WOMEN IN RED RACERS

[TheOtherMe]

My mortgage company keeps sending me offers in the mail to refi all of my debt.  I am halfway through the mortgage.  I'm not taking out a new mortgage at a much higher interest rate.  

I'm also not putting credit card debt into a secured loan.  I pay the credit cards off every month so why would I do that?

[lark1964]

OK. The appraiser was just here. He said the value of this house is going to be way over the mark as far as house value (the mortgage company wants it to be $300k. He said, oh, yeah, easy, way over that!), BUT he said they won't give me a refi right now because my porch steps on the addition have to be replaced - which is one of the spring projects I have planned.

But I'll have the appraisal. And I can go to the CU with that appraisal in hand and - get a HELOC. Far better option for paying off Discover. And then I can continue with the things I have planned for my AC/Heat, my exhaust fan, and... the porch steps. 

*sigh*

Sometimes, being a homeowner is simultaneously good and annoying. Happy Saturday!  

[debthaven]

lark1964 I agree with the others, it would be a great shame to roll your Discover card into a new higher-interest longer-term mortgage. Kudos to minnesotapaintlady for doing the math!

The HELOC is a good idea, but wouldn't it feel AMAZING to get the Discover paid off before you take out a HELOC for the improvements?! You've paid off ALL your other high-interest loans!!!

If you don't mind my asking, why are you reluctant to put 5K from savings towards that last high-interest loan? 

Last thought. Please don't blow me off LOL ... 

I know you had a terrible time with your last tenant. I understand that you don't want a new tenant. But have you ever considered doing the occasional short-term rental (via word-of-mouth, VRBO, AirBnB, whatever) for conferences or other local events? Even just one week or WE a month?! 

You're SO CLOSE to getting rid of all that toxic, high-interest debt!!!

Rooting for you, as always!!!

[lark1964]

Jan 29, 2024 15:21:17 GMT -5 debthaven said:

lark1964 I agree with the others, it would be a great shame to roll your Discover card into a new higher-interest longer-term mortgage. Kudos to minnesotapaintlady for doing the math!

The HELOC is a good idea, but wouldn't it feel AMAZING to get the Discover paid off before you take out a HELOC for the improvements?! You've paid off ALL your other high-interest loans!!!

If you don't mind my asking, why are you reluctant to put 5K from savings towards that last high-interest loan? 

Last thought. Please don't blow me off LOL ... 

I know you had a terrible time with your last tenant. I understand that you don't want a new tenant. But have you ever considered doing the occasional short-term rental (via word-of-mouth, VRBO, AirBnB, whatever) for conferences or other local events? Even just one week or WE a month?! 

You're SO CLOSE to getting rid of all that toxic, high-interest debt!!!

Rooting for you, as always!!!

Why don't I pay off the Discover with my savings? Because - I have $12K total, and I just took 1,500 out of it to pay on Discover. If I have any issues, if I have any emergencies, if I have a huge problem - I lose my job or crash my car or my house catches fire - I'm without resources. I want the lower interest because I can pay the Discover faster and cleaner with the lower rate on a HELOC. 

I do not want anyone else in my house right now. I really, really, really got a bad taste in my mouth with her. If the time comes I consider it again soon, I hope someone will shoot me. 

Besides, unfortunately - there's still stuff to be done upstairs, like new carpet and still some painting. And I have to replace the HVAC system in the house. That's what I really want a HELOC for.

btw, I just got the appraisal, the estimated value is $309K.

I do know I won't be using the upstairs for anything but a guest room. It's possible I might consider airbnb or something like that in the future, yes, but I would make it wholly enclosed, a separate entrance, etc. And that is a lot more expense. I won't be doing it anytime soon, maybe a year or two from now.

[debthaven]

Thanks for answering lark1964. You’re getting closer every day! 😊

[nidena]

Jan 29, 2024 21:15:46 GMT -5 lark1964 said:

Jan 29, 2024 15:21:17 GMT -5 debthaven said:

lark1964 I agree with the others, it would be a great shame to roll your Discover card into a new higher-interest longer-term mortgage. Kudos to minnesotapaintlady for doing the math!

