Shell game

So this mortgage thing is not so easy. Rates are very low but I have learned a lesson about mortgage contracts. Apparently my penalty is based on the Interest Rate Differential (IRD) rather than 3 mos of interest. This means that as rates drop, my penalty actually increases...and not just a little...it's up about 40% from what it was in September. And as the market here slows and house values drop, I'd likely need to insure my mortgage which means CMHC fees. What all of this means is to move my mortgage, I would be backtracking with the hope of getting ahead in the longer term. This is a concept I'm familiar with having done it in other areas of my life and I think maybe I really am an optimist!

I'm meeting with a broker this week to crunch numbers some more. It looks like it would take me almost the full remaining term of my mortgage to break even. The perks would be lower payments (although I'm looking to increase those to what I pay now to try to make some tracks but with the flexibility to drop them if I needed to), possibly being in a position to be at a lower rate in the future when rates are predicted to be high and flexibility based on portability with an institution that lends outside Alberta as well. And of course a chance to renegotiate the terms and review the penalties more closely.

In the meantime I'm working away at the credit cards. They freak me out a bit but are far less complex than the mortgage. And yes, in case you didn't know, finances scare the bejeebus out of me. Change in general used to as well so I'm hopeful that if I keep jumping into the finance stuff it will become more doable...just like job changes and moves.

I'm making slow tracks on the resolutions but haven't given up. I even ordered Hip Hop Abs this week! And I have gotten back to doing the exercises from my physio. I'm hedging on the gym until it quiets down there a bit.

In other news, one of the rotten back gates attacked (blew against) the other side of the car one morning this week and a chip in the windshield turned into a big crack. One of my friends suggested that maybe this car is destined to be a beater...argh! I have also picked out a new color for the dining room. Yes, this room has already been painted once but that was to cover up Barney purple so I'm not sure that really counts. How does "Reflecting Pool" sound?

Technically it's Chinese New Year this week so I'm not really behind on the resolutions...