2013

Happy New Year!

I can't believe that 2013 is here already! I have written so many draft posts that I never got around to editing and posting in 2012. That makes me sad. I love writing so much and really enjoy the outlet of having a blog. I hope I can spend more time writing in 2013.

So, there have been some changes on the home-front for us here. We are moving (AGAIN) at the end of this month. We have finally outgrown the tiny pool house we are currently renting and need/want to expand a bit.

We found a lovely 2 bedroom, 2 bath unit in a former condo complex that was turned into apartment units. It has everything on our wishlist:

- Close to work
- More square feet
- 2 bedrooms
- 2 baths
- Washer and dryer in the unit! (This alone is worth hundreds extra per month - honestly! No more lugging our laundry to the nearest laundromat. Sweet! I can't wait.) 
- Fireplace (I have ALWAYS wanted one. I know I may not use it often, but just the thought of having one puts a smile on my face.) 
- Large master tub (I am a bath girl through and through - love them!) 
- Top floor location. (Being so sensitive to sound, this is a priority to me.) 
- A full kitchen! (I know this one sounds funny but our current place only has a fridge, sink and hot plate set up. We miss a stove and dishwasher! This was hard during the holidays when I wanted to cook some nice meals for us.) 

All of these luxuries come with a larger price tag though. I'll be honest that I'm not super comfortable spending more on rent, but we can afford it and feel that it's time... for our sanity and the longevity of our relationship. Not to mention that the house next door decided to build a skate ramp recently and we get to hear that noise every day and believe me, it's like nails on a chalkboard.

We haven't actually committed to the unit yet. We are trying to hold off until closer to the end of the month so we won't have to overlap rent payments. The complex seems to have a good amount of openings and will hold a unit for you for 2 weeks, so if we put a deposit down around the 15th (my pay day), we will be able to time it up closer to the end of the month. This is a little scary though, since we already gave our 30 day notice! Hopefully it'll all work out.

On the money front, things are going okay. It's really interesting how "our plan" seems like a moving target sometimes. We were hoping to be in a house at the end of 2012, but a quick look at our taxes a few months ago showed us that we needed to change our withholding so we wouldn't end up owing a ton in April. Been there, done that! So, we had a bunch extra sent in for our federal and state taxes and a quick estimate on Turbotax yesterday shows that we'll likely owe only $44 to one and $25 to another! I am very happy with those numbers :-) So, going into 2013, we only have our zero balance credit card to pay off by the end of April and our car payment which is scheduled to go to September 2015. Not too shabby!

The hubby starts contributing to his 401K plan starting this month. His company matches 40% of 6% of his salary, so he's putting in 6%. This, in addition to taxes changing slightly in 2013, will impact our take home amounts slightly. We're anxious to get our first checks to see just how much.

I know I've received requests to do an overview post showing how I paid off so much debt and I plan to get that up here soon. It's one of those that has been in draft format for a very long time, so it shouldn't be too hard to edit and get up here. I also want to post an update of my 2012 goals and my new 2013 ones. Another post that will be coming soon!

For those of you who still check out my blog periodically, thank you! For those who are new, welcome and thanks for checking it out. More to come!