|
Higgy posted:What are your plans for this extra influx of cash from the sale of the car and the decreased expenses for maintaining and parking it? Also, are you subtracting the cost of the work you're getting done to the car from the future income of its sale to your math? No, I hadn't netted that out yet. I got the car back with bad news; the O2 sensor is fine, it was the MAP sensor that was throwing the fault and it's in an incredibly awkward place to get at. Rather than pay the shop to pull the engine and replace it I'm just going to sell it as is. The sensor malfunction doesn't effect drivability at all. So I ended up paying 330 bucks for an oil change and to get the news that I'll have to sell it with the check engine light on. Rats. Another rats: I went to a wrecking yard to see if I could scrounge up the center console piece and had no luck. So that's gonna be an internet purchase and ship. While I was at the yard though I replaced the front two tires for 80 bucks. The rear two have another 2 or 3 thousand miles on them but the front were shot. I bought a used pair with 8 or 9 thousand miles on them for $80 balanced and mounted. Anyhow all that said I just have to find the drat woody trim panel on the internet and snap that on to be ready to sell. If anyone has an idea where to find it I'm all ears. I'm not even sure the right search string to look for it. With the check engine light on I'm betting it will only fetch $2,500-$3,000. That cash along with the security deposit refund from the house will be used to *finally* zero out the AMEX.
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2013 22:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 03:18 |
|
|
I'm not sure if I would buy a used car with a check engine light that is permanently on...
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 04:00
|
|
|
That definitely reduces value. What year/make/model/engine is this vehicle Slow Motion? I wonder if you could get a local YourMake Car Club to replace it for a lot less labor. I know if you ask on the regional BMW forum (I am a propeller head kthx) you can find handy folks who will do most all jobs at a significant discount, from brake jobs to headgaskets. PM me if you want to discuss further and not derail the thread! Paying off the AMEX will be awesome either way! Also what type of shop spends 2-2.5hr to diagnose a MAP? Man, some techs...! SiGmA_X fucked around with this message at 18:45 on Sep 16, 2013 |
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 18:40
|
|
|
SiGmA_X posted:That definitely reduces value. What year/make/model/engine is this vehicle Slow Motion? I wonder if you could get a local YourMake Car Club to replace it for a lot less labor. I know if you ask on the regional BMW forum (I am a propeller head kthx) you can find handy folks who will do most all jobs at a significant discount, from brake jobs to headgaskets. PM me if you want to discuss further and not derail the thread! 2001 Nissan Pathfinder v6 two wheel drive. The trick was that the MAP sensor and the vacuum hose from the intake are both gone and whatever software the shop had didn't have the location of the port on the intake listed.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 19:19
|
|
|
Slow Motion posted:2001 Nissan Pathfinder v6 two wheel drive. The trick was that the MAP sensor and the vacuum hose from the intake are both gone and whatever software the shop had didn't have the location of the port on the intake listed. Google says it doesn't have a MAP, if only has a Baro (barometric pressure sensor) which won't change how ish runs... AllData lists 0.3hr to replace the MAP, but doesn't list MAP on emission component listing. AllData, and thus Nissan, also think diagnostic should be 0.8hr including post repair re test. AllData has some sweet engine sensor diagrams, all which do not list a MAP. Next car - make it a BMW. They're so much easier to service!! And their techs are usually better, the crappy ones go work on domestics and Asian imports! Do you happen to have the P code still?
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 20:31
|
|
|
SiGmA_X posted:Being its summer break and I am an ex tech (German stuff only), and I have AllData, I'm taking a peek... I'll get the P code when I get home (I scanned it once myself before I took it in). I'll definitely keep a beemer in mind for my next ride. Although that will probably be a purchase for late next year after I'm out of all the debt and in a cheaper apartment. My previous car was an '02 Lincoln LS and I really miss the v8 RWD fat-rear end sedan feel. The LS was half jaguar under the hood and unlike German cars was a loving terror for technicians.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 23:30
|
|
|
BFC - Sell your paid-off 13 year old Nissan and get a BMW I sold a '94 Pathfinder 2 years ago with bald tires and a leaking master cylinder for $2k. I bet you can do better than $2,500 on yours.
|
|
#
?
