Been thinking a bit lately about buying a house. I know I’ve talked about it before, but I think I’m in a much better place financially than I was the past couple of time. The original plan was to try and find a place to move to when my lease was up on my current apartment, early next year, but I’ve been looking at this Federal Housing Tax Credit and thinking that I should jump on that if I can.

On the plus side, I might be able to get that 10%-up-to-$8k tax credit if I can get things all set before December 1st. On the down side, I’ll have less cash available for a down payment, and I’ll have to pay the lease break fee to get out of my current place.

Hmm…

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. Please leave any comments there.

Yup, made it another year without kicking the bucket, 28 in a row now, a new personal best. Not a lot of fanfare this year, which was kind of nice.

The last weekend of June, my dad and stepmother came out for a visit. We wandered up to Freeport and Portsmouth for a day. The weather was actually nice for most of the time they were out here. It was good to see them again, and I’m thinking of making a trip out to visit them in the not-to-distant future.

For the long weekend, I traveled down to Hyde Park, NY with my mom, niece, and nephew to meet up with my aunt and uncle to visit my cousin who is attending the CIA. We dined at the school’s Escoffier Restaurant, which was quite good. I’m somewhat kicking myself for forgetting my camera that night, as I would have liked to have taken some shots of the school’s interior. I will have to visit again.

We spent most of the 3rd visiting some of the historical sites in Hyde Park, including the FDR Presidential Library and Top Cottage. I was mostly surprised by the simplicity of Top Cottage. It’s not really a terribly remarkable building, simple but well built. It’s odd to think of a US President entertaining foreign dignitaries there. I did end up taking a number of pictures throughout the day, which I’ve posted in my gallery.

In the evening we attended a demolition derby at the Duchess County Fairgrounds in nearby Rhinebeck, NY. Very entertaining, though somewhat marred by pain from a wisdom tooth that’s being extracted soon. I expect it was the highlight of the trip for my nephew, who didn’t seem all that impressed by the historical sites earlier in the day.

Overall a very good birthday and 4th of July. Somehow I managed to avoid all the fireworks, and ended up not having any kind of party. I’d still like to have some people over to my place at some point, but I’m not sure when.

Thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday over on Twitter and Facebook!

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. You can comment here or there.

Back at work after Memorial Day weekend, it’s beautiful out and I want to get out of here, so I’m killing some time by doing a quick general life update.

The holiday weekend was good. On Saturday I went to a cookout at the house of one of my coworkers. It was a good time, though I ended up having to leaver earlier than I would have liked in order to get Jason back in town in time for a family event.

Sunday had a new first for me, a family event at my home! In the past my apartments have always been too small or too unpresentable to have people over, so it was nice to finally have my mom, one of my stepbrothers and his family over for a cookout. The weather was great, and it seems like everyone had a good time. Bailey was a little freaked out about all the people, but was okay with the kids.

Life in generally has been going pretty well. I hit 30k miles on the Prius last week and purchased a new set of tires, Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max. We’ll see if they actually make any difference on the fuel mileage. I’m still on track to hit my savings goal to hopefully get a house next year. Also decided to switch banks. I don’t really have any complaints with TD Bank, but their online services have somewhat stagnated. A lot of places now let you set up e-mail or SMS alarms on limits or events, and they’ve shown no improvement to their services in the past 4 years or so. Opened up a couple of new accounts at Bellwether and will probably be transitioning over there in the next month.

With the nicer weather, I’ve been giving more thought to taking a real vacation this summer, but I have no idea what to do. I was thinking it would be cool to get a few people together to rent a house somewhere for a week. Not sure who would be interested or where to go, but I think it’d be fun.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. You can comment here or there.

This is my first family holiday in a while where I’ve had no family things to go do. It’s kindof odd. Just me and the Bailey cat at the moment. He moved in on Friday, and seems to be enjoying himself. I think he’s a little confused that the floor is covered in carpet and there aren’t cages on the walls. He’s kindof like a big old kitten; everything here is new to him, and he has some of the kitten skittishness to him.

Work has been going well. My department just finished up a major project, which went pretty smoothly. Now we get some breathing room and will hopefully be able to fix up some of the less important things that deserve to be fixed. The company has issued me a Mac Book Pro, which I am quite liking. I keep comparing it to having a Linux laptop where everything works properly without having to futz with it. I’m really liking the little things, like iCal and Address Book, and how well everything syncs together, including my BlackBerry.

Stuff in the apartment has stalled a bit now that most of it is how I’d like it. The past couple of weeks I’ve been coming home, taking a walk, and just haven’t felt like doing much around the place. I should probably work on the office a bit this afternoon. Once I get that squared away, I’ll have a nice work area for doing projects. I should get some pictures posted once I get everything in place.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. You can comment here or there.

Finally got down to IKEA last weekend to buy some bookshelves for the new apartment. Picked up two of the tall units and two of the shorter ones. The plan was to put all four along one wall, but I measured wall to wall, not between the mouldings at the bottom of the walls, so I was just a bit short. I think it worked out pretty well anyway, and the other short case is in the dining area.

