The Hustle of Sistah Ant

March went well, folks. I increased my net worth by 5% which was nice.  I saved over a thousand additional dollars for the house fund, which is great!  I now have over half of my original target amount for the house fund.  I intend to have at least $13,000 saved up for the house before I start actually looking for financing and looking at houses.  My unstated goal is to actually get about $18,000 together so that I’ll have money left over for emergencies/incidentals/moving in/minor repairs, etc.  It’s a realistic plan, given the prices of homes where I live, my credit rating, my ability to save, and the time frame within which I want to move.

I sometimes spend time just looking at my net worth page,  thinking about, "If I can pay this, then this will happen to my liabilities," or "If I can save that, then this is what will happen to my assets."  To date, I am still $72,000 in debt, between my car note and my student loans.  Am I sure that I want to pile more debt on?  I know a house is an appreciating asset, according to conventional wisdom.  But the mortgage that comes with it is still debt.  More debt.  Thirty years of debt.  Oh my gosh.  Sometimes the very thought it is just so scary and sobering.  Believe me, I want the house - but not so much that I want to do it for the wrong reasons, like, I’m at the age where I should have one, or I want a mortgage interest deduction, or my friends are getting houses (actually they’re not), or I want to be the first one out of my clique to get a house.  It’s more like, I want to own a place outright by the time I am old and I don’t want to work anymore.  And, I want a place to raise children where I can control my living space instead of worrying if my rent will go up or waiting for a landlord to fix something.  And, Mister Ant and I need space to be comfortable, unlike our current cramped apartment.  And, if I’m going to be paying every month to live somewhere, I’d like to get more out of it than shelter, if I can get some equity in an appreciating asset in the meantime.  Home ownership, in my opinion, is not for the faint of heart.  It’s a lot of responsibility.  The thought of it is very sobering.

If you’re renting, worst case scenario is that you have to move somewhere else and maybe come up with a couple months rent to do so.  But if you mess up with a house for any reason - illness, unemployment, whatever - worst case scenario is that you have no place to live, no place to put your stuff, and you’ve defaulted on an obligation worth thousands and thousands of dollars, leaving you with jacked up credit that will keep you out of getting into another place.  Yikes.

Debt is slavery.

To keep "Yikes" from happening, you have to keep an income to keep paying for the house.  I know you have to keep an income even if you don’t buy a house.  But the house is your shelter, not a mere car or wide-screen TV.  Talk about pressure to make nice with the boss and stay on everyone’s good side.  Talk about pressure to get a paycheck.  People stay in jobs they HATE so they won’t get put out of their homes - so that "Yikes" doesn’t happen.  Do I need that kind of pressure?

You know what?  I’m not going to scare myself out of getting my own home.  But I do have these thoughts from time to time.  If nothing else, they’ll probably keep me from attempting to buy more house than I can afford.  You will not catch me with some astronomical monthly mortgage payment.  Neither will you catch me doing anything I’m not comfortable with - I’m going to really have to like and want the house I "marry" my future to.  ‘Cause I’m going to spend most of my waking hours for years and years making sure that it’s paid for.   It’s going to have to be worth it.  Even now, when I’m at work and I want to just get up and go home instead of working overtime, I think about being able to buy my own home, and that’s what keeps me at the desk, despite sleepiness, or an aching back, or wanting to just go home…  I’m already working for the house.  Ain’t that something?  I’m already sacrificing my time and money for it.  But maybe it’s not slavery.  Maybe it’s indentured servitude…

I’ve been looking forward to this Friday’s paycheck.  I’ve covered all of my expenses.  I don’t have any bills to pay.  This entire paycheck is mine MWAHAHAHAHA!  I was going to put the whole thing in my savings.  But dangit, I don’t have the elbow room to do that.

I should put a chunk of it into my retirement account.

And I could use a better pair of shoes.  And some dress slacks.

And I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday.  Since my new health insurance kind of sucks, my co-pay could be as much as $60.

And I’ll need to go to the grocery store, where I should get some cash back so I can go to the laundromat and maybe even go to the cleaners…

The list goes on and on.  As much as I am itching to boost my savings account by a huge amount, I have to leave myself some elbow room to take care of some boring stuff that is still very important.  *Sigh* But I’m still going to save the overwhelming majority of my check.  And I’m looking forward to seeing how much I can make my house fund grow!