Sep 16, 2013 23:50
|
|
|
canyoneer posted:BFC - Sell your paid-off 13 year old Nissan and get a BMW Agreed on the sale price. Mostly. On my local CraigsList I'm seeing them for $6k at used dealerships, so maybe $3-4k used with a CEL. You would be amazed at how many people believe 'its not a big deal, it's just a X sensor' or some such stuff, too. The list of problems people tell me upon purchase of their cars always makes me question their decision... And it happens all the time!
|
|
#
?
Sep 17, 2013 06:35
|
|
|
Adding examples of stupid people that buy cars to the sell-a-car chat: I've sold a BMW making horrible upper end noises to a guy that paid me $100 less than my asking price. He also gave me cash immediately and trusted that I'd deliver the title later (I did, of course, later that night) Sold another BMW to a high school girl that I had to insist test drive it before she bought it. Also for $100 less than my asking price. She just wanted to give me money and take the car. This car was far more badass looking than comparable cars (sick body kit dawg), fwiw. Sold yet another BMW to a dude that didn't even really look at it, and had it me drop it at his house. He gave me a ride home in a completely different car. Hope he liked it! What I'm saying is you'd be loving shocked what you can get for your car. Xterras look cool, and cool looking cars sell easy. Aim high on the price, be short on the details (basically do the opposite of what you would prefer to have when buying a car. Oh and repost the ad at strategic times - figuring that part out is fun IMHO) and be an impatient dick when people call about the thing so you weed out anyone that isn't interested. When they ask about the cel, your answer should be "my mechanic said it was a sensor" and be ignorant about any followup questions.
|
|
#
?
Sep 17, 2013 19:55
|
|
|
CountOfNowhere posted:Adding examples of stupid people that buy cars to the sell-a-car chat: I've sold a BMW making horrible upper end noises to a guy that paid me $100 less than my asking price. He also gave me cash immediately and trusted that I'd deliver the title later (I did, of course, later that night) There really are a lot of dumb people out there buying cars. I once sold a car to a couple who flat out refused to test drive it. Their pre-purchase inspection consisted of popping the hood and going "uhh...yeah, it's got an engine" and asking if it could have a sunroof put in it. I'm not sure how much more than 2500-3000 he will get for it though, depending on where he lives - in my area that's pretty much the going rate on craigslist for "generic 10-15-year-old car with no major issues."
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2013 19:52
|
|
|
What ever happened to the phone plan? Did you renew in the end or have I missed it somewhere?
