SmartyPig

I finally signed up for an account with SmartyPig. I heard about it when they first came into existence, but I didn't like some of their terms & conditions. Then they changed their policies, but I was actively in debt-reduction mode and didn't have any extra money to set aside towards savings goals or expenditures.

Now I'm nearing the point of being able to really start saving aggressively. My credit card will be paid off by July 1st, and Hubby's credit cards will be paid off within a year (hopefully sooner!). We delayed some home improvement projects that we had planned on doing this year, to give us more time and money to devote towards other things.

I'm sort of testing the waters with SmartyPig, so I only set up one goal initially. Once I get comfortable, and my last credit card is fully paid off, I'll set up a few other goals.

Here are our goals for this year:

1. Vacations/Travel: $3,000.
2. Home Improvement: $2,000.
3. Fun Money (for big-ticket items): $750
4. Car Insurance Renewal: $750
5. Savings/2nd Mortgage debt reduction: $7,000

So has anyone else tried out SmartyPig? Any opinions, reviews, likes/dislikes?

Updated Progress Bars

I updated all of our debts today, including the progress bars on the right side of the page.

Car Loans: $10,725

Credit Cards: $17,671

Student Loans: $49,575

Mortgage: $164,077

That means we paid off $2053 in debt principal (including $171 on the mortgage) during the month of April... which doesn't seem too bad.

It's hard to imagine having that much extra money in our bank account each month, if we didn't have to make nearly $800 in car payments, $300+ in student loan payments, etc.

Status Report, as of 4/30

We made a small dent in credit cards this month:

His: $13,634

Hers: $3,899

TOTAL: $17,533

We're waiting on a few refund checks to come - our state income taxes (just over $400), and a refund of overpayment to our mortgage escrow account ($1375). Those will be put straight towards credit cards, and we don't have any major expenses this month - so by early June, we will probably be able to knock out my credit card completely, and have Hubby's paid down to around $12,500!

I went on Kelly Blue Book this week to find out how much our cars are worth. One is worth about $6k, the other is around $9k. We currently owe $3k & $8k - so we actually have a tiny bit of equity in each car! We have absolutely no plans to sell either car anytime soon, but it's nice to know that we could get rid of either one and still come out ahead.

Slow Progress

Things have been pretty tight lately, and we're not making much headway. Last month I only paid the minimums on my credit cards, so that I could set aside the rest to put towards several upcoming expenses:

We thought we were going to owe $1300 in income taxes to the IRS, due to some errors with our employers withholding too little, but it looks like it'll come out closer to $600 (and we will be getting a refund of close to $500 from state). It will be close to a wash in the end, but we need to front the $600 payment. We still haven't filled out our tax returns, so I don't know the exact amount.

Our car insurance renewals are due, for both vehicles, just shy of $1000 for six months. It's predictable (every April & October), but this time our premiums went up. Nothing we did, but the insurance company said that they've had more claims than usual (with most makes/models), and when that happens it means they adjust premiums upward.

Hubby spent $700 (he has a $2000 annual budget for discretionary 'big-ticket' items, like a computer), and we've got about $500 in normal springtime house expenses (weed killer, pesticide, grass seed, new mulch & topsoil, minor maintenance items).

We also have several smaller expenses over the next few weeks: a new windshield ($300), traffic fines ($125), vet bills ($150), water/sewer ($90), quarterly student loan ($120), wedding gifts ($150), wedding apparel/accessories ($75).

Prepay Rent?

Earlier today I had a discussion with a friend who is planning to move later this spring. Her & her husband are going to try to negotiate a lower monthly rent amount, and are going to offer to prepay a significant amount (6-12 months) if the landlord or management company will agree to reduce the payment by about $100/mo (roughly 15%).

I think this is a really bad idea; it seems like they would be putting themselves at significant risk with little room for recourse if something bad happened. When I pointed that out, they didn't seem to think it was a problem (or even a real risk). Some specific scenarios that would concern me:

- The building catches fire and is damaged or destroyed. Renters insurance only covers the contents, so although the owner would likely have insurance to rebuild, they would need to find another place to stay (and it takes time for insurance claims to get processed). The insurance won't refund prepaid rent, so they would need to get that back from the landlord (possibly by filing suit, if things turn sour).

- The building has plumbing or mechanical problems (a pipe freezes then bursts, or the boiler/furnace goes out for several days, etc.) and the building or their apartment unit becomes uninhabitable, they have to trust that the landlord will take care of it expeditiously.

- If any repairs are necessary and the landlord isn't responsive, they have no real recourse to make sure the repairs get done. Typically, tenants are legally allowed to hire someone to make repairs (if the landlord doesn't take care of necessary repairs in a timely manner), and then deduct the cost of the repairs (with receipt) from their rent payment. Since they'll have already paid, there's nothing they can do except wait or pay out of pocket.

- The biggest concern, if the owner gets into financial trouble and can no longer afford to pay his mortgage. They will have prepaid the rent, but if the landlord stops paying and is foreclosed on or sells to someone else, all they have is a piece of paper saying that they've paid. The new owner may not want to honor that contract, and could make life very difficult and unpleasant for them (which could also go back to the repairs/maintenance thing too). I think, technically, the contract would still be valid, but they may have to go to court (which means attorney & court fees) to have it upheld. And if they tried to recover any of that prepaid rent from the owner, they would likely just be one of many lien holders (that would go away if he/she declared bankruptcy).

How much is too much?

Hubby & I have been talking through plans for the next year or two. Not surprisingly, we aren't really on the same page.

I want to pay off the credit card debt, then aggressively tackle our 2nd mortgage. While we're working on that, I'd also like to cashflow several home renovation projects.

He has his eyes on a brand-new $38,000 sports car (financed, not saving up for a few years to buy it with cash). In the meantime, he's planning to buy some new electronics and go on a few trips.

I'm not sure that there's any middle ground that we can both agree on. I think one or both of us will end up not getting what we want.

Swagbucks Update

I wanted to give an update on my Swagbucks earnings so far.

I'm still only using Swagbucks as a search engine, I haven't attempted to earn any extra bucks by completing offers or buying stuff. But in just over 3 weeks, I've earned 45 Swagbucks, which is equivalent to a $5 Amazon gift card. The cost for other prizes varies greatly, and there is a complete listing here - but the Amazon gift card seems like the most practical overall. Over an entire year, that would be $75-100 in free money just for using the search a handful of times each day.

I haven't had anyone else sign up using my referral link (anyone, please?!), but I think how it works is that I get extra Swagbucks whenever people I refer get them - so I could pretty easily double or triple my rewards. I guess in that regard, it's sort of a Ponzi-type setup.... but it's legit.