Mustachian People Problems (just for fun)

[Timmmy]

I want to remortgage my house to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but my balance is so small no place will even consider it, and for the ones that will consider it the closing fees dwarf any potential savings so I am stuck with my 5.5% mortgage until it's paid off.  (loan balance is $42k)

I also want to remortgage my wife's house but it has the same problem (5.25% on $48 loan).

I'm confused? Why don't you simply pay more per month on the principal, and in effect lower your interest rate yourself and years to payoff? I've done it on more than one house over the years, and it works out fine.

Here's my favorite mortgage calculator. Play with the different fields with changing the numbers, and see what YOU can do for yourself! Make sure you check the box to create an amortization schedule each time you want to see how easy it is.

http://bretwhissel.net/amortization/

Paying more per month does nothing to change the interest rate.  It will reduce the amount of interest you pay in the long run but so will reducing your interest rate AND paying more per month.

I'm in the same boat as Nacho.  All the loans I've looked at have high fees because of the small balance.  Most of the offers that have little to no fees don't apply to loans with a small balance. 

[johnny847]

I bought these cycling gloves that are allegedly great for cold weather. However, the 10 day forecast has the lowest temperature at 43 degrees so I can't test them out for the 30 degree weather that I intended to use these in =(

[frugalnacho]

I want to remortgage my house to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but my balance is so small no place will even consider it, and for the ones that will consider it the closing fees dwarf any potential savings so I am stuck with my 5.5% mortgage until it's paid off.  (loan balance is $42k)

I also want to remortgage my wife's house but it has the same problem (5.25% on $48 loan).

I'm confused? Why don't you simply pay more per month on the principal, and in effect lower your interest rate yourself and years to payoff? I've done it on more than one house over the years, and it works out fine.

Here's my favorite mortgage calculator. Play with the different fields with changing the numbers, and see what YOU can do for yourself! Make sure you check the box to create an amortization schedule each time you want to see how easy it is.

http://bretwhissel.net/amortization/

Paying more doesn't lower the interest rate, just the total amount of interest over the life of the loan.  Ideally I would like to remortgage to a lower rate AND pay it off at an accelerated rate (i'm on pace to pay mine off in 7 years, I also anticipate freeing up enough money by that point that the wife's house will be paid off shortly thereafter). 

No matter how frantically I pay it off now I am still getting dinged for 5.5% on my total outstanding balance.

[MikeBear]

I want to remortgage my house to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but my balance is so small no place will even consider it, and for the ones that will consider it the closing fees dwarf any potential savings so I am stuck with my 5.5% mortgage until it's paid off.  (loan balance is $42k)

I also want to remortgage my wife's house but it has the same problem (5.25% on $48 loan).

I'm confused? Why don't you simply pay more per month on the principal, and in effect lower your interest rate yourself and years to payoff? I've done it on more than one house over the years, and it works out fine.

Here's my favorite mortgage calculator. Play with the different fields with changing the numbers, and see what YOU can do for yourself! Make sure you check the box to create an amortization schedule each time you want to see how easy it is.

http://bretwhissel.net/amortization/

Paying more doesn't lower the interest rate, just the total amount of interest over the life of the loan.  Ideally I would like to remortgage to a lower rate AND pay it off at an accelerated rate (i'm on pace to pay mine off in 7 years, I also anticipate freeing up enough money by that point that the wife's house will be paid off shortly thereafter). 

No matter how frantically I pay it off now I am still getting dinged for 5.5% on my total outstanding balance.

But if you accelerate the payoff date, you negate the higher interest rate by years, (since your outstanding balance goes down quickly) and end up better off. All without paying $2 - $5k extra in closing costs.

Since you can't refinance right now, the best thing under your control is to make the largest monthly payments you can, and pay it off quickly.

[frugalnacho]

I want to remortgage my house to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but my balance is so small no place will even consider it, and for the ones that will consider it the closing fees dwarf any potential savings so I am stuck with my 5.5% mortgage until it's paid off.  (loan balance is $42k)

I also want to remortgage my wife's house but it has the same problem (5.25% on $48 loan).

