
• ***Put in new hardware fixtures
• ***Caulk around the outside of the tub. (or me if we get that ladder)
• ***Remove the medicine cabinet from the wall (a bent stripped screw is keeping me from doing this… I can’t get the crappy one out)
• Remove the vanity mirror and scrape only paint residue with a razor. Paint outside of the mirror frame.
• ***Remove light kit from the wall for painting the room purposes.
• Buy the paint for the bathroom (different color then the rest of the place)
• Paint the ceiling
• Paint the bathroom walls
• *** remove existing tile
• ***replace the tile with new tile
• Paint the baseboards
• ***Put in the baseboards
• Put in the new door frames
• Look for a new counter top and sink with new fixtures.
• *** Install the countertop and new sink fixtures
• Put all the electrical outlet covers on the wall.
• Paint the door and the door jamb
• Replace the door handles with a nice happy silver color.
• Buy and install a towel rod/hanger thing
• Buy and install a shower curtain rod
• Buy a toilet paper holder thing
• Possibly buy an over the toilet organizer thing and toss the current shelving unit that we already removed. If not put the old one back in.
• Put in the new door stopper

Bedroom:
• Paint ceiling
• Paint baseboards
• ***Put the new base boards in
• Paint the door jamb
• Fix that weird outlet/cable thingy
• ***Look at the sliding doors leading out to the patio… replace or fix. (this isn’t a priority right away)
• Put in the new door stopper.
• Custom plantation shutters.
• New carpet.
And this is just one half of the house.

Living Room/entry way/Dining Room:
• Paint Ceiling
• Paint the walls
• Paint the door leading into bedroom
• Remove the tile and carpet.
• New fake wood floors
• ***Install door trim
• Paint baseboards
• ***Install baseboards
• Put all the outlets and switch covers on.
• Find wall A/C unit and buy.
• Submit paperwork for it to be installed.
• Install A/C Unit
• Fix the sliding Glass doors and screens
• Custom plantation shutters for the sliding glass doors.

Then there’s the kitchen but I’ll just leave that for now.

retirement perspectives

Last Saturday I was volunteering at a GALA for CHILDSHARE, so I didn’t get to update… But I moved all the money from the Roth savings account I have at ING into my Actual Roth, so I’ve maxed out my account for 2009!!! I’ll slowly be buying shares out of my money market account for the rest of the year.

RECAP OF ROTH IRA CONTRIBUTIONS
2007: $4,000 Mutual Funds
2008: $1,000 CD’s, $4,000 Mutual Funds
2009: $1,500 CD’s, $3,500 Mutual Funds

My Goal is the leave the workforce on my 55th birthday, 11,525 Days from now...

401 Account: Approximately 2.95 % of my portfolio• $613.82 (Employer Paid 1% of Salary); $653.73 Worth
o Up 6.50% from inception, +$39.91
o Stable Value Money Market Accounts make up 30.60
o Milestone 2040 makes up 69.40%

457 Account: Approximately 4.66% of my portfolio• Employer Funded. Future Contributions Discontinued (minimal interest earned—like pennies)… I can’t wait till this makes up less the 1% of my portfolio…
o Positive $1,032.45

ING DIRECT Roth IRA: Approximately 11.54% of my portfolio• $2,500.00 Invested; Worth $2,554.89
o Up 2.19% from inception. Positive $54.89
o CD’s ranging from 1.65% to 4.5%.
o Current Average CD rate 2.9125%

ShareBuilder Roth IRA Approximately 50.99% of my portfolio• $11,500 Invested; Worth $11,285.78
o Down 1.86% since inception… Loss of -$214.22
o Strategic Allocation Moderate 93.80%
o Money Market Cash 6.20%

Excluding my Pension, my variable retirement accounts are worth $15,526.86. Of that I’ve only invested $14,000 of my money (the rest has been my employer). So technically I’ve made 10.90%. If I compare all the “free money” and my contributions (Totals 15,645.75), my portfolio is down 0.759% since inception.


