The Hassles of Moving: Packing August 20, 2011

I don’t know how you do it.  How you move from place to place all the time.  Or maybe that’s my problem.  I haven’t moved since we moved in after college.  Five years of accumulating junk and good stuff.  Packing time means sorting through the junk to find the good stuff.  I’d like to have a more minimalist lifestyle, but I don’t know how to part with all this “stuff”.   Kitchen supplies, clothes.  Paperwork that should probably be shredded or tossed.

I know it’s just “stuff”.  That what really matters are the people you love and the experiences you share with them.  But that doesn’t eliminate cake pans and woks, or pajamas and dress pants.

I think I’m stuck right now.  We’re moving all the “big stuff” (furniture like couches, beds, dressers, and bookshelves) tomorrow, and we’ll try to move as much “small stuff” (clothes, dishes, books, etc.) as well.  Luckily we’ve still got our “old” apartment until the end of the month, and our new place is only 2 miles away.  So if worst comes to worst, we can finish up moving things (and then give the old place a good cleaning) in the next week and a half.

It’s possible that knowing I don’t have to get EVERYTHING out ASAP is making me a little more lazy when it comes to packing everything up.  That and the 2-mile move.  And the fact that I’m fighting a cold that keeps knocking me out.

I’m dreading this move (it’s a lot of stuff!), but I’m also looking forward to it.  I can’t wait to get settled in to our new place.  Just the two of us.  It will take some time to get everything in order (and maybe once we finish unpacking, we’ll realize we can get rid of more junk that we initially thought was good stuff).

My hope is that, with the new place, I can get a fresh start on organizing and decluttering.  I’ll make sure that we don’t have anything lying around that we don’t have a need for.  But it will take time.

I’m going to try to spend the next few hours taking care of as much as I can.  But then I’ll set my alarm and go to bed, so I can get up nice and early to pick up our UHaul and some donuts for our helpful friends.

The Hassles of Moving: Change of Address August 18, 2011

So, besides the drama of packing, I was reminded the other day about another big hassle:  changing your address.  My old roommate has been moved out for half a month, and today a letter arrived from the U.S. Postal Service addressed to her or current resident.  Seeing as I’m a current resident, I opened it.  It was a confirmation that she’s changing her address.  Which I found odd, since if she moved out, she wouldn’t get the letter that confirmed the change.  Weird.

At any rate, she also sent me an email with a list of companies and organizations that we should change our address with.

So, here’s her list, along with others that I’ve thought of:

First, you’ll want to officially change your address with the U.S. Postal Service.  You can do that through their website.  It costs $1.  No big deal.

Financial institutions:
Banks, Credit Cards, Retirement Accounts, Brokerages, Credit Unions…Savings Accounts, Checking Accounts, Loans (student/auto/etc.)

Schools:
Alumni Associations, current schools

Employer:
Emergency contact forms, payroll, tax documents

RMV/DMV/Driver’s License

Insurance:
Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Car Insurance, Renter’s (or homeowner’s) Insurance, Life Insurance

Utilities (you’ll have to request a stop on your utilities and then a start at your new place):  Cable/Internet/Gas/Electricity

E-ZPass/Fastlane accounts

Frequent Flyer/Hotel Rewards memberships

Cell Phone account

Library Card: I’ll have to change my address with both Boston Public Library and Minuteman Library Network

Car Memberships:
AAA, Car rental companies

Shopping memberships/cards:
Grocery stores (Shaws, Stop & Shop, Acme, Kroger, etc.), Drug Stores (CVS), Shopping Clubs (Sam’s Club, BJ’s, Costco), other random cards (Panera)

(I’ve started using AwardWallet to keep track of all my memberships/points…here’s a referral link if you’d like to try it out)

Gym/Health Club memberships

Subscriptions:
Netflix, Magazines, Newspapers, Cheese-of-the-Month clubs (why hasn’t anyone signed me up for this yet?!)

What else am I missing on the list?  I think I’ll be using this as a to-do list; I’ve only submitted my change-of-address form to USPS so far.

