OK, I admit it. I've got new car fever. I'd love to replace our truck. By the way, it went back into the mechanic yesterday. He couldn't find anything wrong with the air conditioning system. He even did a repeat dye test which he had done the first time too. He refilled the freon, didn't charge us anything and gave us instructions to run the air conditioner as much as possible to try and force a leak and then check under the hood for bright yellow dye anywhere. Great. Sounds fun!
OK, so back to the fever. Our truck is 10 years old with almost 160K miles on it. It's been a very good vehicle for us and besides the air conditioning, is in great working order. But, it's getting old and our car is 8 years old too. I'm worried that if we don't replace one of them soon then we're going to be dealing with large repair bills or worst case they both go belly up and we have to replace both of them and go from no car payment to two car payments! Now, none of this is a good reason to replace the truck. It's just rationalization for me!
I read J.D.'s Common Car-Dealer Tricks post with great interest last week, mentally bookmarking a bunch of handy tips for our next car-buying experience.
Then today I was at Five Cent Nickel reading his article about the Cash for Clunkers program. Hmm, would our 1999 Chevrolet Blazer qualify? First I checked the Blazer's official fuel economy score at fueleconomy.gov and found that it has a score of 16, two points below the 18mph cut off for the program. Then I read through the rules for the program. You get $3500 if the new car (must be new - no used car purchases allowed) you purchase has a mpg rating of 10 points or less above the car you are trading in. And you get $4500 if you purchase a new vehicle with a mpg rating 10 points or more above the trade-in vehicle.
Since we'd be trading in the Blazer and would want to replace it with a new SUV (one with 8 passenger capacity), I doubt we'd find one that we like that met the 10+point rule. That means we'd most likely get a $3500 credit.
Would that be worth it?
The traded in vehicles must be destroyed according to the programs requirements which means most dealers will only give you "scrap value" for your vehicle. What would that be for the Blazer? And what is the Blazer worth?
Going to Kelley Blue Book told me our vehicle was worth $3600 in a private party sale and worth about $2000 as a trade-in. So what does that mean for "scrap value?" I'm going to take a wild guess and go with 1/2 the trade-in value. So say the dealership gives us $1000 for the Blazer plus we get the $3500 credit. That only really gives us a $1000 boost over what we could potentially sell it for to a third party. Plus then we'd have a huge new car payment.
I think we'll pass at this time. We'll keep saving as much money as possible and cross our fingers that our vehicles hold out for us for a while longer.
And I'll keep daydreaming about that new car smell...
No Gym Membership Reimbursement for Us
I talked to my HR department today and found out that none of the three health plans offered by my company for my location have any sort of gym membership reimbursement program. Man!
Chuck and I were hoping to join the YMCA that is being built near our house when it opens later this year. We were hoping to offset the cost of a family membership with some gym membership reimbursement through our health insurance.
Now that there is no reimbursement available we'll have to re-evaluate the YMCA membership. We both want a gym membership, especially now that we're debt free but mortgage and have a little more give in our budget. And we'd like a gym with on site child care so Chuck can go during the day when he's home with the kids.
I guess we'll have to find all our options for our area and see how they compare: price per month/amenities like a pool/child care/etc. Let the research begin...
Chuck and I were hoping to join the YMCA that is being built near our house when it opens later this year. We were hoping to offset the cost of a family membership with some gym membership reimbursement through our health insurance.
Now that there is no reimbursement available we'll have to re-evaluate the YMCA membership. We both want a gym membership, especially now that we're debt free but mortgage and have a little more give in our budget. And we'd like a gym with on site child care so Chuck can go during the day when he's home with the kids.
I guess we'll have to find all our options for our area and see how they compare: price per month/amenities like a pool/child care/etc. Let the research begin...
Back to the Mechanic
Hey! Guess what doesn't work?!? The air conditioning in our truck! It was working when we got the truck back from the mechanic last week (or was it the week before?) but now it's not working again. I'm guessing we have a leak somewhere and all the new freon he put in is now completely gone. Of course this is the week that it's 90+ degrees every day.
We have another appointment for next Monday to have it looked at again. I sure hope this isn't expensive! I also hope it's fixed and back to us by next Thursday when we leave for the Dells. I really don't want to drive the 4+ hours one-way in a vehicle with no air conditioning.
And that is my whine for the day. Thanks for listening.