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2013 10:58
|
|
|
100 HOGS AGREE posted:Maybe I just can't understand people who can see debt as a minor inconvenience or worse instead of what it really is, a goddamn crisis they need to fix right now. 1. Lack of willingness to treat debt as something holding back their life goals (partly because money wasn't ever a serious goal or barometer of success in their life - lots of musicians and artists know they'll make dick for income). When talking about eating out minimally, switching to lower tier brands of consumption, and so forth, a defeatist attitude of "why would I live such a terrible life like that for so long over something so artificial like money when we're all hosed anyway?" There's some grain of truth that living debt-free can be rather hard, especially on the usual younger person's income of <$40k in a large city these days, but I've seen this attitude with people into their 40s and higher. I think by their 60s they're thinking "gently caress it, if my kids can't get into college, they can work on a farm, who needs cities anyway?" I'm all for thinking positive, but lack of giving a poo poo and expanding opportunities is hardly something we can think of as good for anyone's life. 2. Lack of impulse control / instant gratification compulsion. I can sit on buying something for days, weeks, months that someone's told me about to the point where by the time I'm about ready to plunk down some cash I worked hard for, it's now obsolete / new generation coming very soon. American consumer behaviors are jet-fueled by attacking people at this level and our entire financial system of encouraging barely-serviceable debt as optimal somehow promotes this behavior. Breaking costs down into monthly payments removes the psychological pain of the full cost of one's decisions, so we never see the actual consequences of our financial idiocies. Basically, short-term thinking is about all you need to have to be in perma-debt in America (and probably most other developed consumer-driven as opposed to export-driven economies). When every one of our institutions and our largest corporations hardly think more than a year out for major decisions relating to finances, it would seem awful hypocritical if we as individuals didn't practice the same thing as well. This kind of behavior and attitude is something I almost never see from those from non- so called 1st world countries, especially with lower socioeconomic backgrounds. It's not too uncommon to see immigrants from Africa or Southeast Asia show up, make some money for a few years, and have substantially better financial outlooks than those born in the US with significantly more advantages to start with.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2013 12:16
|
|
|
ed balls balls man posted:What ever happened to the phone plan? Did you renew in the end or have I missed it somewhere? I'm out of the contract period, but I haven't renewed yet. I'm pondering the merits of a new contract and a new phone. I probably won't pull the trigger on that till someone shows me how awesome the camera on a new phone is. That can wait a few months. I'm in no hurry. One thing I am considering spending real money on is furniture. I just noticed that I'm not using the bedroom in my apartment. My living room has three walls of windows (the building has one acute corner) and I put my bed in there. That leaves the actual bedroom filled with nothing but a pile of clothes and some boxes of random crap. I unpacked and sorted all the crap last weekend and now I want to move the bed in there. But that means I'll need some couches and a coffee table for the living room. I want them to be awesome, but not too expensive either. I'm thinking about budgeting $1,000 to make the living room comfy. Any thoughts?
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2013 15:44
|
|
|
Just spend like 350 on Craigslist couches and a coffee table.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2013 16:32
|
|
|
tuyop posted:Just spend like 350 on Craigslist couches and a coffee table. Truth. The best advice I ever got on bachelor furniture was to get it as cheaply as possible (as long as it's not unhygienic), because any woman who enters your life in the future will want something different from whatever you've bought.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2013 16:59
|
|
|
You need some swanky black leather couches and chairs. Done! Used on CL or from a friend is the best bet. Don't buy cloth from CL. Gross! Or pay to have it professionally steam cleaned, I guess?? Gross ***BUDGET FOR THE FURNITURE SIR.*** Cell phone plan - what phone do you have ATM? If you're on att and out of contract, go prepaid, $60/mo.
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2013 17:56
|
|
|
SiGmA_X posted:You need some swanky black leather couches and chairs. Done! I'm definitely thinking black leather Criag's list for the furniture. My cellphone service is with Verizon and out of contract. I get 20% off on service and 25% off on hardware through my firm. Our negotiated discounts range from these with Verizon (the best) to 15% off service nothing off hardware with Virgin Mobile. The other carriers are in the middle. What advantages would a prepaid plan offer me and what would the drawbacks be?
|
|
#
?
Sep 23, 2013 18:19
|
|
|
I know little about it. I'm on my folks 4 line family plan and plan to be forever, honestly. $58.xx a month for more talk than I'll ever need, unlimited data (grandfathered) and text. Only reason I'd change plans is if I move somewhere than has poo poo AT&T coverage. PDX is pretty AT&T friendly tho. Main upside is no contract and less costs. Downside is no cheap hardware. If you like the newest phone, a contract is beneficial, it saves money over outright buying a recent iPhone and going prepaid for example. I calculated it in someone's thread but I forget who, and I don't want to google numbers. For a single phone, most non-talkaholics spend about $90-100 with tax for a smartphone. With prepaid that can drop down to ~$60 or less. If you have good AT&T coverage and are cool with an older phone (4/4S vs 5S, etc) it's massively cheaper monthly. I know 0 about Verizon prepaids but you can bet someone here does. If you get a non smart phone, it's dirty cheap. I don't know what I would do without interweb everywhere tho. http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/gophone.html
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2013 01:22
|
|
|
SiGmA_X posted:
The 3g prepaid smartphone plans with a moderate amount of data can be had for 50 or less. There's also revolution wireless, with a special phone that connects over WiFi when it's available. If you don't use mobile data and have fairly light phone habits, page plus has prepaid cards that are $80 for 2000 minutes. One of those typically lasts me about a year (texts are 5 cents). And you can use a voice-only plan with a smartphone. I have an older Android phone - I just use WiFi for a lot of things.
