AND, don't you get a tax deduction on the payments? So the net cost to you is actually less than the check you write?

You get a tax deduction on the interest you pay. But it is only a benefit if you itemize deductions. For me, the standard deduction is barely less than itemized so it isn't a very big factor. For those with more expensive houses or high income the deduction is a big deal.

Crap. Got an email that our credit union is merging with the bank owned by DH's company. Somehow, I doubt this merger is going to benefit the membership.

Can they merge and still be a credit union? I thought that there were strict rules about what you could and couldn't do, and that's why some entities were credit unions and some were banks.

2 more days.

I've just got too many things going on. Monthly reports, some database weirdness, this stupid manual that I now suspect I cannot finish in the next two weeks afterall, a backlog of files to be ingested that really aren't that critical, just annoying, extra training to do and be done to, having to use word.... It'll be better if I just close out one thing at a time, but no, I have to try to do them all at once.

Nachos are my fave sour cream vehicle!

Mmmm, black bean soup with a big dollop of sour cream and a handful of chopped scallions. Yum.

Wow, j, I read you with my obssession goggles...cause I read "Marinara" as "marijuana".

Now this makes me wonder if marijuana would make a good oregano substitute in pasta sauce (given how oftern the reverse substitution is done to scam pot newbies).

Wow, j, I read you with my obssession goggles...cause I read "Marinara" as "marijuana".

And now I'm trying to figure out how to best add marijuana to marinara. It's like brownies or cookies - get high AND take care of the munchies! Brilliant!

Sprinkle it in like oregano.

Sprinkle it in like oregano.

Yeah, but it's bitter, so you'd have to compensate for that somewhere else, like adding more pepper.

Yeah, but it's bitter, so you'd have to compensate for that somewhere else, like adding more pepper.

Or more wine to sweeten it up.

The chemistry element of baking is completely beyond me.

Maybe if my professors had used more food examples, I would have done better at chemistry.

I'm trying to ignore the upsetting rent/mortgage discussion

Sorry! I didn't mean to kick off anything upsetting, although in hindsight: duh.

Can they merge and still be a credit union?

I think not. Which means our credit union will have to either join with another or move. The company is kicking them out of the choice spot in DH's office building downtown, in favor of the new bank.

It will no longer be convenient for DH to do things like apply for a loan via his intranet at work, etc. I have no idea how the convenience of our banking will change or whether we'll stay with the changed CU or give in and switch to the new bank. Or find an entirely new bank. A lot will depend on what services they offer and what their fees are.

But the fact that we're going to have to research all of this and possibly make changes pisses me off a little bit.