im in the same boat as you...kinda... i need to have a car, but the car i have right now is way out of my range, i got it 2 years ago when i was young and dumb and $415 a month sounded low for a car payment, throw in gas about $150 (it takes 93) and ins $100 and im up to a real "low" $665 a month... more then my share of rent... i have tried to sell on my own, i have tried to trade in... the most a dealer has offered me is 11k (the kbb value for trade in is 14k and the private sale is 17k and i see my car on dealers lots for close to 19k) anyway just so you know you are not alone and its a good thing that you realize your "mistake" i suggest getting rid of the car as soon as you can with out taking a financial hit that will hurt you... so maybe not selling the car at a loose more then 2k? im not sure what you are financially able to do... good luck
Hi Andrea. We have a big checklist for taking our dogs anywhere too. Because we take them a lot though, we've developed a doggie diaper bag system so we know we only have a couple of extra things to grab each time like meds and fresh water. We check it every so often to make sure it is completely stocked. Since our oldest dog needs to be medicated every six hours, and we live far from most things, we have them with us more often than not.
For finding places where it's easier with pets, we used PetsWelcome.Com when we were driving across the country with our two.
When my wife and I flew to Germany in April, TSA was requiring that liquids be marked 3oz containers - we went to WalMart and bought a set of travel bottles that were marked at 3oz and then brought our own shampoo.
I can't imagine that a liquid in a ziplock bag is going to help you through security...
Capturing some of today's cheap energy (in the form of insulation, better seals around windows, a quilt, etc.) for long-term energy savings in the future is probably going to pay off better over time than stocks or bonds.
Fossil fuels are becoming more and more expensive and the use of alternatives, like wood products, are again becoming attractive. In the 70's, in the Pacific NW, there was a huge surge of wood heating. The result was bad air throughout the cold season. Wood stove technology improved, but the added cost killed the whole idea for all but the most committed folks.
Burning almost anything will emit carbon into the air. While you might find some economic advantages with fossil fuel alternatives, you may be adding to the world's global warming problem.
An excellent way to cut heating costs AND emit less pollution is conservation and insulation.
Insulate your home as much as possible. This will keep it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Unlike fuel, insulation does not get used up. The investment in doing it right will yield rewards forever. If you cannot insulate everything, at least insulate the attic and any crawl space to the max. These surfaces have more exposure to extreme temperatures than all the outside walls in many homes, and are the easiest and cheapest to insulate. Seal window and door drafts. Surprisingly, uninsulated, but undrafty windows
are not as bad as the storm window salesmen would like you to think.
Insulate yourself, too. In the winter you can wear comfy and warm layers indoors. Rugged outdoor wear is good for the outdoors, but not so nice inside. Invest in good quality, long lived, and very comfortable indoor warm wear and you can feel great in what was once thought to be a too chilly house.
When you are snuggly in your warm caps, socks, sweaters, and fleece pants, turn down the house thermostat. Increment it down one degree a week, or more, and soon you will find you can do quite nicely at 65 degrees, or even lower! The cost savings in heating fuel is amazing and will pay for all your new warm clothing in one season.
Warm small areas that need it with the smallest possible heat source. Put a small electric heater in the bathroom and an electric blanket on your bed to pre-warm it on cold nights. A quality comforter will then keep your bed toasty all night long with light weight with or without the electric blanket powered on.
Sooner or later we will all be doing just fine with much less than we ever thought possible. Saving money by saving fuel costs is good for your pocketbook, but even more important, it is good for the world we live in and share with future generations.
I am a happy and satisfied 360 owner. I actually bought mine at launch and I have had the "red ring of death" once - last month. The return process was easy and quick and I was compensated for my time that I missed on Xbox Live.
I agree that you need to look at the games. I have an Xbox 360 and a Wii and I barely touch the Wii. It just doesn't have the games that I want to play every day yet. When friends come over it is the best part system, but for single player and online play the 360 is what I want.
As far as the PS3 price drop argument, that will not last long. The entry point price to become a PS3 consumer will soon be at $600 when the 60gb model is depleted. That will be your only option. The 360 has a $50 price drop in the works soon. So when I compare $350 (I don't count the core) vs $500 (soon to be $600 if you are not fast enough) to get in the door as a consumer and look at the games, the 360 is an attractive product.
If you were to look at total 360's sold and the percentage of the consoles sold that had to be serviced I would (totally unscientifically) guesstimate it is as high as 30% or lower. That is a high chance, but it will be repaired for free if it even happens at all. In my case I have had 1 year and 7 months of uninterrupted play, paused for a few weeks and then I was right back at it.
