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livingdebObvious underestimates for last year combined with a modest tax increase this year mean my escrow payment is going from $268/month to $344/month. There goes my stimulus. Twice.
So maybe it's time I bit the bullet and took control of my escrow account. I'm just the sort one would have expected to have been doing this all along. After all, you collect interest while you're saving and you don't have to trust some bank to make your payments. Plus you can control the timing of your tax payments so you can save up income tax deductions to itemize every other year.
But the amount of interest I could earn is very little. The bank has been perfect about paying these things--can't get better than that. And I have no problem finding enough deductions to itemize every year.
Last year it was fun paying too little to my lender, but maybe it's time to end the silliness. And maybe taxes and insurance are the perfect kinds of savings goals for Smarty Pig, which pays higher interest than lots of places.
(Did you know blogs like this could have sudden plot twists?)
Smarty Pig is an online savings account, but having an account there is more like a set of CDs than a regular savings account. You have to set financial goals including how much the thing you are saving for will cost and when you want to achieve the goal and then you have to have regular deposits. When you achieve the goal you then have to close that goal and withdraw all the money (as money or as a gift card, usually with an additional discount, only I seriously doubt my city or my insurer are on the list of companies offering such gift cards).
There's also a social element to it--you can share your goal with others and you can let others contribute toward your goal (examples are college students getting help from Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa). Odd. But it's FDIC insured and gets good reviews.
Most of my savings goals do not involve specific totals or deadlines. For example, I like to save a certain amount for housing upkeep each month, but that won't be due on a certain date and it won't be a predictable amount. When something needs fixing, I'll want to withdraw enough to take care of it and leave the rest in savings.
However, taxes and insurance fit the Smarty Pig model. So does flood insurance. And I can pretend that saving for my next car fits the model, too, by adding ten years from the date I bought my current car and calculating what my total would be by then given my current savings rate.
Do any of you have hints about taking control of your escrow account? (I already learned two things about doing this with my lender: you can't request this online and you have to call before 8:00 pm Central Standard Time.)
Best phone call of the day (100 times over) - "You're an aunt."
That's right, "Wally the Watermelon" (the name of the week) just became Alexandra Leona. Now we can create new nicknames each week. Al, Allie, Alex, Alexa, Alexi, Lexie, Xandra, Ann, Annie, Andie, Dra. And actually interact with her in a more satisfying way than "Push on my belly right here--That's her butt."
So maybe it's time I bit the bullet and took control of my escrow account. I'm just the sort one would have expected to have been doing this all along. After all, you collect interest while you're saving and you don't have to trust some bank to make your payments. Plus you can control the timing of your tax payments so you can save up income tax deductions to itemize every other year.
But the amount of interest I could earn is very little. The bank has been perfect about paying these things--can't get better than that. And I have no problem finding enough deductions to itemize every year.
Last year it was fun paying too little to my lender, but maybe it's time to end the silliness. And maybe taxes and insurance are the perfect kinds of savings goals for Smarty Pig, which pays higher interest than lots of places.
(Did you know blogs like this could have sudden plot twists?)
Smarty Pig is an online savings account, but having an account there is more like a set of CDs than a regular savings account. You have to set financial goals including how much the thing you are saving for will cost and when you want to achieve the goal and then you have to have regular deposits. When you achieve the goal you then have to close that goal and withdraw all the money (as money or as a gift card, usually with an additional discount, only I seriously doubt my city or my insurer are on the list of companies offering such gift cards).
There's also a social element to it--you can share your goal with others and you can let others contribute toward your goal (examples are college students getting help from Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa). Odd. But it's FDIC insured and gets good reviews.
Most of my savings goals do not involve specific totals or deadlines. For example, I like to save a certain amount for housing upkeep each month, but that won't be due on a certain date and it won't be a predictable amount. When something needs fixing, I'll want to withdraw enough to take care of it and leave the rest in savings.
However, taxes and insurance fit the Smarty Pig model. So does flood insurance. And I can pretend that saving for my next car fits the model, too, by adding ten years from the date I bought my current car and calculating what my total would be by then given my current savings rate.
Do any of you have hints about taking control of your escrow account? (I already learned two things about doing this with my lender: you can't request this online and you have to call before 8:00 pm Central Standard Time.)
Best phone call of the day (100 times over) - "You're an aunt."
That's right, "Wally the Watermelon" (the name of the week) just became Alexandra Leona. Now we can create new nicknames each week. Al, Allie, Alex, Alexa, Alexi, Lexie, Xandra, Ann, Annie, Andie, Dra. And actually interact with her in a more satisfying way than "Push on my belly right here--That's her butt."
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no subject
on 2009-04-15 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-16 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-15 09:49 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-16 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
on 2009-04-16 05:36 pm (UTC)I think I would call her Lee Lee, but mostly because my niece is Lexi.