The "Get Out Of Your Car!" Fund

Saturday, September 3, 2016

August review

August review

Since I moved into a new room, I cook for myself more. I pack lunches to  school and they are healthy. Salads, foods that can be eaten without heating in a microwave, vegetables and or fruit in every lunch. I also have a surplus in my food envelope each week.

I save $80 a month on rent. It's only 16% of my income. I also save gas and get to work on time because my morning commute is at least 15-30 minutes shorter depending on when I leave home.

I will have a surplus each month for the next 9 months. In August, that surplus went to car repairs.

I finished Financial Peace University, and in September I plan to start the debt snowball again. I have a visual hanging on my board that I can color in gradually as I pay down debt. I no longer have a new car fund. All of my surplus now will go to the debt snowball. I plan to start a new car fund again when I pay off PNC.

I have begun exercising almost every morning. My pants fit better and I feel healthier and more energized.  

I can't find any new places to save money, and fear is holding me back from moving on my product idea. There I've admitted it. Now I can face the fear.

Updates on the car philosophy

So...update on my car philosophy.

The Honda officially cannot be driven on the highway anymore. I had left it down south with my mother, but I decided I prefer the Honda to the Mitsubishi so I would retrieve my Honda and sell the Mitsubishi.

I tried to drive it back up north at the beginning of August and it overheated for the 3rd time this summer. The mechanic told me it was a $2500 repair job. I was 5 hours from my hometown. With a combination of driving it carefully and below the speed limit plus getting it towed part of the way, I made it 5 hours back to my hometown and left it with my mother again. That's where it will stay.

I was trying to bring it back up north and sell the Mitsubishi. I thought I was correcting a mistake I had made. I should have waited to purchase another car until the Honda had officially died FIRST.

As soon as I got back up north (I had to fly back - expensive at the last minute!), and as soon as I got back in the Mitsubishi, I began to like it. Everyday I like it more. I think I like it now because I really NEED it, plus it has no payments.

Well, a week ago I was stuck after school for 3 hours due to a dead battery, then towed home because the mechanic could not jump start the battery. I was so done with the whole dead battery issue in this car.

I took the car to a dealership. They searched like looking for a needle in a haystack (their words) for 4 days and finally found the problem. That "problem mechanic" that I took the car to in January did not fully remove the after-market alarm system, causing some wires to stay live all the time and drain the battery constantly.

That's that. Other than needing new tires, the car runs well. The mechanic I used earlier this year has cost me about $600 in unnecessary repairs. Fortunately, the car emergency fund covered that. I'm past that now and looking forward to more debt snowballing.