I have become a minimalist

Ok, so not completely, but I'm so excited I feel like I've found religion or something.

I've always been really into organizing and de-cluttering. When I go visit my mom, I choose one space to de-clutter at a time. I've done most of her house at this point.

Yesterday I drank coffee which I literally never do (blame the pumpkin spice).  I went crazy organizing and de-cluttering my apt. Now, my apt. is generally very neat, if not a bit dusty with hairballs.  But since I moved in a year or so ago, I never really organized my closets. I have more space now than I ever have, so I didn't have to make the most of it like in my old place. It bums me out on the regular when I look at my closets and they are just kind of messy. I like neatness and organization.

So yesterday I became inspired and bought two e-books on minimalism and read them both. In between, I spent probably 10 hours sorting through my stuff. For the first time, I really looked at everything and evaluated whether it was worth keeping or not. I have always thought of myself as having a pretty lean wardrobe, but I still added another 2 bags to the 1.5 I have sitting around to go to Salvation Army. I couldn't believe it! Then I threw out the packing materials I had saved from my move. Because while I am overall neat and organized and don't have a ton of "stuff" I am a hoarder with packaging. I don't know why. But I have a lot of bags and boxes stored away. It was hard, but I felt really free getting rid of some of them.

I'm traveling today and left pretty early for the airport, but I couldn't help but go through my nightstand drawer before I left (I literally have not opened it since I moved in last spring). 

I feel like my eyes have been opened. Most of the stuff that I'm storing in my closets I barely ever use!

I also realized that a lot of the extra stuff I don't use was given to me as a gift, or I got as a hand-me-down from friends.  My mother is very sweet and always brings me back a souvenir from every trip, but it's built up over the years. I'm thinking of putting all but 1-2 things in a box and packing them away.

The books I read yesterday, both of which were useful, are:

How to embrace minimalist wardrobe
Simplify

Getting Serious about Saving

This year was about spending. A LOT of $. Some of that I feel okay about because it was in theory an investment (in my apt.) or at least I view it as prepayment of rent for the future.  The rest of  my spending I feel a little less okay about. I had many one  time expenses that I don't foresee having to replicate next year. The furniture and services that came along with the apt. purchase (although I would like to hire an electrician to install a ceiling fan), a $2600 wedding gift to my brother, new toys for my latest hobby/passion.

Next year, I want to get a lot more disciplined about saving and investing. While I track my budget diligently, I  realize I don't have a target for savings. I just hired LearnVest to help me develop a financial plan for saving and investing and I told my adviser I can commit to investing $500 a month. That is balanced with the $500 a month I prepay my mortgage. Ideally I would like to save another $500 a month in just straight savings. On top of my 401K which I max out, that would put me in a good place, regardless of bonus.

I am finally getting around to reading Your Money or Your Life, which I know has changed many people's lives. So I'm excited to see how that affects me. Maybe it will make me amp up my plan even more.

All Settled

Finally I am fully moved into my new home and have all of my new financial accounts set up. The home buying process took forever i.e. about 4 months. And then getting all of my new accounts set up like the mortgage (it got sold immediately to a new servicer), new credit cards I've opened to purchase home items, new utility accounts, etc. has taken this long. I just now, a month or so into living in my new place, feel like I finally have a handle on it.

Besides home furnishing expenses (I'm not going too crazy, but there's a lot of even small things that I need like garbage pails and area rugs not mention window treatments), I just today saw my electric bill. At my old place, they usually averaged around $30 which is VERY low I know. The new bill is $90. But now I have a dishwasher, central AC and a washer and dryer, so that's the difference. However, I barely have any lights in my new apt yet (everything I want seems like it is on back order) so I wonder if this will go up even more once I actually have some lights at night.

I've decided to make additional $500 a month pre-payments towards principal. I really feel like I want to chop down the mortgage balance ASAP! I have to balance this desire with the need to keep some cash on hand, should I ever need it. Luckily the developer is still making all repairs to my apt. I've already had a plumber here 2x, an appliance repair person and the developer. That's one benefit of buying new. The cost of buying new was the transfer and other taxes. My closing costs were about 17K. Yikes! NYC is crazy with the taxes, as usual.

So far I like being a homeowner, even thought I really feel like I am just renting from the bank. I guess I own about 26% of my apt. at this point. But I hope to own a lot more over the next few years!

Still Waiting

It's May, and I am still trying to close on a condo I had an accepted offer on in early Feb. The mortgage broker I used took my application to a big bank. That bank keeps demanding more and more documents from the condo developer. I also think the mortgage broker has not been on top of it. He certainly hasn't been good about updating me. Meanwhile, I feel like my life is on hold. I haven't given notice to my landlord yet, my house is half packed and I have no idea when I am moving. I found a new mortgage lender and he seems to be a total hustler (in a good way) and I'm hopeful I can close this puppy mid-month and move by the end of the month.

