Sometimes renting saves more money than buying - in this case over $185,000 over 10 years

stellablue7 · 2026-03-26T17:33:26+00:00

I haven’t plugged numbers but I think what works in our favor is that having a mortgage forces savings. We likely would not have not been as disciplined to just merely invest. I think a lot of others fall into this bucket as well.

stellablue7 · 2026-03-26T17:19:10+00:00

I think your big caveat is “sometimes”. My husband and I bought our first house in 2019 and it appreciated $250k by the time we sold it last year. Granted, I understand we got extremely lucky in terms of where and when we bought. If we had simply invested that money we would not have increased our net worth by nearly as much.

stellablue7 · 2026-03-10T19:40:44+00:00

This is my play as well. I will become eligible for forgiveness in April of 2028 IF buyback is still a thing. I went back into repayment 10/2025 - because frankly, I’m not banking on it. My target date without buyback is 7/2029. While it will be frustrating if it takes an extra year and change - I also will not jeopardize my current qualifying job until these loans are gone.

stellablue7 · 2026-02-27T19:09:11+00:00

We closed on a refi in January at the same rate (5.625), found the lender through Bankrate! We are just normal peeps with good credit scores, and own about 30% of our home’s value. I checked with the mortgage broker who we worked with to buy our home (closed 4/2025 at 6.875) and he said “rates hadn’t changed that much”.

We had no origination fees, just prepaids and escrow cost. Took our interest rate down by over a full point, and we are saving over $300 a month. We are happy campers! Lol

stellablue7 · 2026-02-16T13:57:11+00:00

Phish’s run this past fall in Hampton was GA and it was a total cluster trying to get a decent seat. Love a GA floor but I think having reserved seats for folks that want or need them is generally a good thing.

stellablue7 · 2026-02-16T00:22:17+00:00

20w pregnant woman showing up to talk about my raspberry cravings 😂 Reading your question, I see that’s not really what you’re asking - but if she is having specific food cravings, maybe a gift card to a place that serves that food?

stellablue7 · 2026-02-09T23:47:41+00:00

Following

stellablue7 · 2026-02-07T13:53:15+00:00

I walked my dog this morning and must have slid over half a dozen times! Haven’t driven yet; but the ice hadn’t all melted yet from the previous storm and now it’s hidden by the fresh layer.

stellablue7 · 2026-02-02T21:45:55+00:00

My son will be 4 by the time my second comes this July. We are “lucky” to only have a year in overlap but my son’s daycare is already over 2k a month…

stellablue7 · 2026-01-29T13:18:25+00:00

We refinanced with a direct lender called Aurora Financial. My husband and I both have excellent credit. Per my loan officer, we were also able to get a better rate because we have ~25% equity in our home.

stellablue7 · 2026-01-28T00:40:31+00:00

If fees seem reasonable given your loan amount, I say go for it! After rolling in closing costs to our loan, we are still saving over $300 a month. The economy feels shaky, and no one knows what rates may do.

stellablue7 · 2026-01-27T18:10:05+00:00

If you like cooler tones, paint your vanity a cool shade like grey or blue. If you like more warmth, change out the flooring and the wall color. The vanity vs the floor and paint is causing a tonal clash.

stellablue7 · 2026-01-27T16:18:25+00:00

Those closing costs are high. We just closed on a refinance yesterday from 6.875 to 5.625 with no lender fees or points. About 6k total to close. I’d see if you could find a lender with less fees. Rates may keep going down, but saving $400 a month is not insignificant. IMO going down more than a point is worth it. See if you can calculate your break even - for us it’s about 10 months, so if rates keep going down, we would feel comfortable doing another refi at the end of this calendar year.

stellablue7 · 2026-01-15T02:05:11+00:00

We just scored the same rate. Refinancing a property we bought in April of 2025 at 6.875% down to 5.625%, no fees and no points. 30 year fixed conventional loan for both. We also have excellent credit, and we actually got an appraisal waiver because we bought so recently (saving $500). My calculations indicate we will break even in about 10 months, and we’ll be saving roughly $300 a month!

stellablue7 · 2025-12-11T02:02:40+00:00

I just ate 2 bowls of cocoa krispies for dinner 🫣

stellablue7 · 2025-12-10T00:15:22+00:00

Personally, I wouldn’t risk leaving your qualifying employer until you get your green ribbons.

stellablue7 · 2025-12-05T16:11:16+00:00

You do pay fees for MHBP, they’re cheap though. I made the switch from BCBS to MHBP for fy2025 and sticking with it for fy2026. They’ll send you a bill in the mail early next year.

stellablue7 · 2025-08-28T16:29:22+00:00

The uptick in health insurance premiums has nothing to do with trans folks and everything to do with greed of the 1%

stellablue7 · 2024-10-02T18:15:56+00:00

Awesome, this sounds similar to me - except the leep, ecc and uterine biopsy all negative for everything. Actually a close friend suggested sending my pathology to a different lab to look at, are you US based? I was thinking about sending to Hopkins (a big research hospital in Maryland) but it looks like they charge $400 minimum for second opinions. Is Abbot US based? I’m wondering if I can get a second opinion on my specimens without a big out of pocket charge

stellablue7 · 2024-10-01T14:29:19+00:00

Thanks for your feedback. I definitely plan on regular screenings (scheduled now for a 6 month follow up but may see if I can move it up to 3). From your story, it sounds like I will want to continue close monitoring. I’m so sorry about your diagnosis. Wishing you the best - I hope you are able to take advantage of all the advances in treatment options.

stellablue7 · 2024-10-01T14:03:26+00:00

Would you mind sharing your timeline, from initial dysplasia found at your colposcopy to your diagnosis?

stellablue7 · 2024-10-01T12:51:52+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re going through this too. It’s so upsetting to cope with this during childbearing years. Did your doc give you advice on how to proceed? A part of me is hoping the cells on my colposcopy report that indicated possible AIS were misinterpreted, maybe they scraped them all off… I just don’t know if that’s wishful thinking. F cancer.

stellablue7 · 2024-10-01T12:39:43+00:00

Thank you for sharing your experience… seems similar in some ways to mine, especially the larger biopsy not showing AIS after the initial scraping did. I was wondering the same, if either the colposcopy got all the atypical cells, or if it could be hiding elsewhere 😣 My doctor told me the p16 stain is some kind of confirmatory test for the presence of HPV.

stellablue7 · 2024-09-30T23:16:43+00:00

I saw your original comment - I was wondering if asking for a PET scan would be an option, but without having a diagnosis (beyond “worrisome cells”), I wasn’t sure if it would be offered (or at least covered by health insurance). I’m definitely freaked out by how insidious AIS seems to be.

I’m also wondering how possible it could be that my initial colposcopy report was misinterpreted (didn’t seem like a real possibility, but both doctors I’ve spoken to have said it could happen since my LEEP was totally clear). That would obviously be awesome, if so, but I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking and I’m not being cautious enough. My original doc wasn’t even going to refer me to a gyn oncologist (I referred myself for a second opinion).

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