Pension: Approximately 29.85% of my portfolio
If I quit tomorrow, I’d just have the cash in the account.
• Up until 2007, Employer paid all contributions. Jan 2007- July 2009 Employee’s contributed 1%. As of August 1st, 2009, employees contribute 2%:
o 2007- $299.74
o 2008- $336.12
o 2009- $364.96
 Total: $1,000.82 (October 9th, 2009)

Account Cash Value as of 07.01.2008 $6,605.55.

• I’m ALSO buying additional time in my retirement accounts from when I was 16-18 years of age (service prior to membership). It’s less then a year’s worth of service credit, but I’ll be paying $33.06 for 44 more installments.
o 2009- Total Contributions $264.48 (October 9th, 2009)

My entire portfolio (if I cashed my pension out today) is worth $22,132.40

Friday, October 16, 2009

busy

bedroom is painted and most of the closets are...


Boyfriend primered the rest of place so last night i painted another wall...bought baseboards and door frames and a lot more paint... plus the fixtures for the tub...

got the kitchen measurement... waiting to hear back from the home depo guy to give it to my contractor...

I need more sleep... more details coming ur way tomorrow. and i know... pictures

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

I paid my mortgage

I went to the bank yesterday… and really excitedly asked the teller if I could pay my mortgage payment for the month.
I was kind of weary of mailing the check without the official stub, as I’m not sure when it will arrive. (they gave me a temporary one at closing so I could make my payment on time if I didn’t receive it… but they didn’t tell me when I should stop waiting for it to arrive and mail the payment with the temp slip…)
So I handed the man at the counter a check and he imputed it for me and I got a receipt.
It felt really good to pay my mortgage… Dunno why, but it felt nice to pay my mortgage. =)

--- Condo update---
Apparently boyfriend put primer on all my walls for me while I was working and the like. So tomorrow we paint part of the living room after the kitchen estimate guys come and measure.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The bathroom...

I'm getting my tub and the wall unit re-surfaced instead of replaced. The whole job will be done on monday for around $350.

Looks like i'll start to primer the walls on Friday night, so I can hopefully start painting certain rooms this weekend.

I took before pictures and i'll post them once I get to a reliable internet conection so it won't take 3 hours to upload (three hours I don't have).

Oh, and boyfriends daddy is game to put in all my floors for me!

Monday, October 5, 2009

The first weelend of condo repairs and fixes...

If you remember from my last post I wanted to accomplish the following tasks:

Clean, buy (and hopefully install) 2 ceiling fans with remotes, install the smoke detector, fix the slow draining sink, and decide on floor type and paint colors... then scehedual kitchen estimate..

Well I did most of that and more. A few friends called an volunteered their services and this is what got done:

My condo was disinfected and cleaned.

Both fans were installed with their respected remotes.

ALL outlets that needed to be GFI were installed.

ALL outlets were updated and modernized

ALL switches were upgraded.

ALL base boards were removed.

3 door stoppers

Smoke detector was installed

The drain is actually broken, so we rigged it to drain for the time being. (i didn't use the drain cleaner.

All the holes were spackled.

The toilet seat was replaced

We installed another light fixture in the enterance way.

-----
wow... thats a productive 2 days.

here's what I bought (some things I cant read off the reciept from Home Depo.. but for the most part):
2 ceiling fans
6 CFLs
toilet seat
step stool
2 mounting kits for the fans
smoke detector
drain cleaner
spackling knife
spackling
all new switches
3 door stops
phone jacks
new wall plates
outlets
GFI outlets
2 ceiling fan remotes
1 20 watt outlet
screws
exacto knife
masks

Things I didn't use yet:
painters tape
8 piece paint set
paint liner
medicine cabinent




Grand total: 561.30

then I treated my friends to dinenr for their hard work: $66.64 = $627.94 phew

next weekend hopefully the bathroom, if not paint and primer the bedroom.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

FINAL HUD!

here's what I paid for my condo:


