Of ISPs and PMIs

This weekend I've been working on changing my email address everywhere. For as long as I've been online, I've had a Juno email address. I loved the ease of reading email offline. However, recently I've noticed that Juno bounces half of my mail! So my search to find a good email address was on. I wanted one that I could read email offline, but that I wouldn't have to pay for and that wouldn't be loaded with ads. After much searching, I found the answer was in front of me all along. At the beginning of the year, I changed my ISP to copper.net. I had an email address with them but I wasn't using it since I couldn't figure out how to get the email through outlook express. Finally I emailed them and they guided me step by step through the process. They were wonderful and I'm ecstatic to be reading my mail offline. Actually I think copper.net is the best, cheapest ISP there is. I pay only $99/year ($8.25 a month) and have never had a dropped connection. Before this I tried Bigzoo and I was forever being disconnected and it was SO slow! But copper.net is fabulous. Try it here:
http://tinyurl.com/agkbh

Today in my mail I got some information that I requested on getting our PMI removed from our mortgage. We bought our house not quite two years ago and put only 5% down, but we have been saving and scaping extra money together and we have paid off one sixth of our mortgage already. We have a 30 year mortgage but my goal is to pay it off by the time my daughter is 10 (she is almost 11 months now). I know some say that it is best to invest money elsewhere and take the interest deduction on your taxes as long as you can instead of paying off the mortgage early, but that is not my style. I hate being in debt and having my house paid off is something I've always wanted. So, to that end, I take surveys, report decoy mail, test products, mystery shop, mail in rebates, clip coupons, sell online and have a budget. It may sound tedious, but I actually enjoy it. Since I stay at home with my daughter now it is a way I can contribute financially. And although we have a budget, we build in fun money so we don't feel deprived at all. Actually making a budget was one of the best moves we've ever made. We never argue about money and we always have the money to pay our bills. It's a nice, secure feeling. Anyway, back to the PMI info...I think our house has gone up significantly in value and between that and paying extra, I think we can now get rid of the PMI. The next step is to have our house appraised and send in the paperwork.