The Uncommon Moms

If you’re in the market for a new home, you have just a little over 30 days to take advantage of lower FHA mortgage costs. The agency announced week that it plans to increase up front mortgage insurance premiums and annual insurance premiums beginning April 1, which will in turn increase the overall costs of FHA loans. MIP will increase by 0.1% on loans under $625,000 and by 0.35% on loans over $625,000. Up-front mortgage insurance will increase by 75 basis points–all in an effort to rebuild the agency’s insurance fund. The increase will apply only to new 30-year, single-family FHA loans and will not affect the cost of streamlined refinancing.

FHA Acting Commissioner Carol Galante told reporters the higher premium will add about $5 per month to the cost of a typical $150,000 FHA loan, increasing the agency’s revenue by about $1 billion a year. The increase in the up-front premium will be in addition to other premium increases the agency announced earlier this month as part of the agency’s 2013 budget.

Galante said in a press release: “These modest increases are one of several measures we are taking towards meeting the Congressionally mandated two percent reserve threshold, while allowing FHA to remain a valuable option for low- to moderate-income borrowers.” He also did not rule out future rate increases.

So the moral of the story is, if you plan on getting an FHA-backed home mortgage, act quickly.

I heard a women on the news the other day say that some parents would rather undergo a root canal than go through the summer camp planning process. It can be time consuming and stressful finding camps that meet your needs as well as your kids, so taking the time (but not too much as you can easily miss out) to do your research is important. Registration for the 2012 summer camp season for DC Department of Parks and Recreation opens this weekend; Montgomery County registration opened in mid-January, but where do you begin?

CampEasy, a new online service developed by a local working mom, was designed to help parents navigate the process. The site says its goal is simple, “present a platform 1) where parents discover and plan camps for their kids in one place, and 2) where camps are seen by parents – at the visibility of their choosing — during this decision-making process.” This site is definitely worth a gander.

The Washington Parent Summer Camp Guide also is good place to look. It offers a pretty expansive list of camps across the DC area, including the Bach 2 Rock music camp in Bethesda and the CommuniKids Immersion Summer Camp in Tenleytown–both offering a something a little different than you typical summer sports camp.

Do you have any tips for the summer camp planning process or a favorite place?

Congratulations Laurie Corets Yankowski! You are the winner of the Uncommon Moms Facial Giveaway! Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Uncommon Moms is offering a chance to win a Facial Sweepstakes. All you have to do is LIKE us Facebook page and sign up under the Weekend Valentine’s Day Giveaway tab! The contest closes today at 3 PM

The winner will be picked at random and announced today. Good luck!

Contest Details

We understand that life as a busy mom can involve holding together a marriage, kids, school activities, early mornings, runny noses, date nights, girls night’s out, etc., and sometimes a quiet pampering is needed just to keep the  balance.  We’re offering you a chance to take advantage of a complimentary facial treatment from local WASHINGTONIAN Top Doctor Dr. Jules A. Feledy, Jr. of Belmont Plastic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery in Chevy Chase, MD.

VISIA™ SKIN DIGITAL IMAGING AND ANALYSIS
Great skin care starts with great skin analysis. VISIA™ Digital Skin Analysis is an exciting technological innovation that uses a multi-spectral imaging system to identify problem areas of your complexion, allowing for a customized skin treatment program.
Our VISIA™ Complexion Analysis will reveal and record damage on and beneath the surface of your skin that is not detectable by visual examination alone.
VISIA™ imaging allows our expert skin care specialists to evaluate your skins’ health and appearance based on six criteria that affect your complexion:
Wrinkles
Spots
Pores Size
Evenness (skin tone color variation),
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UV spots caused by overexposure to the sun

BELMONT MINI FACIAL
Beauty may only be skin deep, but your skin is unique to you. After a visual analysis of your skin, our experienced esthetician will select products to accommodate you and your goals. Your experience will include a custom cleansing, steam and a moisturizing treatment. Special Powerboosts* may be recommended by our esthetician to better target a specific focus such as: an oxygen boost, anti-aging treatment or rejuvenation from a weekend in the sun, your custom blended facial will be made to order each and every time.

Huffington Post mommy blogger, Glennon Melton, wants to tell those people who still have intense debates on whether it’s better to be a working mom or stay-at-home mom to — get over it; every woman is different.  It’s not surprising that the issue is still so sensitive in an era where women run huge corporations, run for president and run a household all at the same time.

The decision to do either is definitely a personal one, but when people are vehemently against one or the other is where the real problem is. And in this economy many women have no choice but to work full time.  The thought that one woman could feel so strongly about how another woman runs her household is beyond me, especially when the common goal is to raise healthy, productive citizens.

And adding fuel to the fire are those annual reports that calculate how much the salary of stay-at-home would be; the 2011 Salary.com report says full-time moms are worth $115,000 per year. Another recent report by the American Psychological Association indicated that working moms have better overall health and fewer symptoms of depression than those who stay at home. The point of views and study findings are endless.

Melton’s point of view on the issue is an admirable one in that no matter what a woman decides, she is teaching girls that they have a choice and is to be commended for the hard work and commitment put into either decision. She says, “I’m not necessarily trying to raise an executive or a mommy. I’m trying to raise a woman. And there are as many different right ways to be a woman as there are women.”

Is there a happy medium here where women would not have to choose between being a full-time working mom and a full-time stay-at-home mom, and still have a financially secure household?