3.02.2009

MONEY MONEY...(money)

time to Seriously save so i can try and buy a house this year and get the $8,000 first time home buyer credit on my taxes next year, and lock in some LOW interest rates.

plan so far.

1- continue to not buy coffee or lunch on the outside. make sure this happens Never.

2- stop going out. instead, go play outside, walk to the library, have friends come over and watch free movies on demand, etc.

3- do not buy alcohol of any kind. not that i buy that much, but that stuff can get expensive, and is basically wasted money.

4- cut back on heat/air conditioning as it applies. this will be a little difficult, considering that i'm worst in the car, but when the heat's on, more gas is used. gas is expensive.

5- go through everything i own and sell anything i do not want or need. even if i only get $1 for something, if i didn't want or need it anyway, why keep it in trade for the dollar? i have some stuff for which i think i can get a halfway decent price. we'll see.

6- get rid of all of the fabric i have in that cupboard by making purses, pillows, whatever, since i already have all the stuff. either sell, or give as gifts when birthdays, etc. roll around so i needn't buy presents.

7- only go to shows if i get in for free.

8- cut coupons.


any other ideas?

i so badly want to buy a house, or a condo at least, and now is such a good time. i am hopeful that i can save up enough cash by Nov 1st at the latest to do this, because you have to close by Dec 1st to get the tax credit.


xoxox

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn that list is tight. You might also consider unplugging items when they are not in use because they pull "phantom" electricity even when they are off (stereo, lamps, not the fridge), also if you pay bills electronically you don't have to purchase stamps, you make really good cookies and live right by campus, you could totally sell by your house during basketball and football season, or if you do the yard sale thing you could add cookies and lemonade to the mix and I bet you'd make extra. As for those purses, etc. remember how many DL chicks showed up for the clothes, if you advertised on campus they'd totally bite. also etsy.com is the bomb.com good luck, I'll keep thinking. xoxo

anastasia said...

Yay, buying a house! It was one of the best decisions I ever made. My suggestions:
1. If you have a direct deposit option for getting your paycheck, do it, and have some predetermined percentage of the money go directly into a savings account. That way, you won't even see that money as spendable (because it won't be in your checking account), but you'll be saving it up just the same. If you don't have direct deposit, just do this yourself whenever you get your paycheck.
2.I don't know how you're doing with this, but make sure that your revolving credit balance is never more than 50% of your total available credit (i.e. if you have a credit card with a $10,000 limit, never spend more than $5,000 on that card, even if you pay it off in full every month.) This will affect your credit rating, and therefore your interest rate.
3. Pack a bento lunch! (that's just self-promotion...)
4. Ditto on the etsy.com.

Good luck!
-a

mode. said...

i knew the thing about the phantom electricity, i meant to put that on the list, thanks, lala. my tv is unplugged right now.
long story short, i don't trust direct deposit, ana. fyi- that allows them to remove funds, too. i'm good about saving right when i get paid, that's an excellent tip. i didn't know that about the card either, thanks!

xoxox

J said...

If I knew anything about saving money besides having a savings account I would have a lot more than I do :( lol.