At times, it's difficult to know the difference. Some would attribute everything that happens to coincidence. Others would say that every minute detail of your life is divine providence. I'm probably somewhere in the middle...but I've seen a lot in the past few months that I would have difficulty chalking up to mere coincidence. And today...well...the jury is still out on that one.
I've spent a lot of thought over the past few months in determining how best to pare down my financial output, especially for when I won't be here/won't be pulling in a regular "salary" for a year. I'm looking into what I can do with my cell phone (I won't be using it down there...it would cost over $2 per minute to call back to the states!), car insurance (I won't be driving down there), how to save money now to cover costs incurred (I'm doing okay with saving at the moment), etc. One of the things I've considered is looking into refinancing my mortgage. I've had my house for a few years now, I bought it before the market took a nose-dive, which means that my current rate, while not awful, isn't as low as current rates. I was actually going to pursue that during spring break, but I got sick, so that (among a few other things planned) didn't happen.
Today, after school, I spent a few minutes talking with another teacher who had recently refinanced. She said that she would give me contact information for the person she used tomorrow. (She thought he did a good job, and treated her fairly.) So I figured I would start searching tomorrow. I got home, put my stuff down, and was sorting my mail (in the kitchen) when my home phone rang. [Now, understand, I don't usually rush to answer my home phone. The VAST majority of the time it's politicians, fundraisers, donation requests, or wrong numbers. Most everyone who actually knows me, calls me on my cell phone.] I was standing right next to it, so I picked it up. And...it was my bank (where I have my mortgage) wondering if I'd consider refinancing with them.
Ummm...okay. I had been home less than 3 minutes, had been standing right next to the phone (the only reason I picked it up), and had already been considering looking into a refinance opportunity. [I think I shocked the guy on the other end of the line when I said I was interested.] I was transferred to one of their loan people, and had a very informative conversation about refinancing. Going off of my notes (and later referencing the documents I was sent), it appears that I can drop my mortgage by close to $200 per month while in Honduras, "save" for a month, and if after I come back from Honduras, I return to my current payment level (because there's no penalty for paying early), pay off the mortgage a few years early, and cheaper in the long run. What's not to like?
I still am looking into this. I'm not necessarily going to jump on the first offer, but I'm seriously considering it. I have paper work to go through, documents to search, and potential second opinions...and prayer. And more prayer. But it seemed an awfully large coincidence
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