Our Financial Goals: Savings and Debt Reduction

Start looking now. You can find amazing baby items on Craig's list and EBay. And to be truthful- babies do not care about their furniture- only that you hold and love them! The few things you HAVE to buy new are: Crib mattress and car seat.
If you feel compelled to have a good list for the grandparents- suggest a 529! I put money in our grandson's 529- and still bought the new mattress!

Actually, it's not just the rate of interest on the student loans, it's the way they apply it. Any transferred balance (even if it's not the whole thing) has a one-time 3% fee, assuming you pay it off in the alloted time. Student loans adds amoritization daily - 3% divided by 365, multiplied by your balance and added each and every day; the next day's calculation includes the interest added the previous day. It's one of the primary reasons Congress has cosidered an overhaul, and why the DOE has been compared to the mob.

@RC - Thanks!

@J - Our student loan interest is 2% and 3%. I don't think I'll ever pay that off early. Unless I win the lottery or something.

I like your way of thinking though. If the loan amount is low enough and your rate is high, going to 0% for 12-15 mo's or so might be a smart move for a financially stable person.

Depending on the amount of your student loan remaining, you may want to consider a balance transfer to a credit card if you have the 0% finance rate available. Granted you'll have to pay the 3% fee, but it's likely to be better than the 7% or so being amoritized on a daily basis. I did this back in February, and the math worked out really well in my case.

Congrats on the news PT!

Thanks, Tiffanie! I know, it opens up so many new ideas. And I'll relate to many more people as well.

congrats on the baby front! that is very exciting and i'm sure you'll have a ton of new ideas for blogging :)

Thanks, Kim (Geekermom)! Very kind words. :)

Congrats on baby! My baby just turned 18 and has taught me the meaning of "letting go". That invisible umbilical cord is tough to cut for this mom. I luv the update on goals. You all will sleep better at night (if not longer) when baby gets here, no doubt. Thanks for the update--reminds me I need to do one as well.

Geekermom

@Jesse - We pay a lot of property taxes in Texas since we have no State tax. On a 200K house, it would be around $5,000 annually. I'd rather hold on to that money all year earning the interest on it, then just make the payment at the end of the year. I keep the interest earned.

Also, I trust myself versus the lender to manage the payments right.

At the end of the day, it's about control and putting the leverage on your side.

Im curious: what made you decide to not escrow your property taxes? Seems like a lot of hassle to me ;)

Thanks! Yeah, I snuck that in there today for the first time. I've been wanting to tell you since I know you're having a little boy, right?

It's been fun reading your posts and sending Mrs. PT some of your info.

Good advice on the insurance call. Will do that today.

Hooray about baby news! When I saw your comment about it on my blog, I was like, "? I didn't know they were having a baby!"

So exciting!

Don't assume what your expenses will be--get on the phone with your health insurance company and find out! My husband and I were pleasantly surprised with how low our expenses will actually be.

We haven't bought any baby furniture yet, but that's coming up soon (I'm due toward the end of December). Prices are nuts but I'm confident we can get what we need without spending way too much.

We're also trying to budget for baby expenses. We might not scrape together as much as we had hoped, but it will help, I'm sure!

Again, congratulations!!