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Archive for January, 2011

Government Foreclosure

January 14th, 2011 at 06:58 pm

Ok, so I've always been interested in investing in real estate. I've blogged about possibilities before on here but have never actually taken the plunge to go for anything. A family friend, who has a lot of experience in real estate investing, referred me to government foreclosures as a possibility. This was back in November. I got wrapped up in the Holidays and hadn't really had a chance to follow up or look for any foreclosures but long story short, after taking a peek today, I see that there is a foreclosure up for auction next week! The gov't bid is listed at $26k, whatever that means. I have a lot of research still left to do but my mind is racing with the opportunity to get a decent house for so cheap. I know the area and I know exactly where the house is --- nice family neighborhood. I'd estimate the retail value of the house at around $90-$100k. I'm going to talk to my friend tonight to get more guidance about the process. He started out with a government foreclosure and so he'll know what to do... Maybe this will be the one for us??

Updating savings amounts for 2011

January 11th, 2011 at 06:29 pm

We had been saving $1,000 per month into savings (short-term, mid-term, and retirement). I just got online to all our accounts and increased everything to $1,500 per month. I think we can do more but let's see how this feels for a few months.

We also are going to start paying extra on our mortgage... just to round it up from $1,652 to $1,700 each month which is just $48 so no biggie. We used to pay a few hundred extra per month when we first got the mortgage but then scaled back to the regular monthly payment amount when we were trying to sell our house. Now that it looks like we'll be here for a while, I figured we'd start paying a little extra just because.

Some things I look forward to in 2011:

1. Reaching the $20,000 mark in our e-fund.
2. Would love to be 100-105 lbs! Before you think that is outrageous, please be aware that I am very petite and this would be normal (but on the lean side) for someone like me. I have thus far cut out soda (except for one can twice a week -- long story) which is going to help tremendously. I am trying to fit in some exercise too... so far, so good.
3. Cook at home more/eating out less. This has been working out pretty well thus far.