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Been a While!

May 29th, 2015 at 04:54 pm

So much for committing to blogging regularly...sigh. Oh well. Haven't had much to report, certainly not a ton of progress anyway. I'll try to summarize Smile

The Great: Mom decided that since she essentially bought my sister a new car (about $22k) a few years ago (long story), and is giving my brother dad's truck (in perfect condition and worth about $17k), that she was going to pay off my car. I wish I was a big enough person and/or in the position to turn her down, but I'm not....so in a few months, the car loan will be paid off, freeing up cash flow for lots of other things. There's a possibility (and this is with Mom's blessing) that I will trade the paid off car in for the car I wanted in the first place, taking out a small loan (~$7k), but I'd like to see how long I can go without a car payment to further other goals. Mom is pushing for this option, because she knows how unhappy I am with the car. This is clearly life-changing.

The Good: I started my 401k. It's only at 6% for now (with a 3% match). Once the car is paid off, I'll bump it up to 10%, with a plan in place to get to 15% by next April. Cap One Secured card increased my limit. Credit score has gone up slightly. I opened a new checking account with Key Bank for a $200 bonus today (should get bonus in 2 months or so). It's a completely free account. Once I get this bonus, will be looking for some others to do as well. All bonus money will go towards current CC debt.

The Bad: Money has been tight (see "The Ugly" below), so I unfortunately spent the additional credit line on the Cap One card, and have been maintaining the maxed out Verve card (make a payment, spend the payment, sigh). Things should loosen up now and it should be easier to make it from check to check soon. Once this happens, the cards are coming out of my wallet. Once the Cap One card is paid off, I'll begin exploring converting it to an unsecured (which would get me back my $900 deposit, which can go towards savings/old debt).

The Ugly: I've been doing a lot of traveling lately. My favorite musician has been on tour, and so I was away for 3 of the 5 weekends in May. This definitely set me back a ways, not sure of the total I spent, but it was probably somewhere around $1500 (this was thankfully all cash, that's the one benefit of cards being maxed out I suppose), it makes me wince a little. What's done is done, though...and moving on now.

So, there's the last 2 months in a nutshell. Numbers on the sidebar updated (except 401k - deposit is made on payday, but I don't see it until the next day, should be close to the $1k mark today, wooo!!!!)

3 Responses to “Been a While!”

  1. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1432915911

    why get rid of paid for car? What car is worth $7k more that you want?

  2. LizfromtheBronx Says:
    1432926180

    LAL - I wanted to buy a Tiguan. I went shopping for a Tiguan, and apparently walked into the dealership with a big "sucker" sign on my forehead - the Tiguan that I wanted to look at was $20k, and I mentioned to the sales guy that it might be out of my budget. He didn't even show it to me, showed me 3 other cars, and I ended up buying a Rogue that was, you guessed it, $20k. Just burns my butt that I ended up spending the same amount of money in the end, and I didn't get the car I wanted that was sitting on their lot!!! My car is not terribly comfortable, and I spend about 3 hours a day in it. The Tiguan is better on gas mileage, way cuter, and has more features that I want (not a ton, admittedly). This is also my first Nissan, and I frankly don't think it's very sturdily constructed - I drive almost exclusively in NYC, and those are some hard roads - too many rattles for my liking. If I buy a Tiguan, I feel the German construction of VW is a bit better, and I'll also make sure I get one that's certified, so i have a warranty (right now, no warranty - I really need to not go car shopping alone).

    There's also a credit component too - my car loan is on autopayment, and so every month it just helps my credit score more and more. I don't have many things reporting positively on the credit at the moment, so I actually like having a car loan for that. Even at the highest interest rate I think I would get right now (possibly 16-18%?), the payment is less than $200/month fora 5 year term. Since I pay bi-weekly and always add more to the payment, it would be wiped out in somewhere around 3 years. I can live with that.

  3. Jenn Says:
    1432948702

    Given your situation, I think taking on a car loan is a really bad idea. The pleasure you will get from being car-debt-free is greater than the pleasure of cuteness and features. Hold yourself accountable for the financial goals you wrote on your sidebar! With your Mom's gift, you just may achieve them all. How would that feel? How much stress would be gone?

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