Why my husband gets to buy an obnoxiously large television

I went in to talk to our mortgage broker yesterday to hash out the details of our new home loan. He is such a great guy. He shops at our comic book store, I cut the whole family's hair, and his wife is our attorney. It's so great to have friends in high places.

I was a little nervous to find out what our new payment would be. We are moving from one of the least desirable neighborhoods in town to a much nicer area. I made peace with the fact that our property taxes would be much higher than they are now and that our house payment would reflect that. Also our new house, while not some giant McMansion in a swanky subdivision, cost considerably more than our house now.

The Jeffersons vibe wore off once I sat down and did the math in my head--or so I thought.

The other day I made a call over to the tax assessor to get the scoop on my new tax bill. I could have cried tears of joy when she gave me the number. Our new tax bill will not be the thousand (or higher) more a year than I thought, but a mere few hundred. High fives all around!

Then yesterday's meeting at the bank was on the docket, and again (being the crazed worrier that I am), I got that sick feeling in my stomach thinking about how we were going to swing a bigger mortgage payment. I could always go back to work, but childcare ate up so much of my income when I was working that it felt like walking up the down escalator.

Then Mr. Awesomekickass Bank Guy laid it on me, and my jaw hit the desk.

He looked worried. "Are you alright? Is this higher than you were expecting?"

I regained my composure, stopped myself from jumping over the desk, and told him that it was NO WHERE NEAR what I thought we would be paying.

In the last 5 years or so, I've made it a point to pay just a bit more than what the payment ticket states. There are boxes to check to indicate where the overage should go. Sometimes I checked "principle" and sometimes I checked "escrow" (to cover increases in property taxes). It's not much, but after a few years, it makes a difference. I did the same thing with my car payment and got it paid off a year early. It got to the point where I didn't even think about the little bit extra I paid each month. I just worked it into the budget.

So, he shows me the number again. I am stunned.

Our payment is going up $55. FIFTY FIVE DOLLARS.

With the proceeds from the sale of our current house, we'll have enough left (after closing costs, realtor commission, and the down payment on the new house) to pay off the credit cards completely and get the immediate need items (washer/dryer, paint, dining room table, etc.). All this and our payment is only going up less than a hundred dollars a month.

I'm still in shock.