The HELOC is a good idea, but wouldn't it feel AMAZING to get the Discover paid off before you take out a HELOC for the improvements?! You've paid off ALL your other high-interest loans!!!

If you don't mind my asking, why are you reluctant to put 5K from savings towards that last high-interest loan? 

Last thought. Please don't blow me off LOL ... 

I know you had a terrible time with your last tenant. I understand that you don't want a new tenant. But have you ever considered doing the occasional short-term rental (via word-of-mouth, VRBO, AirBnB, whatever) for conferences or other local events? Even just one week or WE a month?! 

You're SO CLOSE to getting rid of all that toxic, high-interest debt!!!

Rooting for you, as always!!!

Why don't I pay off the Discover with my savings? Because - I have $12K total, and I just took 1,500 out of it to pay on Discover. If I have any issues, if I have any emergencies, if I have a huge problem - I lose my job or crash my car or my house catches fire - I'm without resources. I want the lower interest because I can pay the Discover faster and cleaner with the lower rate on a HELOC. 

I do not want anyone else in my house right now. I really, really, really got a bad taste in my mouth with her. If the time comes I consider it again soon, I hope someone will shoot me. 

Besides, unfortunately - there's still stuff to be done upstairs, like new carpet and still some painting. And I have to replace the HVAC system in the house. That's what I really want a HELOC for.

btw, I just got the appraisal, the estimated value is $309K.

I do know I won't be using the upstairs for anything but a guest room. It's possible I might consider airbnb or something like that in the future, yes, but I would make it wholly enclosed, a separate entrance, etc. And that is a lot more expense. I won't be doing it anytime soon, maybe a year or two from now.

<loads paintgun>

[lark1964]

Jan 30, 2024 22:56:24 GMT -5 nidena said:

Jan 29, 2024 21:15:46 GMT -5 lark1964 said:

I do not want anyone else in my house right now. I really, really, really got a bad taste in my mouth with her. If the time comes I consider it again soon, I hope someone will shoot me. 

<loads paintgun>

Thank you. Not the face, please. 

[nikiz628]

Jan 4, 2024 16:46:05 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

Update RACE 7

Debt	Interest Rate	Starting Balance	Current Balance	Difference
Citi Best Buy	0% Promos Only	4663.23	4,616.22	-47.01
Quicksilver	28.24%	6482.19	6,250.00	-232.19
Discover	28.24%	15124.49	14,724.49	-400.00
Menards	30.24%	2340.05	2,315.14	-24.91
Citi Diamond	0% BT until *	2715.27	4,464.88	+1749.61
Discover Loan	12.99%	9432.97	9,195.10	-237.87
Sofi Loan	22.9%	8507.08	8,282.50	-224.58
Van Loan (Ally)	9.29%	31082.93	30,803.28	-279.65
Truck Loan (CU)	4.8%	8265.87	7907.69	-358.18
	TOTAL	88,614.08	88,559.30	-54.78

NikiZ628(7): 2/1/24 $88,559.30 (1/4/23 $88,614.08 WIR302)

The balance on the Citi Diamond card went up, we had to use it to pay a couple past due bills from Christmas. Not an ideal move but it at least brought us into January current and its a 0% APR card right now. Everything should start flowing in the right direction now. Still waiting on the big side hustle pay out for H, it can't get here fast enough. He's got a couple smaller payments coming his way any day  as well (about $4,000 I believe). 

We also found out DS1's travel baseball team will be heading to Pensacola in July for a tournament. We only do one "far away" tournament a year, thankfully. Unfortunately, the coach picked a tournament that falls over 4th of July so prices on airbnb and hotels are JACKED UP. I am currently scouring the web for something that wont cost us $3,000 for a week. 

[nidena]

nikiz628, if you don't mind a bit of a drive, you might also look at Foley, AL (30 miles) or Mobile (60 miles).  They're straight shots to Pensacola w/less of a markup.

