Post Your Wins

[james.hendrickson]

Instead of posting individual threads for your financial wins, lets share stories of how we've paid off our debts, made extra money, or otherwise took home some personal finance wins.

For my part, I recently just bought a condo. This is way better than renting because I'll be racking up 500 in equity every month, plus getting into a better tax situation and now my housing payments will be going into having an asset that's gaining value in the real estate market.

[disneysteve]

For my part, I recently just bought a condo. This is way better than renting because I'll be racking up 500 in equity every month, plus getting into a better tax situation and now my housing payments will be going into having an asset that's gaining value in the real estate market.

Congrats on the condo. I hope it all works out as cleanly as you think. Real estate doesn't always gain value. And how exactly does buying put you in a better tax situation?

[james.hendrickson]

DisneySteve,

I can deduct the interest on the mortgage of course...before that I didn't have much to deduct at all.

[disneysteve]

I can deduct the interest on the mortgage of course...before that I didn't have much to deduct at all.

That's true, but it doesn't mean you are in a "better" tax situation.

Let's say you're in the 25% tax bracket.
For every $1.00 you pay in interest, you save $0.25 at tax time. Woo hoo. So every dollar of interest really only COSTS you 75 cents. You haven't actually saved anything.

[rigz]

That's true, but it doesn't mean you are in a "better" tax situation.

Let's say you're in the 25% tax bracket.
For every $1.00 you pay in interest, you save $0.25 at tax time. Woo hoo. So every dollar of interest really only COSTS you 75 cents. You haven't actually saved anything.

Assuming his past rent and mortgage are about the same, saving 25% of the interest is something back he wasn't getting before.

So if it's a $200,000 mortgage at 3% that's $6000. Savings 25% of that is $1500 in tax savings. Not bad.

[Jluke]

by refinancing and accelerating mortgage payments to pay it off, I only paid 58,530 in interest over 10 years. If I kept the original 30-year mortgage I would have paid out an additional 165,740 in interest over 20 years....

please don't turn this into paying off mortgage vs investing thread. this is a win in my book.

A big win will be if I can find a way to retire in my 50's.

My ultimate focus is on preparing my son for the real world and continually investing in him both financially (he has stocks already) and on a personal level just teaching him whatever I can.

[snafu]

james.h Best wishes on your new condo. Condos are always slightly higher risk as they fall 1st and faster if the housing market in your community gets into difficulty. I've always kept track of sales in our complex, asking and actual sold price. You need good management and residents willing to serve on the board who have common sense. Finally, you need good neighbours because we all hear horror stories about things that go off the tracks at other compounds.

We who are your northern neighbours, do not get a deduction on income tax for either property tax or interest but it's really helpful to workout that sum and make it a point of honour to keep it in it's own column until there is sufficient accrued to create it's own investment program. We do our best to set 1% of value for repairs, upgrades and updates to keep our unit current.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Poor lad this james guy. I get the sense he wants others to share their win stories, not critique his win story, oh well it is what it is (lol). At any rate my best win was my Hawaii condo as well, paid $60,000 in 1999. Today's assessed value is $180,000.

[creditcardfree]

Financial wins this week: sold $20 worth of items on eBay, redeemed Amex rewards for a $25 Amazon gift card and relieved to see my daughter's scholarship of $7,250 applied to her tuition bill.

[MonkeyMama]

Assuming his past rent and mortgage are about the same, saving 25% of the interest is something back he wasn't getting before.

So if it's a $200,000 mortgage at 3% that's $6000. Savings 25% of that is $1500 in tax savings. Not bad.

Exactly.

"Tax savings" was a huge consideration for us when considering renting versus buying. Savings in the realm of $500/month over renting. No small beans.

I don't have much to add to this thread. Mostly on auto pilot with not much going on.

[disneysteve]

Assuming his past rent and mortgage are about the same, saving 25% of the interest is something back he wasn't getting before.

"Tax savings" was a huge consideration for us when considering renting versus buying. Savings in the realm of $500/month over renting. No small beans.

I don't have much to add to this thread. Mostly on auto pilot with not much going on.

True. I wasn't thinking along those lines. I was thinking more of all the folks who say, "I'm not paying off my mortgage because I'll lose the tax deduction."

I agree with MonkeyMama about being on auto pilot. Any "wins" these days usually involve getting a great deal on something. The biggest "win" for me in recent months was starting my new PT job. The hourly rate is 70% higher than at my regular FT job. So far, I've earned just over 10K from the new job. That includes a bunch of training days as well as regular work shifts. Plus I've now got a 401k for the first time in my life.

[sv2007]

recently wife and I started an investment contest; each started w/ $350k. So far, I have $349k; wife has $480k. I guess not much of a win for me... yet : )

[disneysteve]

recently wife and I started an investment contest; each started w/ $350k. So far, I have $349k; wife has $480k. I guess not much of a win for me... yet : )

Are you doing that with real money or just on paper?
I'd say it's a win for sure if it's real money since you are up a net of $129,000.

[sv2007]

Are you doing that with real money or just on paper?
I'd say it's a win for sure if it's real money since you are up a net of $129,000.

real money; we're too old to play with fake money. We started 2 accounts and funded $350k each to compare our investment wisdom. Turns out wife is way better when she puts energy into it.

[james.hendrickson]

No win is too small. Its hella hot here in Portland, Oregon. I went to one of the local big box stores and bought a fan. The box was damaged so I asked customer service and got 10% off.

Not a whole lot of savings - only a couple of bucks - but I'll take it.