I have health insurance now.  Got my card in the mail today.  Which is very good, because I have a persistent pain in my back/side that I shouldn’t keep ignoring - in fact, I sacrificed hundreds of dollars in pay yesterday to stay home and nurse it.  Now I’ll be on my way to the doctor, insurance card in hand.  I don’t expect the coverage to last long, because I’ll be finished with my current project soon.  Until I get a permanent job, it would be in my best interest to purchase health insurance through my professional organization… haven’t got around to figuring out how to get that yet.  But I will.  I have to.  ‘Cause what if I need health care?

I have life insurance now that’s not tied to a job.  I purchased a term life insurance policy.  If I ever want to convert it to whole life insurance, I have the option (I’ve heard that whole life is a waste, but who knows what will be said about it years from now?).  It’s more than enough to cover my debts, bury me, and leave a little left over for my parents.  When I pick up a mortgage, I’ll increase my coverage.  And when I get married to Mister Ant, I’ll increase it again. And when we have little Ants, I’ll increase it again.  But it’s good that I got some, ‘cause I let the coverage my mom had on me as a minor just lapse.  I didn’t have room in my mind or my budget to make the payments.  But my new insurance is totally affordable.   Which is good, ‘cause what if the unthinkable happened?

I’m not done.  I still don’t have long term disability insurance.  I also don’t have a will (no dependents, so I’m not in a rush, but when I get married, I’ll have to get on that).  But I’m on the way to preparing for the what ifs.

I still like Oodles of Noodles.  I don’t know where this "ramen" word came from - to me, it will always be "Oodles of Noodles."  I like to take frozen broccoli florets and shrimp and boil them along with the noodles.  I usually don’t put the entire packet of seasoning in like I used to, because of the sodium content.  It’s for that same reason that I don’t drink the "broth" after scarfing the noodles.  But it still tastes just as good.  And it’s still cheap enough to keep as a staple in the cupboard for those times when you want something quick and you don’t want to get take-out (or can’t afford it, ‘cause you’re student-poor, or forcing yourself to live paycheck-to-paycheck ‘cause you’re so busy saving the bulk of your money).  Now I might joke about how there’s no nutritional value whatsoever in a bowl of Oodles of Noodles.  Or about how anything that can feed you for a week for less than five dollars is probably likely to kill us.  But in my heart of hearts, I heart Oodles of Noodles.  Had some for dinner last night.  And they hit the spot.

If you share my thing for Oodles of Noodles, then here’s a treat for you! 

As I type this, I am wearing a free t-shirt.  I’m borrowing it from Mister Ant.  (I’ve got some laundry to do…)  Anyway, what’s interesting about this shirt is that when I first saw this shirt of his, I recognized it right away.  It’s exactly the same shirt that I got for free back in the late 90’s at college for filling out a credit card application.  Turns out he got this shirt - his shirt - exactly the same way.  He can’t remember if it was one of the times that he filled out a fake name or if he actually applied for the card (either way, he doesn’t have the card now), but I remember what happened with me.

I actually wanted a credit card.  I wanted the shirt that they gave me, too.  (I no longer have either the card or the t-shirt).  I already knew that the smiling faces handing out t-shirts were predators who hoped I’d get myself into debt over my head - my dad had warned me about interest rates, and an upperclassman had warned me about how long it takes to pay cards off by paying only the minimum payments.  I knew the risks, but I also knew that it’s hard to get credit if you don’t already have some, so I was ready to start my credit history and determined to beat the game.

Did you notice the little progress bar on my blog that shows that I paid off $7,858 in old credit card debt?  Beating the game was harder than I thought it would be.  One major emergency or protracted unemployment could have made me a loser.  I’ve been blessed to get to a point where I don’t have revolving debt.  But if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t have done it the same way.  I would have taken the t-shirt card, but not the subsequent candy bar card (add one more), or unsolicited cards that were just sent to me (add three more), and perhaps I would have thought twice about the card my bank offered me (yes, add another).  By the time I was twenty years old, even though I was making less than $10,000 a year as a full time student, I had six cards and was paying minimum balances.   I was losing the game, big time.  I paid off and cancelled three (two of which I never even used) out of fear that I had too much credit available for someone who hadn’t shown the ability to say "no" enough - for someone who was paying minimum balances just to get by.  I was right.  That realization saved my financial future.  Putting away and not using my three un-cancelled cards (which are the only three that I still have, use, and want) saved my financial future.  Finally paying significantly more than the minimums until the debt was gone has saved my financial future.

If you have kids, I know you know how hard it is to tell them that something may be harder than they think it is, and that they should be careful. But if you can, please try your best.  Help guide them into building a credit history in a less dangerous way than the way I did.  Involve yourself as an advisor as much as your new adult will let you.  And good luck with those t-shirts out there.

