Image Credit: Kangotraveler

This weekend, I was looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing and pretty much just hanging around the house and catching up on my sleep.

Unfortunately, Saturday morning around 6am, my sleep was cut short by a phone call. The call came from an unknown number and I don't usually answer those calls. They called three times before finally leaving a message. Since they kept calling, I figured it may be important and promptly checked my voicemail.

It was a message from my cousin's girlfriend asking me to call her back ASAP and it was urgent. They have a one year old child and I figured that maybe something bad had happened and she needed me. I quickly called her back; only to find that my cousin had been arrested the night before and they needed $1300 to bail him out of jail.

My first thought was to say no. Over the years, I've adopted a pretty strict policy against loaning money to family and friends. I've done it in the past and it usually ended badly. This time though, after thinking about it for a little bit, I figured I needed to help him out. He just started a new job and I knew he had to work on Saturday afternoon. Having a young child, he can not afford to lose his job. Reluctantly, I rolled out of my nice comfy bed, got dressed and headed to the bank to withdraw $1300 from my Slush Fund and then head over to the county jail.

I am so thankful that I have a Slush Fund for things like this. This savings account is my first line of defense before hitting my real Emergency Fund. This account covers those minor emergencies, irregular expenses and things I just plain forgot about. I can withdraw money from this account and it does not disrupt my finances very much since I set aside a fixed amount each month out of my regular budget.

Finally, after waiting around for several hours, they released him. We got out of there around 3pm; just in time for him to get a shower and get to work and just in time for me to get back home and take a nice 2 hr nap.

When my uncle died about 10 years ago, he left my cousin a small amount of money in a savings account. I didn't realize he still had it until he came over yesterday to bring me back the $1300. I really didn't expect to get the money back; at least not all at once.

Luckily, the thing he got arrested for was a misdemeanor and will probably get his money back once he goes to court in November. Hopefully, this will be a learning experience for him and his first and last experience with the inside of a jail cell.

Financial Resources

Image courtesy of Notionscapital.com

The rates on a 30 year home loan have recently fallen to record lows; and will possibly fall even further. Sometimes when homeowners hear about big drops in mortgage rates, they rush out to start the process to refinance their loan.

Even though the current rate may be lower than what you are paying on your mortgage right now, it may or may not make sense to refinance your loan. Before you make the decision to refinance your home loan, be sure it makes sense in your specific situation. Run the numbers and be sure you will save money by refinancing your loan.

Some reasons you should consider refinancing:

ARMS. If you are currently in an Adjustable Rate mortgage and your rate will be readjusting soon, you should probably look into refinancing into a fixed rate mortgage. Be sure you will stay in the home long enough to recoup the costs of refinancing. Once you refinance into a fixed rate loan, you no longer have to worry about increases in your interest rate. An increase in your interest rate by a few percentage points can make your monthly mortgage payment no longer affordable.

Monthly Savings. If you are able to lower your rate enough to save a few hundred dollars a month, it's probably a good idea to refinance. Saving an additional $100-200 a month could be a nice addition to your savings account or help you pay off your credit card debt a lot faster.

Low Cost. If you are one of those that pay your mortgage on time every month, your current mortgage lender will probably do what they can to keep you. This should probably be the first place to check when you make the decision to refinance. Most lenders already have a relationship with you so they can streamline the refinance process and save you money. Your current lender may be able to offer you a no-cost or low-cost refinance.

Cash Out. If you want to remodel your home, send a child to college, start a business, etc, you may want to consider refinancing to take cash out. You will probably need significant equity in your home since most lenders these days are scared they will end up holding the bag if you are not able to pay and the home goes into foreclosure. The more equity you have in the home makes it less likely that you will walk away without paying.

Once you've identified that it is a good idea to refinance your mortgage, make sure you have the credit and equity to back it up. Your credit and the amount of equity you have in the property will be an important factor in determining the rate you receive. Consumers with credit scores in the 700s and have more than 20% equity in their homes will have the best chance of getting the best rates.

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This was originally posted last year. I've submitted an update because the loan was finally paid off today! I checked the mail today and there was my $75. I LOVE it when I get unexpected money.