[snapdragon]

Feb 1, 2024 10:00:21 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

Jan 4, 2024 16:46:05 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

Update RACE 7

Debt	Interest Rate	Starting Balance	Current Balance	Difference
Citi Best Buy	0% Promos Only	4663.23	4,616.22	-47.01
Quicksilver	28.24%	6482.19	6,250.00	-232.19
Discover	28.24%	15124.49	14,724.49	-400.00
Menards	30.24%	2340.05	2,315.14	-24.91
Citi Diamond	0% BT until *	2715.27	4,464.88	+1749.61
Discover Loan	12.99%	9432.97	9,195.10	-237.87
Sofi Loan	22.9%	8507.08	8,282.50	-224.58
Van Loan (Ally)	9.29%	31082.93	30,803.28	-279.65
Truck Loan (CU)	4.8%	8265.87	7907.69	-358.18
	TOTAL	88,614.08	88,559.30	-54.78

NikiZ628(7): 2/1/24 $88,559.30 (1/4/23 $88,614.08 WIR302)

The balance on the Citi Diamond card went up, we had to use it to pay a couple past due bills from Christmas. Not an ideal move but it at least brought us into January current and its a 0% APR card right now. Everything should start flowing in the right direction now. Still waiting on the big side hustle pay out for H, it can't get here fast enough. He's got a couple smaller payments coming his way any day  as well (about $4,000 I believe). 

We also found out DS1's travel baseball team will be heading to Pensacola in July for a tournament. We only do one "far away" tournament a year, thankfully. Unfortunately, the coach picked a tournament that falls over 4th of July so prices on airbnb and hotels are JACKED UP. I am currently scouring the web for something that wont cost us $3,000 for a week. 

My dear you take that side hustle money and pay off the Menards card! Over 30% interest that's just egregious.  Than split the remainder between the Discover and Quicksilver to get those knocked down. Or, you could put the remainder on the Best buy card to get it closer to paid off before the APR kicks in. 

I really don't want to be a horrid individual, but I just have to ask -- Why is your kid in a TRAVEL league? Is he getting closer to being on a team through his school? At least than you are not paying nearly as much. Unless that has changed in the last 30 years. if so than I apologize. Is your 2nd child also in a sport or are they into other things?

I am only saying this due to my particular upbringing. We didn't have the money for extracurriculars so I just didn't do any as a child/teen. I knew we were not in the best financial shape my parents were up front with me about that when I asked about joining a school activity. 

[seriousthistime]

nikiz628, does your family like to camp? Is it possible that instead of finding an AirBnb that you could find a campground close by? Could be a fun family trip and you would save a bundle over an AirBnb.  Another alternative, do you know another baseball family that you like who could share a house with you, maybe get a bigger place with more bedrooms to accommodate their family and yours? I have done this and in fact I am doing it for the next few months, sharing a seasonal rental with friends (a married couple).  It's way less expensive to do that than to have two families get separate places. 

[TheOtherMe]

Feb 2, 2024 15:08:59 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

Feb 1, 2024 10:00:21 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

I am only saying this due to my particular upbringing. We didn't have the money for extracurriculars so I just didn't do any as a child/teen. I knew we were not in the best financial shape my parents were up front with me about that when I asked about joining a school activity. 

My sister and I knew better than to ask also.  I was jealous of my friend who played instruments.  My sister was jealous of her friends taking dance.  No point in asking as the answer was no but I spent lots of hours going with my best friend to her clarinet lessons.  

We did get to bowl, which my sister didn't enjoy.  That was my parents' life and my dad worked in a bowling alley as long as I was at home.  So spending money to bowl in a kids' league on Saturday was a good use of money--especially since it meant we were occupied while they worked.

[chiver78]

quick fly-by update. I got back from my vacation last night, with the last hit to my budget having been approved in a flash when I picked my pups up from boarding. whoo....woof.  but, I just mapped out how I'm paying off the vacation balance prior to it costing me interest, so I'm good there. the last balance I'm not racing will still get paid off before the rate resets as well. as a reminder, this last racing balance is a low interest rate for the life of the balance....so this tagline update is pretty minimal while I keep the other shit in check. namaste, y'all. 


chiver78 2/5/24  $7320.25 (5/9/20 $138,495.31)

[Rukh O'Rorke]

student loan balance:

97,447.09


Still just doing min monthly payments. Now have a big vet bill to pay off before doing extra here.