I'm confused? Why don't you simply pay more per month on the principal, and in effect lower your interest rate yourself and years to payoff? I've done it on more than one house over the years, and it works out fine.

Here's my favorite mortgage calculator. Play with the different fields with changing the numbers, and see what YOU can do for yourself! Make sure you check the box to create an amortization schedule each time you want to see how easy it is.

http://bretwhissel.net/amortization/

Paying more doesn't lower the interest rate, just the total amount of interest over the life of the loan.  Ideally I would like to remortgage to a lower rate AND pay it off at an accelerated rate (i'm on pace to pay mine off in 7 years, I also anticipate freeing up enough money by that point that the wife's house will be paid off shortly thereafter). 

No matter how frantically I pay it off now I am still getting dinged for 5.5% on my total outstanding balance.

But if you accelerate the payoff date, you negate the higher interest rate by years, (since your outstanding balance goes down quickly) and end up better off. All without paying $2 - $5k extra in closing costs.

Since you can't refinance right now, the best thing under your control is to make the largest monthly payments you can, and pay it off quickly.

Hence #mustachian people problems

[iknowiyam]

Was too busy cooking from scratch this week and hanging laundry to get to all the books I had brought home from the library.

I have this problem, too! Hard to get through a book when I have a grocery budget to manage!

[startbyservingothers]

I type mmm in Google and get confused when some company named 3m is the top result. 

I want to retire early, not learn who created post it notes!

[johnny847]

I type mmm in Google and get confused when some company named 3m is the top result. 

I want to retire early, not learn who created post it notes!

That just means we haven't generated enough traffic to MMMs site. So convert more of your friends to Mustachianism!

[cashstasherat23]

Did my taxes and was simultaneously happy that I was only getting about $250 back because I haven't been given the gov't a large interest free loan, but also sad because I was hoping that I would get a bit more back and could have the satisfaction of paying off another student loan in a big chunk.

I guess this just means that I have been putting more money towards the loans all year, instead of one big chunk, but it is nice to make those big payments!

[PencilThinStash]

Pre-FIRE mustachian problem: You get annoyed when the stock market goes up, because it means you can't buy as many shares of VTSAX.

*praying for a crash soon*

[Pooperman]

Pre-FIRE mustachian problem: You get annoyed when the stock market goes up, because it means you can't buy as many shares of VTSAX.

*praying for a crash soon*

Let's start a thread on when we (as a finance community) guess when the next crash will be. My guess: 1-3 years

[Cookie78]

Pre-FIRE mustachian problem: You get annoyed when the stock market goes up, because it means you can't buy as many shares of VTSAX.

*praying for a crash soon*

Let's start a thread on when we (as a finance community) guess when the next crash will be. My guess: 1-3 years

I'd like that to happen in between the time that I sell my rental property and the time that I have the proceeds available to buy more Index Funds please and thank you very much.

[frugalnacho]

You better sell then! The next crash is right around the corner...

[powersuitrecall]

I want to remortgage my house to take advantage of the super low interest rates, but my balance is so small no place will even consider it, and for the ones that will consider it the closing fees dwarf any potential savings so I am stuck with my 5.5% mortgage until it's paid off.  (loan balance is $42k)

I also want to remortgage my wife's house but it has the same problem (5.25% on $48 loan).

I'm confused? Why don't you simply pay more per month on the principal, and in effect lower your interest rate yourself and years to payoff? I've done it on more than one house over the years, and it works out fine.

Here's my favorite mortgage calculator. Play with the different fields with changing the numbers, and see what YOU can do for yourself! Make sure you check the box to create an amortization schedule each time you want to see how easy it is.

http://bretwhissel.net/amortization/

Paying more doesn't lower the interest rate, just the total amount of interest over the life of the loan.  Ideally I would like to remortgage to a lower rate AND pay it off at an accelerated rate (i'm on pace to pay mine off in 7 years, I also anticipate freeing up enough money by that point that the wife's house will be paid off shortly thereafter). 

