Today…. first staff meeting and information overload re: maintenance, facilities, budget, etc. Just got home and I’m totally beat.
I went to a few animal shelters this weekend and met a new kitty that I fell in love with and hopefully Clementine will feel the same way. He looks a teeny bit like Niko did, but really he’s more of a grey tabby than a brown/black tabby and he has a white belly and paws. He’s also not quite as fluffy, but since he’s only 8 months old, it’s hard to know how long his hair will end up being. The tail is fluffy! Right now they are calling him Hutch, but I think I will name him Bear. What I loved about him was that he was in a room with like 30 cats, but he was just chilling up on the top of one of the cages… totally laid-back. But then when I put him down on the floor, he was sniffing around and making friends with the other cats. So hopefully that means he will be friendly, but not overbearing. 
I’ll go back out the the shelter and bring him home on Saturday morning.
Re: the house purchase, I’m trying to decide if I should go with the conventional 30 year mortgage, or if I think I could pay another $180/month to get a .5% reduction in my interest rate by going with a 15 year mortgage. Over the life of the loan, I would save SO much money. I just think that the payment with the 15 year would be really tight financially during the first 2 years or so. Hopefully eventually I’d be making a bit more money and it would be easier…then again, if I had someone to rent the 2nd floor (2 large rooms, bathroom and deck) for maybe $500 or $450/month, I could easily afford a higher payment.
Of course the mortgage broken thinks I could afford anything… like a $200K loan, but she’s crazy!
I need friends in Waco. I don’t really feel lonely, and I’m fine with making plans to go out on my own, but once I go out places, I seem to be the only person that is in my position. Everyone else is in large groups of friends, and people aren’t really looking to make new friends it seems. Blah.
What I *need* is someone I already know to move to Waco and rent part of my house and be my friend. Who’s interested?
Monday, 8. September 2008
Re: the mortgage - go for the 30-year, you can always pay more of it, just like a 15-year one, but you’ll have the option of not doing it. Make sure there are no penalties for pre-payment, and you should be good!
Monday, 8. September 2008
Even though I have to pay what feels like a significantly higher interest rate? It will take me 18 years to pay off if I pay what I would have with a 15 year every month for the 30 year. So three extra years of payments… 36K.
Tuesday, 9. September 2008
Pay what you can comfortably afford. You could also have the option of refinancing in the future when interests rates go back down. My gut still says to go with a 30 yr loan and just pay it off early. The last thing you really want is to decide between buying groceries or defaulting on your loan.
Tuesday, 9. September 2008
cute kitty! Josiah and I were going to offer you our cat because we’re getting a pup soon
and we’re not sure if they will get along. but texas is kind of far from lancaster. glad you found a friend, he is cute. 
mortgage….I have no experience in this area because I have always rented. but I’ve worked in the financial field for a few years…and now at a bank. I hear good things about going with the 30year mortgage and paying a payment like it’s a 15year whenever you can afford it.
love you!
Tuesday, 9. September 2008
I was thinking along the same lines - go with the 30, but pay as much extra as possible on the principal each month as you can afford. Getting a housemate is also a good plan - I know it worked well for Christiana!
love you!
Sunday, 14. September 2008
Go with the 20 yr loan payments are still reasonable and rate is almost as low as 15yr