Cashier's check $7.00
Home Inspection $275.00
Apprasal Fee $465.00
Credit Report Fee $35.00
Account Verification fee $10.00
Downpayment $4,200.00
HOA Dues 9/23-9/30 $8.22
Lender Fee (After $500 credit) $550.00
Flood Check Fee $26.00
Prepaid Interest $33.90
Taxes (10 months after $617.54 Credit)$507.46
hoa transfer fee $150.00
Notary Fee $150.00
Title Insurance $315.00
hoa fees for october $250.00
Recording $42.00
service link fee $25.50
Cashier's check $7.00


$7,057.08 & I have $2,174 in equity

Locksmith Fees $70.00
2 Parking passes $50.00

New total $7,177.08 with $2,174.00 in equity.... Then I get that $8,000 tax credit =)So I haven't had to spend any of "my money yet." If I look at the equity as money i have since when i sell i'll get that back hopefully, I have $2,996.92 left before I spend my money.

Retirement perspectives

It was another bad week on the market. Instead of buying more shares, I bought a ROTH IRA CD since the rate went up a little. I also put some money into the Sharebuilder Roth IRA, but I didn’t buy any shares with it so it’s in the money market account. I’ll watch the market and wait a while before I buy more mutual fund shares with it. I think we’re going to drop further. Maybe next week I’ll start to buy… we’ll see.


My Goal is the leave the workforce on my 55th birthday, 11,539 Days from now.

** I’m not including the $900 in cash that I have sitting aside to Max out my Roth IRA for 2009. Until the money is deposited in there, it technically isn’t in there and therefore is not accounted for in this update.**

401 Account: Approximately 2.97 % of my portfolio• $599.58 (Employer Paid 1% of Salary); $616.09 Worth
o Up 2.75% from inception, +$16.51
o Stable Value Money Market Accounts make up 31.70%
o Milestone 2040 makes up 68.30%

457 Account: Approximately 4.97% of my portfolio• Employer Funded. Future Contributions Discontinued (minimal interest earned—like pennies)
o Positive $1,032.38

ING DIRECT Roth IRA: Approximately 11.79% of my portfolio• $2,400.00 Invested; Worth $2,450.41
o Up 2.1% from inception. Positive $50.40
o CD’s ranging from 1.65% to 4.5%.
o Current Average CD rate 2.9125%

ShareBuilder Roth IRA Approximately 48.48% of my portfolio• $10,700 Invested; Worth $10,073.93
o Down 5.85% since inception… Loss of -$626.07
o Strategic Allocation Moderate 99%
o Money Market Cash 1.0%

Excluding my Pension, my variable retirement accounts are worth $14,172.80. Of that I’ve only invested $13,100 of my money (the rest has been my employer). So technically I’ve made 8.18%. If I compare all the “free money” and my contributions (Totals 14,731.96), my portfolio is down 3.79% since inception.


Pension: Approximately 31.79% of my portfolio
I’ll have my 5 years of service in July of 2010. If I quit tomorrow, I’d just have the cash in the account. New Statements Delivered every November
• Up until 2007, Employer paid all contributions.
• Jan 2007- July 2009 Employee’s contributed 1%
o 2007- Contributions $299.74
o 2008- Contributions $336.12
o 2009- Contributions $214.82 (July 31st, 2009)
• As of August 1st, 2009 –Employee’s will now contribute 2% of income.
o 2009-Contrbutions $121.66 (September 25th, 2009)
o Cash Value as of 07.01.2008 $6,605.55.
• I’m ALSO buying additional time in my retirement accounts from when I was 16-18 years of age (service prior to membership). It’s less then a year’s worth of service credit, but I’ll be paying $33.06 for 45 more installments.
o 2009- Total Contributions $231.42 (September 25th, 2009)

My entire portfolio (if I cashed my pension out today) is worth $20,778.35

Yesterday... a re-cap

I drove far away to get 2 parking decals: $50.00

Since the Post Office was not helpful and the HOA could not tell me what mail box was mine, I put my key in all of them till one opened. (I had an hour to kill anyways waiting for my locksmith.) While hunting, a man on the HOA board told me he could look up my unit and tell me which was mine. I later found out he lives on the other side of me. He came back as I found it, figures…