No matter how frantically I pay it off now I am still getting dinged for 5.5% on my total outstanding balance.

But if you accelerate the payoff date, you negate the higher interest rate by years, (since your outstanding balance goes down quickly) and end up better off. All without paying $2 - $5k extra in closing costs.

Since you can't refinance right now, the best thing under your control is to make the largest monthly payments you can, and pay it off quickly.

Hence #mustachian people problems

I just went through something similar to this, frugalnacho - http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/ask-a-mustachian/canada-low-balance-mortgage-renewal-lenders-won't-deal-through-mortgage-brok/

TLDR: I wanted to renew my mortgage with a broker, but my balance was so low that the bank wouldn't touch the renewal through him unless he added a HELOC.  I had to negotiate directly with a bank to get an awesome rate :'(

[Pooperman]

You better sell then! The next crash is right around the corner...

Sell? Never! Every day is a good day to buy!

[frugalnacho]

You better sell then! The next crash is right around the corner...

Sell? Never! Every day is a good day to buy!

I was talking about cookies rental property that she wants to sell.

[Pooperman]

Sometimes, quoting is a great way to reference what you are talking about.

[Cookie78]

You better sell then! The next crash is right around the corner...

Sell? Never! Every day is a good day to buy!

I was talking about cookies rental property that she wants to sell.

Sooooooon I hope! :)

[frugalnacho]

Sometimes, quoting is a great way to reference what you are talking about.

I didn't think it was necessary since my post followed hers.  I thought the context would make sense.

[LennStar]

Pre-FIRE mustachian problem: You get annoyed when the stock market goes up, because it means you can't buy as many shares of VTSAX.

*praying for a crash soon*

Let's start a thread on when we (as a finance community) guess when the next crash will be. My guess: 1-3 years

My guess was about in a month ^^ (talking germany here, not USA). But that was a while ago and now even more money is put into the banks. So it seems it will go on another year, or even longer. As long as the dividend return is more then double the the rate you get at banks for 5-year, more money will be put into stocks. Not to talk about german bonds, the 5 year rate is still negative I think.

I give the US about a year longer then germany/europe.

But we all know stock crashes are when nobody expects them, its a must-condition ;)

Looking at the graph its definitely around now, both in time and price high. So if it takes even longer, then the crash will be bigger.

[Pooperman]

Pre-FIRE mustachian problem: You get annoyed when the stock market goes up, because it means you can't buy as many shares of VTSAX.

*praying for a crash soon*

Let's start a thread on when we (as a finance community) guess when the next crash will be. My guess: 1-3 years

My guess was about in a month ^^ (talking germany here, not USA). But that was a while ago and now even more money is put into the banks. So it seems it will go on another year, or even longer. As long as the dividend return is more then double the the rate you get at banks for 5-year, more money will be put into stocks. Not to talk about german bonds, the 5 year rate is still negative I think.

I give the US about a year longer then germany/europe.

But we all know stock crashes are when nobody expects them, its a must-condition ;)

Looking at the graph its definitely around now, both in time and price high. So if it takes even longer, then the crash will be bigger.

If the market declines 3 months in a row, you've got a pretty good (like 80%) chance of having a crash within a year.I just finished doing a lot of data stuff on this in the past couple of weeks, and that is what stuck out. Basically, the market declines slowly, then some event triggers people to realize things aren't doing too well and the actual big event happens, followed by some more decline then recovery. I haven't seen anything that tells me 2015 will be the year (in the US), but I'll make sure to make a post if something seems amiss. I honestly don't care about the daily market fluctuations, and my strategy won't really change when the market crashes.