I think holiday 2007 is the best time to become a 360 owner, not 2008.
Customer service said they will TRY and cancel the order, but it's probably too late now.
I told him the coupon WAS accepted when I checked out.
I SAW the total as being $9.99.
I should have copied the damn page, and saved it.
I tried telling him this wasn't a great experience for my first ShopNBC order. But that didn't work.
I can send the item back using their "smart label", and they'll take the postage out of my credit when they get it back. He said it's about $7.
So now I'll be out $7, for NOTHING, in the end.
Sometimes, coupons just are NOT worth it, I guess!!!
My Husband's gonna kill me.
I feel horrible, and I have this sinking feeling in my stomach right now.
This is SOOOOOO opposite of my WiseBread mentality.
They said I could "refuse" the delivery if it comes, but they can't be responsible if it gets lost, and of course, they won't credit it.
I'm so sad. I was so excited about the bracelet. I never get to buy fancy designer stuff. I really hope you all have your good luck with the coupon code, because I am sickened now.
Sighhhhhhhhhhhh.
I think you are looking at video game consoles completely the wrong way. You should buy a console based on the fact that you like the games it has to offer, because after all, the games are what you'll be playing.
The 360 has its share of problems, but really, who cares about its reliability if there is a 3 year warranty? I have gotten the red ring of death once myself (but in all fairness, I modded the console so that might have something to do with it), but that can be fixed quickly thanks to something I call the Wal-Mart Switcheroo:
1) Go to wal-mart.
2) Buy a new 360.
3) Open the box, switch your broken one for the new one. If you like, switch the serial # labels, but wal-mart employees are paid too little to check.
4) Return 360 to wal-mart, get refund because it's broken.
There. Whether you warranty it or do this, the broken xbox ends up at microsoft for repairs. My method is a little bit more efficient, that's all. FWIW, I've had to replace a PS2 this way as well.
Anyway, back to the point- the 360 undisputably has the best games library right now. There just aren't many great games out for the PS3. So don't buy a PS3 just because it looks cool or it has blu-ray or it doesn't suffer from the "red ring of death"... Make an educated decision based on the games the system has that you want to play.
I'm on the phone with customer service right now, trying to cancel my order.
They said the coupon code did not work, because the item I bought with it, was on clearance.
Now they are "trying" to cancel my order, but can't, of course, and I'm waiting to speak to a manager.
I do NOT want $40 taken out of my account, when I thouht I was gonna spend $10.
Well, it was a nice coupon code.
I hope it works for everyone else and they don't have to go through this hell, like me!
I would sell it and take the loss now. As Leo said, its not purely financial, its psychological even more so. If you were out from under that $600 per month, how much easier could you breathe? As for getting around, I don't know where you live, but I get around fine by bike, foot and public transportation. We sold one of our cars and my wife uses the only car, and so far it has been fine. Good luck!
Just yesterday I found myself in the airport digging in my purse for my phone only to take my phone out and have melted chocolate all over my hand & phone. Luckily, the woman I was sitting next to, a Nun from Italy, had some of those towellettes with her. If not for that divine intervention I would have had to through security looking like I had been handling poop!
Doesn't it make more sense to buy a set of small plastic travel bottles (I think I spent $2 on a set of 4 bottles at my local drugstore) -- or better yet, reuse the shampoo bottles you snagged from your last hotel room? There's less chance of the shampoo exploding onto your packed clothing and you can wash out the bottles and reuse them indefinitely (unlike a ziplock bag with a hole in it).
I'd sell Andrea, but right now with it so new to the loan start off, people are going to try to take advantage of you. Cars are always depreciating items, although there are some that hold their value a bit better.
I know it can be frustrating when things start to go wrong with an extremely old vehicle. If you want to treat yourself next time, go with a newer, more gently used vehicle. Many times they are still under warranty. While one of our vehicles is quite a bit older with excellent mileage, another one we picked up last year is still under warranty. An elderly woman who had bought a brand new one could no longer drive. The darn thing still had the new smell to it and less than 30,000 miles.
600 bucks is a lot, but with gas as you said, that's not all the payment. Insurance on a newer one can jack up the cost, particularly on a sportier vehicle. Here's an idea . . . people often have extra cash to spend around tax refund time. If you can keep it in excellent condition and really watch the mileage, you may get a better price then. Just a thought. On the other hand, if it's really stressing you out, maybe you'll feel better if you're out from under it completely. The rising gas costs aren't going away, as Philip mentioned. So that will definitely impact what we are all able to spend on vehicles. Not having a car payment is part of what helps us roll with the rising fuel costs. We always pay cash for our vehicles. The other cool thing about waiting until tax time is not only will other people have more money to spend, you'll have a refund too. You might be able to get something fairly new for cash with those combined totals.