[nikiz628]

Feb 2, 2024 15:08:59 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

Feb 1, 2024 10:00:21 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

My dear you take that side hustle money and pay off the Menards card! Over 30% interest that's just egregious.  Than split the remainder between the Discover and Quicksilver to get those knocked down. Or, you could put the remainder on the Best buy card to get it closer to paid off before the APR kicks in. 

I really don't want to be a horrid individual, but I just have to ask -- Why is your kid in a TRAVEL league? Is he getting closer to being on a team through his school? At least than you are not paying nearly as much. Unless that has changed in the last 30 years. if so than I apologize. Is your 2nd child also in a sport or are they into other things?

I am only saying this due to my particular upbringing. We didn't have the money for extracurriculars so I just didn't do any as a child/teen. I knew we were not in the best financial shape my parents were up front with me about that when I asked about joining a school activity. 

You aren't a horrid person, it's a valid question! He's in a travel league because he has aged out of Little League baseball in our area. He is in 7th grade and our middle school baseball program is not school affiliated, which means it changes hands every season and is kind of a hot mess. He does intend to play that, but it will only be a couple weeks long. He's played on this travel team since he was 10. Baseball is his main sport and he has high goals to play in college. It's honestly the only sport we pay for that he is involved in (school basketball and football are free, minus like shoes he would need). And the team he is on has some of the lowest fees in the state. We also only travel within Indiana, minus the one Florida tournament. Most tournaments are within an hour of our house, so hotels and things like that are not necessary. 

My 2nd son, who is in 2nd grade, only plays league baseball and he is free because my husband is the board President and I am the board PR and player agent. Our kids get to play for free. He's not our athlete by any means, he would much prefer just hanging out at home lol. 

[snapdragon]

Feb 7, 2024 15:05:24 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

Feb 2, 2024 15:08:59 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

My dear you take that side hustle money and pay off the Menards card! Over 30% interest that's just egregious.  Than split the remainder between the Discover and Quicksilver to get those knocked down. Or, you could put the remainder on the Best buy card to get it closer to paid off before the APR kicks in. 

I really don't want to be a horrid individual, but I just have to ask -- Why is your kid in a TRAVEL league? Is he getting closer to being on a team through his school? At least than you are not paying nearly as much. Unless that has changed in the last 30 years. if so than I apologize. Is your 2nd child also in a sport or are they into other things?

I am only saying this due to my particular upbringing. We didn't have the money for extracurriculars so I just didn't do any as a child/teen. I knew we were not in the best financial shape my parents were up front with me about that when I asked about joining a school activity. 

You aren't a horrid person, it's a valid question! He's in a travel league because he has aged out of Little League baseball in our area. He is in 7th grade and our middle school baseball program is not school affiliated, which means it changes hands every season and is kind of a hot mess. He does intend to play that, but it will only be a couple weeks long. He's played on this travel team since he was 10. Baseball is his main sport and he has high goals to play in college. It's honestly the only sport we pay for that he is involved in (school basketball and football are free, minus like shoes he would need). And the team he is on has some of the lowest fees in the state. We also only travel within Indiana, minus the one Florida tournament. Most tournaments are within an hour of our house, so hotels and things like that are not necessary. 

My 2nd son, who is in 2nd grade, only plays league baseball and he is free because my husband is the board President and I am the board PR and player agent. Our kids get to play for free. He's not our athlete by any means, he would much prefer just hanging out at home lol. 

Thank you for replying. I now understand about the league. For some reason I was thinking about those travel leagues that do like a insane amount of far away games. Maybe I am thinking of hockey? Or possibly soccer. 

Seriously crossing my fingers that the money owed your DH has finally been delivered. It is really frustrating when "I will pay you next Tuesday if I can have a hamburger today." Comes into the picture.

[snapdragon]

Feb 6, 2024 12:05:37 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

student loan balance:

97,447.09


Still just doing min monthly payments. Now have a big vet bill to pay off before doing extra here.

Is there one that you could work on getting paid off sooner than the others? So you have something to motivate you. If I remember correctly some are for you, some for the kids? How are the kids doing on possibly being able to take over their loans. Or was that not the agreement.  

