Mon, March 9, 2009 As expected, we're scheduled to get a large (to us) sum of money back for our tax refunds. I had a figure in my head that I was hoping for and thankfully it ended up being about $1100 higher than that figure. This should give us a nice boost in our emergency and savings funds.
Update to: "Tax Time!"
Sun, March 8, 2009 Here's the DH net worth update for February 2009:
February was a slow cold month. And some of that rubbed off on my finances. My investments took a VERY big hit, but as I mentioned before, I'm quite alright with that.
You'll also see quite a jump in our vehicle assets. No, we didn't add a widescreen TV to one of our cars. Instead, I went back through Kelley Blue Book to revalue our cars. This is something I typically do once every few months. There tends to be a gap because I take an aggressive depreciation on these assets on a monthly basis.
Here's to hoping for a stronger March!
Thu, March 5, 2009 We're heading up to New Jersey this weekend to get our taxes done. Our tax guy is a friend of the family that we have used for a few years now, which is why we bother heading to another state to file our returns. I'm hoping with our baby being born last year, we'll get plenty back.
I know ideally you don't want any money back, because that means you didn't give the government a 0% loan. But I knew funds would be tight this year and I wanted to use this forced savings plan as a safety net. Anyway, I'll likely adjust after I figure out how much we're getting back.
Fri, February 27, 2009 Just after the new year, I found myself drawn into the website: fiftydollarhouse.com.
My wife and I have been talking about getting rid of our house in hopes for something bigger. Unfortunately, given that we bought at the peak of the market back in 2006, we're now upside-down in our mortgage. This, coupled with the VERY low rent rates, leaves us with very little options.
This is what made the website so intriguing. For $50 (and who can't come up with $50?), I could own my dream home in a great location. So what could it hurt? Thankfully, I didn't make any quick decisions and instead, played a quick numbers game.
The house is valued at: $1,250,000
Guessing my gift tax would be roughly 40% (or $500,000)
Annual Property Taxes (in 2008): $4499 (or $375 a month)
Roughly Upside-down in our current mortgage by: $50,000
equals...
A guaranteed mortgage I'd have to take out immediately for my $50 house. And best of all, I wouldn't be able to afford repayment on such a high mortgage. So, my only option would be to immediately unload the house - which is not something I'd want to be forced to do in a buyers market. While I'm sure I'd still come out ahead, it wouldn't be close to turning $50 into $1.25 million.
I gave the computer screen a quick grin and closed my web browser.
Note: looks like the winners are trying to unload the house - though for different reasons.
Thu, February 19, 2009
[Source: mint.com]