Excited about our new apartment! August 11, 2011

For those of you who missed my twitter announcement awhile back, I finally made a decision after hemming and hawing about whether we should stay where we are (and have lived for the past 5 years) or look for a new apartment.  Well, with the help of PadMapper (I seriously am a huge fan of that site) and a couple trips to apartments in Medford and Arlington, we found our place.  It’s pretty much exactly what we were looking for.  And it’s the right size for the two of us.  Not too big, not too small.  And it’s actually only a 2-mile walk away from our current place.  We’re moving from one end of Medford to the other!

So, with the knowledge I’ll be moving, comes other thoughts:  I want to buy things.  Yep.  I keep thinking about all the new furniture, accessories, linens that I could buy.  It doesn’t help that I just got the newest Crate and Barrel catalogue in the mail.  But I’m going to resist.  I know that we already have most of the furniture and accessories we’ll need.  We probably already have too much stuff.  I’ll hold off buying stuff until we realize we need them.  Just going to buy food and toilet paper!

And of course, we’ll need to figure out how/when we’re moving.  The current tennats of our future place will be out by August 15th, but the landlords want to clean it up and touch up the paint before we move in.  So we have a few more weekends we could do our packing/moving.  I still need to scrounge up a few boxes, figure out where to get a moving van (I’ve found a few discounts through AAA), and recruit a few friends to help pack and/or move.

So, who’s going to help us move?  :P  Or have any extra boxes they’d be willing to lend/give to me?

Not All of My Friends are Buying Houses: Sarah and Michael are Happy to be Renting August 4, 2011

Not all of my friends are buying houses.  Some are renting, and plan to rent for a while.  So here’s the next guest post.  Meet Sarah (and her boyfriend Michael).  They’ve come to the conclusion that renting is the right choice for them [for now].  Here’s their story:

Why Renting is Cool

Renting can get a bad rap financially, but it’s still a good option for some people. Like us, for example. We’re Michael and Sarah, DINKs who live in the Space Coast Area of Florida. We’ve been dating for 2.5 years and living together for almost 2 years. We moved in together relatively early in our relationship because I (Sarah) was laid off not long after we started dating. Fortunately I was able to find another job not long after Michael moved in to my two bedroom apartment and we’ve been living together ever since.

Last spring, 5 couples we are friends with were all looking to buy houses (all of whom ended up buying houses). This got Michael and me thinking about what our future plans were. We were all enticed by the $8000 new home buyer credit that was due to expire. Michael asked me how long I wanted to stay in the apartment. To be honest, I hadn’t really through about it. I broached the idea of buying a house, but Michael said that he really didn’t want us to buy a house together until we were married. I agreed, because I figured the process would be slightly trickier in terms of finances. However, we both agreed that we were outgrowing the apartment. We decided the next best thing would be to rent a house.

We started looking at homes to rent in our area to get an idea of what was available and what we could afford. Given that we are both engineers and nerds, we created a Google Docs spreadsheet to keep track of what we found. We listed our “Must Haves”, “Wants”, and “Dealbreakers”. Then we had a separate tab which listed addresses, square footage, rent, distance to work, and links to the listing for each potential house.

As we were building our spreadsheet, but before we had actually gone to look at any of the places we had so meticulously researched, a friend of ours (one of the ones who was looking for a new house) offered to rent us his current house. He and his wife had just brought home a new baby and were looking to move farther out of the city. They didn’t want to sell the house for less than they had bought it for only 2.5 years earlier.  They also didn’t want to rent to strangers. It was a perfect match! It ended up taking a little longer than we had hoped for them to find a house, but it worked out in the end. We moved into the house at the end of September. In hindsight, moving on a Saturday during college football season probably wasn’t the best idea. Oh well. Live and learn!