My friend’s dad gave me a great deal on re-keying my place. He re-keyed 4 locks, gave me 4 keys, and had to re drill the door jamb hole for the lock because it didn’t close right… took him around an hour or so, but he only charged me $70.00 (he didn’t charge me for the re-drill of the hole, or fixing my hinges on my door, or the full price he normally charges just for the locks and the like.) Friends are nice =) I’m also keeping his son afloat every month by paying for piano lessons from him. I like his family. They are good people. =)

On my way out I caught my downstairs neighbor… who is also on the HOA board. She’s really nice and an early bird and that is lovely since we both get up at 4 or 5 in the morning (so does the other guy on the HOA board behind me).
Apparently the place was a rental unit… and at one time, 8 kids were living in there with their mom… That’s where the patio damage came from. It’s not termites; the kid took a knife to it and started hacking away at the wood. There is apparently no need for me to submit a request to fix my balcony—it’s already in the repair line up, but the HOA can only afford to do one at a time and mine won’t be done by the time I move in as some are in really bad shape. But our association is the only one in the neighborhood with reserve money and not in debt. They have never had a special assessment ever… and the neighborhood I almost bought a place in has had 2 in one year. Glad I moved down the block.

I also found out that my HOA does not enforce the BBQ rule so I can have one!!! Sweet happy day! After the 8 people in the one bedroom thing, the next renter was a nice guy who one day after still paying his land lord rent every month got a notice to leave in 30 days as it was being foreclosed upon… what a crappy landlord not to tell him all that!

All in all, it was a very productive day, considering I worked 8 hours too!

Surprisingly, I was worried who or what my neighbors would be like, but they are amazing! I’m so thrilled! I have happy vibes.

I’m going to spend Sunday cleaning my condo (it’s dirty) and begin to buy things to start my projects. I can’t put in the wall AC unit until it’s approved by the association, so I’ll measure the existing one, snap its photo, and look for its replacement.

Hopefully this weekend I’ll:
• Clean my condo so I feel okay sitting on the ground.
• Buy my 2 ceiling fans and the remote units for them incase boyfriends daddy can install them.
• Buy the drain cleaner for the bathroom sink and get rid of the slow draining drain.
• Buy and install my second cheap smoke detector for the living room (and put it far away from the kitchen).
• Schedule a time for Home Depo to come measure my kitchen (its free for October) and give me price estimates.
• Decide what type of flooring I want in the kitchen/dining room/living room so I can pick paint colors soon.

I’m also getting a $700 check back from escrow. $500 hold, plus money back because we closed on the 29th—a few days after the day we planned so I had to pay less!!!!!

Friday, October 2, 2009

busy lady= me

I met my first neighbor… She seemed really nice and helpful.

I’m getting my parking decals today ($25 bucks a pop) …. BUT I have to drive a bit to get them. I’m getting 2.

I’m called the Post Office twice inquiring about which mail box is mine… they keep telling me to call back, so hopefully by the end of today I will know or they will have me in person complaining and throwing a fit. (my neighbor told me that the keys I found in my unit are my mail box keys—I have three?)

I should be getting my place re-keyed today. My friend’s dad is a lock smith. So if not today, Sunday or Monday because I’m too busy Saturday.

I have to mail my copy of the termite damage to the HOA (which is why I know I need to go to the post office anyways…

(and a lunch thank you meeting…) Busy day.

If I have time, I’m going to start to clean my unit and take those pictures you all want me to post!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

I have keys

I have keys.

I went over and opened my door last night... closed up the blinds and kind of took it all in.

Sadly I had to do it solo because boyfriend was in class... but it was a good feeling.

Today I call my locksmith (to change the locks and fix a couple hinges) and the HOA (to get my parking decal and figure out my mail box... and to put in a work order to repair the termite damage on my balcony.)