[Mesmoiselle]

I'm $100 away from the minimum spend amount of the Chase Sapphire card. I'm going to let my MIL and Hubby finish it off with a series of small purchases over the next month. BUT I don't have my next churn card yet and had to use a regular old card with no sign on bonus to pay for my hotel tonight. WAH WAH

Neither my boyfriend or my husband have enough credit history to churn cards with me*. How am I going to keep my churning hobby going? WAH WAH

*Essentially, they'd get the cards, but I do most of the purchasing for the household, so I would get an authorized user card and get the minimum spends churned along.

[dragoncar]

I'm $100 away from the minimum spend amount of the Chase Sapphire card. I'm going to let my MIL and Hubby finish it off with a series of small purchases over the next month. BUT I don't have my next churn card yet and had to use a regular old card with no sign on bonus to pay for my hotel tonight. WAH WAH

Neither my boyfriend or my husband have enough credit history to churn cards with me*. How am I going to keep my churning hobby going? WAH WAH

*Essentially, they'd get the cards, but I do most of the purchasing for the household, so I would get an authorized user card and get the minimum spends churned along.

Does anyone else in your harem have good credit?

[FiguringItOut]

I'm $100 away from the minimum spend amount of the Chase Sapphire card. I'm going to let my MIL and Hubby finish it off with a series of small purchases over the next month. BUT I don't have my next churn card yet and had to use a regular old card with no sign on bonus to pay for my hotel tonight. WAH WAH

Neither my boyfriend or my husband have enough credit history to churn cards with me*. How am I going to keep my churning hobby going? WAH WAH

*Essentially, they'd get the cards, but I do most of the purchasing for the household, so I would get an authorized user card and get the minimum spends churned along.

Does anyone else in your harem have good credit?

dragoncar, I can't tell if your question was sarcastic or just funny, but just wanted to pipe in here to say that 3-person (or more) families/relationships are a lot more common than people who are not in them tend to think.  It is just that people in those relationships do not usually advertise that fact for fear of being judged or ostracized. 

[dragoncar]

I'm $100 away from the minimum spend amount of the Chase Sapphire card. I'm going to let my MIL and Hubby finish it off with a series of small purchases over the next month. BUT I don't have my next churn card yet and had to use a regular old card with no sign on bonus to pay for my hotel tonight. WAH WAH

Neither my boyfriend or my husband have enough credit history to churn cards with me*. How am I going to keep my churning hobby going? WAH WAH

*Essentially, they'd get the cards, but I do most of the purchasing for the household, so I would get an authorized user card and get the minimum spends churned along.

Does anyone else in your harem have good credit?

dragoncar, I can't tell if your question was sarcastic or just funny, but just wanted to pipe in here to say that 3-person (or more) families/relationships are a lot more common than people who are not in them tend to think.  It is just that people in those relationships do not usually advertise that fact for fear of being judged or ostracized.

Same reason I don't usually advertise the fact that I'm dragonkin

[frugalnacho]

Same reason I don't usually advertise the fact that I'm dragonkin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9TdDCWN7g

[Sunnymo]

I'm not spending my modest personal allowance quickly enough because there is nothing I want or need badly enough to actually buy. I keep having to adjust my forward cashflow spreadsheet to send more money towards housing loans, share buying and rainy day savings.

Can't decide if I should adjust my allowance down permanently or just keep making the adjustments and divert the extra when it shows up.

[johnny847]

I'm not spending my modest personal allowance quickly enough because there is nothing I want or need badly enough to actually buy. I keep having to adjust my forward cashflow spreadsheet to send more money towards housing loans, share buying and rainy day savings.

Can't decide if I should adjust my allowance down permanently or just keep making the adjustments and divert the extra when it shows up.

Honestly I'd just get rid of the allowance. It sounds like you know whether you're spending according to your values or not. MMM doesn't have an explicit budget either.

[Sunnymo]

I'm not spending my modest personal allowance quickly enough because there is nothing I want or need badly enough to actually buy. I keep having to adjust my forward cashflow spreadsheet to send more money towards housing loans, share buying and rainy day savings.