I have a friend who was going through some pretty rough financial times about 2 years ago. My friend asked me to borrow $200. I said no at first but something inside me told me to do it this one time.
We agreed that I would be paid back $50/month for 4 months. First month, I got the first $50 with no problem. Second month....nothing. Third month I received another $50. Fourth - Twenty fourth month...nothing. I decided after the fourth month that I probably would not get the rest of the money back and took it as a loss. Well today I get my mail and I have a letter from my friend. I thought that was odd as we usually speak on the phone every few months or so. I open the letter and what do I find?????? A check for $25!!!!!! Granted, the balance is $75 but as the letter explained he is getting better with his finances and he wanted to pay me back for helping him.

He advised I should look for another check next month. Will I hold my breath for it? No...I just hope his check doesn't bounce.

Be sure to enter the gas card giveaway. Details are here.

When I made the decision to pay off my car loan, I didn't expect the process to go as smoothly as it did. I'd had problems in the past with regular monthly payments not being credited in time or not at all. My first payment took about 3 weeks to get credited to my loan account even though the check was sent two weeks before the due date and had already cleared my bank. I faxed them several copies of the cleared check and after several frustrating phone calls, the payment finally posted. They charged me a late fee but agreed to waive it. The would not recalculate and credit the additional interest charged on my account. On the final phone call, they finally admitted that yes they had received the money but they didn't know where they put it so until they found it, they couldn't credit the funds to my account.

I must say that Chase Auto Finance handled the payoff of my account with speed and accuracy.

• May 19, 2008 - Mailed check to payoff department via regular mail. I chose not to use overnight mail since I overestimated the payoff to give the check plenty of time to arrive and my next monthly payment wasn't due for another three weeks.


• May 21, 2008 - Checked my account online and saw that the payment had been received and credited to my account.


• May 26, 2008 - Received overpayment refund of $69.97


• June 2, 2008 - Received car title from Chase.

Thanks Chase for your prompt handling of my auto loan payoff. I hope we never have to cross paths again when it comes to a car loan.

I had to borrow money from my Emergency Fund last week to pay for my contacts. I have to wear a toric contact lens because I have an astigmatism. Because I have to wear a special contact lenses, they cost alot more than usual; even with my vision insurance.

I failed to plan for this expense so instead of putting the $300 on my credit card, I borrowed the money from my Emergency Fund. To punish myself for the poor planning, I had to pay myself back with interest.

When I fail to plan for purchases and I have to borrow from myself, I need to make it hurt. Since I borrowed $300, I was required to put $400 back in the account. Borrowing from myself is much better than borrowing from a bank and paying interest for the priviledge.

I paid myself back today so I no longer owe myself any money. I won't have to send anyone to break my legs for nonpayment.

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I spent most of my Saturday at a car dealership. I've done this a few times before having bought 3 brand new cars in the past; prior to my financial awakening.

Fortunately, even though I spent most of the day at the car dealership, the new car was not for me. My Uncle called me up on Friday advising he was ready to buy a new truck and wanted me to go along to help him out. For some reason, when my family has financial questions, they seem to call me. I'm glad to help out when I can.

I was going to write a post about the entire experience but it would be an extremely long. I've decided to take a different direction and just highlight three main points from this experience:

• It's financially beneficial to have a good credit score.
  
• Know the full details of your financial situation.
  
• Never co-sign for a car loan.
  

It's financially beneficial to have a good credit score. My uncle had no idea what his credit score was. He didn't even know there was a such thing as a credit score. Turns out, his score was only in the high 500's. Not the best score when you are trying to make a large purchase on credit (with no down payment). With a good credit score, you have options and the transaction goes alot smoother.

Know the full details of your financial situation. Again, for the same reason as posted above. Not only that, he was not sure how much money he made or who his creditors were. This can save you time and embarrassment (if you have a poor credit score).

Never co-sign for a car loan. With my uncle's low credit score, he had very limited options for purchasing his new truck. I purchased my car from the same salesperson and same dealership so the salesperson knew that I had a good credit score and stable income. The salesperson is a distant relative so she pulled me aside and asked if I would co-sign on the loan. I do appreciate the fact that she did not ask me in front of him. That would have been extremely awkward!!
As much as I wanted to help him out, I had to decline. I did not want to risk him not making the payments and having this car loan on my credit report for the next 6 years. Luckily, his wife had a high enough credit score to co-sign on the loan.

