Creditcardfree's Personal Finance Blog

Our auto insurance increased six months ago and now has decreased. We will save about $5/month or $30 for six months. It gets confusing when they make changes to premiums even though we did not make any changes ourselves.

When the policy renewal came, it was mentioned that we could sign up for accident forgiveness for less than $1/month. Turns out for us, it is $0.24 per month or $2.88 per year. I decided to sign up. The benefits outway the costs!

We pay for our auto insurance every six months, but save for it each pay day in our escrow account. Right now I put $78 away each payday towards auto insurance and other non monthly bills. You can see our details on Escrow Account page on my sidebar. I'm not going to adjust the savings because of this auto premium change. It just means there will be a little extra available should any other items increase.

How often do you pay for auto insurance? Monthly? Semiannually?

My ebay auctions just ended. I sold 5 items for $41.01! Two auctions did not sell. I'm not going to list those again right now.

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $46.40

I've been in need of a winter coat for awhile. In became quite dire, last weekend when my zipper decided to start ripping away from the coat.

Yesterday, I hit the jackpot at Kohl's. Most of their coats are now on clearance, ranging from 60% to 80% off. I picked up a Columbia 3 in 1 coat. The original tag reads $220. It was 80% off yesterday. I had an additional 15% off purchase coupon. With tax, I paid $39.64 for this great coat. You have no idea how excited I am!

It is a little amusing to me that I did get this coat. I tried it on before Christmas when it was on a regular sale of 40% off. At the time, I couldn't justify the expense to myself. On Monday, I was at Kohl's and this same coat was only 30% off. I skipped this one, but looked at others and didn't buy because the sizes were wrong in the others. This led me to another Kohl's on Friday to find the size I wanted in this other coat. The second choice coat was not marked down nearly as much as the one I ended up buying. It just seems to have worked out! I love it when that happens.

I wore it yesterday while I shoveled the driveway. It was very warm. Yipee!

I made another half.com sale today! I will add $5.39 to my Ebay challenge totals. I have 7 listings on Ebay that end Sunday, so I will have another update then.

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89
February: $5.39

I didn't get the email about the half.com sale until late this afternoon, after the mailman had come by already. I will mail the item tomorrow. If I can fit the item in my mailbox, I save myself the trip of going to the post office.

I converted two thirds of our Traditional IRA accounts to Roth IRA's today. It's a bit scary to pull the trigger, when you know it is a taxable event.

I'm have already looked into the tax consequences and they are quite favorable for us as most of our earned income will not be taxed this year due to the combat zone exclusion. Of course, we still have to pay taxes, but not much different than a normal year for us.

I will decide about the remainder of the IRA balances later.

is becoming flush with funds! I usually don't hold any money in there, but with the ongoing ebay sales the funds are accumulating.

Yesterday, Powell's books deposited my proceeds from the books I sent them. They did reject one small paperback and deducted $0.50 for it. I'm okay with that.

I also decided to let Pinecone Research start depositing my survey payments in my paypal account as well. I look forward to getting paid more quickly! Now, I just need them to send me another survey. It seems like they have dried up a bit. My last paid survey with them was early January and before that it was in October.

Right now, I'm thinking I will just hold on to my paypal funds. I might designate it the Christmas fund or at some point cash out and send it to the home equity loan. The latter is probably the best idea. We'll see if I need it to make my mid March goal.

My girls are home early today from school. We pulled out the red and pink construction paper and made heart decorations for the house. The front window is overflowing with hearts now.

My youngest still exchanges with classmates at school. She made her Valentines out of pink and red card stock we already owned. She stenciled on some decor in marker. She is writing each name, as well as her own. We also bought a bag of Jolly Rancher's to attach one candy to each valentine card. I spent about $2!

Did you every think what a 'jolly rancher' must look like when you buy those candies? For some reason I find it a bit humorous!

There will not be any other big spending on Valentine's here. We usually keep it low key with a normal dinner by candle light. The girls think it is fantastic!

Do you do anything special for Valentine's day? Is it frugal or extravagant?

Finally! I get to report that the balance on our home equity loan is lower.

I made a regular payment on Friday. The principal portion was $93.85. Today, I made a large extra principal payment in the amount of $906.69.

Home Equity Loan Balance = $2,999.00

We are getting closer to getting this paid in full. I hope to finish it off in March if some extra money from the Army comes to fruition. Fingers are crossed!

I just sold 4 more items on ebay this evening for $23.67! I also listed another 7 items that will end next Sunday. These new sales mean my total for the Ebay challenge this month is twice my goal of $100!