Now that I have a place for my books, I’ve unpacked the last of the boxes, and it finally feels like I’m settled in to the new place. Still a bit of clean up to do in the office, but that shouldn’t take long. And once it is done I’ll have space to start working on some of my other projects.

The only thing left on my list of things I want to get is some bedroom furniture. There’s a set at Bob’s Furniture that I like the look of, though none of their sets match what I want. I think I’ll end up getting the bed set, two night stands and a chest of drawers. Other than that, I’m pretty much set.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. You can comment here or there.

I have to say, I am impressed. It took over a month, but Delia finally moved the bulk of her stuff out on Friday. I was expecting piles of trash and stuff she didn’t want to be left behind for me to deal with, but she actually took everything. The only trash appeared to be a half bottle of ginger ale left on the counter, and I don’t mind that so much.

The apartment looks huge now. The second bedroom, which we used as an office/box storage room is almost totally empty, with only my desk left in it. The living room feels larger as well, with the bookcases gone. I’m starting to wonder how the new apartment is going to feel with so little in it, but I think that’s a problem I can handle.

The big move is next weekend, and given how many people have agreed to help, it should go smoothly. Hopefully I’ll be doing the walk-through and getting the keys either Tuesday or Wednesday, then I can move the boxes on my own, just leaving the furniture for Saturday. The only piece I think is going to be a pain is the sofa, as the sleeper section is rather heavy.

I’m really looking forward to getting out of here.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. You can comment here or there.

Progress is continuing on my apartment move. Today, Angelina and I went and retrieved all my stuff from the storage unit that Delia and I used to share. Upon opening the door to the unit I was impacted by an avalanche of stuff falling from the inside of the unit. I had more stuff than I remember in there, but still not a lot. Four boxes of books and such, my trombone, my child’s rocking chair (I consider it a family heirloom, one day my child shall rock upon it) and my old footlocker, packed full of all my most precious things. It felt good to make some progress on the move, and rediscover some of the items that mean so much to me.

We also stopped at Lowe’s to pick up some shelving to put in the carport storage at the apartment. It looks like some of my stuff was water-damaged in there, so I wanted to get everything up off the floor. I may go back for a second unit tomorrow, as it fits very nicely and makes that space much more usable. I should move the Christmas stuff into there and see how much room is left first though.

Tomorrow I intend to pack up my books, largely to clear off the bookshelves that they currently inhabit, as Delia will be taking them. I’ll also be purchasing my new vacuum cleaner. Would have done it today, but I didn’t think the box would fit in the back of the Prius along with my storage unit goodies. I’ve also been looking at some new furniture for the new apartment, and I think I’ll finally be able to execute my plan of buying some real furniture for the bedroom.

Speaking of which, I am simply amazed at how much less I’m already spending. My weekly expenditures for dining along have dropped to almost nothing, spending about $50/wk on groceries instead of $250/wk on eating out. My savings are nearly back to the levels they were at before I met Delia, and I should be on track for putting a down payment on some property in early 2010. With my reduced space requirements, I’m thinking the condos I looked at in Derry would be perfect. I loved the floor plan, I only hope there’s an opening when I’m ready to buy.

I am somewhat distressed by the lack of forward progress on Delia’s out-moving. Near as I can tell, she’s taken her computer, most of the stuff from her bathroom, a couple of food items, and roughly half of the giant pile in the bedroom. I’m hoping there will be some significant progress this week. I would really like to stop having the remnants of her life strewn about my abode.

I think she was right about me not being happy either. On average, I have been feeling far better about my life since she left. I feel free. I’m no longer trying to keep anyone else happy. I do what I want, when I want, how I want. What to do for dinner? Throw together some ground beef, chips, cheese, and poof! Nachos! Good enough for me, and cheaper than eating out every night. I think many of my reservations about buying a new place were grounded in my displeasure with the state of our apartment. Why would I buy a place with this person if she’s going to treat it like she treats the place? A place to sleep, surrounded by piles of unworn clothes and unopened boxes, getting surly whenever asked to do anything to better her surroundings, and just generally putting no effort into anything.

I think I’m coming across as being rather negative toward her, but I really do feel like my personal life has been stalled for years, and now I can get back into gear and do all the things I’ve wanted to do.

PS Pseudo-scientific research has discovered that Danger Mouse is really f-ed up, to subjects both drunk and sober. I still love it, but watching it now, 20 years later, it just boggles the mind.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. You can comment here or there.

Okay, the plans have been finalized! I am going to be moving to another unit in this complex, a two-bedroom that costs $330 less per month than my current two bedroom (at least for the next year, then it goes up by $200, but I intend to move again at that point.) With my other utility cost savings, this should drop my monthly expenses by $492, which almost entirely covers the amount that Delia used to contribute, so I can continue my savings plan as it has been.

