Wednesday, March 19, 2014

There went THAT plan

Last week I was so excited that between tax returns, windfall, and a few other things...we had amassed $4326 in "extra money."  I have this whole post written about our plans....but it sort of went out the window.

We basically had $1150-ish already spoken for (money owed to state, even though we already paid $4600 in state), bathroom floor, new tires for my car  (estimated at $600), and we ESTIMATED $250 for the check engine light issue for G-man's car (more on this in a minute).

We decided to leave $350 in EF, where it has been residing already.  We were now down to $2800.  We debated many different things including debt repayment, savings, put toward the future oil to gas conversion for the house, retirement, and most recently replace the fence in the yard that is destroyed.  In the end debt won.

I figured out that putting $2800 toward G-man's car, it pays half of it off.  With continued month payment, and the money we are putting aside from G-man's job ($682 as of today!), we would have the car paid off by the end of the year.  While it only shaves a few months off of the bottom line to be debt free, we were excited to knock that out this year.

Back to the check engine light.....

Turns out it is the catalytic converter.  For the record, I didn't even know what it did (I had only heard the term) until someone told me.  Well, I found out very quickly that these suckers are expensive!!!!

Yeah....$1563.  It was $113 for the diagnostics yesterday, and I am not sure if that $1563 included the diagnostic (G-man texted me right as I was going into a meeting).  Either way....our $250 just increased 5-fold.

I am trying not to be too upset.  We have the cash available for repair.  It won't derail anything (it certainly doesn't help...but it isn't derailed).  A few years ago this would have put me into a tail spin.  But the timing at least worked in our favor. 

I am mildly annoyed that we are having to sink this much money into the car.  I know many people will disagree with me....but when we are at a point of replacing cars again....we are going with either a new, or almost new car.  I know they depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot.  But I would really like to have a car that, in theory, won't need work for a very long time.

So our $2800 is now in the $1400 range. We haven't fully discussed it, but most likely $1100 will go to the car debt, $100 toward the dental bill (which with this months payment will be paid off) $100 into a few supplies for cleaning up the yard, and $100 that we will split as "treat" money for us.

The car won't get paid off this year, unless something unforeseen changes.  It only shaves about 3 weeks off the bottom line, so our debt repayment date hasn't really changed at this point.  It is tempting to say screw it, and just do something else....but alas, this is what we will do.

Stupid cars.....

21 comments:

  1. I really like leasing. We can usually get a nice car for around $200 per month and it is brand new. Very little repairs needed if any while we have it. The only down fall is when the lease is up. We don't have a car to sell or trade in towards the purchase of another car.

    To me the $200 per month is worth it. I know many people won't agree. But to be able to drive a brand new car and not have to worry about repairs, we really like leasing.

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    1. I have never leased, so I don't know all the ins and outs. But I know that we tend to have higher mileage, so not sure if leasing would work for us. But I am glad it works for you!

      $200 is great. We are paying $127 for G-man's 2001 car.

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  2. I think it's a blessing that you had that extra amount available... I feel the same way, especially with being able to cover my EF destruction with a bonus. Sure, it doesn't shave more months off my payoff date as it originally would've, but it's nice not to be stressed or lose sleep at night. I think a new car isn't a bad idea if you can get a good deal on it, once you're in a better place debt-wise. I too would buy a new car, but probably not for another 6-10 years.

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    1. Since 2017 is the current "pay off" date....hopefully in 2018 we can start to look at a NEW car. Maybe when all the cars go on sale when the new models are coming out. Honestly, if one of our cars were beyond repair before then....we may still think about about. We spent $5600 on a 2001 car...and now are putting another $1500 into it. So we are at $7100....a few more thousand and we could have gotten a WAY newer car. Oh well.

      And yes, it is a blessing to have this money available to us now. This is the advantage of sitting on it for just a bit to see what is the best way to proceed. If we had paid down the car loan as soon as we got it, we would have probably drained the car fund (again), and our EF would have taken a HUGE hit.