After spending about 6 hours at the dealership, my uncle drove away in a brand new 2008 Nissan Titan. I drove it and I have to admit it is a nice truck but I think financially it is not going to work out. The payment is a bit much for their income and gas will be a killer. I tried to talk him out of it and explain the cons of purchasing a new vehicle but in the end, my words fell on deaf ears. I know the feeling as I had been there before. You want something and you will not stop until you get it; whether it makes financial sense or not.

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I received a call from my cousin today. You know, the one that asked for $1k and refused to tell me what it was for. You can read that story here. Well he decided to call and apologize for the way our conversation went. He apologized for cursing me and hanging up. He stated that he had been under alot of stress lately. Me being the person that I am, told him if he needed to talk, he can still talk to me. Regardless of past issues, we are still family. He declined to talk about his problems but said he just wanted to call and apologize. I accepted his apology and told him whatever problems he has, he needs to just pray about them and keep a positive outlook. This time, we ended on a positive note.

Five minutes later, he calls me back and says oh yeah, can I borrow $200. *sigh* OK, you know I am going to ask you why you need it. If you don't tell me, you know you won't get it. He still declined to tell me what it was for and I still declined the loan request. This time instead of cursing and hanging up, he just hung up.

What is his deal? Does he think he can call and give a halfhearted apology just to get some money? I am sick and tired of it. I hate to do it but I think it is time to write him off for awhile. Not permanently, but long enough for him to know that I will not stand for him acting like a spoiled child when he does not get what he wants.

Oh well, at least this time, SingleGuyMoney is not MAD!

What am I so mad about?? One of my many cousins...both of my parents have big families...called me up today. I hardly ever talk to this cousin because he's screwed me over in the past. Anyway, that's not why I am mad at him now. . I am mad at him because he called me today and the conversation went like this:

Me: Hello. (he called from a number I wasn't familiar with)
Him: Hey Cuz, wassup?
Me: Nothing much, wassup with you?
Him: Nothing much, I need a favor.
Me: What do you need?
Him: A thousand dollars. (he said it like he was asking for $5 bucks)
Me: (I almost fell out of my chair when he said this) What for?
Him: That's none of your damn business. I just need the money.
Me: (blood pressure rising) So you want to borrow ONE THOUSAND dollars from me and not
expect me to ask you why? Are you out of your damn mind?
Him: Are you going to let me borrow it or not?
Me: Dude, you still owe me fifty bucks from a loan 2 years ago.
Him: Fine, I will pay you back One thousand fifty bucks.
Me: LOL. Like I said before, you are out of your mind.
Him: Are you going to loan me the money or not?
Me: What do you think?
Him: F*ck you! Click........

Can you believe that? Not only does he get mad at me for asking what this huge "loan" is for, he also gets mad because I mention he already owes me money. I am steamed. I see red. I am MAD.

Luckily, he lives over 3 hours away or SingleGuyMoney would be blogging from my local jail.
Ok, maybe not blogging; more like making my one phone call.

So what do you guys think? Did I handle this wrong?

I was out at my neighborhood pool this afternoon and was talking with one of my neighbors. I noticed he had a brand new shiny Acura TL (my favorite car). I commented on how nice the car was and how much I wanted one but it was too expensive for my situation right now. My neighbor stated...my payment is only $750 a month. Needless to say, I was totally blown away and it took me a minute to recover. My car payment is $555 and I am still kicking myself for signing that contract. He stated he decided to treat himself and went out and bought one on a whim. He states his interest rate is only 1.9%. I asked why the payment was so high and he advised he thinks he may have been upside down on his trade-in. He had a 2 yr old SUV before so I can only imagine how upside down he was. I know he has a good job and makes pretty good money but for my situation, that is wayyyyyy to much for a car payment. My $555 is wayyyy to much for a car payment. As stated in my post regarding Mistakes and Corrections, this is one of the mistakes I made and am working to correct it.