We have another appointment for next Monday to have it looked at again. I sure hope this isn't expensive! I also hope it's fixed and back to us by next Thursday when we leave for the Dells. I really don't want to drive the 4+ hours one-way in a vehicle with no air conditioning.
And that is my whine for the day. Thanks for listening.
Ally Bank?
J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly published an article Tuesday about online banks. There are a lot of options! Currently we have all our savings, except for Short Term Savings, at ING Direct. I’ve been very happy with ING but their interest rate as of late has suffered in comparison to some of the other online banks. I’ve never been one to rate chase. I’m much too lazy for that. I prefer to just stick my money in savings and then ignore it and let it grow. However, I’m considering starting an account at Ally Bank. Their interest rate is over 2% right now with no minimums and they are FDIC insured.
In reading through the comments on J.D.’s post, it sounds like Ally Bank may not have the best customer service or that their account opening requirements may be hard to work through but that people haven’t had many problems with their accounts once open. And one commenter even noted that he has his ING account and Ally account linked so he can move money back and forth. Hmm, maybe that would be a nice option, especially if I could link both to my main checking account? Make moving the money not labor intensive? Easy for us lazy savers?
Anybody have any other experience with Ally? Are you considering moving your savings around?
In reading through the comments on J.D.’s post, it sounds like Ally Bank may not have the best customer service or that their account opening requirements may be hard to work through but that people haven’t had many problems with their accounts once open. And one commenter even noted that he has his ING account and Ally account linked so he can move money back and forth. Hmm, maybe that would be a nice option, especially if I could link both to my main checking account? Make moving the money not labor intensive? Easy for us lazy savers?
Anybody have any other experience with Ally? Are you considering moving your savings around?
Out of Control
Chuck and I are out of control. We went over budget in May. By a lot. And we’re headed that way in June too. I sat Tuesday night and updated our budget for the month of June. And then I put us on a spending freeze, or at least a spending slowdown, for the rest of the month. We need to be frugal. We need to avoid spending money at all costs. We’re never going to meet our savings goals if we spend every cent we earn!
Now, we’re not spending so much that we’re racking up debt again but we’re definitely spending more than we had been in previous months. I haven’t pinpointed it to anything in particular. It’s not that we’re eating out too much or that we’re spending more on groceries or gas. It’s just our overall discretionary spending is all over the place. It’s time to put some discipline back in our spending.
How do we do that? I’ll be updating the budget much more frequently. That will give us a better look at how we’re spending money and we can reign things in a lot quicker before the budget is blown for the month. I’m talking 3-4 times a week. It will be a simple and quick task. I just have to sit down and do it. Back when I was first starting this blog and first starting our budget I updated it every day with any new spending. I’ve gotten out of that habit and into a habit of once a week or once every two weeks. We can spend a lot of money over that time period and not realize how it’s all adding up! Time to be proactive with the budget again! This will probably also make me pause and think about what I’m purchasing as well because I’ll have a more up-to-date picture of how we’re doing budget-wise as well.
Mid Year Goal Review
OK, June is half gone and so the year is half gone too. What? How did that happen?!? I figured it was about time for a mid year goal review. My 2009 goals I set last December were these:
Goal #2 - $8K, huh? Well, at the end of June the fund will still be around $2.5K, if not a bit more (whatever I can scrape into it this month!). That means I need to add a little over $5K to this fund before the end of the year. I still think this is achievable. Both Chuck and I have three paycheck months coming up before the end of the year which will definitely help. So we should be able to put an average of $1000/month into the emergency fund and still meet this goal. It will be my own personal little challenge to have more than $8K into the fund before year end.
Goal #3 - $6K! On track. Definitely on track. I just received our June statement and so far we've paid over $3200 in principal this year. We're averaging over $550 in principal a month and plan on keeping this pre-payment schedule up through at least the end of this year. That should give us more than a $6K principal reduction before the end of the year. Yay! We need that if we have any hope of re-financing any time soon.
I'm considering adding some more goals relating to the basement fund and new car fund. But then I want to focus on the emergency fund so I'm unsure. Basically I'm waffling. But hey, at least I'm on track to meet these goals!
- Pay off HELOC by June 30, 2009
- Grow emergency fund to $8K by December 31, 2009
- Lower mortgage principal balance by $6K before year end.
Goal #2 - $8K, huh? Well, at the end of June the fund will still be around $2.5K, if not a bit more (whatever I can scrape into it this month!). That means I need to add a little over $5K to this fund before the end of the year. I still think this is achievable. Both Chuck and I have three paycheck months coming up before the end of the year which will definitely help. So we should be able to put an average of $1000/month into the emergency fund and still meet this goal. It will be my own personal little challenge to have more than $8K into the fund before year end.
