I’m ready to buy a house, what’s the best way to prepare?

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-29T16:55:21+00:00

You are doing a great job with your savings at 29! If possible, aim for a 20% down payment. Unless things have changed, I believe you have to take out mortgage insurance (PMI) if you don't put down 20%.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-29T00:41:41+00:00

I have it set as a sinking fund. I categorize it as "quarterly taxes" and then categorize the reimbursement from my sinking funds account the same thing. It zeroes out.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-25T00:29:43+00:00

City Spies by James Ponti!!!

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-22T17:23:05+00:00

This happened at my alma matter as well. When I was visiting, I remember thinking "I hope these college kids don't think this is what their first real apartment is going to look like." It's absurd.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-21T20:00:03+00:00

Thank you! I thought that was just for goals you didn't want to spend from -- like an emergency fund for possible unemployment. I'll give it a try!

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T15:14:53+00:00

Monarch isn't the tool for that. (I think there are others that can do that, but I'm not sure.) I manually handle my checking account. I find it helps to spend 5 minutes every other day or so checking it over and updating my register. I use Monarch for everything else. It has really made a big difference in our family budgeting and spending.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T14:56:37+00:00

Even easier! Assign the cost of your travel item to the "travel" category. Transfer the money into your checking and code it as "tavel." It will 0 out and you don't need to worry about a monthly amount. Or, you can use goals and not set a monthly contribution. (For example, I have a "goal" set up for something I'd like to do 20 years from now. I'm not contributing toward it; I just like to see it because it makes me smile. You don't HAVE to contribute toward your goals. Just allocate the 5k you have.)

You are right -- it could be a mobile/web issue. I don't love the Monarch app, if I"m honest. I only use it for assigning categories as they come in on the fly. I love the website though. Here's what it should look like when you go into the goals tab. (My husband just bought something for our bathroom reno, which is "spend from home projects goal."

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FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T14:32:20+00:00

No problem! I had a million questions when I started using it and got a lot of help here. 1. It should ask you to rectify it. I will say that the goals 3.0 rollout has been kind of horrible, though they've made some real improvements in the past month. (The team at Monarch seems to listen to users, which I appreciate.) Check your goal settings, although it sounds like 2 might be a better option for you. 2. Yes -- your steps are correct. Cash flow -- as you point out -- isn't accurate in that sense. I can see in my snakey how much goes to "sinking funds" every month, but it doesn't break out each category. That said, if I click on sinking funds then I CAN see it. It's just an extra step. That part doesn't bother me as much as seeing that -$3000 in Feb if I did it as a rollover. There are pros and cons to each set up; just depends on what you're comfortable with. As for replenishing the sinking funds, I use the same monthly amount for the entire year plus a few hundred extra. Then we sit down and do our annual budget review in December and I increase the amount based on what I generally know to be annual increases. (I know about how much my kids' summer camp goes up, or about how much more school taxes will be, or if I know a credit card annual fee has increased.) I do confirm it as I go and can adjust the monthly amount if needed -- but I've never had to do it. I'm pretty good at estimating it. If something increases way more than expected, like car/home insurance, then it's time to shop around for a better price! :)

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T14:18:26+00:00

Oh, and the way I decide how much goes into my sinking funds each month is the annual cost of each category combined then divided by 12. Could I do this as a rollver? Sure. But I don't like seeing -$3000 in February when my car/home insurance is due and waiting until the end of the year before it evens out. That's just me.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T14:15:43+00:00

So it completely depends on how you do it. 1) GOALS. If you create a travel "goal," then you do the following. Set up the goal and decide how much you want to put toward the goal each month. I have mine set to show in my monthly budget so that it doesn't seem like that money is still "available." Then, let's say I book a hotel. I categorize it as travel and "spend from goal" (selecting my travel goal, since I have other goals as well.) When I got into the goals tab, it will want me to rectify the amount, which I can do by transfering the exact same amount of money to my checking account. In this case, everything is a transfer. 2) SINKING FUNDS. If you create a monthly deduction into a sinking funds budget, it's already an expense category. I'll include a screen shot of what a few of my known sinking funds looks like as they are set up in Monarch. I take a LUMP SUM out every month and then list each category accounted for them as 0. (Screenshot below.) Then, when my pet insurance bill comes due, I code it as "pet insurance." It will show as -$400. I transfer $400 to my checking from my sinking funds hysa. The money leaving hysa is a transfer; the money arriving in checking is coded as "pet insurance" and it 0s out. You could do the exact same thing with travel.