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $201.89

What are you waiting for? It's time to sale that clutter on ebay!

In light of my previous post, where my husband and I determined that we will pay off our van loan before saving for a truck, I revised the 2010 goals.

1) Max out our Roth IRA's = $10,000
2) Save 7% of basic pay in TSP
3) Pay off home equity loan
4) Save money for college = $3,300
5) Add money to emergency fund = $7,000
6) Pay off van beginning balance = $19,444
7) Convert IRA's to Roth IRA's

I have deleted the goal to save for the truck in 2010. We will end up being able to save quite a bit of cash at the beginning of 2011 for the truck.

Since, I have already made one regular van payment in 2010, our current balance is now, $19,012.14. I will start a ticker on the side once this becomes our primary goal. This will not occur until at least June of this year.

It is good to have goals and know what you want to accomplish. I'm looking forward to working on this new plan!

Just had a discussion with my husband about whether to pay down the van loan or just make regular payments and save the extra funds towards his new truck. He said focus on the debt we have!

His reason was simply that he has not decided which vehicle to get when he returns from deployment. I will have about $10K to put toward this purchase even with a paid off van.

Obviously, I'm still first and foremost focused on the home equity loan. Following that will be the van loan.

I updated our 2010 financial goals on my page to the left. Previously, I had left the amounts blank. I did not know at the time what amounts I could allocate to each area. Now I know.

1) Max out our Roth IRA's = $10,000
2) Save 7% of basic pay in TSP
3) Pay off home equity loan
4) Save money for college = $3,300
5) Add money to our emergency fund = $7,000
6) Pay down van loan = $7,500
7) Save cash for a truck = $7,350
8) Convert IRA's to Roth IRA's

I'm not entirely decided about paying extra on the van loan. It is at 3.9% interest rate. The next truck loan will probably be higher, so it may be better to simply save for the truck, to reduce the amount we would need to borrow. It's hard to decide when it is over a year away.

I'm just realizing that most of our goals are saving! Cool.

I made another sale on half.com! I actually sold two dvd's to one customer. My net proceeds were $6.13.

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
January: $178.22

What is up with half.com's notification of sales? I actually went to the site early this morning and it didn't show any new sales. Then around 11am today, I receive an email about the sales that was stamped 3:44am! What? Half.com could you improve your notification, please!!

I found some more items to sell on ebay. It looks like I will have at least 7 listings to start on Sunday.

I usually leave my husband's things alone. But I did ask yesterday, if he had any books to get rid of. He brought me 5 out of probably the 15 he owns! One will be a money maker since it is a recent book release. The others will go on half.com until the next garage sale.

Since last summer, I have had the girls Bratz dolls, Barbie dolls and My Little Pony's to get rid of. I tried listing the Bratz dolls on craigslist, but did not get a response. I might try that route again with all three items. They do sell on ebay, but because shipping can be high for a big lot, the price people pay isn't what I want out of them. I don't believe we have anything rare that would bring a higher price. I will keep thinking about it.

I'm having a good time with the sales. I'm very motivated with this goal this year!!

I e-filed our taxes last Wednesday. Both were accepted in less than 24 hours!

I can see that the state refund is a pending deposit in our checking account for tomorrow. I expect to see our federal refund on Friday, since that is the expected deposit date they listed when our return was accepted.

Fast. I like fast.

I hope to get some of this money in to our home equity loan next week. I will finally get to write an update!!

I sold a CD on Half.com today. My net profit after the commission and shipping is $1.28. Can't complain, right?

Ebay Challenge Totals:
January $172.09

I already have a bid on one of my ebay items this week. I also have people watching two of the other three. The auctions still have six more days to go, so I'm very pleased.

Last night all three of my auctions sold!! I'm amazed sometimes at what people will pay for things. It is always a nice surprise.

My total sales were $46.49. I sold four items between the three auctions. Much better than a garage sale!

Ebay Challenge Totals:
January $170.81

I have another set of 4 auctions up for this week. They are primarily books. I will spend some of my time this week, getting auctions ready to start on Sunday. I might as well keep going, since it is going so well.

I think we can convert our Roth IRA's in 2010 without any money out of pocket. In fact, I expect we will still get a refund.

Approximate calculations:
$54,940 AGI
($12,100) itemized deductions
($14,600) personal exemptions (4)
$23,240 Taxable Income

$3,398 Tax before credits
($2,000) Child tax credits (2)
($400) Retirement savings credit
$998 Total Tax

$814 Withholding
$800 Making work pay credit
$1,614 Total Payments

Payments - Tax = $616 Refund

AGI includes 2010 taxable income, roth conversions, interest income and 2009 state refund. Most of our income in 2010 will be non taxable because of it will be earned in a combat zone.