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2013 15:20
|
|
|
If you're willing to deal with T-Mobile's network and barely making voice calls per month (only 100 minutes), you can get a $30 unlimited data prepaid smartphone plan. Look down the page on the left here just above the 1 - 2 - 3 pictograph section http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans The thing about staying on contract in an attempt to "save money" is that you're basically paying extra over a prepaid plan out of contract to have a newer phone to the tune of about $30 / mo, which seems to work out to parity with an unlocked phone w/o subsidies at about the 15+ month mark. This means that if you tend to keep a phone for longer than a year or so, you're probably better off just paying for a phone outright and having a lower cost prepaid plan and you are ultimately paying a $30 / mo luxury tax for having a hip new phone. In any case, there's an SA thread dedicated to getting plan recommendations on different providers, and plans are constantly shifting in the smartphone space.
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2013 15:56
|
|
|
Straight talk is another option, you can bring most phones and it's $45/mo for unlimited talk/text and data is "unlimited" but really 1.5-2GB, somewhere in there. My wife has it and loves it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 13:45
|
|
|
Tabling the phone chat for a little while, although it looks pretty promising to save a few bucks. Without further ado here are the October first balances. Rent ($2,050) has not posted yet. Later this month I'm expecting a few thousand dollars from the two sources of my security deposit on the old house and the sale of my car once I get the "center dash trim bezel" replaced. The security deposit might be a bit of a trick since I've recently learned my wife is broke, jobless, and could make a play at it. We'll see. Her brother and I are trying to keep her afloat by paying her $20/hr for a couple hours of house work a week each. It's a strange situation.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:26
|
|
|
And my other standard monthly report: the reconciliation of discretionary spending. This was a weird month. I'll let the numbers and notes speak for themselves. Edit- Uhg. Ignore the notes on 'Movies and Shows' and cleaning supplies. Slow Motion fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:28
|
|
|
You have spent over $300 on Puzzle and Dragons in 3 months. Man, and I felt kind of bad about blowing $20 on Hearthstone. If it was a UI bug, was there really no recourse from the devs? That's messed up.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:32
|
|
|
Slow Motion posted:And my other standard monthly report: the reconciliation of discretionary spending. This was a weird month. I'll let the numbers and notes speak for themselves. Cant you just post a normal budget that shows how much you made and how much you spent - including both constant monthly expenses like rent AND the discretionary spending? Also whats the point of taking out the "other poo poo" ? It's still money you spent that month, unless it's getting reimbursed.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:34
|
|
|
Cicero posted:You have spent over $300 on Puzzle and Dragons in 3 months. Man, and I felt kind of bad about blowing $20 on Hearthstone. Probably could get a refund but the $100 isn't worth my time.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:34
|
|
|
HooKars posted:Cant you just post a normal budget that shows how much you made and how much you spent - including both constant monthly expenses like rent AND the discretionary spending? Also whats the point of taking out the "other poo poo" ? It's still money you spent that month, unless it's getting reimbursed. In terms of managing my finances reviewing the discretionary spending is the best way to understand which costs I can most easily control. What's the point of looking at rent in and out every month and saying 'yup, there it goes again"? or auto insurance, credit card minimums, phone service etc. You nailed the reason for separating the other poo poo out: it's reimbursable, or it's unavoidable and one-off, neither of which is controllable so it gets sorted out. What I'm left with in the three main sections of the reconciliation is a summary of the choices I made last month that directly affected my spending. Those are the choices I'm looking to change.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:48
|
|
|