[chiver78]

alright, I just pulled the trigger on putting the pup boarding charge on an "Easy Pay" plan on my CC. once it posts, I'll do the same with the cruise tab* as well. 6mo of equal payments at 8.99% interest. the pup boarding will cost me $36.94 in interest for $1400. the cruise tab was $1100, so it will be less than $100 added interest to wipe $2500 off my Feb payouts. I can live with that. it will give me some breathing room to completely pay off the non-racing balance before the rate resets. 

*the cruise tab includes some advance deposits made for the purpose of getting onboard credit to absolve some casino sins made while learning a new table game. oops.     

[lark1964]

OK. The disaster struck me this past week. I got Covid, spent a week at home sick, then I had some kind of weird eye problem where the covid and diabetes decided to join forces and gut punch me, and I now have nerve damage and I have to go see a retina specialist and I cannot drive. No Lyft. For awhile. 

I have to go have an MRI, my appointment is in two weeks, I have to go see a retina specialist (I didn't even know what that was until this past week), I was told by the opthalmologist it could take anywhere from a month to six months for my eye to straighten out.

Oh, and I had an interesting experience today, someone tried to scam me. I caught them at it, but I nearly lost $2,700 today. And didn't. I have all new accounts, new cards, new passwords. Ugh.

So, here we go:

Discover   16,966.64   2,137.00  25.74%  15,198.88
Toyota **  30,609.58  30,609.58  11.25%       0.00
Car Loan        0.00              6.74%  32,633.80
Trumark    16,300.00     470.68   7.99%  16,000.00
           63,876.22  31,080.26          63,832.68
lark1964 [2]: 2/8/2024 $63,832.68 (4/13/2023 $80,738.38 C290)

             Interest Difference
Discover 404      369         35

So, Discover had a minimum payment due for $404 last month, and with the interest I would have had a difference in the balance of - $35. I'm very glad I paid $2,137. And I'm going to pay some money out of my casting savings and I'll send the Toyota insurance refund - it will bring Discover down another $2K, and then $500/mo will make an actual difference every month. 

I'm just - really frustrated right now.

[ners]

lark1964 Glad you were not scammed.  Hope you are feeling better from the Covid and the eye heals quickly.

[lark1964]

Oh, side note, I got a call from the mortgage company, I told the guy no thanks, I'm not interested in the loan increase and he got all self-righteous on me, I was almost amused. Basics: I added up 30 years of payments at the higher rate, with just the mortgage, not the added Discover, and I told him, and he tried to argue the point with me that it was still a better idea. Nimrod. Just ridiculous.

Yep. I'm having a bad couple of weeks. If I were still a drinker, I'd get drunk. Maybe I should go get some ice cream... 

[TheOtherMe]

Ice cream is fine.  

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Feb 7, 2024 15:25:56 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

Feb 6, 2024 12:05:37 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

student loan balance:

97,447.09


Still just doing min monthly payments. Now have a big vet bill to pay off before doing extra here.

Is there one that you could work on getting paid off sooner than the others? So you have something to motivate you. If I remember correctly some are for you, some for the kids? How are the kids doing on possibly being able to take over their loans. Or was that not the agreement.  

Loans are for me and dd - she has her own loans, mne for her are parent plus which I plan to pay off.

7 total loans, when I can do more than the mins, will split out and strategize a bit.

[debthaven]

I hope your eye gets back to normal quickly lark1964 . That must be very scary.

[snapdragon]

Hugs to those that need them. Feb seems to be a challenging month all around.

[nikiz628]

Feb 7, 2024 15:22:17 GMT -5 snapdragon said:

Feb 7, 2024 15:05:24 GMT -5 nikiz628 said:

You aren't a horrid person, it's a valid question! He's in a travel league because he has aged out of Little League baseball in our area. He is in 7th grade and our middle school baseball program is not school affiliated, which means it changes hands every season and is kind of a hot mess. He does intend to play that, but it will only be a couple weeks long. He's played on this travel team since he was 10. Baseball is his main sport and he has high goals to play in college. It's honestly the only sport we pay for that he is involved in (school basketball and football are free, minus like shoes he would need). And the team he is on has some of the lowest fees in the state. We also only travel within Indiana, minus the one Florida tournament. Most tournaments are within an hour of our house, so hotels and things like that are not necessary. 

