Home ownership chronicles

Since moving into my new apt in December:

In April my mortgage payments went down by $120. A tax abatement finally kicked in.

My electric and gas bill for this past month is over $100 less than what it was during winter. This is a win, win.

Am proud of my decision to buy my apartment. However, not everyone in my family feels the same way. I've moved in over 6 months now, and a certain family member who lives but 15 minutes away has yet to come by. I have mixed feelings about it, but can't say am surprised.

This blog and now twitter keeps me sane. I can say what I want without judgements, and if someone dares to judge I just delete they azz. LOL In real life it is not the same way. There's too much going on financially around me at times. Too many people asking for help in one way or another. Sometimes I vent on twitter, sometimes I just stay quiet. Am just happy to have the avenue to express myself when I feel like it.

Goals - July - September

I would like to loose 20 lbs by September 30th. This is absolutely achievable. I am setting the bar at 20 because I know life sometimes gets in the way and I've been pretty busy.

Financial and other personal goals:

Complete the goals set for 2nd quarter.

Automate more of my finances.

Make a final decision on when to quit the part-time gig.

Make a final decision on getting a second masters degree.

Devote more time to organizing my apartment and staying on top of my mail, chores, etc

My 2nd quarter goals were mostly based on receiving my tax refund. There's still time left in the quarter to salvage maybe 1 or 2 goals. I'll see what happens next payday.

Financial Updates

I closed my Wachovia bank account. This is all in an effort to make my financial life simpler. It's a process I started a while back but got distracted.

My refund was supposed to be direct deposited into my account by the end of May. The date came and went and no refund. Uncle Sam caused me to fail the $5K/5K challenge for singlema and RevancheGS. I am super competitive by nature, and failure isn't an option. I will be finishing this challenge. My goal was to save $5,000. However, because Uncle Sam held on to my cash, I was only able to save $1,000.

Speaking of Uncle Damn Sam. He held up my refund because he needed additional paperwork. Let's wait and see how long before I get MY money. I have a few financial goals to accomplish with my refund. I'll detail those plans when I have the money in my account.