Now in its second year, the practice of making and keeping New Years Resolutions here at Tin Shingle falls into a category of doing something specific. Some call this goal oriented. I call this - just more fun. For instance, a resolution do not take the form of: "I will get rich!" Rather, it takes the form of "Refinance House And Eliminate PMI" (PMI is that mortgage insurance that some people need when purchasing a home, and for our family, has been an extra $150/month for a number of years). It's more effective focusing on one item that actually does take a while to accomplish, that helps that larger goal of "I will get rich!" because you are saving money or plugging a hole.

Earlier in 2017, my resolutions were declared on Tin Shingle in our Diaries of Small Business Owner series, the exclusive series that members of Tin Shingle can contribute to at any time. Throughout the year, I edit the article with updates. As of today, I have made updates to all declared resolutions, and thank goodness I did because A. I'd forgotten about a few of them, and B. Had actually made progress on accomplishing some of them!

Update on Money Saving Resolution

Today's Money Monday installment is dedicated to the resolution that was realized: the elimination of our PMI to save $150/month. Upon revisiting that resolution, it was in fact was two-part: refinance and eliminate PMI. Turns out, I had no intention of refinancing at all, but had connected that activity to PMI, when they are totally unrelated. Part of the PMI puzzle, I thought, was improving credit. While improving credit scores is always important, it has proved difficult this year as we had to finance another car in order to fit the upcoming baby. I almost gave up on this goal, but then...

Taking matters into my own hands, I called Quicken Loans to initiate the PMI droppage, which only required that our house reach a certain number in the realtor appraisal. Our neighborhood is a "hot market" right now, so I had a hunch that our house would generously appraise, which it did. The photo illustrating this article is a letter from Quicken Loans, approving our PMI to leave our lives. We can now apply that amount to the principle of the loan, which is what I intend to do in order to pay the mortgage off sooner.

Tune In With Us To Realize Your Own Resolutions

Tune in with Finance Expert Galia Gichon of Down to Earth Finance and Manifestation Expert Christine Agro on May 24th for our live TuneUp dedicated to Resolutions Revisited, where we visit your New Year's Resolutions from January to see how you are doing with them! Galia will give us actionable pointers we can use now, and Christine will help us break through the clutter to manifest what we know can happen. The live broadcast of this TuneUp is free, so register here and join in later! This TuneUp is also listed in Facebook Events, so you can share it with a friend who would love it.

Submit Your Own!

What have been some Money Monday inspirations or goals realized for you? Submit them by emailing info@tinshingle.com, and you may see your story here on Tin Shingle's blog! Be sure to leave your contact information so that we can be in touch with you.