Bemoaning gas prices July 31, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Car, Uncategorized.3 comments
*sigh* I leave Saturday for 11 days with my family in Massachusetts. And no, the sigh is not because I’m spending that much time with them. It’s because the trip will run me close to $200 in gas money alone. That’s no worse than Amtrak or flying, possibly slightly better, but it’s a big chunk of change.
It used to be that gas up and back would be less than half that, making driving the logical choice. Now it’s a toss-up, and driving wins mostly because of flexibility while traveling, as well as not having to borrow a car from another family member to get around while I’m up there. (My brother already has to do that, since he doesn’t have his own. I’d offer him mine next year, but he thinks it’s too tiny.)
So I’ll be getting my oil changed and having my tire pressure checked before I go to maximize gas milage. Then I’ll just grin and bear it – and remind myself that’s the price I pay for living in a different part of the country. But man, I hate to see those pump prices rising as my departure date gets closer.
Getting ready for ING Direct July 28, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Saving.add a comment
I don’t have enough in savings to take advantage of the ING Direct referral bonus yet, but I will before Labor Day. *cheers*
I did head over to their site yesterday to familiarize myself with the process to open an account. I also went into my bank account site and adjusted my CC payment and arranged to transfer the difference into savings – out of sight, out of mind, as far as I’m concerned.
I’ll still keep my pinch-point account active – the one with my bank – but once I build the balance up, I’ll start adding an extra CC payment using some of that money. That might take a month or two, since I still have Root Canal No. 2 and the associated crown to pay for. (And schedule: note to self – call dentist after vacation to schedule appointment.)
Alas, this likely means my early goal payoff date of April 2007 is more realistic than year-end. But having the money available should my car become terminal is more important to me right now. I figure I’ll stop diverting money to that account once it hits $1,500, so at that point the CC repayment picks up again.
Plus, the income picture is looking considerably brighter for a few months down the road. As things becomes clearer there, I can adjust my plans again. I’m not expecting any actual impact until January, but there’s a slight possibility dominoes could tumble sooner…
Possibilities abound July 27, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Income.1 comment so far
The director of my company site issued an open call for ideas for 2007 – new products, ways to better sell existing products, and improvements to existing products. The deadline’s tomorrow, and apparently as of yesterday, I was the only one to suggest anything substantive. He’s asked me to present my ideas to the site directors (him, plus each department head) during one of their regular meetings next week. And I’ve gotten rumblings from an inside source that he’s looking for a way to move me into a larger role in the organization. (Yes, that would come with a pay increase.)
Lots of things are in flux, and he isn’t the final say, but right now it’s looking like I could be in much better financial shape by this time next year – even after replacing my car. While a bit of that would go toward loosening up my budget – $80 every two weeks for everything that’s not a monthly bill is cutting it pretty close to the bone – most of it would help with CC repayment (if that hasn’t been accomplished) and then be put into savings once the debt’s gone.
I won’t know anything for sure any time soon, but I could get a better picture by mid-October.
Car shopping July 27, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Car, Uncategorized.2 comments
I had to renew my car registration this morning, and the Hyundai dealership is two lots down, so I stopped by to do some research. Fortunately, I got a salesman who’s related to one of my co-workers, so there was no pressure and he went out of his way to be helpful. So I had a chance to sit in the model I want, get a good look at the features and figure out which trim I like the best.
The car replacement is still a few months a way — knock on wood — but I have a better idea of what I want and now have the name of a salesman who I can trust. (Why? Because his S-I-L is a formidable woman and she wouldn’t take it well if I got hosed.) He even suggested I sell my car on my own to one of the newspaper carriers rather than trade it in. Apparently it’s a popular car because it’s a gas-sipper and fairly inexpensive to maintain. He estimated I could get $1,500 to $2,000 for it. I’d probably go for the lower end of that – it would still be three times more than I would get as a trade-in and it would likely go quicker. So I’m estimating I can get $1,000, to allow for negotiating room. That, plus savings based on my current rate of pay, mean I would have about $6,000 for a downpayment by this time next year, when they’re trying to get rid of the 2007 models as the 2008 come in. And, of course, by then there should be several leased models back on the lot as used, which greatly increases my options.
(If you’re wondering why I would consider new, basically it would only happen if between year-end incentives and the owner loyalty discount, I could get a comparable deal to a used one. New also comes with the full warranty, whereas used only gets part of it.)