Goal #3 - $6K! On track. Definitely on track. I just received our June statement and so far we've paid over $3200 in principal this year. We're averaging over $550 in principal a month and plan on keeping this pre-payment schedule up through at least the end of this year. That should give us more than a $6K principal reduction before the end of the year. Yay! We need that if we have any hope of re-financing any time soon.
I'm considering adding some more goals relating to the basement fund and new car fund. But then I want to focus on the emergency fund so I'm unsure. Basically I'm waffling. But hey, at least I'm on track to meet these goals!
And Then There Was None
Money this month for the emergency fund that is. Or at least a lot less than anticipated. We got our truck back from the mechanic yesterday, $443.65 poorer. Most of that was routine maintenance, stuff that definitely needed to be done before we drive to the Dells in a few weeks. What did we do that cost so much?
1 - Replace windshield wiper pump. ($22.89 for the pump) Yeah, our windshield wipers would work but no washer fluid would come out. Turns out there was a dead mouse in the system that killed the pump. Um, how exactly did a mouse get into a closed system like that? Our mechanic didn't know for sure but has heard that sometimes mice can get into windshield washer fluid receptacles at some quick oil change places. Those places usually fill up your fluid reservoir as part of their service and we could have picked it up there. Yuck.
2 - Add freon to air conditioning system. ($22.50 for the freon) Our air conditioning went out on the truck last summer if you recall. I was not looking forward to another summer with no air. The kids would complain they were hot then complain the wind was blowing them too much (when we opened the windows). And, well, I'm a princess sometimes so fix the air conditioning we did!
3 - Labor for the washer pump and a.c. system = $45.60
4 - Brakes. Both the front and back brakes needed to be replaced as well as the rotors machined. Yeah. It was time for a brake job. I can't even find paperwork on when the last time this was done. It was at least prior to the summer of 2007. Front pads = $57.25. Rear pads = $57.25. Rotor (x4) machining = $50.00 Labor (with a tire rotation and greased front end) = $174.80 (ouch!).
Add $13.36 in tax and there you go. $443.65 spent. Sigh. I had originally budgeted $400 for the emergency fund, $100 for the basement and $50 for the car fund for this month. Guess what. The basement and car funds will have to wait this month. Those are now going to $0 and what is left of the $550 - $443 is going to the emergency fund.
June is turning out to be a really expensive month!! At least our truck should have all the routine maintenance it should need for a while. Tires were put on less than 15,000 miles ago. Brakes are done. Regular oil changes completed. Battery and alternator less than 20,000 miles ago. Yep. Hopefully it's good to go for a while. Fingers crossed because once it starts to become unreliable we are headed for the dealership. It has 155,xxx miles on it right now. It's served us well these last 10 years.
1 - Replace windshield wiper pump. ($22.89 for the pump) Yeah, our windshield wipers would work but no washer fluid would come out. Turns out there was a dead mouse in the system that killed the pump. Um, how exactly did a mouse get into a closed system like that? Our mechanic didn't know for sure but has heard that sometimes mice can get into windshield washer fluid receptacles at some quick oil change places. Those places usually fill up your fluid reservoir as part of their service and we could have picked it up there. Yuck.
2 - Add freon to air conditioning system. ($22.50 for the freon) Our air conditioning went out on the truck last summer if you recall. I was not looking forward to another summer with no air. The kids would complain they were hot then complain the wind was blowing them too much (when we opened the windows). And, well, I'm a princess sometimes so fix the air conditioning we did!
3 - Labor for the washer pump and a.c. system = $45.60
4 - Brakes. Both the front and back brakes needed to be replaced as well as the rotors machined. Yeah. It was time for a brake job. I can't even find paperwork on when the last time this was done. It was at least prior to the summer of 2007. Front pads = $57.25. Rear pads = $57.25. Rotor (x4) machining = $50.00 Labor (with a tire rotation and greased front end) = $174.80 (ouch!).
Add $13.36 in tax and there you go. $443.65 spent. Sigh. I had originally budgeted $400 for the emergency fund, $100 for the basement and $50 for the car fund for this month. Guess what. The basement and car funds will have to wait this month. Those are now going to $0 and what is left of the $550 - $443 is going to the emergency fund.
