Renting Vs. Owning A Home, And The Impact On Our Finances

I wrote quite awhile ago about Renting Vs. Owning your own home.
To update, we put our house on the market mid to late january, had a buyer with our first showing, and finally closed late April. We've been renting since the beginning of March though, as we decided to vacate our house while we had the time. We have now lived in our rental for three months, and have been paying rent for four months.

Renting has it's ups and downs to be honest. My dishwasher just broke, and all I had to do was call the property management office and they took care of it. Now it's fixed! With our house, we had a European dishwasher that was broken, and we didnt even bother to fix it because the service fee alone for a company that could fix it was $125.00. And we just didn't have the money. My rental is being fixed up outside, painted, new trim etc. We have a fence too. Unfortunately, we didn't have the money for any of that when we owned our home. I guess a downside to renting is that it just isn't ours. I can't really see too many "downs" to renting right now to be honest with you.

So, the impact on our finances...

Our mortage payment, with taxes, and insurance included was $1863.00 a month. Ouch! Our rent here is $1025.00. We also do not have a water bill anymore, as we're on a well, so that has saved us $50.00 a month. Just with those factors, we're saving $888.00 a month!!

We did splurge and enroll at the YMCA, which costs us $77.50. That brings us to $810.00 a month saved.

Our middle child is no longer in pre-k, so I am saving money on that, but I also use the money from her pre-k to go to childcare at the YMCA for the baby when I work out. So that balances itself out.

We've also added internet costs, as we purchased a much needed computer with our tax returns. My hubby also has internet for his lap top, so both internet costs are around $100.00 a month, bringing us down to $710.00 a month saved. However, our home internet bill will go up another $20 in a few months, but that doesn't bother me at all. So we're saving around $700 a month, give or take a few bucks.

Now, we have not started a savings account yet, as we're waiting for the summer miles for my hubby to start rolling in. That has just started happening, so I will be doing that shortly.

We don't have a lot of debt, just our van, and two small credit cards. Our credit card balances are less than $1500 together and our van is around $11,800.00. I always pay more than the minimum of the credit cards, and we just pay the van as it is, the payment due each month.

We still hope to purchase another home, but it probably won't be here. We plan to move out of state to somewhere cheaper. And probably not for at least 3-5 years. We want to have a nice sizeable downpayment for a nice sizeable house on some property.

And don't forget, I have posted a few times today, so don't forget to read those as well. I updated on my weight loss!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

Well, yesterday marked the last chapter in our home-owning adventure. The title recorded and the house is no longer ours. I'm ok actually. I feel more at home in this house now, and it is such a relief not to have to pay the mortgage anymore ;o)

Next in our lives comes saving for another downpayment. We hope to buy in another 3 or 5 years.

And tying in with the post again, today we said goodbye to diapers. I am potty training our youngest, who is just aout 26months old. Wish me luck! I go straight to cotton pants and diaper covers, so that means no pull ups either. I'm a little nervous, but hopefully it will turn out ok.

We're Even Closer

I just got notification from our Real Estate Agent that everything on the buyer's end has been approved!! That's great news for us, as it means we will close EARLY, and even better than that...we're closing NEXT WEEK!!!! WooHoo!! Yeah, we won't get to keep our awesome fridge, but what is better, keeping our credit and avoiding a foreclosure, or keeping a good fridge? At least I was able to purchase a new washer and dryer last month right?

So next week is proving to be quite hectic already. Tuesday our daughter has a dental appointment, Wednesday we have a WIC appointment, Thursday I have my MOM's group to attend, and I have to fit the closing in between that too. But the kids will be back to school, and I will only have the youngest in the mornings. I have actually enjoyed the laid back pace of spring break much more than I thought I would. It has been so relaxing, even though I am still battling my cold.

So off to prepare dinner...or should I say, re-heating last night's Papa Murphy's Pizza. Oh...I forgot to mention my pizza savings! We have a stamp card with Papa Murphy's. Once you accrue 12 stamps, you are given $10 off any pizza order. So last night the kids and I ordered two pizzas, and I also had a $2 off coupon. I was able to get a 2 liter of Pepsi, a Family size Chicago style and a Family size Hawaiin for only $16.46 because I had accrued my 12 stamps. If you want to break that down, with 5 of us eating for two nights (as dear hubby is not home), that is only $1.64 per person, per meal. I think that's pretty good, if you ask me.

Ok, a whiny toddler is forcing me to get off of here...I need to get the kids fed!

Housing Inspection

I found out today that our house was inspected by the buyers. Their inspector is an idiot. When we left, the last day my husband turned off the breakers for the hot water heater and the stove because we didn't want to pay for electricity while we were not living there. So the inspection was done and the inspector said our hot water heater was broken...he didn't even check the fuse box. What a dumbass. I am just baffled.
But the good news is that the closing should finally be done in a couple weeks. I need to go sign off on some papers on monday, but everything seems to be going full steam ahead.

And another plus...I've lost 8lbs!!! I'm pretty happy about it because I have a long road ahead of me with the weight loss issue. I have to admit, I have let myself go and it went too far. Now I am on the road to a lower weight and a healthier body. I should be getting a gym membership in a few weeks hopefully!!