We qualify, just barely income wise, for the retirement saver's credit on our 2010 roth contributions, which we will max out this year.

I'm being very conservative with our itemized deductions as well. We may end up donating more or having a little bit more interest to deduct since we have yet to pay off the home equity loan.

If I convert less money to the roth's we could actually qualify for the earned income tax credit. Crazy. Financially, it will be our best year yet. One scenario I ran where we qualified for the EITC, we would receive a refund of $2875.

Can you see anything wrong with the detailed plan above?

Our garage door opener decided to stop working on Thursday. It would hum like the motor was running or stuck, but the door or the chain wouldn't move. My husband thought it needed a tension adjustment. Nope. Our guess is that a part was stripped out and was no longer connecting to the motor.

It really was not the best time to replace this item. Not monetarily, but just time wise. My husband's time at home is becoming more and more limited. I thought this is not something that has to be replaced. It is a convenience item. I'm strong and healthy enough to lift a garage door up and down. No big deal.

My husband thought otherwise. He spent his Thursday evening buying a new garage door opener and installing it. Only took 2.5 hours. We bought the same brand and type and only replaced the main component and the rail. All other wiring remained intact.

Cost: $148

It is nice to have it working, of course. The decision was so quick, I just hope it was the right one. Maybe the stripped part could have been replaced cheaper. But how easily to find the part? How easy to replace? We won't ever know...because we made a quick decision. Lucky for us, the decision isn't going to break the bank.

Does this happen to you? Do you make quick decisions? Do you wonder if they are more costly?

On Tuesday, I listed 36 items on half.com. It was a little tedious getting everything listed, but I did it.

I already made one sale! It was for a children's book that I listed for $0.99. Funny thing too. There was only one book listed of this same title. It was listed for over $300! Crazy. I guess I'm a little more reasonable. This was not more than a $4 book from Scholastic. Ours was in good shape, except for a cut on the cover which I disclosed.

Half.com reimburses for shipping at the media mail rate. I was able to ship this very small paperback book first class for less. I netted $1.56. I bet I would have only received a quarter at a garage sale.

Small sale, but they do all add up. Who else has books listed on half.com? It doesn't cost anything to list. If they don't sell, you are not out anything. I have a book that has been listed for at least 6 months and still hasn't sold!

I had to compete online yesterday with all the other military members to obtain my husband's W2! Once that was obtained, I plugged the numbers into the online tax program. We are using taxactonline.com. I paid $17.95 to print, and efile both income tax returns.

The result is a refund from both the federal and state governments. Unfortunately, the refund is more than expected. Seriously, I can never get us to zero!! I try. I really do.

Federal Refund: $399
State Refund: $728
Total Reunds: $1,127

I was only expecting around $700 total. I'm sure I can find a place to put the extra $400+ !

Currently, I'm holding on to extra cash. With deployment nearing, my husband has expenses that I can't quite anticipate. Last week he bought a new duffel bag and tshirts. We spent about $100!

At some point...that home equity loan will be paid off. Maybe even in one lump sum!

Anyone else have their taxes done?

First of all, I keep thinking about Monkey Mama and her husband. I don't remember the exact surgery date. It could be today. Yesterday? Not sure. My prayers and thoughts are focused on a good outcome. Send your own positive vibe their way if you feel so inclined!

A benefit of participating in a combat zone is tax free income. My husband is going to get a bonus month of tax free income because of a 10 day trip to the 'zone' in the near future. Actually, you only need one day in the 'zone' to qualify! We still pay Medicare and Social Security taxes.

This extra month only helps convince me that we should convert our IRA's to Roth's this year. I just want to know what it will end up costing us. I think we have at least $30K that we could convert. Of course, we don't have to convert it all. If I remember correct, we can split the tax bill between 2010 and 2011. I wonder if it has to be an even split?

Ebay update: I have three items listed and two already have bids!! I also found several books that I think will sell best on ebay, so I will get those up this Sunday.

Kids are home because of ice. We are getting 1/2 inch or so. I think school may be extended until mid June!!

Check out my previous posts you may have missed while the servers were down.

I sold 15 books to Powells.com last night for $17.25. Most of these were children's books. This is the first site I have found to accept these types of books for cash. Yipee!

They didn't accept all of the books I have, so I will be listing quite a few on half.com until the garage sale comes around.

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
Jan: $122.76

New Purge Point Total: 114

Wow! I'm already ahead of my self imposed goal of $100 for the ebay challenge.