Slow Motion posted:Probably could get a refund but the $100 isn't worth my time. Also, you only spent $150 on food? What have you been eating? (not much, apparently) But gj on this, I suck at food spending. Although it's kind of confusing that "gas and junk food for a quick road trip" amount to more than food for the whole month. Slow Motion posted:In terms of managing my finances reviewing the discretionary spending is the best way to understand which costs I can most easily control. What's the point of looking at rent in and out every month and saying 'yup, there it goes again"? or auto insurance, credit card minimums, phone service etc. No Wave fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:49
|
|
|
Slow Motion posted:In terms of managing my finances reviewing the discretionary spending is the best way to understand which costs I can most easily control. What's the point of looking at rent in and out every month and saying 'yup, there it goes again"? or auto insurance, credit card minimums, phone service etc. Since you have a thread, it would give those people following the thread a better idea of how you're doing. It's hard to see how much you actually saved, how much money went to your debts, etc. by your posts and the way that you have it set up. There are so many unavoidable one offs in life though that you have to account for. You can't just write them off because they're one-offs. One offs pop up all the time and shouldn't just be discounted just because you can't control them. They can be a constant cause of why you're not saving money each month. They need to be planned for and budgeted for as well. Plus since you have those one offs and you know things like divorce fees and car fixes are coming, you may need to lower your discretionary expenses even more to account for them. Your normal budgeted amount plus the "one offs" might put you over your monthly income and possibly further into debt if you don't have some overall picture of things. No Wave posted:Also, you only spent $150 on food? What have you been eating? (not much, apparently) But gj on this, I suck at food spending. Although it's kind of confusing that "gas and junk food for a quick road trip" amount to more than food for the whole month. I spent $100 on food this month. It's not that crazy for one person, especially if the amount they spent on restaurants sn't at $0. He also had shopping trips in other months that seemed to cover things like meat in bulk. HooKars fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:54
|
|
|
No Wave posted:Also, you spent $150 on food? What have you been eating? (not much, apparently) Slow Motion posted:Probably could get a refund but the $100 isn't worth my time. Haifisch fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 22:58
|
|
|
Haifisch posted:Food costs vary wildly depending on area, how much meat/dairy you eat, what store you go to, how picky you are about 'natural'/organic/free-range/etc, how often you buy store brands instead of name brands, and whether you're eating pre-made meals or cooking from scratch. I spend less than that for just me, and I'm hardly starving to death. EDIT: (nm - didn't see the 150 extra in restaurants - I don't think that's unreasonable, btw) No Wave fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 23:20
|
|
|
No Wave posted:Sure, I understand that. It's just that it's so strange that there are these huge places where Slow Motion is happy with bleeding really easy money, like Puzzles and Dragons, and he's so solid on the part that requires the most constant discipline. I mean, one meal out all month, no coffees, no drunchies, no take out on a lazy night... it's really just something I'm not used to seeing out of people in his age group (ie, my age group). I guess everyone's different. There's 150 in restaurants and 188 in bars for myself and dates in the recon. Coffee is free at work and the one latte I had from Starbucks I just rolled into restaurants. I'm still eating out a lot. Studying 2-3 hours a night has definitely helped me cut down though. For those who want a full breakdown of spending here is how I start dividing up by outflows. These come from Mint categories and then I further investigate the transactions for large items. I also take some estimates from memory for things like how much of the grocery bill was pots and pans and an iron and toothpaste. The monthly recurring is from my main fixed cost sheet (which is an over estimate now that the CC minimums have come down - hence why I end up $20 over). Edit - And for reference my salary take home was $4,320. Net negative without my bonus accrual. Slow Motion fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 23:34
|
|
|
So you spent $400 more than you took in.... Keep spending $2k on that apartment man.
|
|
#
?
