The husband’s student loans are paid off!

About time. I just made the last payment on the husband’s student loans to close them out. That’s the good news anyway. The bad news? We might have to take one more out for $1000.

Here’s the deal. The husband was supposed to finish and defend his PhD thesis this summer. The problem is that you need to be enrolled to defend your thesis so we paid $1000 for 1 credit so he could defend. Then it came out, oops, his committee was out of town for the summer and technically he’d be defending this fall. Now he needs to enroll for another 1 credit class this fall. Since we are moving for his post-doc, cash is a little short – so it looks like he will need to take out a small loan. Or put it on his credit card. Either way, adding to the debt.

Beco Butterfly I on Sale – $89.95

Becos are a soft baby carrier (no, not the Bjorn!) that generally run about $140. My SIL is having a baby and I have scoured the web for a reasonably priced, new Beco that is pretty. The search started several months ago and I just now found one.

The Martini print Beco Butterfly I is available at Little Mountain Outfitters for a reasonable $89.95 plus shipping ($12 for ground).

I had budgeted $100 for my SIL’s carrier and I came in just above at $101.95. Oh and I chose the Beco over the Ergo for my SIL because she is on the short side and from what I’ve heard shorter women do better with the Beco. Besides, it is pretty and so is my SIL.

Don’t Forget Your Raincheck

This morning I headed to my local grocery store for a few items, including bulk raw almonds. They were on sale for $3.99 a pound, which is an incredible price so of course they were out. I asked the checker if there were any more in the back and she said no, but I can give you a raincheck. I was all, whaaaa? I didn’t know stores gave rainchecks anymore on out of stock sale items.

My lesson today: ask about rainchecks.

Investing Money – Finding the Best Rate

A new website, MoneyAisle, has banks compete for business by bidding for the best interest rate. Give the website a test spin by entering an initial deposit amount and state of residence. Also choose between a certificate of deposit (CD) or high yield interest savings account. To find out the name of the bank and see the terms, you need to register. The site claims all banks are FDIC insured, which I never thought was important until a year ago.

When I tried it out, the high yield savings account gave me an APY of 2.65% and a 6 month CD had an APY of 2.25%. The minimum deposit is $1000 for both the CD and savings accounts.

Takes some of the time out of the research.

Paying off Husband’s Baby Student Loan

Now that husband is employed and not enrolled in school, it is time to pay his student loans. Good thing they are itty-bitty compared to mine. So I decided to pay off the loans by mystery shopping and writing articles. As the beaucoup bux goes into my paypal account, I will send it off to the loan company.

Husband’s Student Loans
$98.19
$146.09
$160.44

So far I earned $20 hitting the computer store down the street from my house and writing about the interaction. It will take up to 2 months to get the money but when I do get it, off to loan #1…

2008 Roundup – The Good, The Bad, The Paid Off

Last year was a little crazy and here are the highlights:

The Good – After being laid off, husband found full time employment in his field. The salary is high enough for us to live and continue paying off debt although not as high as my position. Yes, I make more money than my husband. Or at least I did. His new job comes with awesome health insurance to replace the crappy self-insured plan.

The Bad – On October 1, I was laid off from my sweet, sweet job. Since then I have been looking for another high paid, telecommuting, flex hours position but surprise! there aren’t any.

The Paid Off – In 2008, I paid off $10,155.87 of debt. One full credit card, a bunch of student loan payments and almost 1/2 a car loan. Now that husband is employed and not in school fulltime, we need to pay husband’s student loans. There are 3 of them and total about $450. They should die quickly and painlessly.

My hope for 2009? Less drama-rific than 2008.

We’re Employed!

First the good news: Husband got a job. He had been a grad student for the last 3 years while I worked but when I got laid off, we both went looking for jobs. He found one first and it is enough money so I am going to stay at home for the time being and be mommy.

I had to take some time off this blog because it was just too stressful thinking about money every day. But I’m back! w00t!

We still have our EF plus some and as soon as I find out when husband’s first payday will come, I will start planning the return of the debt snowball.

Great Deal! Britax Marathons – $43

These car seats are usually $300 but they are marked down to $42.99 and free shipping. After tax, a brand new Britax Marathon is available for under $50. The best thing about the Britax Marathon is the rear facing weight limit goes all the way to 33 pounds (newer ones go to 35).

Available at Target.com

Saving Money on iPods

Recently I learned about a product that can be plugged into an iPod Nano called the nike+. It is a companion to a jogger that informs the runner how far she ran and it can also provide encouragement. Of course I want one but being unemployed I didn’t think it was such a responsible thing to buy. I don’t even have a Nano, only an iPod shuffle my husband bought for my last birthday.

Looking over Apple’s website, I saw they sell refurbished iPods for cheaper. There was one current generation iPod Nano for $79 in silver.  They even had shuffles for $39 although when I looked they didn’t have a pink one, like I do.

I think I will start an iPod Nano envelope to save for it. Go envelopes!

Using a Credit Card After Balance Transfer

The introductory 0% interest rate on my credit card is coming to an end. I have the money in savings to pay it off but since I was laid off, I think it might be more prudent to transfer the balance to another 0% interest. That brought up an interesting point.

If the husband or I make any charges on that credit card, we will have to pay off the 0% interest balance, all the while paying the interest on the charges.

So let’s say the balance transfer is for $1500 at 0% until next May. The husband charges car repairs for $100 on the same card at 10% interest. We will be paying 10% interest on the full $100 until we pay the big balance off or until next May when we start paying interest on that too.

The credit card with the balance transfer will have to just sit there until the balance is paid off, whenever that might be.