This strategy may not work for you, but it's something to think about.
I've made some very unwise car buys in the past, and from them I've learned some valuable lessons. Rather than make a long comment here I'll write some of them up for my own blog. If you like the car then keep it. I highly doubt you'll be able to sell it for anything close to what you owe. I've never been able to sell a car on my own; I just trade them in or drive them until they fall apart and donate them.
I've long since stopped thinking of a car as an asset, depreciating or otherwise. A car is nothing more than an appliance; a $20,000 toaster (actually, the most I have EVER financed a car for was $12,500 for a 1993 Mazda MX3 that I bought in 1995.) All of my cars have been used.
You might be able to save a little bit each month by shopping around for car insurance, which you mentioned was part of your monthly costs. Loyalty gets you nowhere when it comes to car insurance. When I was a "single male under 25", I paid State Farm through the nose for years before I got fed up and switched to Liberty Mutual for half the payment. When I moved to New Jersey, I found Allstate to offer me the best possible rate.
In Australasia your boss would be committing industrial suicide if he negotiated with on that basis. It would be tantamount to constructive dismissal - something the courts here have been quite critical of.
While I agree that people at higher positions have a better chance negotiating severance packages, it is the lower level guys who would not be at an advantageous position negotiating.
Whatever the situation is as long as people do not fight for the recognition and rewards they deserve it is going to be easy for companies to keep them tied down.
It worked for me about 8 hours ago. But not on any of the electronics. Page was fast too. However the first time I tried, they removed the code at checkout, but I redid it and it worked fine the second time.
I bought the exact same car (with no add-ons) in January and my payments are $380/month... and that was with no down payment. (The loan interest rate was substantially lower than that of my savings account.)
$600/month seems really high to me, especially if you have easy access to public transportation. I'd sell, but don't be shocked if you have to take less than book value for it if you don't want to wait a while to get rid of it—you probably won't be reimbursed proportionately for the add-ons.
im in the same boat as you...kinda... i need to have a car, but the car i have right now is way out of my range, i got it 2 years ago when i was young and dumb and $415 a month sounded low for a car payment, throw in gas about $150 (it takes 93) and ins $100 and im up to a real "low" $665 a month... more then my share of rent... i have tried to sell on my own, i have tried to trade in... the most a dealer has offered me is 11k (the kbb value for trade in is 14k and the private sale is 17k and i see my car on dealers lots for close to 19k) anyway just so you know you are not alone and its a good thing that you realize your "mistake" i suggest getting rid of the car as soon as you can with out taking a financial hit that will hurt you... so maybe not selling the car at a loose more then 2k? im not sure what you are financially able to do... good luck
Hi Andrea. We have a big checklist for taking our dogs anywhere too. Because we take them a lot though, we've developed a doggie diaper bag system so we know we only have a couple of extra things to grab each time like meds and fresh water. We check it every so often to make sure it is completely stocked. Since our oldest dog needs to be medicated every six hours, and we live far from most things, we have them with us more often than not.
For finding places where it's easier with pets, we used PetsWelcome.Com when we were driving across the country with our two.
When my wife and I flew to Germany in April, TSA was requiring that liquids be marked 3oz containers - we went to WalMart and bought a set of travel bottles that were marked at 3oz and then brought our own shampoo.
I can't imagine that a liquid in a ziplock bag is going to help you through security...
The best place to put your $100 is to your credit card debt. You will have a rate of return based upon reduced interest cost from 10-36 percent.
I bet you would have gone thru security a lot faster ;-)
Then as an update to my post, I'd say my total transportation costs are about $500/month.
used car repairs? If you sell the car, go without a car, don't buy a piece of junk as a replacement.
Good luck!
Capturing some of today's cheap energy (in the form of insulation, better seals around windows, a quilt, etc.) for long-term energy savings in the future is probably going to pay off better over time than stocks or bonds.
Fossil fuels are becoming more and more expensive and the use of alternatives, like wood products, are again becoming attractive. In the 70's, in the Pacific NW, there was a huge surge of wood heating. The result was bad air throughout the cold season. Wood stove technology improved, but the added cost killed the whole idea for all but the most committed folks.
Burning almost anything will emit carbon into the air. While you might find some economic advantages with fossil fuel alternatives, you may be adding to the world's global warming problem.
An excellent way to cut heating costs AND emit less pollution is conservation and insulation.