My 2nd son, who is in 2nd grade, only plays league baseball and he is free because my husband is the board President and I am the board PR and player agent. Our kids get to play for free. He's not our athlete by any means, he would much prefer just hanging out at home lol. 

Thank you for replying. I now understand about the league. For some reason I was thinking about those travel leagues that do like a insane amount of far away games. Maybe I am thinking of hockey? Or possibly soccer. 

Seriously crossing my fingers that the money owed your DH has finally been delivered. It is really frustrating when "I will pay you next Tuesday if I can have a hamburger today." Comes into the picture.

Oh some of these travel baseball teams do that. I have friends with kids on teams that travel the entire country. I am thankful our coaches are not as "ambitious" in regards to going all over. 

[nidena]

So, yesterday, I counted up how many transactions/days were for non-needs in the month of January.  It came out to ~17 and just over $800.  None of it was super splurge-y and was more like a few meals out, a few magazine subscriptions, some new clothes (some for work, some not), some Candy Crush, one movie ticket, and an ancestry.com membership.  The meals, the magazines, and the movie ticket were all ~$25 each so that's an easy trim.  This month, I anticipate only two meals out, no subscription renewals, and no movies.  I also haven't and don't plan to play any Candy Crush.  That one comes in spurts, every few months, and usually when none of the books I have on hand are very interesting.  To tackle this task, I printed up a calendar and am annotating the $ amount on the days its spent.  Currently, it's two days for $42.49.  Yeah, I could join the No-Spend board but I'd rather not right now.

I'm thinking I may also swap how I direct my large chunk payment come March.  It usually goes towards paying off my CC for the month ($2000-$3000) and then I'm able to only pay the required payment on my PL($275).  So, for March, I'm thinking I'll throw the large chunk towards the PL and knock it down to $8000 so that the payment in April goes a little further.  Though, as I'm typing this, I think I'll wait and see what my tax bill is before I make any large payments anywhere.  lol.

[lark1964]

So today I heard on a financial podcast about some savings options that might be of interest - with 5% interest rates instead of less than 1%, like most banks offer these days.

They mention three banks, a CIT Bank, a Ponce Bank, and a Pacific Western Bank. CIT, as I found out, requires a minimum deposit of $5K to get the high yield of 5%. Ponce and Pacific Western are a little more reasonable - but you still have to hold at least $1K.

An interesting link I found while looking them up:

High Yield banks and CDs

This shows high yield accounts as well as CDs and shows the rules for banking with them.

My credit unions have 1,01% and 1.1% interest, still far better than some of the worst, like: Wells Fargo, BofA, and Chase, which were named the lowest of the low.

[TheOtherMe]

My largest CD is at my credit union for 3.25%.  All of the others are with Capital One or my credit union for 4.75% to 5.35%.  None had a minimum balance of more than $1,000.

[nikiz628]

Our area finally got an upgrade with fiber internet. Our neighborhood was one of the first that were able to have it installed. We jumped on it, because AT&T here is just HORRIBLE. It made our internet bill increase $20 more than what we currently pay BUT we were able to cancel AT&T internet and DIRECTV which will save us $237 a month moving forward. We were "legacy customers" with Direct, but they just couldn't get us a deal worth keeping it anymore. Our next step is to determine which subscriptions we keep for streaming services. It's so easy to just put those on autopilot and forget about them. 

It's also been a pretty substantial amount of time since I've priced home and auto insurance, so that's on my to do list too. 

And update on the sidehustle money my H is waiting on...still waiting. He has to get back into the house and finish the last bit of the install, but cannot until the painting is done. Then the homeowner will cut him the check. The homeowner is EXTREMELY wealthy and is adding a massive addition to his home, including a finished basement. Like the addition is larger than my current home lol. H has done all the wiring for the sound systems/internet etc. We really like this guy, he "hires" my husband for a some kind of job at least once a year. Last year? He needed outdoor speakers, tv, surround sound, the works by his pool and patio. They have such a rough home life..