Someday A Goat

Better lucky than good

We absolutely love our house, and could stay here indefinitely if we needed to. According to Zillow, we either got a screaming deal on our house, or it hasn't lost any value in the year that we've lived in it. And I'm so glad we bought last year, even if it was the top of the market.

Most of our down payment was in the stock market, especially in financial stocks (I know, I know, it should not have been in the stock market, I won't make that mistake again). I look at what the prices on stocks I sold are today compared to March/April 2007 - October 2007, when we liquidated the down payment, and I thank my lucky stars that we found our house when we did.

We looked for a house for almost exactly a year, and between drive-bys, online searching and the 60+ houses we visited with the realtor, we must have considered more than 400 houses all told. Once we found this one, it was less than two weeks until we had a contract and closing date on it. The timing could not have been better.

If we hadn't found this house, it would have probably been years before I felt comfortable enough to sell portfolio positions for a down payment. And even with 20% down, we may not have qualified for the mortgage since our credit history is short (long for our age, but short in general terms). Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

What have we learned in our first year of homeownership?

• Homeownership is more expensive than just mortgage, property taxes and insurance. This is no big surprise to anyone I'm sure, but it's still a shock to the budget system. Our utilities went up with the larger square footage. Pest control, cleaning the gutters--basic maintenance needs to be done. Despite the fact we lived on our own for more than 5 years before buying a house (almost 10 for me if you count college years), we still needed quite a few things when we moved in--trashcans, a hose, a rake, an extra set of bedding and pillows for the guest bed, shower curtains and rings, this list goes on and on. We still don't have a ladder.

• Having the previous owners patch and paint all holes in the wall was one of the best things we put into the contract. If you are going to paint anyway, there wouldn't be as much benefit, but we liked most of the colors they had on the walls, so this cut down on annoying tasks in the first couple of weeks.

• A bigger living space can be overwhelming to clean, but having closets to put clutter away in can make it easier in some ways.

• It's much easier to cook when your kitchen is larger than 12 square feet.

• Unless you make a conscious effort, your house will slowly start to look like Halloween all year long and eventually be consumed by spider webs.

• Don't do anything besides basic maintenance and cleaning in the yard for the first year. We had quite a few wonderful plants that came up this past spring and summer that might have been unknowingly dug up had we done a yard rehaul in the spring.

• Lots of hardwood trees = backbreaking work in the fall. Last year, we spent 8+hours every weekend, both of us working hard to get all the leaves up. This year, my husband was given an early christmas present--a backpack leaf blower. My love of fall has returned.

• I have no idea how often ovens should be cleaned, but ours really needs it.

• If you don't check your furnace, when you first turn it on, it will scare the crap out of you by filling the first floor and basement with smoke as the dust of the past summer burns off. Fire extinguishers in the utility room and the kitchen are a good thing for peace of mind, even if you don't use them (we have one upstairs too). And none of our smoke alarms went off. Guess what task is getting added to the list of things to do when the time changes every year? Checking the batteries in the smoke alarms and looking at the expiration date on all the extinguishers in the house.

• Some boxes won't be unpacked until you've been in a new house for 7 months. A grueling social, wedding and travel calendar may or may not have something to do with this.

One year in the new house

Today is the first anniversary of closing on our new house. At this time 1 year ago, we were just finishing up the closing process and getting ready to head over to unload the first round of boxes. It's hard to believe that a year went so quickly.

This morning I made sure to call our insurance agent to confirm that our homeowner's insurance renewal went through. Since it's been escrowed throughout the year, I just assumed that the payment would automatically be made. Earlier this month, however, while I was online scheduling the mortgage payment, I received a notice that I had to authorize the payment.

I can see why this is necessary, if the homeowner wanted to switch insurance companies, an automated payment without authorization might cause a giant headache. I'm really glad that I pay attention to the emails and alerts from our mortgage company, otherwise we might have not been covered for a few days until I noticed. Like everything else in becoming a homeowner, you live and you learn.

Save that bacon fat

We tend to like very rich foods, and compensate by not eating huge portions. Sunday breakfasts are somewhat of a tradition, I do coupons while my husband does breakfast. Eggs, bacon and a grain--grits, toast, waffles, etc. He usually does the bacon first and leaves it in the oven at 185F. This is one of his best techniques for keeping the timing of the dishes ideal so that everything is ready at the same time without sacrificing quality.

After the fat left in the pan cools a little, it goes into a leftover salsa jar (we keep all glass jars of a useful shape--others get recycled--just happens that it's usually salsa). Sometimes we end up with a couple of jars of bacon fat in the fridge, so we have to control the inventory.

Use small dollops of bacon fat here and there in lieu of olive oil or butter, or maybe just a portion, depending on the type of recipe. I know this doesn't sound healthy, but believe me, a small bit goes a very long way to adding tastiness and a little variety. Moderation is key.

Works especially well with: green beans and other vegetables, rice/quinoa/grain cooking, stir fry. I occasionally use bacon fat to grease the pan when I'm baking cornbread. It's about getting mileage out of your food, butter and oil can be expensive when you use high-quality products, and we almost always have some bacon fat on hand. My grandmother used bacon fat in just the same way, and almost reached 90 years old.