Our house is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a game room upstairs and an office. It has an open floor plan and a two car garage. We see it as a kind of “practice home”. It’s the first time either of us has ever had to worry about lawn care. We’ve enjoyed having more space to decorate and spread out two apartments worth of stuff. That was a problem when Michael first moved in as we had duplicates of many items. We ended up cramming most of his stuff (TV, dining set, couch, etc) in the second bedroom of my old place because there was nowhere else to put it. We also like having actual guest rooms for guests (STEPHANIE!).
As for our future plans, we’ve talked about signing another year lease with our landlords. We still agree that we don’t want to buy a house until we get married. Some friends have suggested that we should buy a house, but we don’t feel ready, financially or otherwise. We don’t believe this area has hit rock bottom just yet in terms of the housing market. With the space shuttle program ending, a lot of people in this area have lost their jobs. One city in the area is tied for having the 15th worst economic recovery.   Michael and I don’t want to feel rushed into buying a house. We are using the time to save up for a house. We don’t plan on renting forever, but for now, we’re perfectly happy where we are.

I think I’m similar to Sarah and Michael.  In a serious relationship, but not quite ready to buy a house.  Taking the time to save up before making a big purchase!

What about you?  Are you a happy renter?  A reluctant renter?  Or have you taken the housing plunge and bought a place?

My Friends are Buying Houses Series: Katelyn Buys a House August 1, 2011

This is the first in my new blog series, My Friends are Buying Houses.

As with all the future guest posts, the writers are expressing their own views, opinions, and experiences.  I hope you’ll give them the respect you give me!

My friend Katelyn bought her house a few months ago.  She made a plan for saving money and stuck with it, asked around for input on location, and then dove right in.  Here’s her story:

Buying a house seems like a ridiculously scary and complicated process, right?  Sort of.  There are many things to think about, but if you have someone working with you, it’s not that bad and the end result is one of the most amazing things a person can do.  I would like to preface this by saying that I am a single woman who purchased a home on my own.

I bought my house in April of this year, although the process started long before that.  I had been considering buying a house for a couple of years.  I had a few factors to contend with though:  money, location, and timing.  Money is pretty much everyone’s biggest concern.  I am very mindful of my spending practices.  I knew I wanted to buy a house, so I started making decisions to reduce my financial output.  There were certain things I couldn’t get out of:  rent, Grad school payments, car payments, and bills.

However, I was completely in control of reducing my bills.  I lowered my heat to 60°F during the day and put it up to 62-63°F when I was home.  DO NOT let your home’s temperature fluctuate more than that.  You use up more energy spiking your heat up 5-10 degrees than if you just stuck to within 2-3 degrees of a particular temperature.  I had originally been keeping my heat between 68-70°F.  In making this change, I saved nearly $100 in the coldest month of the year.  That’s $100 in just one month!  I also took to unplugging electronics I was not using.  Don’t leave your computer charged plugged in all the time.  I unplugged my coffee maker, toaster, etc.  If I wasn’t in a room, I turned off the light.  I started using energy-efficient light bulbs.  All of these things help to save a few dollars on my electric bill.  I also got rid of my land line, solely relying on my cell phone.  I reduced my internet and cable to the lowest they could do.  In trimming my telecommunication expenses, I saved another $100 per month- crazy!

I also started shopping around for inexpensive food and really relying on sales.  It doesn’t take too much time to make a list of the grocery items you eat/use often and take a look for when they go on sale.  When they do, if you can, stock up.  At one point, I had enough toilet paper and paper towels to last 4 months.  I had my monthly grocery expenses down to $100.  I used to spend nearly that in a week.  Shopping around and stocking up during sales:  savings of about $300 a month.

I started eating out less and inviting people over more.  If you do it potluck style, the onus of providing all the food gets shared.  You can still hang out with people, but it’s not as pricey.  Oh and it tastes better, too! 

So in all of this saving, I knew I wanted to buy a house.  I just didn’t know where or how big or most importantly, what my price range would be.  I work in on the North Shore of Massachusetts and had been living in an apartment approximately 10 minutes from work.  It was certainly a convenient commute.  However, I was not close to my family.  I wanted to be sure that I was in close range to work and closer to my family.  I started asking friends and family about the towns in the area in order to get a better, more honest feel for them.  Buying a house is a forever-type decision.  I wanted to be in a town that I could potentially raise children in.  I narrowed my search to 2 towns and started crunching numbers.  I this ended up being a lot more difficult than I originally thought.