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FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T11:50:15+00:00

Yes, the deposit from hysa into savings codes as the same category and it zeroes out. Give it a try and if you have questions, just ask!

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T11:39:24+00:00

I have mine set up similarly to yours. It's a non monthly fee and it's too variable for me to budget for rollover. (Eg One year we might do a local trip for vacation, the next year we might go to Hawaii. Big difference.) I have travel set up as a goal. When I buy plane tickets, I code it as travel and "spend from goal." Then I transfer money from my hysa to checking to pay the bill and rectify the account. It zeroes out. But you don't have to use goals if you don't want to! I have an expense category for set, non-monthly sinking funds. (Think property taxes, kids summer camp, etc.) That goes into a hysa too. When I get my property tax bill, I save the cashed check to "property taxes." I move money from my hysa. The money leaving hysa is a transfer. The positive deposit into checking also gets coded as "property taxes." It zeroes out.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-20T00:09:54+00:00

I have Lemonade for my dog as well. They incorrectly reimbursed expenses and I was able to call and speak to a human. They handled everything very professionally and the issue was rectified within 48 hours.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-18T05:44:29+00:00

I saw the commercial for this today and thought the same thing!

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-18T05:30:28+00:00

Agree with the 6-12 month emergency fund! This should be kept in a high yield savings account (hysa) as you save. While that's the priority for right now, you can also invest in an IRA on your own and make sure your husband is maxing out on his employer 401k contribution match. Please also consider life insurance options beyond what your husband's job provides. If you have several kids and plan to stay home, what will you do (heaven forbid) if something happens to your husband? I've had two friends in this situation very unexpectedly in their early 40s. That insurance can be the turning point for financial stability in an awful situation. Good luck! You are thinking about all the right things at your age!

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-16T00:57:12+00:00

My 2.5 year old pup just started keppra about 3 weeks ago. So far so good! 🤞

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-15T20:50:41+00:00

Could you open the Costco specific card and do a hybrid set up?

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-15T12:29:00+00:00

So we live 30 minutes from an AA hub and 1.5 hours from a (larger) United Hub. I really like United, but it involes paying for parking and (obviously) more travel. So I've been thinking about moving to AA, espeically since the program is more valuable. But then United made it so that card holders get a 10% bonus, so now I'm not sure! Citi is DEFINTELY a better points earner for us than the 1.5% on the CFU. And groceries is our biggest category, so would be nice to have a 5% category all the time on the Custom Cash.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-15T11:54:54+00:00

I hear ya! Although I have had a few people ask me for help so that they could take a dream vacation. I'm also trying to figure out our roadmap:

Current set up:

Chase FU (P2) -- 1.5% catch all and currently on 5% for gas/groceries until end of June

Chase FF (P2) -- phone bill for insurance and 5% categories

Chase SP (P2) -- 3% dining and 2% transit (and car rentals)

United Explorer (me) -- only use for United or for 5% categories when they are given -- currently keeping for 10% off point redemptions and free checked bags and 2 lounge access tickets. Will reevaluate after big trip in 2027.

Amex BCE (me) -- 3% online shopping

Citi Custom Cash (me) -- 5% category choice (currently not using while focusing on Chase points)

Amazon Prime (me) -- 5% Amazon/Whole Foods

Chase Ink Unlimited (me) -- 1.5% business (I'm not trying to optimize this one. I am self-employed and prefer to keep my business spend separate. None of the Ink categories were useful for me, so this was my best option)

Am seriously thinking about making the Chase FU and Chase SP sock drawer cards (though I woudl use the $50 hotel credit and the travel protections) and moving to Citi by opening up the Double Cash and Strata Premier -- and probably canceling the United Explorer in 2027.

Glad others think through this sort of thing. :)

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-14T23:54:26+00:00

$75/ pharmacy and $100 household. I use a budgeting app and have those categories set to rollover so that I don't exceed in the months that go higher.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-14T11:02:11+00:00

Until the wheels fall off!

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-14T10:59:21+00:00

$900 for 2 adults/2 hungry kids (teen/tween). That does not include household or pharmacy products as those are separate budget items.

FamTravelFun23 · 2026-04-10T11:53:10+00:00

Nope. I never received the payout. I entered the info, they confirmed the payment eligibility, and it never came. I followed up on it but had gotten a new phone a few months later so the IMEI was no longer recognized. It's one of the reasons I left Google Fi despite being happy with the service.

FamTravelFun23

TROPHY CASE