The idea just hit me: instead of being jealous of a teenager who has her very own Sharebuilder account, maybe I should take that stimulus money and just start my own little stocks account.  I think that would make me even happier than making those improvements on my car (which I’m likely to do one day anyway, and which won’t cost me any potential earnings).

I could start my research now (I have already had some stock purchases in mind) and create a fake portfolio online.  For a while, I can just watch it to see how it performs between now and when I get the check.  That will get me excited in the meantime (even if the value drops, because I’ll think the prices have gone down and I can recoup the losses I’ve seen once things pick up).  

Wouldn’t investing with that money be contributing to the economy in a way?  It’s buying, ain’t it?

And wouldn’t investing with that money be contributing to my own bottom line in a way?  It’s adding to my assets column, ain’t it?

Instead of asking myself from time to time whether or not it’s time for me to jump in, I can dedicate a certain amount to an existing account and just purchase.  It’s that dollar cost averaging I’ve been hearing so much about, combined with a little bit of knowing that continued hesitation will continually get me nowhere.

Thank you so much for clicking on my Google Ad Sense ads!  I checked my account for the first time since I started with Google Ad Sense months ago, and it turns out I’ve got some money coming to me rather soon - I just wanted to say thanks and let you know that every cent I get from this blog will go towards my savings.  That’s where all of my unexpected income is supposed to go, according to the plan.

Have a great weekend!

So about that stimulus money this spring…

I was thinking of spending it instead of saving it, you know, doing my duty as a citizen who’s worried about the economy and whatnot.  I could spend it on the upgrades to my car that I’ve been thinking about.  The remote entry and privacy windows…  That would be nice.

I was also thinking that I am still, for all intents and purposes, without a job to call my own.  I suspect that a month from now, my current project will be over.  Just because I’m looking for work doesn’t mean I’ll get it when I want it.  So would it really make sense for me to be worried about a car upgrade and the American economy, when my own American dream is looking kinda shaky?  I might not have time for that.  That $300 (or whatever it turns out to be) could make a big difference to me when I’m more concerned about a car payment than whether I’m opening my doors with a key.  Isn’t part of my duty as a citizen to be a good steward over my finances so that I don’t have to ask anyone to bail me out of a jam?  Just wondering…

Tonight I contributed to a political campaign for the first time in my life.  About a week ago, I received my new voter registration card (I had to change from being an independent to register with a party in order to participate in the primary, since my state holds closed primaries).  Last weekend, I volunteered some time to help with a voter registration drive.  I’ve been dropping voter registration forms on every bus I’ve traveled on this week.  I have a button pinned around the strap of my purse.  I have a bumper sticker taped to the back window of my car.  I’m looking forward to seeing how I can pitch in next weekend to help my candidate of choice with my time.  But I decided, after some mulling it over, that part of the benefit of being responsible with my money is that I can spend money without guilt -  I can make a contribution to a political campaign without worrying how to pay a bill, or thinking the money could have went towards debt.  I did use a credit card that I’ll have to pay off by the end of the month, but I kept the amount modest enough so that I should be able to pay it without sacrificing my own personal goals for my upcoming paychecks.  It felt good to press the button and financially support the candidate I favor.

I blew my entire paycheck this weekend.  But it wasn’t all bad.  I paid the remainder of this month’s bills, so the only stuff I need to be concerned about are my share of the household expenses and next month’s car note.  With the leftover money, I contributed to my IRA, put a few hundred in my house savings, and then I FINALLY paid my tax bill.  I managed to cut it in half by contributing more to my IRA for tax year 2007.  After that Sistah Beginner and I went out for tax-free outlet shopping!  Yay!  Sistah Beginner needed maternity clothes, and I am in constant need of clothes for work.  I stuck to my budget of about $100, and came away with two microfiber stretch camisoles, four button-down blouses, and a gang of trouser and athletic socks.  I’ve done better with $100, but I’m upping the quality of the clothing that I’m buying, so I’m satisfied with the trip.  I still could use some shoes and some trousers.  Why are trousers so hard to find?  Sheesh.  I didn’t like the fit of any of the ones I tried on.  And by the time I finished shopping, my lower back was killing me.  I hate shopping.  But I love that I have the discipline to set a limit and stick to it.  (Sistah Beginner stuck to her budget by bringing an envelope with cash in it - she stopped spending when the cash ran out.  I am so proud of her!)  I have a little over $100 left to last me the week. Oh yeah, and I didn’t use any credit.  Yay!