Can't decide if I should adjust my allowance down permanently or just keep making the adjustments and divert the extra when it shows up.

Honestly I'd just get rid of the allowance. It sounds like you know whether you're spending according to your values or not. MMM doesn't have an explicit budget either.

johnny, I am a non working spouse and would prefer to respect my husband's generosity and manage my part of the finances by setting limits. I have only noticed this phenomenon in the past six months (maybe the MMM influence or I am at the stage where I have everything I need apart from replacements). I will be more likely to go with one of my options rather than killing the allowance altogether. Also I prefer the structure and transparency of my current system.

Maybe I'll get there one day.

[johnny847]

I'm not spending my modest personal allowance quickly enough because there is nothing I want or need badly enough to actually buy. I keep having to adjust my forward cashflow spreadsheet to send more money towards housing loans, share buying and rainy day savings.

Can't decide if I should adjust my allowance down permanently or just keep making the adjustments and divert the extra when it shows up.

Honestly I'd just get rid of the allowance. It sounds like you know whether you're spending according to your values or not. MMM doesn't have an explicit budget either.

johnny, I am a non working spouse and would prefer to respect my husband's generosity and manage my part of the finances by setting limits. I have only noticed this phenomenon in the past six months (maybe the MMM influence or I am at the stage where I have everything I need apart from replacements). I will be more likely to go with one of my options rather than killing the allowance altogether. Also I prefer the structure and transparency of my current system.

Maybe I'll get there one day.

Ah sorry I didn't realize that's what you meant by allowance. I was drawing from my own experiences as a single person where when I had a budget, after a couple months I found the budget was counterproductive because I said oh I have $X left in category Y, so I'll just spend it on Z even though I didn't actually need Z at all.

[Megma]

I've had a $20 gift card to target for at least 3 months and it still has money on it, I think around $8 but I have nothing I want to buy there...it was free from my credit card rewards. I suppose I could buy groceries but Aldi is across the street and food is cheaper there....

[Sibley]

I've had a $20 gift card to target for at least 3 months and it still has money on it, I think around $8 but I have nothing I want to buy there...it was free from my credit card rewards. I suppose I could buy groceries but Aldi is across the street and food is cheaper there....

Buy a spatula for the kitchen. You can never have too many.

[Mesmoiselle]

I'm $100 away from the minimum spend amount of the Chase Sapphire card. I'm going to let my MIL and Hubby finish it off with a series of small purchases over the next month. BUT I don't have my next churn card yet and had to use a regular old card with no sign on bonus to pay for my hotel tonight. WAH WAH

Neither my boyfriend or my husband have enough credit history to churn cards with me*. How am I going to keep my churning hobby going? WAH WAH

*Essentially, they'd get the cards, but I do most of the purchasing for the household, so I would get an authorized user card and get the minimum spends churned along.

Does anyone else in your harem have good credit?

dragoncar, I can't tell if your question was sarcastic or just funny, but just wanted to pipe in here to say that 3-person (or more) families/relationships are a lot more common than people who are not in them tend to think.  It is just that people in those relationships do not usually advertise that fact for fear of being judged or ostracized.

No others in the "harem" at the moment. But even if another man sought my attention, it doesn't mean I would be as involved in his finances as much as I am with my current two partners. With him, it may not be as appropriate to churn cards in his name, as he may not live with me.

[Pooperman]

MPP: When attempting to max the 401k, there's a 1 paycheck delay I did not count on when doing so. Now I have to do it again and account for it this time. Then change it just before the end of the year so it changes for next year.

[DollarBill]

I just figured out today that daylight savings time was 4 days ago.

[johnny847]

I just figured out today that daylight savings time was 4 days ago.

Your computer should have adjusted automatically....

[DollarBill]

My computer and phone did but planed my gym time today from my alarm clock when it hit me.

[dragoncar]

I just figured out today that daylight savings time was 4 days ago.

Your computer should have adjusted automatically....