The really nice part about the car – a Hyundai Tucson, for the curious – is that the rear seats and the front passenger seat fold flat to allow for carrying some pretty good-sized items in a small SUV. As somebody who lives alone and far from the family members with minivans, this is a good thing. It also means I won’t have an excuse anymore to leave stuff at my parents’ house. Guess that childhood closet will finally get cleaned out…
Minor scare July 27, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Car.1 comment so far
I was driving home from a weekend trip to visit a friend (and help her rip out linoleum) when my check engine light came on. Not the occasional flicker, or the thing where it randomly comes on and my mechanic can’t figure out why. This was the “blink three times then stay on” that means something major. Unfortunately, I was about two hours from home, so I just kept my speed down and kept going.
I’ve been having issues with the car refusing to shift out of Park when I turn it on. It’s an automatic transmission and I’ve been having trouble getting the button to depress so I can shift into reverse or drive. So when the light went on and the car was jerking at highway speed, you can imagine what my first thought was.
Turns out it was just a misfiring cylinder and new plugs and wires fixed it. But it was 24 hours before I knew that, and in the meantime I was trying to figure out at what point it wasn’t worth fixing a car worth less than $1,000 and how I would come up with a downpayment if I did have to replace it.
So – lesson learned – I’m cutting back my weekly CC payments a bit and sticking about $250 a month ($65/week, to be precise) into an ING Direct account, which I’ll start in a couple of weeks when I have the $250 stashed for a referral bonus. It will prolong my CC debt, but if I don’t have money stashed, the downpayment would have to go on my card, which also would prolong it. And if I get close to the end and the car’s running well, I can make a big lump-sum payment from that fund to kill it for good, then rebuild my fund with the money no longer going toward debt.
Not dead July 19, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Admin.1 comment so far
I’ve been remiss in my blogging lately. Most of it is because there’s a lot of stuff in flux, which has me rethinking some of my financial goals. I haven’t posted about it because I’m at a point where things need to evolve (or unravel, I’m not sure which) for two or three months before I can figure out what the big picture is.
That will help me adjust my financial goals accordingly. (i.e. which comes first, buying a house or replacing my car.) In the short-term – getting rid of my CC debt – nothing’s changed. In fact, doing so leaves me with many more options once I figure out the stuff in flux.
And yes, I know I’m being vague. It’s intentional, because this is all career-related flux. But no worries; it’s opportunities, not pitfalls.
Until things sift out a bit, I’m trying to stick to my budget, which I’ve struggled with during the last week. The heat wave has made me less inclined to cook, which means I’ve been running out for dinner. I’ve also wanted hot-weather foods, like sorbet, that I normally don’t. (first ice cream in about six months) I also bought shoes Monday, but that was because I needed a pair of black heels I could wear with slacks and a dress, and when I found a pair in my size (8W), comfortable, something I would wear and on sale for almost half off ($35, normally $60), I grabbed them. Now if only I could find affordable sandals in wide widths…
Karma? July 10, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Frugal living, Income.add a comment
I posted once before about karma, and events today have me musing over it again.
First, there’s a book out I want to read – to the point of being willing to buy it – by Linda Hirshman about women and working. It’s getting lots of attention, both good and bad, and the blog entries she did while guest blogging for TAPPED a few months back intrigued me. Last week I happened to mention to a co-worker that I read a few feminist blogs (we were discussing another subject all together). Today she brought me printouts of Hirshman’s posts from TAPPED and said she had bought the book. She’s letting me borrow it when she’s done. 
That’s some money saved.
The bigger issue is one I can’t say much about – I don’t want to tempt fate – but if things pan out, I’ll be in better shape income-wise because of some things I’ve been working on, and it will happen sooner than I hoped for. And from the sounds of it, if it doesn’t pan out now, I’m still in better shape for future opportunities than I thought.
Blah July 5, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Debt, Frugal living.3 comments
It’s been a deflating couple of weeks. I’ve made good progress toward my goals, but mentally I’m just kind of blah about the whole thing. I think part of my problem is I’ve been pushing so hard to pay everything off by the end of the year and to do that I have to live so close to the bone that it’s making me panic over minor things.
My payoff goal was April 2007, down from August 2007 when I started. Then I started trying to hit the end of 2006, and while I think I’ll be close, I’m also thinking that the idea is spazing me out enough to be hindering me more than helping at this point.
So at this point I’m going to chill out, remind myself that Jan. 16, 2007 is eight months earlier than I was originally scheduled, and almost four months more than my goal and be happy with that. I’m hoping that by releasing the pressure I’m putting myself under, I’ll get back in a positive mood on this instead of the borderline panicking I’ve been doing lately.
The January 16 date is with my existing weekly payments, plus money from my “extra” paycheck in September. It’s very possible I could get there a couple weeks earlier, but I’m going to look on that as a bonus, not a necessity.