Moving to the darkside

For my whole (adult) life, I've been a renter. Basically, for 15 years. For the last 10 years I've looked at buying an apt. in the NYC area. I've focused on different boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn) states (NJ) and types of places (a place in the Catskills or somewhere rural, or somewhere in the city?). As of last Sunday, I think my loooong search is just about over!

Most of my friends and family are shocked, as they think this came "out of the blue" and while I haven't actively been looking recently, I feel confident in my decision because this apartment has most of the things I've been searching for: a one bedroom plus a little more space in the form of an alcove, low monthly maintenance, no fancy amenities, in a safe, quiet neighborhood with a cool vibe, on a great subway line and close to the subway stop, beautiful hardwood floors and a price that is totally affordable. I am planning to put down a 25% deposit. With the tax abatement, my total monthly spend should be comparable to my rent -- maybe a few hundred more depending on my interest rate on my mortgage, but if I get any kind of mortgage interest deduction, it might be even less than I pay now!

I actually feel relief. Having all that cash just sitting around and not invested was stressful. Now I certainly won't have that problem: I am currently shaking out the couch cushions to try to come up with more $! Actually, I am going to Coinstar today to cash in my change. Buying a condo in Brooklyn/NYC is not for the weak or the poor, that's for sure. The closing costs will probably be about $20K! Oy vey.

House hunting

Today I'm off to look at a new condo in my neighborhood. The asking price is $569,000. Ouch. That got me thinking about how to gauge whether or not I can afford an apartment. I'd love to be conservative and spend 2x my annual income. I remember reading that that's a trait that rich people have in common. At 569, this place would be a little more than 3.5x annual income (not including bonus). However, I will most likely have to put 20% down, so the monthly payments seem doable. I calculated that if I pay an extra $10,000 a year on the mortgage I could pay it down in 17 years. That would be awesome. Of course paying $329,000 for a 2 bedroom apartment in a less desirable neighborhood that's farther away would allow me to pay down the apartment really fast. However that place is a Co-op and there are definite disadvantages to living in a coop versus a condo.

I loved this post about the Paradox of Choice on Get Rich Slowly this week. It's exactly how I feel about real estate -- paralyzed by too many choices.

it's no coincidance that money is green

So today I noticed that my electric bill was a lot more than usual. Usually it's about $25 a month (haha, eat your heart out McMansion owners), but today it was $37. I wondered if it was maybe a projected use instead of actual with the electric company assuming that I would use more electricity in June than I actually did. When I called, the customer service rep told me that I did indeed use more electricity last month. While we were talking, he kept asking me questions about my lifestyle because he said my usage was SO low. This reminded me of a previous, less frugal time in my life when the gas company sent me a "notice of non-usage" saying they were going to turn off the gas because I basically never used it. The only gas appliance in the house was the stove, so you can imagine how much cooking/eating at home I was doing. I think I stored clothes in the oven for a while.

Anyway, this time it's not cause I'm always out and about or travelling that my electricity bills are so low. Granted, I work all day and am only home for about 3 waking hours a day, but when I am home, I try my best to conserve energy. When I leave I do as well, unplugging those appliances that create phantom energy.

I make other "green" lifestyle choices in my house and life, for a mixture of reasons, both wanting to be environmentally responsible and frugal. So, what kind of things?

1. I minimize use of paper products -- No paper napkins, plates, paper towels and my toilet paper is made from recycled paper, not trees. I also use a handkerchief instead of tissues, which is kinda gross, but I'm used to it now.
2. I make my own cleaning supplies -- For the most part. Or I use naturally occurring compounds that are cheap and green like Borax, baking soda, corn stratch and vinegar.
3. I reuse plastic -- Both bags from the grocery (when I don't bring my own canvas) and plastic containers that food comes in to carry my lunch to work everyday.
4. I eat low on the food chain -- Beans and veggies are the mainstay of my diet. Occasionally some chicken and some small fish. When I do use chicken or fish, I use it as an accompaniment and not the main ingredient.
5. I do my laundry in cold water, I don't use fabric softener or sheets and I make my own detergent (I have sensitive skin) and I only do full loads. (not that any laundry-doing occurs in my apartmen;t sadly I have to leave for that)
6. The biggest one is not owning a car. I walk to do all my errands, or I take the subway or bus. I rarely take cabs, both because I get car sick and because they are expensive and polluting.

I think that's about all I do. I've become so used to my lifestyle (not that I'm doing anything that dramatic) that I have to stop and think about the things I do to be green/frugal. I've gotten a lot of tips from other blogs on how to live green and be frugal. I'll post more when I find some.