Zillow has dropped it's estimate of our home value back to what it was before we purchased it (240k), so I've decided that for now, I'll use what we paid as the home's value. Because at least for the moment, it's a better estimate of what it'll get on the market since it's literally what it just sold for. Plus, having closely watched the real estate market in the area for the past 2 years, I believe my (and my realtor's) estimate is more accurate than Zillow's algorithm. So for now I'll use this, and over the next 6 months or so will look into the "best" way to determine home value.
We've started making a list of things we would like to do around the house, and today we're planning to go through our net worth numbers and our list to start prioritizing.
We've never had a budget, because we've never needed one - we don't usually spend much money. But with moving into the new house we've been going a little crazy ... not just on stuff for the house, but also on babysitting/daycare and picking up dinner more often as we settle into the work/commute/baby routine. So I'm going to start reviewing our monthly expenditures at the END of each month for a few months to determine how much we're spending in various categories, then decide if/where to cut back. Child care is actually very affordable for us - my in-laws keep the baby two days/week (for free), and she has been going to an in-home daycare 2-3x/week for $40/day. Starting next week she'll spend those 3x/week at daycare, $185/week. More expensive, but also more reliable PLUS the daycare cost includes diapers, wipes, formula, and food (breakfast/lunch/snack). |