Locked In and Appliance Time Part 1

Well we finally locked in our rate.  In our area for some reason their rate options never actually had one where we had 0 points.  Either we got a 1/2 point credit to take the higher of the two rates, or pay a 1/2 point for the lower rate.  In our instance the break even point was about 7 years between the two options.  If we stay more than 7 years paying the 1/2 point would be more economical but if we stay / not refi less than 7 years, taking the 1/2 point credit is the way to go.  All in all with the rates so low over 30 years it ends up being less than 2% of the principal, so we took the 1/2 point credit.  I'm not one for paying for points in general, so that also affected our outcome.  I just wanted to get those details out there for anyone else about ready to hit the lock-in phase.

As for appliances, we ended up buying our washer / dryer on a Cyber Monday deal at Home Depot.  We got a LG Steam washer and dryer for about 25% off each, and scheduled delivery right on the web for the Monday after closing.  As for the refrigerator after looking at all of the options out there, we settled on a new Whirlpool french door refrigerator that was on sale, but for only 14% off or so at Lowes.  Since the sale wasn't the best we decided to hold off until the moving coupon I signed up for shows up in my inbox.  That leads me into my quick tip:

There are moving coupons you can pick up at your local post office to help you get settled into your new neighborhood.  Just stop in and pick one up.  These deals include coupons for Lowes and Home Depot.  These retailers also have an e-sign up for basically these same coupons (Lowes has 10% off!).  Just do a google search for the retailer and moving coupon and it should be at the top of the results.

My next post I plan on talking about movers / moving options.  Needless to say so far I'm surprised at what's been cheaper than other options, but I have more research to do.