Insulate your home as much as possible. This will keep it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Unlike fuel, insulation does not get used up. The investment in doing it right will yield rewards forever. If you cannot insulate everything, at least insulate the attic and any crawl space to the max. These surfaces have more exposure to extreme temperatures than all the outside walls in many homes, and are the easiest and cheapest to insulate. Seal window and door drafts. Surprisingly, uninsulated, but undrafty windows
are not as bad as the storm window salesmen would like you to think.
Insulate yourself, too. In the winter you can wear comfy and warm layers indoors. Rugged outdoor wear is good for the outdoors, but not so nice inside. Invest in good quality, long lived, and very comfortable indoor warm wear and you can feel great in what was once thought to be a too chilly house.
When you are snuggly in your warm caps, socks, sweaters, and fleece pants, turn down the house thermostat. Increment it down one degree a week, or more, and soon you will find you can do quite nicely at 65 degrees, or even lower! The cost savings in heating fuel is amazing and will pay for all your new warm clothing in one season.
Warm small areas that need it with the smallest possible heat source. Put a small electric heater in the bathroom and an electric blanket on your bed to pre-warm it on cold nights. A quality comforter will then keep your bed toasty all night long with light weight with or without the electric blanket powered on.
Sooner or later we will all be doing just fine with much less than we ever thought possible. Saving money by saving fuel costs is good for your pocketbook, but even more important, it is good for the world we live in and share with future generations.
Longtime Wisebread reader, first time commenting.
I am a happy and satisfied 360 owner. I actually bought mine at launch and I have had the "red ring of death" once - last month. The return process was easy and quick and I was compensated for my time that I missed on Xbox Live.
I agree that you need to look at the games. I have an Xbox 360 and a Wii and I barely touch the Wii. It just doesn't have the games that I want to play every day yet. When friends come over it is the best part system, but for single player and online play the 360 is what I want.
As far as the PS3 price drop argument, that will not last long. The entry point price to become a PS3 consumer will soon be at $600 when the 60gb model is depleted. That will be your only option. The 360 has a $50 price drop in the works soon. So when I compare $350 (I don't count the core) vs $500 (soon to be $600 if you are not fast enough) to get in the door as a consumer and look at the games, the 360 is an attractive product.
If you were to look at total 360's sold and the percentage of the consoles sold that had to be serviced I would (totally unscientifically) guesstimate it is as high as 30% or lower. That is a high chance, but it will be repaired for free if it even happens at all. In my case I have had 1 year and 7 months of uninterrupted play, paused for a few weeks and then I was right back at it.
I think holiday 2007 is the best time to become a 360 owner, not 2008.
Customer service said they will TRY and cancel the order, but it's probably too late now.
I told him the coupon WAS accepted when I checked out.
I SAW the total as being $9.99.
I should have copied the damn page, and saved it.
I tried telling him this wasn't a great experience for my first ShopNBC order. But that didn't work.
I can send the item back using their "smart label", and they'll take the postage out of my credit when they get it back. He said it's about $7.
So now I'll be out $7, for NOTHING, in the end.
Sometimes, coupons just are NOT worth it, I guess!!!
My Husband's gonna kill me.
I feel horrible, and I have this sinking feeling in my stomach right now.
This is SOOOOOO opposite of my WiseBread mentality.
They said I could "refuse" the delivery if it comes, but they can't be responsible if it gets lost, and of course, they won't credit it.
I'm so sad. I was so excited about the bracelet. I never get to buy fancy designer stuff. I really hope you all have your good luck with the coupon code, because I am sickened now.
Sighhhhhhhhhhhh.
:(
I think you are looking at video game consoles completely the wrong way. You should buy a console based on the fact that you like the games it has to offer, because after all, the games are what you'll be playing.
The 360 has its share of problems, but really, who cares about its reliability if there is a 3 year warranty? I have gotten the red ring of death once myself (but in all fairness, I modded the console so that might have something to do with it), but that can be fixed quickly thanks to something I call the Wal-Mart Switcheroo:
1) Go to wal-mart.
2) Buy a new 360.
3) Open the box, switch your broken one for the new one. If you like, switch the serial # labels, but wal-mart employees are paid too little to check.
4) Return 360 to wal-mart, get refund because it's broken.
There. Whether you warranty it or do this, the broken xbox ends up at microsoft for repairs. My method is a little bit more efficient, that's all. FWIW, I've had to replace a PS2 this way as well.
Anyway, back to the point- the 360 undisputably has the best games library right now. There just aren't many great games out for the PS3. So don't buy a PS3 just because it looks cool or it has blu-ray or it doesn't suffer from the "red ring of death"... Make an educated decision based on the games the system has that you want to play.
I'm on the phone with customer service right now, trying to cancel my order.
They said the coupon code did not work, because the item I bought with it, was on clearance.
