Just tidbits about money and finance.
From the category archives:
My contractor is done. We discussed one more additional improvement and it’s another $110 for it. That brings the total contractor bill to $745.
There was a brief moment of panic with my new dishwasher installation. There was a small leak after installation and it looked like it was coming from inside the machine. But after [...]
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The nice thing about having an elastic budget is being able to find cash immediately.
Having the car thrown out of alignment was killing me the other day. I sat looking at my spreadsheets trying to figure out how to make my goals for credit card payoff by the end of the year.
Luckily I just decided [...]
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Seriously. I have no idea what to do with my money. I didn’t meet my goals last year. I’m falling on my face with this year’s goals. Since starting this blog I have only paid down about $5K in credit card debt (over 2.5 years).
My boyfriend has asked me to move in. I’m pretty excited [...]
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I just paid out $3084.00 to the contractor for my apartment. It’s done. It looks great.
Total cost was $5684.00. Not bad for a DC area bathroom remodel. They’re between $7K-12K for a low-end estimate. But since my bathroom is exceptionally tiny to fit in my studio, I saved some money by ripping out a tile [...]
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After a deluge of rain this spring, my windows are still leaking. I tried to tell the HOA about this 2 years ago when we had a crappy representative from the property management firm. However, they’re only taking action on it now.
So now that I’m done the bathroom, I’m going to have to move out [...]
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The main part of the construction is finally done. There’s one minor problem to fix, but it still renders my apartment unusable at the moment. (Sort of.)
I asked my contractor to retain my original tub because of an art deco detailing that matches the building’s exterior. I had him reglaze the surface so I could [...]
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Usually I give myself a little allowance every week for lunch and general pocket money, about $100-140. I put gas on my debit card to track in Quicken. The allowance covers most of my weekly expenses, including a few dinners or beers. If I know I’m dining out, I’ll budget $140. If not, more like [...]
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You know, everyone tells you must add an extra 10% on top of your estimate on any construction project to get the final cost.
Of course, my bathroom remodel is going poorly and it’s sucking up my 10% overage.
There was some concrete under the tile in the bathroom that’s coming down. Unfortunately, to get an even [...]
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Contemplating things further, I think I can finance a bathroom remodel. Especially since the estimate I received is under $6K. Add on 10% for overruns, as most places advise, and it’s still slightly under the $6K mark.
Resources available:
1. The insurance company will pay me for the repairs ~$950.
2. My tax refund is ~$1400.
3. My stimulus [...]
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Since the ceiling needs repair, I figure I should do the entire bathroom. I thought maybe it would cost $5K, but after talking with a few people, I need to budget closer to $7K. I suppose this is a very salient lesson that everyone needs an emergency fund. Say 3-6 months of take home pay, [...]
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