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  3. Dang sorry! Our 4Runner had 3 lights on a while back but we never did anything they just went away. I think with most of my vehicles I have never done anything about the check engine light (Not maint light), eventually it just goes away :) Is this something that must be replaced? can you hold out for a year or so?

    I agree, buy a new car, it will last you for a while and won't give you any issues. Even leasing would work out, you do need a small down payment but then you basically pay to rent the car for 3 to 4 years, the only thing you need to watch out for is mileage, a basic lease agreement only allows 12,000 to 15,000 miles per year. If you can try to get 15 per year, very hard to go over that.

    HS

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    1. Here is the rub with the repair....technically we can wait. However, based on the emmission laws in our state, the car won't pass at the next test, which means we won't be able to renew the registration. So it is going to have to get repaired one way or another. We might as well do it while we have the cash.

      G-man puts about 22k easy on his car. I put about 18k on mine. This is why we really haven't considered leasing.

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    2. WOW! I would hate to see your gas bills lol. I figured you would run in to the emissions issue but how do you know it won't pass? Ours was also something with emissions when the lights were on (basic google search) but it passed inspection that year.

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    3. We pay about $500 a month right now...it was closer to $600 when we had the Explorer.

      Take this for what it is worth...the mechanic told us it wouldn't pass. Now, I know they are trying to make money, but they also told us that we could NOT fix it and the car will still run. Just that when our emissions was due, we would have a problem. We also have a rear o2 sensor problem.

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    4. Makes sense, I guess get it fixed..

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    5. 24000 km is what most leasing companies allow before you start paying for every km(or miles in your case).

      Might be the way to go in the future.

      Is the 2017 payoff date for G'mans car? If it is it makes me feel better about my 2011 being paid off in 2018.

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    6. Everyone we have talked to had a 1 5k mile lease.

      2017 is when ALL the debt will be paid off based on the snowball method. His car will be paid off first in the snowball. If you go to the Geek page at the top of the page it outlines everything.

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  4. I feel your pain, we just put $350 in my 1999 dodge caravan, but it still needs $1500. Ugh.
    We are waiting till after taxes are paid, which is another story.
    It seems as soon as there's any extra money, out it goes.

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    1. It is like the Universe KNOWS that you have extra money and just screws with you. Good luck on your car repairs.

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  5. Car repairs stress me out! Glad you have the extra fundage to cover the costs.

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    1. If you go back through the blog...you will see a LONG history of car problems. Seriously, I have never met anyone who has as many car problems as we do. I hear ya on the stress factor!

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  6. Isn't that always the way it seems to go? But, just be glad it happened at a time when you had the extra money available and now you won't have to stress over trying to budget and pay for it. Darn cars!

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    1. Exactly!

      (but can I pout for just a minute that our plan went kaput?)

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    2. oh yes, I'd put for at least a few minutes ;)

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  7. I have a 2011 Honda Civic and my husband drives a 2013 Civic. I don't care what anyone says, I would rather have car payments and drive a newer car than have the stress of repairs. My husband drove a lemon for 9 years that made me cry on more then one occasion. We actually have money saved now that we don't have repair bills ever other month.

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  8. Oh, man! What a bummer about the car ... that really stinks! :(

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  9. I have never heard of anyone having as many car problems as you. I swear... it's like every othe rblog post!! I want to come over there and chuck your cars with a baseball bat and scream "Just work already!"
    I will say, we hardly ever pay attention to the check engine light. MY husband has a 2001 Toyota mini truck (i have no clue what its called...i think it starts with an H?) and i have a 2006 honda accord. both were bought new, but we've never had any significant repair problems.i know you buy your cars used, but don't they at least come with some kind of warranty? we are planning on getting a prius to replace my honda in the next year or so, even though we should be replacing eric's car. butttt he wants to keep his truck...

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