Now they are "trying" to cancel my order, but can't, of course, and I'm waiting to speak to a manager.
I do NOT want $40 taken out of my account, when I thouht I was gonna spend $10.
Well, it was a nice coupon code.
I hope it works for everyone else and they don't have to go through this hell, like me!
-Good Luck!
I would sell it and take the loss now. As Leo said, its not purely financial, its psychological even more so. If you were out from under that $600 per month, how much easier could you breathe? As for getting around, I don't know where you live, but I get around fine by bike, foot and public transportation. We sold one of our cars and my wife uses the only car, and so far it has been fine. Good luck!
Just yesterday I found myself in the airport digging in my purse for my phone only to take my phone out and have melted chocolate all over my hand & phone. Luckily, the woman I was sitting next to, a Nun from Italy, had some of those towellettes with her. If not for that divine intervention I would have had to through security looking like I had been handling poop!
Doesn't it make more sense to buy a set of small plastic travel bottles (I think I spent $2 on a set of 4 bottles at my local drugstore) -- or better yet, reuse the shampoo bottles you snagged from your last hotel room? There's less chance of the shampoo exploding onto your packed clothing and you can wash out the bottles and reuse them indefinitely (unlike a ziplock bag with a hole in it).
I'd sell Andrea, but right now with it so new to the loan start off, people are going to try to take advantage of you. Cars are always depreciating items, although there are some that hold their value a bit better.
I know it can be frustrating when things start to go wrong with an extremely old vehicle. If you want to treat yourself next time, go with a newer, more gently used vehicle. Many times they are still under warranty. While one of our vehicles is quite a bit older with excellent mileage, another one we picked up last year is still under warranty. An elderly woman who had bought a brand new one could no longer drive. The darn thing still had the new smell to it and less than 30,000 miles.
600 bucks is a lot, but with gas as you said, that's not all the payment. Insurance on a newer one can jack up the cost, particularly on a sportier vehicle. Here's an idea . . . people often have extra cash to spend around tax refund time. If you can keep it in excellent condition and really watch the mileage, you may get a better price then. Just a thought. On the other hand, if it's really stressing you out, maybe you'll feel better if you're out from under it completely. The rising gas costs aren't going away, as Philip mentioned. So that will definitely impact what we are all able to spend on vehicles. Not having a car payment is part of what helps us roll with the rising fuel costs. We always pay cash for our vehicles. The other cool thing about waiting until tax time is not only will other people have more money to spend, you'll have a refund too. You might be able to get something fairly new for cash with those combined totals.
This strategy may not work for you, but it's something to think about.
Great article!! You are one amazing woman. I have to add you to my blogroll. I don't know how you do it all!
I've made some very unwise car buys in the past, and from them I've learned some valuable lessons. Rather than make a long comment here I'll write some of them up for my own blog. If you like the car then keep it. I highly doubt you'll be able to sell it for anything close to what you owe. I've never been able to sell a car on my own; I just trade them in or drive them until they fall apart and donate them.
I've long since stopped thinking of a car as an asset, depreciating or otherwise. A car is nothing more than an appliance; a $20,000 toaster (actually, the most I have EVER financed a car for was $12,500 for a 1993 Mazda MX3 that I bought in 1995.) All of my cars have been used.
You might be able to save a little bit each month by shopping around for car insurance, which you mentioned was part of your monthly costs. Loyalty gets you nowhere when it comes to car insurance. When I was a "single male under 25", I paid State Farm through the nose for years before I got fed up and switched to Liberty Mutual for half the payment. When I moved to New Jersey, I found Allstate to offer me the best possible rate.
Um. $600 is not the payment. That's with insurance and gas.
In Australasia your boss would be committing industrial suicide if he negotiated with on that basis. It would be tantamount to constructive dismissal - something the courts here have been quite critical of.
So, should I do this program or what?
While I agree that people at higher positions have a better chance negotiating severance packages, it is the lower level guys who would not be at an advantageous position negotiating.
Whatever the situation is as long as people do not fight for the recognition and rewards they deserve it is going to be easy for companies to keep them tied down.
It worked for me about 8 hours ago. But not on any of the electronics. Page was fast too. However the first time I tried, they removed the code at checkout, but I redid it and it worked fine the second time.
I bought the exact same car (with no add-ons) in January and my payments are $380/month... and that was with no down payment. (The loan interest rate was substantially lower than that of my savings account.)
$600/month seems really high to me, especially if you have easy access to public transportation. I'd sell, but don't be shocked if you have to take less than book value for it if you don't want to wait a while to get rid of it—you probably won't be reimbursed proportionately for the add-ons.