Obviously, if you struggle with health issues, this route is not for you. But for us, bacon fat stretches our food dollar just a tad further, and allows us to change it up every once in a while.

Is the marine and fish store doing that well?

I was catching up on my Suze Orman episodes last week, and while watching her 10/18/08 episode, I saw local commercial for fish/marine store down the street from our house. It occurred to me that the store must be doing well in the down economy to be doing TV ads. Of course, the price for spots has probably gone way down with ad budgets starting to get cut as current contracts expire. How well must the business be run for it to be advertising when discretionary spending is going down? Or maybe it's a last-ditch effort for extra sales, although the store has been there for years.

My husband has more experience with broadcast, and he did make the good point that it's a Saturday evening show on cable. We'd have to look closer at her ratings to see whether they've been going up lately, but my guess is yes.

The marine store could also be well-positioned to take advantage of inexpensive advertising--maybe with additional online sales? I'm tempted to drop by next time I'm in the area just for a look-see.

Linkity Link 10.24.08

Yay! I finally slogged through all the unread items in my feed reader (I had a family emergency two weeks ago, and the feed reader has been stuck at about 600 unread items out of my 96 subscriptions, no matter how I tried).

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye this week:

Dollar Cost Averaging vs. Value Averaging Patrick at Cash Money Life has a good explanation of two similar investment cost averaging strategies. Not that I have any extra money to be investing at the moment, but if I did, I would seriously be considering value averaging.

Journal Live I think I might try this download mentioned on Lifehacker at work (I'm on Windows at work, Macs at home), although I'm a little scared about what the results might show about how much time I'm actually spending on "real" work.  

Crockpot rotisserie chicken We ate rotisserie chicken at least once a week before our grocery store raised the price on them, and this post from A Year of Crockpotting might just be the ticket to one of our easiest standby meals.

Lentil Love If I've ever seen an all-encompassing post on a foodstuff that manages to remain short enough to be readable, this is it. From Wise Bread. 

Small Business Pitfalls Part 2 Also from Wise Bread, this post is particularly relevant for anyone starting up.

On sale until Wednesday at Publix

Atlanta-area Publix sales I have my eye on.

Publix Thur 10/16/08 - Wed 10/21/08
Campbell's select soup/select harvest B1G1 (C)
Fresh Express salad blend B1G1
Celestial Seasonings B1G1 (C)
**Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats B1G1
Publix lemon pepper rotisserie chick 7.09--Prices on these just went up in the past month from $6.49, so this is still more expensive than we're used to, but it's one of our favorite flavors.
Idaho potatoes $0.79/lb
fun size Nestle, Mars B1G1 (C)
Hebrew National kosher beef franks 2/$6
whole boneless pork loin 2.19/lb
asparagus 2.99/lb
green bell peppers 1.49/lb
sweet onions .99/lb
Motts Apple juice 64 oz 3/$6
**Betty Crockers fruit snacks B1G1 (C)
**Jif/Simply Jif 2/$4--I got so excited that peanut butter was on sale again at the store yesterday, that I accidentally got the regular Jif instead of Simply Jif. I think I'm going to go ahead with Simply Jif as well--we eat a lot of peanut butter.
Daisy sour cream 16 oz 3/$5
Cabot cheese 2/$5
Green Giant frozen vegetables 7 -10 oz 10/$10
Kashi waffles 2/$4--I think we might have paid a little more for these at Kroger yesterday, I'll have to check.
Ziploc freezer or storage bags 10 -50 ct. packages 2/$7
Prilosec OTC 42-ct. 24.99

Key

** Definitely need to check out

B1G1 Buy 1 get 1

(C) Also have manufacturer's coupon

On sale this week

Some of the Atlanta-area sales that I'm thinking about. I'll definitely be buying Halloween candy this week, most likely at Walgreens. I still need to compare some of these sales with my price book before I follow through. Some, like the Cascasdian Farms frozen sale at Kroger, are so inherently good with the manufacturer's coupon that I had to go out yesterday to grab them before they ran out of stock.

 CVS Sun 10/19/08 - Sat 10/25/08
Colgate total 4.2 oz BIGI (C)
Progresso B1-2.99GI
coke 3/$10, $2 ECB
**Mars fun size candy 2/$5 (C $1/2)
Windex, scrubbing bubbles 2/$5 (C)
Neutrogena 40% off
Cetaphil 16 oz 9.99 (C)--As I went through the fliers, I realized that Walgreens is selling this same size, plus a bonus soap, for $3 less. Wow!
Dove Bar soap 2/$5 (C)

Target Sun 10/19/08 - Sat 10/25/08
3M Filtrete microallergen furnace filter 8.99
Bounty 12-pack giant roll (=18 reg) 14.99
Covergirl mascara 5.79 (C)
Prilosec 42-ct 24.99

Rite Aid Sun 10/19/08 - Sat 10/25/08
Prilosec OTC 28 ct 18.99-$3 SCR = 15.99 (C)--This is a little less per unit than the other stores' sales, but I'm going to have to compare it against my CostCo price to see if it's really worth it.