...which is why he didn't noticE

[johnny847]

I just figured out today that daylight savings time was 4 days ago.

Your computer should have adjusted automatically....

...which is why he didn't noticE

I don't know about you, but when my computer tells me one thing but my microwave and stove tell me another, I notice that we've shifted for DST.

[2ndTimer]

I don't know about you, but when my computer tells me one thing but my microwave and stove tell me another, I notice that we've shifted for DST

When this happens to me, I assume it means I need a med adjustment.

[midweststache]

I've had a $20 gift card to target for at least 3 months and it still has money on it, I think around $8 but I have nothing I want to buy there...it was free from my credit card rewards. I suppose I could buy groceries but Aldi is across the street and food is cheaper there....

I go so long between Target visits that I forget I have GCs hanging out in my wallet. Went there for some household basics last weekend (laundry detergent, dishwashing powder, etc.) and completely forgot I had a GC.

That's what I get for not getting excited about shopping anymore :)

[johnny847]

I've had a $20 gift card to target for at least 3 months and it still has money on it, I think around $8 but I have nothing I want to buy there...it was free from my credit card rewards. I suppose I could buy groceries but Aldi is across the street and food is cheaper there....

I go so long between Target visits that I forget I have GCs hanging out in my wallet. Went there for some household basics last weekend (laundry detergent, dishwashing powder, etc.) and completely forgot I had a GC.

That's what I get for not getting excited about shopping anymore :)

I used to have this problem. Then I started putting a sticky note on the cc that I would normally use at Target, reminding me that I have a Target gc.

[mozar]

Even though I am front loading my 401k and have various other deductions from my paycheck, I still have too much money accumulating in my checking account.

My roommate/ tenant asks me every week if I need something from the grocery or if I want a ride because she can't fathom that I would prefer to walk a mile.

I have given myself a $10 a week budget for eating lunch out of the office. Despite there being 10+ food trucks and 50+ restaurants in the area I can't think of something I want.

My aunts and uncles get upset every year when I can't think of gift requests.

[johnny847]

My aunts and uncles get upset every year when I can't think of gift requests.

You can always ask for VTI ;)

[Nudelkopf]

My roommate/ tenant asks me every week if I need something from the grocery or if I want a ride because she can't fathom that I would prefer to walk a mile.

Sometimes I offer to get something from the grocery store for my housemates... and I go on my bike, while they always drive. Perhaps they're just being nice :)

[bzzzt]

You get miffed when you see the depreciation curve slow down on vehicles you think you'd like to own in the future.

[RetiredAt63]

Canadian mustachian people problem here - for those of us who have investment income, we have to wait for our T5s and T3s to file our income taxes.  T5s are not a problem, they have to be out by end of February, but T3s - their deadline to be sent out is end of March.  I have everything done for my income taxes, but I am missing ONE T3 - I called the company this morning, and no assurances other than it will be out by March 31.  Then I wait for mail delivery, so I am looking at April 7 or so - sigh.  At least my deadline is end of April, not mid-April as in the U.S.

If I didn't have investments this would not be a problem, but I like having investments and income.

[I'm a red panda]

I just got the alert for the 3-month, 4,000 mile service on my car.

My car has 700 miles on it.

But I think to keep the warranty I still have to take it in :(

[LennStar]

I just got the alert for the 3-month, 4,000 mile service on my car.

My car has 700 miles on it.

But I think to keep the warranty I still have to take it in :(

What the hell do you need a check for after 3 month? cheking the cooling water? If the windows are still clean?

[I'm a red panda]

I just got the alert for the 3-month, 4,000 mile service on my car.

My car has 700 miles on it.

But I think to keep the warranty I still have to take it in :(

What the hell do you need a check for after 3 month? cheking the cooling water? If the windows are still clean?

Yeah. I'm calling to find out if it is warranty required.  Because BS. 

(And yeah, I know a new car isn't at all mustachian. But I kept my last car for 14 years and plan to do the same for this one.  I wanted something shiny.)