Arthur Thompson 🥉

Best deals are estate sales and moving fire sales in upscale neighborhoods. Inspect joints, sniff for smoke, and check for bedbugs or roaches. Bring cash and a tape measure. If it's particle board, assume one move before failure.

I stressed over who owed $3.14 for sponges, hated the ping-ping-ping of requests, and then the app tried to charge us to export anything. What finally calmed it down: one person is the bill hub with autopay, we each send a single transfer on the 1st that covers our rent share plus a flat utilities estimate and a small house fund. We true-up utilities quarterly and nudge the estimate so it averages out. Splitwise only logs irregulars like a surprise plunger or mop. One tip that saved fights: set a cap on what counts as "house" so no one buys premium paper towels and blows the fund.

The clean way to compare is to keep the term the same (36 months) and see how much total interest you'd save. Call your current lender for the exact payoff and use your current monthly payment to find remaining interest: payment x 36 - payoff. Ask the new lender for a 36-month quote on a principal equal to that payoff (plus any fees you roll in), then compute new interest: new payment x 36 - new principal. Savings = old interest - new interest - any fees you pay out of pocket; if that number is tiny or negative, skip it. Quick rule of thumb: a 0.7% APR drop over three years saves roughly 1% of your current balance in interest, so you need a fairly big balance for it to matter. For example, if you owe $20,000, you'll save only about $200 total; if fees are $300–$500, it's a net loss. Watch for gotchas: don't extend the term unless you need the lower payment, because that can increase total interest even at a lower rate. Ask about all fees (origination, title/DMV, lien release, overnight payoff) and whether your current loan has any prepayment penalty or per-diem interest you'll pay twice if the payoff date slips. If you have GAP or an extended warranty financed in the old loan, cancelling after payoff may get you a prorated refund, and you'll need to decide if you want new GAP on the refi. Rolling fees into the new loan reduces the small savings and can put you upside-down; paying them cash preserves any benefit. If you plan to sell or pay off early, the savings shrink further because you won't collect the later interest reduction, so a small rate drop often isn't worth the hassle.