June is turning out to be a really expensive month!! At least our truck should have all the routine maintenance it should need for a while. Tires were put on less than 15,000 miles ago. Brakes are done. Regular oil changes completed. Battery and alternator less than 20,000 miles ago. Yep. Hopefully it's good to go for a while. Fingers crossed because once it starts to become unreliable we are headed for the dealership. It has 155,xxx miles on it right now. It's served us well these last 10 years.
Spending Money On Me!
Last week was my birthday. As part of that my mom and my dad each gave me some money to spend...on myself. There were rules. I've been thinking about what to get and have decided on a full length mirror and shoes. I'm such a girl.
We don't have a full length mirror in our house though. We had contemplated buying an inexpensive one to hang on a door but Chuck was concerned that it would be too heavy for our hollow doors. We could have gone with a stand up mirror like this. However, our bedroom is cluttered enough as it is with our "home office" in one corner of it (got to get that basement finished!).
About six months ago we were strolling through IKEA when I spotted this mirror. It comes with hinges! Chuck went and picked it up for me yesterday and today we'll get it hung in our master closet. A normal mirror wouldn't work on the one bare wall in the closet because you couldn't back up far enough without hitting shelving. Now I can swivel the mirror out and stand in the center of the closet (which is an 8x8' room) and get a decent view and then put it back flat on the wall for storage! Yay!
I was given $150 in total. (so spoiled!) That means I still have $100 to spend. And I'm definitely spending it on shoes. I figure I can get 3-4 pair for that money. Now I can't wait to go shopping! I received a 30% off coupon from Kohl's good for this weekend so I'll start there. Whee!
We don't have a full length mirror in our house though. We had contemplated buying an inexpensive one to hang on a door but Chuck was concerned that it would be too heavy for our hollow doors. We could have gone with a stand up mirror like this. However, our bedroom is cluttered enough as it is with our "home office" in one corner of it (got to get that basement finished!).
About six months ago we were strolling through IKEA when I spotted this mirror. It comes with hinges! Chuck went and picked it up for me yesterday and today we'll get it hung in our master closet. A normal mirror wouldn't work on the one bare wall in the closet because you couldn't back up far enough without hitting shelving. Now I can swivel the mirror out and stand in the center of the closet (which is an 8x8' room) and get a decent view and then put it back flat on the wall for storage! Yay!
I was given $150 in total. (so spoiled!) That means I still have $100 to spend. And I'm definitely spending it on shoes. I figure I can get 3-4 pair for that money. Now I can't wait to go shopping! I received a 30% off coupon from Kohl's good for this weekend so I'll start there. Whee!
No 401k match for 1 year
A short time ago Chuck received a letter in the mail from his work place. Turns out they are suspending their 401k match for 1 year starting July 1st, 2009. I've heard of other companies doing this in the wake of the economic crisis. We've been affected other ways (10% pay reduction for me) but so far Chuck's job had been unaffected. Until that letter.
We've decided it won't change much for us. Chuck will continue to contribute to his 401k at the same percentage. Since he works part time (~25 hours/week) he's not putting a lot into his 401k anyway so we didn't want to lower that even more just because he was no longer receiving a match. We're lucky they match him at all given that he's not technically full time!
It's still my goal to start a Roth IRA for him when we have our emergency fund fully funded. For now we'll just keep going according to plan - contributions to the 401k funds will stay the same, pay ahead on the mortgage, all extra money into savings.
There's really not much more we can do, right?
We've decided it won't change much for us. Chuck will continue to contribute to his 401k at the same percentage. Since he works part time (~25 hours/week) he's not putting a lot into his 401k anyway so we didn't want to lower that even more just because he was no longer receiving a match. We're lucky they match him at all given that he's not technically full time!
It's still my goal to start a Roth IRA for him when we have our emergency fund fully funded. For now we'll just keep going according to plan - contributions to the 401k funds will stay the same, pay ahead on the mortgage, all extra money into savings.
There's really not much more we can do, right?
Family Vacation Budget
In a few short weeks, we'll be going on our first official family vacation. We're using the 4th of July long weekend to take advantage of paid holidays from our workplaces so we won't end up using any vacation time! We're leaving the 2nd of July (Thursday) and coming back the 5th of July (Sunday). With the time away being rather short, we're not going too far. Luckily just a few short hours away is the perfect tourist trap, uh, I mean family fun destination: The W!scons!in De||s. I've researched hotels in the area and have settled on one that looks like both a good value and has great amenities. After finding that and writing up a quick itinerary, I was able to set our vacation budget.