Enter my mother, Karen Giovannucci.  My mother is a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker.  I highly, highly, highly suggest working with Coldwell Banker.  If you’re in MA, you can even work with my mother!  (here’s her office) What I didn’t realize was just how easy it was to get pre-approved for a loan and to figure out just how much I could spend on a home.  Any good real estate agent would put you in contact with the loan officer for their company.  That’s what my mother did.  I provided information about my bank accounts, credit card accounts, loans I had, pay stubs, etc.  Fairly basic and I was good to go in a week.  After providing this information, the loan officer will tell you how much you are pre-approved for and at what rate.  I was pre-approved at a 5% fixed rate (do NOT do adjustable rates).  I figured out my price range and began my search.

Now, I had a price figure in my head that included how much I had for a down payment and how much I was approved for in loans, but I needed to be smart about how I went about searching.  I did not want to be at the very top of that range because then I would have a higher loan.  I wanted to be a little below that.  I also needed to consider the condition of the house.  You don’t want to buy a house at the top of your price range that needs a lot of work – you won’t be able to afford fixing it up!  Make a list of your essentials  (your must-haves):  garage, yard, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, hardwood floors, levels, basement, etc.

One thing I did a lot of in this process was drive around.  I did ‘drive bys’ of the homes I was interested in.  This gave me a good feel for the neighborhood, commute, and overall look of the home before I even stepped inside.  If I liked what I saw, I either waited for an open house or scheduled a visit with my real estate agent (my mom).  I can’t even tell you how many houses I went into.  One house was too close to the highway (I could hear it inside the house).  One house had a lot of poor workmanship that I would have to undo.  One house had water in the basement.  One house had an unusable second floor.  One house smelled of oil in the basement.  One house had an unusable garage.

Finally, after weeks and too many homes to count, I found my house.  It has a garage, beautiful yard, 3 bedrooms, hardwood floors, a full basement, wonderful neighborhood, close but not too close to the highway, and in a fantastic town.  I put in an offer in mid-February.

This part of the process is also a little crazy.  You have to play a little game with the buyer.  Think about how high you are willing to go with your price.  I suggest going anywhere from $5K-10K below that with your initial offer, then bargain, bargain, bargain.  I got quite a bit covered after I fought for it.  .  After you get an accepted offer, get a home inspection.  If any structural damage is discovered, demand that the home owner pay for it or take it off the price of the house.

Personal side note:  if the home owner gets a quote for home repairs, I wouldn’t necessarily trust it.  Get your own person in and hire them.  I had a NIGHTMARE situation because I hired someone recommended by the homeowner.

After the inspection is done and the final number is decided upon, you can set a date for the purchase and sales and closing.  Before these dates, you need to get a little more paperwork in order, but your real estate agent should give you a flow sheet.  My entire process was wrapped up and I was a homeowner at age 25 on April 12, 2011.  .

I love my home and have been doing some necessary repairs to it.  I am making a list of things I want to do in the future, but mainly I am just enjoying it.  I even got a puppy!  I still exercise smart money-spending and because of this, I can dream about my future in this home.  Right now is a wonderful time to purchase a home.  Rent doesn’t build equity.  Essentially, you are throwing away money every month.  Buying a home is a wonderful investment that can pay tenfold down the line.  Good luck!

If you’d like to talk more with Katelyn, you can find her at her blog, Katie Takes on The World, and on twitter, at @WorldViaKatie.  And you can email Mrs. Giovannucci (Katelyn’s mother AND realtor) if you have any questions.  Even if you’re not in Massachusetts, she can help you find someone in your area.  And Mrs. G said you only really need 3.5% down!  But I hope to have more saved when I’m ready to buy a house!