Oct 2, 2013 00:14
|
|
|
One hundred and ninety seven dollars on iTunes. Sure, why not?
|
|
#
?
Oct 2, 2013 00:19
|
|
|
spwrozek posted:So you spent $400 more than you took in.... Keep spending $2k on that apartment man. And $2,500 (post tax) less than I earned (it was a lower bonus month with all the study time). But that cash won't hit till December. Oh and $300 of spending was toward selling the car which will bring in $3,000. On the whole I'd like to spend about $200 less on discretionary stuff. But in terms of getting out of debt it was successful month.
|
|
#
?
Oct 2, 2013 00:53
|
|
|
Not about to bust someone's balls over a few percent here and there when they're taking general steps and the trend looks fine. I completely disagree with the notion of "$ / hr at work" is any more than loosely correlated with the time you spend not at work. There's all sorts of factors before making that rather precise figure a judgment call. If I went by the usual metrics and "suggestions," I would be spending a lot more on stuff like $3500+ / mo to live closer to my workplace rather than the $2k now. One thing I do believe though is that as you have less and less disposable / unallocated income, you should consider the time you have outside work to be less valuable as a lower bound with a decreasing upper bound. So... currently OP should track that sum of money down even if it takes a few hours unless he's working on some hot new start-up that'll make him rich beyond his wildest dreams or he's losing dating opportunities with high earning women while chasing down his F2P MMO money stolen from him.
|
|
#
?
Oct 2, 2013 01:25
|
|
|
^^^ My career does have an extremely high ceiling on earnings, and in function I am paid hourly. So my productivity horizon is different from most people (although a lot easier to think about). And while I do date very successful women I am not interesting in co-mingling finances any time in the near future. AAAAaaaannnnd on that note: My ex hasn't said a peep about the security deposit or signing a new lease at the old house. I'm not sure how I want to handle the situation. Relevant facts: 1. The divorce wont be final till January (I could finalize it in early December but I'd lose $10,000 to the IRS if I'm single on December 31). I'm worried about her lawyering up and seeking money. 2. She's broke. Burned though the 25k I left her in march. I think she's down to 3k. NO job either. So if she hasn't already there's no way she can afford to pay $2,600 on another deposit. I rehabilitated her FAFSA eligibility for her with a consolidation to bring her student loans out of default. But that wont go through for another month of so. She will be eligible for a bunch of loans then. 3. The land lords are an elderly couple who are not good with negotiations or the legal ins and outs of renting a property. I could probably directly negotiate the new security deposit down to $1,300 with them. But I'm already too involved. I'll talk with my ex about it she seems stable enough to handle the conversation. One final note: I'm still seeking the part to sell my car. Besides that it's ready to go.
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2013 21:15
|
|
|
Slow Motion posted:1. The divorce wont be final till January (I could finalize it in early December but I'd lose $10,000 to the IRS if I'm single on December 31). I'm worried about her lawyering up and seeking money. I don't know about anyone else, but I would get that poo poo done with. At the rate she's spending money, you've got about one month before she has a very strong incentive to drag this out. In light of you serving as the breadwinner for the both of you, managing her student loans as if they were a concern for both of you, occasionally paying rent, and continuuing to gently caress her after ostensibly separating, a judge might be inclined to think that this is a messy relationship in progress and not an imminent amicable divorce. Hello long-term alimony payments.
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2013 21:27
|
|
|
No kidding. $10k would be a drop in the bucket compared to long-term alimony payments.
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2013 21:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 11, 2024 03:18 |
|
|
On the subject of divorce: it already *is* amicable. I'm the petitioner and she has signed the joinder. So long as she doesn't get proactive about anything I can do the rest. My state has a mandatory 90 day 'reconciliation' period before I can finalize it.
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2013 22:13
|
|