“Free Bed” October 6, 2009
Posted by mordtechin in FinancialZ.1 comment so far
It’s been awhile since I’ve last posted.
Things have really gotten super busy and stressful so I have been neglecting the site, but hoping that I can be more active again.
I got a free bed. My girlfriend’s grandmother got rid of hers and gave me an option to pick it up.
However I put quotes around free since I had to drive to pick it up 2 hours away in my parents Ford F150…that only gets about 15 miles per gallon so in all I spent about $70 in gas (I refilled it after I used it to be nice and thoughtful) so really the amount I actually used probably came out to around $35 plus the $10 I spend on the some plastic sheeting that I bought since it was raining that day.
Overall I think it was not a bad deal for a decent queen size mattress and box spring. It will be a nice guest bed. I have also contemplated having 2 bedrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs that accommodates the seasonal changes. The downstairs is much cooler during the summer but warmer upstairs during the winter. I have yet to figure out the layout of my house with 4 bedrooms.
-Clayton
Interest is a … killer September 2, 2009
Posted by mordtechin in FinancialZ, House.add a comment
My mortgage payment comes out to $720.71 but I have my account to actually draft $820.71 every month.
Here is the breakdown
$159.74 Escrow (property taxes, P.M.I, hazard/home insurance)
*one to note which I didn’t realize, is that I don’t ever have to write out a separate check for my hazard/home insurance,taxes, p.m.i since the payment is held is escrow every month until it is due). Positive note is that you don’t have to worry about saving to pay for it later, but the downside is that the money sitting in escrow could be accruing interest for my accounts instead.
$430.63 INTEREST!!! How depressing it that…
$130.34 Principle (but actually is $230.34 with my additional $100 per month) * paying the additional $100 almost doubles the amount of principle payoff.
I learned my lesson with my car payment that paying off as much principle as you AS EARLY as possible will save you boatloads of interest.
-Clayton
Air Conditioner Broke Again. August 15, 2009
Posted by mordtechin in House.2 comments
Last night went to turn on the AC to rid of some humidity in the house and surprise, surprise. No cold air 
.
I went to check the unit and no condensation was building up which was the main sign that something was wrong.
What this means is that there is a leak somewhere, where the refrigerant is leaking out of since an AC unit should never require a recharge unless there happens to be a leak and apparently the guy didn’t look for one since the AC unit is a closed system.
The upside is that since I have home warranty and already paid the $60 service fee the first time around, this additional service won’t cost me a cent 
so hopefully the weekend is not going to be that bad since I won’t have any air like last weekend with the heat advisory alert.
-Clayton
Need to stop spending…and start home budgeting August 14, 2009
Posted by mordtechin in FinancialZ, House.add a comment
I’ve spent way too much so far on getting things for the house either to fix or add things to the house.
At this point I think I’ve spent what I want/need “immediately” and now need to seriously sit down and create a list of priorities and set a budget since I can’t spent money like I’ve been spending the past few weeks.
Recent Purchases:
- used washer/dryer ($300)
- new refrigerator ($1019)
- misc household items ($~600-800)
Future Projects/Purchases:
- reseal back wooden deck
- ceiling fan in living room to drastically improve airflow (already have 3 ceiling fans in the house)
- air intake vents
- rewire circuit box so breakers don’t trips as often
- finish 2nd floor bathroom (have the basics of new tub/sink/toilet but needs more work) as does the 1st floor but much less work is needed (towel racks, tp dispenser, etc)
- tons of shelving needs to be put up
- furniture (dining table, dressers, drawers, etc)
-Clayton
CFL’s For Life… August 14, 2009
Posted by mordtechin in FinancialZ, Frugal TipZ, House, TangentZ.add a comment
*Photo by cipherwa
Today on eBay I purchased the following:
-) 27 Floodlights (CFL) : 16watts = 65 watts *I have ~20 floodlight style lights (75 watts) on the first floor!!!
-) 32 CFL light bulbs : 13 watts = 60 watts *I am a bit shocked as to how many bulbs are in use around the house and I will not be using all light sockets
-) In the process of looking for some 75 watt equivalent CFL bulbs
I bought in bulk and saved some quite a bit of money in the long term but not short term wise. The auctions were “Buy It Now” or “Best Offer”.
-For the floodlights, they came in packs of 9 for $43.66 (free shipping) so I offered instead $35 each for 3 packs of 9.
-For the 32 CFL light bulbs were $33.66 (free shipping) and offered instead $30.
It turns out that both these items were from the same seller and they accepted my offers for light bulbs so my total was $135 (free shipping) for 27 floodlights and 32 light bulbs. Had I I just “Buy It Now” shelled out $165.98, so I saved $30.98 which still would have been cheaper than buying from the store/online.
I want to get a few 75watt equivalent CFL bulbs since CFL bulbs tend to be “softer” lighting and in some areas want it to be a little brighter but can hold off on it unless my “Best Offer” for another auction for 75 watt CFL’s goes through.
*UPDATE* Seller accepted my bid offer of $10 each for (2x)12 pack of 75 watt bulbs instead of $14.95 (Shipping $10 each for USPS Priority).
I think I’ll be set for life when it comes to bulbs but I think I did pretty well considering I paid only $3.89 per floodlight (looking online average prices for floodlights ~$6-$9 apiece) and $0.94 per light bulb (quick look online for cheapest CFL bulb was around $2.00 but usually ranged a little bit higher)
My primary goal here is to cut back on energy usage of the current light bulbs even though I did shell out $135 dollars which I think in the long scheme of things, should come out ahead for not only buying energy efficient bulbs(hence save on electrical bill) but also buying in bulk.
I’m not quite sure what I’ll will be doing with all the incandescent bulbs I will have left over because I’ll have a boat load…
*So don’t forget to do a “Best Offer” when you can on eBay and be able to save, especially if you are buying in bulk!
-Clayton