I sold 15 cd's for cash earlier this week for $57.56. I am still waiting on the checks, of course.

Last night, I had 5 of 7 listings sell on ebay. The sales were $47.95! Three people have paid. I'm waiting on the other two. I relisted one item and added two new items that will end this Sunday. (For the purge: the 5 listings were equal to 8 items)

2010 Ebay Challenge Total
Jan: $105.51

I'm going to keep working on this challenge hard now, while I'm motivated, since I'm working toward an average of $100 per month for the whole year.

Purge Points
Previous Total 45
New Total 69

I have found nearly all of the tax forms that financial firms we do business with are online. The 1098's from the mortgage companies were both online. I was able to download the 1099-INT from our money market account as well.

Next week I hope to be able to get my husband's W2 online as well. Actually, that is the only form I'm waiting for. I will probably have filed our taxes by this time next week! Cool, huh?

The 1099G from our state came in the mail, so not everything is available online. But it sure doesn't hurt to start entering the information from the tax forms as you can get your hands on them.

Do you have a place to put the tax forms you receive yet? If not, get out a folder now so you have one place to go to when you do your tax return.

I use a basic folder and actually write notes on the inside of the folder. I include a list of tax documents I need and check them off once I have entered them in. I also use it to make some calculations. Although maybe not the best idea, I listed the user name and password for the online program I'm using this year.

Tax filing can be quick and painless if you are organized and stay on top of the things you need. Need a hint about what you need? Look in last year's tax file or a copy of your 2008 return.

Happy tax filing!

We made our donation to the American Red Cross today. This is an organization that we feel good about donating to because they help all people regardless of race or religion. They provide a critical role to US military families as well.

There are many ways to donate without laying out the cash in your pocket. You can donate airline miles and hotel rewards. You can give blood. You can even send instant messages to your friends and Microsoft will donate funds on your behalf (sign up here).

If you have some spare change you can turn it in at a Coinstar machine and request it be donated to the Red Cross, one of several organizations. Find a location here. I also noticed yesterday when I sold my used cd's that a portion of my proceeds could have been sent to the red cross. It appeared to be a regular offering at preplayeddiscs.com. You could sell a used game, cd or dvd to help out those in need.

After 9/11, we donated on a monthly basis to the Red Cross for at least a year. I had it set up to send automatically through bill pay I believe. I'm not sure why we stopped. I need to get that started again!

I might have mentioned that we went through our movies and music recently. I finally got around to selling 15 CD's to two different companies that buy them. My total is $57.56! I'm getting a good start on my sales challenge.

The best deal was for a copy of Annie, the original motion picture soundtrack. The company is paying me $22.64!! Ebay recently sold one for $46. I thought about selling ours that way, but as time went on they were selling for less and less, so I decided this was the best way to guarantee a decent amount of cash! Seriously. Check and see what your stuff sells for online, you may be surprised.

I sold our discs to secondspin and preplayeddiscs.

Purge Points: 45

I'm off to recycle about 80 other compact discs (at Best Buy) that were back ups for various things. Quite a few were TV shows DH's brother copied for him last time he was overseas. I guess no desire to rewatch!

I just finished building our new computer, a laptop, through Dell.com. I am really pleased with the price. Before shipping and taxes the computer is $494. Last month when I built the same computer it was over $600!

Thanks, Mrs. for the coupon code. It definitely saved me money.

The computer will be my primary computer soon when my husband travels with our current laptop overseas. I'm looking forward to Windows 7. Vista is making me crazy!!

Our home equity loan.
I want to pay it off quick.
It occupies too many of my thoughts.
Today I had a new thought.
Pay it off in a year.
Additional payment per month: $232
Seems easy enough.
I'll think about it.

Was that a poem? If not, just thoughts!

I spent the day sewing a tote bag for my neice that will turn 6 later this month. It turned out great! The fabric was $2 on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I only needed to use thread and interfacing that I already had. It will have to be mailed. Six year olds like gifts in the mail, right?

I also made a fabric pouch that measures about 6 inches x 5 inches. I will give it as a gift as well.

I've been thinking of quite a few things I could make to give as gifts this year. Here's an initial idea list: pajama pants, pillow case, napkins, coasters, placemats, throw size quilt. I even have instructions to make a purse and a stuffed turtle! It is exciting to think about all the possibilities.

My oldest daughter made some coasters yesterday. She is really getting the hang of sewing. She's about to learn how to sew a zipper in her sewing class at school. I just taught myself today!!

I just need to keep the cost of fabric low by watching sales and picking through clearance fabric.

Do you know how to sew? What kinds of things do you make?