Walgreens Sun 10/19/08 - Sat 10/25/08
**fun size candy, 4/$10, ($4R, $1/2C)
Tropicana 64 oz 2/$6
Haagan Dazs, 2/$5 Wcoupon
25% off 4x6 digital prints (min. 50) Wcoupon
Reynolds wrap foil, orig. 70 ft, heavy duty 45 ft, 2.79 Wcoupon
**Yardley soap, $0.69 Wcoupon
**Cetaphil 16 oz (includes free bar soap) $6.99 (C)
**Colgate total 4.2 oz (includes free toothbrush) $1.99 WCoupon (C)
Wal-Itin 30 ct, 7.99
Prilosec 42 ct 25.99 Wcoupon, (C)
**Twizzlers, $0.99 Wcoupon--We're getting ready to send a care package to my sister-in-law abroad. These are definitely going in it.

Kroger Sun 10/19/08 - Sat 10/25/08
Goldfish crackers 10/$10
**Green Giant vegetable, selected varieties 7-10 oz 10/$10 (C)
fun size candies 2/$4 (C)
jumbo sweet onion 10lb/$10
Kroger mini peeled carrots 16 oz 10/$10
**Gala apples 10lb/$10
**Revlon, Almay full lines 50% off (C)--I need some new mascara, so I might go for this.
Always, tampax 5.79
**Annie's pasta & cheese 8/$10
**Cascadian Farm frozen, 25% off (C)--Also many other frozen varieties, including Kashi and Alexia. Yum!

Key

** Definitely need to check out

B1G1 Buy 1 get 1

(C) Also have manufacturer's coupon

Wcoupon Walgreens coupon

ECB Extra Care Bucks from CVS

Renew the home warranty?

I can't believe we've almost been in the house a year, but as little as I can believe, it's come nonetheless. As with almost every milestone with the house, it involves a decision. In this case, whether to renew our home warranty. One of the stipulations in our contract was that the seller pay for a one-year home warranty not to exceed $479. It ended up costing $379. We've received several renewal notices, and have been dithering about a decision. While the coverage is good, the costs are going up significantly. The annual contract cost is going up to $472, with each service visit costing $60, up from $55 per visit.

Coverage includes:

• cooktop/oven
• electrical system
• air conditioning
• built-in microwaves
• heating system
• water heater
• ductwork
• dishwashers
• plumbing
• garbage disposals

We have friends who have gained huge value from their home warranty, replacing major appliances and systems that failed in the year after buying a house. Make no mistake, a home warranty can save you from serious struggle when you're first getting used to the new costs of home ownership on top of a mortgage.

The thing is, most of the systems in our house are pretty new. The most expensive would be the heating or A/C, with replacement costs probably around $5,000. A/C and heating systems are about 7 years old, water heater is about 4 years old, and all of the appliances are newer than we've had in any apartment. The previous owners also obviously took good care of their house. At even the worst-case scenario, we have plenty of room in the credit limit on our cards for most anything. And if that were cut for any reason, we would be able to go to family. Hopefully working on an emergency fund will mean that we can take care of those things if necessary, without a hiccup.

All considered, we're not going to renew. If we had an older house, or older systems, we would absolutely renew. The budget is tight, and if there was a chance that multiple problems would crop up at once, we would be hard pressed to deal with it. Hopefully any problems would be spread out, because we're betting on it. But we think it's an informed decision.

To note: fireplaces and chimneys are not covered, and neither are power surges or any problems like mold from a water heater breaking and leaking. The fireplace should probably be cleaned--it's been about 9 years according to the seller. But it is also a gas fireplace, so for some reason I don't feel as guilty about neglecting maintenance.

When your A/C goes out

When your A/C goes out in the middle of August in the South, it's slightly terrifying. Our A/C went out a few weeks ago, and our last two apartments have been cesspools of A/C issues. It was very disheartening to see the freon line frozen over on the main unit, which cools the basement and main level. Submitting a service request on the home warranty web site was easy and quick, and I really liked the service company that was sent out. I will most likely use them for future service. Since our upstairs unit was still functioning, waiting a day for a service appointment was fine, although we think it went out Saturday night--I noticed that it was frozen over early afternoon on Sunday in the middle of laundry and heavy cleaning. The serviceman came out on Tuesday after work, the service call was supposed to come anywhere from noon to 6 pm. I don't live far from work, and I am lucky to work for a flexible company that allows for appointments like this. It turned out that the company called at 5 pm, and the serviceman was there by the time I arrived home at 5:30.

He was friendly, open to questions and good about explaining what went wrong with the system. The capacitor on the blower in the basement had blown, and the outside unit was freezing up because it had nowhere to push the cold air. As I understand it, the capacitor acts as kind of a jump start for the blower system when it kicks in, as the system requires a large amount of energy to start. We later realized that the funny smell that kind of freaked us out Saturday night, sending us scurrying up from the basement to make sure we didn't leave a burner on or have a dryer fire, was probably the capacitor self-destructing or whatever happens when it fails. The cost to replace it was probably more or less the same as the service call charge, but we didn't have to find a reputable company in a pinch, and a home warranty does offer a peace of mind.