The only tricky bit is I have to move entirely on February 28th, and for that, I will need help. I know I’ve been relying on my friends a lot lately, but anyone willing and able to help with the move would be greatly appreciated, and I’ll gladly pay for a grand feast in your honor once the task is done.

My plan is to spend my spare time in the next month reducing the amount of stuff I have to move. I intend to donate most of my books to the local library (feel free to look over the list and claim anything you’d like,) donate my excess clothing to Goodwill or something similar, and give away my excess computer junk that I rarely touch anymore.

I don’t feel like it’s going to be all that bad. I have a few pieces of large furniture (bed, couch, a couple desks) but not that much little stuff to move. I’m looking forward to the fresh start in a new place all to myself.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. You can comment here or there.

It occurs to me that my previous calculations on savings are flawed. In order to actually save more than I’m saving now, I need to reduce monthly spending by more than $500, in order to compensate for the lack of the money that Delia used to contribute. That pretty much rules out the apartment building right next to work.

After chatting with Big Dave though, I am hopeful about being able to move into another unit in the same complex. Apparently his daughter transferred to another unit a couple of months into a year lease. I will definitely need to talk to them about that. Delia has also expressed an interest in taking over the current apartment, so she wouldn’t have to move all her stuff. No idea how the management company will want to deal with that, as currently my name is the only one on the lease.

Unfortunately, this is all hitting at the same time as a ton of stuff going on at work, so I’m unable to take any time off to deal with moving.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. Please leave any comments there.

So, I’m living on my own again, and I think it’s time to make some changes. First off, this apartment is too big for me, and too expensive to live in alone. So, I intend to move. My goal is to move by the end of February, thus maximizing the amount of time I have to recoup the cost of the lease break fee over the year. Lease break is one months rent, so $1,435. If I break end of February, that’s only 2 months into the lease, so I have 10 months to recovery the cost in order for it to make sense not to ride out the lease, so I need to find a lease that’s at least $143.50 less per month.

I’ve been considering Manchester Place, as it is literally right next door to work. Their lowest cost 1 bedroom unit is $1,155/month, a savings of $280/mo. And that’s not counting the reduction in driving, as I’d only need to use the Prius on the weekends.

Also considering some other cost cutting measures, dropping television service, the TiVo subscription, GameFly, dropping Netflix to the 1 disc plan, and such.

That’s a yearly savings of $5,304, which I intend to throw towards a down payment on a townhouse once my next lease is up. The Comcast doesn’t drop to zero as I intend to keep my own Internet access, although I could possibly just leech off of the connection at work. The location is only a couple of blocks from the CO as well, so DSL is a strong possibility.

We shall see. I intend to make some phone calls tomorrow. There’s also a townhouse rental place on the north end of the city that looks interesting.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. Please leave any comments there.

Another year, another post for the holidays, whichever ones you might choose to celebrate. I’ve been claiming Pastafarianism for most of this year, which prescribes a simple Holiday season. I really ought to pick up a copy of the holy book one of these days.

Anyway, I’ve got my desktop PC up and running again with a shiny new power supply. Hopefully this one will last for a while. Delia’s desktop’s video card started having fits when we hooked it up to a DVI monitor. I had similar issues with another card back when I first built this system, so I think it may have been a flaw in that line of cards. We picked up a new one at Best Buy, so it’s all happy again.

What with the new expansion pack and all, we’ve decided to take up WoW again. I figure with Jason playing and a few other friends on there, it’ll be a good way to waste away some winter nights. I’m looking to avoid all the stupid guild drama crap this time around though. So far it’s been pretty fun. A lot has changed since we stopped playing, so it’s kind of fun to discover all the little new things.

Not a whole lot going on otherwise. Thinking of having a New Year’s Eve party here. Slowly working on getting my stuff out of the second bedroom so Delia can use it as a massage room. She still needs to get in a bunch of practice hours before she can get her state certification back, so I figured having a place to practice would help.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. Please leave any comments there.

Well, I decided that paying off my rent debt was more important than a new laptop, so I’ve done the financially resposible thing and put more tax return toward that. Now I just have to pay off a couple smaller debts and I’ll be debt free once again. Yay!

In other news, the apartment building we’re living in is up for sale. Looks like the asking price is about $350k, and I’m trying to think of a way to get together with our friends on the first floor to buy the building. One person suggested working out a system by which the building is split into individual condo units and purchased seperately, but I have no idea whatsoever on how to go about doing such a thing.

Other than that, not a whole lot going on in life. We had a party for Delia’s birthday last night (I’m actually still awake from that, haven’t felt the inclination to sleep yet.) Much fun was had, lots of Karaoke Revolution, a suprising amount of alcohol and more than enough pizza. I’m sure Delia will post more about it at some point.

Not really sure what I’m going to do with the rest of my weekend. I’ve been tossing around the idea of going geocaching, since I haven’t done that in quite a while. I should do some work on the SimPro stuff as well. Maybe I’ll even get a chance to work on one of my own projects for a change.

Originally published at 2 Bit Hacker. Please leave any comments there.