Hotel: $347.37 - 3 nights plus taxes
Admission for attractions: $116.07 (admission prices from internet with applicable discounts applied)
Souvenirs: $50.00
Food: $150.00
Gas: $75.00
Total: $738.44
I think the food budget is pretty generous (4 people, 4 days) and think we can come in under that. Also, I'm not a big souvenirs fan so $50 might be too much for that category too. Maybe if the kids want a small toy or t-shirt though I'll splurge.
We currently have $680 in our travel fund so we're about $50 over the cash we have on hand today. We'll use what we have in our travel fund and supplement with money from the July budget.
After our trip I'll post details about our hotel (was it a good value after all?) and the attractions we went to (worth the money?). Anyone have any favorite De||s stories or places to visit?
Hotel: $347.37 - 3 nights plus taxes
Admission for attractions: $116.07 (admission prices from internet with applicable discounts applied)
Souvenirs: $50.00
Food: $150.00
Gas: $75.00
Total: $738.44
I think the food budget is pretty generous (4 people, 4 days) and think we can come in under that. Also, I'm not a big souvenirs fan so $50 might be too much for that category too. Maybe if the kids want a small toy or t-shirt though I'll splurge.
We currently have $680 in our travel fund so we're about $50 over the cash we have on hand today. We'll use what we have in our travel fund and supplement with money from the July budget.
After our trip I'll post details about our hotel (was it a good value after all?) and the attractions we went to (worth the money?). Anyone have any favorite De||s stories or places to visit?
May 2009 Month End
Well, I'd have to say May was a pretty good month. We paid off our HELOC ($1300) and put over $500 into our emergency fund. Yay! Here's the numbers:
Debts:
HELOC: $0.00 (-$1,302.88) - We did it! We paid off our last remaining non-mortgage debt. 5/22/09 was our official out of debt day. I will be very, very happy to report only savings from here on out. While a part of me wants a new(er) vehicle NOW, I'm going to try and be patient (and listen to Chuck who says we don't need one right now anyway) and stay out of debt for a while. Now is the time to build, build, build those savings accounts, not go back into debt!
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $2,544.52 (+511.10) - Not even one month's worth of expenses yet considering our 6 month emergency fund goal is $20k. We'll keep building this up as much as we can though. Our contribution this month was pretty good. I'm hoping to add that much in June if I can too.
Short Term Savings: $207.81 (+3.01) - This account held steady this month. I contributed $50 like I normally do but then I took $47 back out to pay annual dues to my sorority's alumnae organization. Good, unbudgeted, use of the money, I think.
Travel Fund: $682.24 (+20.85) - Regular contribution. I'm still planning our family vacation for the 4th of July. Watch for that budget soon. This money will be put to good use!
Christmas Savings: $331.91 (+0.42) - I've been neglecting this account for a while now. I should be able to contribute to it in July. June's money is already spoken for!
Our NCN chart went from 95.32% to 100% this month. One whole yellow pie. It's lovely, don't you think?
Debts:
HELOC: $0.00 (-$1,302.88) - We did it! We paid off our last remaining non-mortgage debt. 5/22/09 was our official out of debt day. I will be very, very happy to report only savings from here on out. While a part of me wants a new(er) vehicle NOW, I'm going to try and be patient (and listen to Chuck who says we don't need one right now anyway) and stay out of debt for a while. Now is the time to build, build, build those savings accounts, not go back into debt!
Savings:
Emergency Fund: $2,544.52 (+511.10) - Not even one month's worth of expenses yet considering our 6 month emergency fund goal is $20k. We'll keep building this up as much as we can though. Our contribution this month was pretty good. I'm hoping to add that much in June if I can too.
Short Term Savings: $207.81 (+3.01) - This account held steady this month. I contributed $50 like I normally do but then I took $47 back out to pay annual dues to my sorority's alumnae organization. Good, unbudgeted, use of the money, I think.
Travel Fund: $682.24 (+20.85) - Regular contribution. I'm still planning our family vacation for the 4th of July. Watch for that budget soon. This money will be put to good use!
Christmas Savings: $331.91 (+0.42) - I've been neglecting this account for a while now. I should be able to contribute to it in July. June's money is already spoken for!
Our NCN chart went from 95.32% to 100% this month. One whole yellow pie. It's lovely, don't you think?
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