Sabrina’s Money Madness

I know there is rule of thumb out there that says to save 1% of the value of your home every year for maintenance. But I have several friends who own there own home and they seem to spend much more than that. I’ve heard that it averages out over the years but supplies […]

And they are severely cutting into my savings. Well, not cutting into my savings but instead of being able to use my raise for savings and a rainy day cushion, I have to use it to pay rent.
Last year my rent went up $10 more than my raise. This year, it’s scheduled to go up […]

My lease is up at the end of March of next year. I want to buy a house next year but my money from the program that I’m in won’t be ready until the end of July. The property management company does let you extend your lease but only in weird increments. It’s either 3 […]

Yesterday was a football game and I expected noise during the game, perhaps even after. But my neighbors must have been in full party mode because they were noisy all night long. Had it been Friday night it wouldn’t have been so bad, but it was a Sunday and Monday was not a holiday.
I’m glad […]

Most of my family still lives in the southern NJ and Philly area where they just got hit with Irene. Everyone said it wasn’t so much the wind as much as it was the rain. Streets and homes were flooded, there was damage to kitchens including the undermount sink that some people have. Basements are a mess so if anyone had a gameroom […]

It seems like I’m always fighting with a service provider. This time it’s my cellular provider. I really hate doing this too. I generally pay my bill and I’m a decent customer to deal with, unless and/or until I feel like I’m being taken advantage of.
My cellular provider (T-Mobile) just started these new value plans […]

It’s only about 94 degrees outside today and it’s time for another trip to the bank. I have to make a deposit into my house savings account and I’ve designated the Monday after payday as the day to make the deposit.
I would create a new direct deposit but my company has a freeze on creating […]

I tried to open my house savings account back in May. The account was finally opened in the middle of June. Don’t even ask me where the paperwork was for almost an entire month.
The account was initally funded with $40. During the month of June I added $125 which brings my total account balance to […]

I can’t take this. It is so hot and humid outside and my air conditioner picks now to die. Unbelievable as my friend would say. I’ve only had the unit for 2 years and I used it sparingly last summer. Once I figured how to get it in the window I cranked the air this […]

My neighbor is moving out tomorrow. He was originally scheduled to move out at the end of May but he and his fiance hadn’t found a new place yet. Our management company let him extend his lease by one month and they didn’t charge him a fee. I have a coworker who used to use […]

And how bad is bad? I haven’t spent a lot of money but every time I go into a store that sells home decor products, I’ll look and try to decide if it fits into the scheme that I’ve already imagined my house to have. When I move in, I won’t need a lot of […]

It’s part of my home buyer’s training course. It’s a requirement that I take these classes in order to receive any type of assistance like a low interest rate loan. The loan is for my local county and it’s backed by a bond fund. However if you don’t take the home buyer’s course you don’t […]