Hi Everyone. When my last post ended, you were anxiously waiting on the edge of your seat for me to tell you about my first car loan. I, on the other hand, was anxiously waiting to have an adult beverage after uploading my first blog post. We’ll discuss that drink in another post. For now, let’s bring this backstory to the present. If you need to catch up part one of my story is here.
It was time for a car with less mileage and wear on it. I didn’t have the money saved up to buy with cash this time even though I had some in savings. Also, it was time to start building credit and earning a FICO score. My folks helped again with the vehicle search. Mom even cosigned the loan to help. The rest was all me. I made the payments every month, on time, and paid it off early. I don’t remember how early I ended up paying off the loan, but it was at least by a few months. I’m not one for letting a loan finish it’s term out. I always try to pay something extra on every payment even if it’s a few dollars.
I know what you’re thinking…the car loan story could have been a lot better. You’re probably right. Hey, I was at a good stopping point for the last post, thirsty (see first paragraph), and I needed info for another blog post. Thanks for hanging in there with me though. Now, can we move on?
My first apartment was the next big learning experience in finances. I had been pretty good with money so far but this was a lot more balls to juggle having rent, electricity, phone, cable, groceries, etc. I had a buddy that wanted to get an apartment together. He, self-admitting, wasn’t the best with his finances. I told him I would agree to room with him if he agreed to a couple ground rules. He had to give me “X” amount of dollars per week from his paycheck. This would ensure, at the end of the month, the money was on hand and available, and everything would be paid on time. The lease would be in both our names. I would have most of the utilities in my name and he would have the Cable in his name. He agreed.
I needed a system to keep everything organized being new to dealing with this many reoccurring expenses. I decided to use an envelope system. I added up all the shared expenses for the month and divided by 2. Then, I divided that total by 4 for the amount my roommate would give me weekly. I averaged a little on the high side for heat, electricity and phone, which would fluctuate in cost. Next, I split our money separately into two complete sets of envelopes (his money and mine), putting each amount owed per utility into its respective envelope. Every month I would take what was needed for the amounts owed. Phone bills were fun (sarcastically typed). At the time, they were billed by the minute….remember those?? He didn’t have many long distance calls, but I did. Every month I would go through the AT&T bill breaking down who owed what. When the final lease ended, I think we did well. Everything had been paid on time using the envelope system. Once everything was settled we each ended up with around 200.00 cash back from unused bill money. We also ended up improving our credit as we had a completed lease with no late payments.
Things change, as we all know, and eventually, the envelope method evolved into a safer two bank account method. I pretty much use the system the same way. I take my bill totals for the month and divide by two. For my direct deposit, I have the respective amount needed from each paycheck put into my expense/savings account and the balance into my spending/discretionary account. If I feel the spending account has too much in it (I’m a saver remember), I’ll funnel some of it over to the expense/savings account where it is out of site and out of mind.
Can you hang with me for a few more paragraphs? I want to get a few more things said and finish up my backstory so we can start getting into actual blog posts that I hope you find more exciting.
In regards to how I get paid, I’ve always had a job with a salary. With some of those jobs, I also got bonus, commission, and/or overtime. For those of you who work commission only jobs, I tip my hat to you. I, however, don’t count bonus, commission, and overtime as money needed for bills. I’ve always lived on my salary. For me, the rest is all additional income. I have always been put those moneys directly into the expense/savings account. What I DO use the additional income for is for things like paying down the principal on high balance loans like a vehicle or house. The first car loan that I had without a cosigner was a 4 year loan that I paid off in around 3 years. I took some of my bonus and overtime I made and used it for extra payments on the car. I’d pay my payment due along with additional funds, earned in commission and overtime, (sometimes more than the payment itself) to the principal of the loan. When the car was paid off, I immediately started applying any extra to what would become my down payment on a house.
When I bought my house, I was familiar with how the process worked as I work in the mortgage industry. I had saved a sizeable amount for a down payment and was ready to get approved and was preapproved for $250,000. I knew that, while I was approved for that amount, I didn’t have near the money to buy a house at that price point. The approval doesn’t account things like utilities, groceries, a new vehicle when needed, new furniture after getting into the house, etc. I also knew how much one ends up paying in interest. I wanted to have some money to pay additional principal each month if possible. In the end, I bought a house that was half of my approved amount, getting two loans to avoid mortgage insurance. I have been very happy with my decision in handling the purchase of my first home. Since buying my home, I’ve refinanced when interest rates dropped and paid off second loan. This allowed me to get rid of the 2nd lien and have one lower mortgage payment. I continue to funnel extra every month to the principle to help cut the amount of interest paid.
While this pretty much sums up how I learned the value of money, it doesn’t address me being a foodie. The truth is, I don’t really think I have a long back story for food like I do for my handling of finances. I have always liked good (or what I consider good) food. I like food because of how it tastes, what is smells like, and how it makes me feel. I’m not one that thinks about what diet or category food falls under. Carnivore, omnivore, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, Mexican, Asian, Italian, Etc. I enjoy most anything and am usually willing to try something new. Ok, there are a few exceptions that we may explore at some point in the blog.
My love of food continues to grow and evolve constantly. As a child I remember things like cookies and doughnuts my Nana made. There’s Spaghetti sauce, beef stew, and chili pizza that mom made when growing up. Once I could drive and go places, there were restaurants and coffee shops all over to try. I read cookbooks page by page, like novels. I constantly surf blogs and websites looking at recipes, techniques, food trends and such. I enjoy making familiar recipes that I can make on cruise control without much effort. Then I’ll try a recipe that’s new, different, and challenging. One that I have to read over 4 or 5 times, that is involved, takes time to make ,and may have an ingredient I’m not overly familiar with. It’s all of the variances that make it so exciting and fun for me. There’s always something to learn and try.
So here we are, a short summary of my love of finances and food. From here, I hope you will continue to share these two passions on mine by reading my blog posts. To stay in touch and keep up with my journey, please sign up for my blog updates at savorysaver.com. Please share my blog and Facebook sites with your friends and family members so that I can share some tips and tricks with them as well. I look forward to our time together,
Let’s Eat, Save, Spend, Earn and Learn Together,
-Jamie
