Fall is in the Air

As summer comes to a close, I have a few things to be thankful for. The most of these is the fact that the girls have been well for about five months! This has been a huge relief to us emotionally as well as financially. Recently, they did have a cold but they were able to kick the fever in four days which is unheard of around here.

So, what have we been up to this Summer? Well, more of the same it seems :). We have been able to pay everything down across the board. No new things have been paid off, but the entire mess is lower. One good thing is that we have been able to keep Terra's check out of our budget so it is truly extra income when it comes in -- which rocks. We also have our emergency fund almost completely built back up :)

Speaking of the emergency fund, there was one thing with Ramsey's plan I didn't think I needed to do, and that was the envelope system. It's a simple enough concept -- you make a budget, then withdraw the money you need for each category and put it in separate envelopes. Then, when you need money for something in that category, you just take it from that envelope until it is gone. I thought to myself "hey, I have Quicken, I don't need this, I can keep track of it." The problem was my rational brain was making that decision, not the irrational, hungry, I want side of my brain that apparently can't estimate well :).

So, after stumbling with a few problem areas in the budget, I pulled those out into the envelope system to better mange things. In particular, the Food (out to eat), Fun, and Clothing categories where the problem children. We would always go WAY over in these areas by underestimating how much we had spent earlier in the month. By pulling the money out ahead of time, it's something you just don't have to think about. If there's money there, awesome. If not, you're brown bagging it. I personally like not having to deal with those receipts as well. I've got one transaction in Quicken instead of 14.

Because of this, we now have a bunch of extra money in the Fun envelope (who says you HAVE to spend it, right?). As that money piles up, we are planning on a cool trip later to take the girls out and pay cash for the whole thing. Amazing what you can do when you plan for stuff :)

I've got three bills in the snowball lined up for the next 6 months depending on how things go, but I think 6 months is a reasonable goal. One of the items in there is my car, so that's got me pretty excited :).

Finances are Spooky

Ok, that was a lame attempt at Halloween humor, but things were a bit scary there for the last couple months. We had built up quite the backlog of medical bills, but I am glad to say that I was able to work out payment plans with ALL of the providers without having to incur any new debt to do so.

I also got some decent news over the last couple months -- the big one being getting a rather generous staged raise between now and January 1st. The first part of it was effective this month, and while I've only had two paychecks with the extra money, the effects are already starting to become apparent. In January, the next phase kicks in. This is awesome not only that it is extra money, but the total between my raises and all of the money that I've been able to free up by cutting lifestyle equates to about what our old house payment used to be :). The realization that you have managed to gain basically a mortgage payment is a very good one indeed.

With the payment plans I've got in place and the extra money coming in now, I've got a great outlook for how the rest of 2009 will go and how 2010 will turn out. I'm already starting to get panicked calls from creditors about my balances going away. I've got a 0% interest medical loan that I've just about paid off. When it got to be about 5 months away from being paid off, they have been calling me once a week with "good news" that I've got money available that they will gladly give me -- at 24% interest. No thanks :). By the way, making sure they only have my Google Voice number is awesome. It makes it easy to ignore them :).

Whew... Can I get off this ride yet?

Ok, so I've been quiet on here for a bit, but that's because I've been holding on for dear life trying not to get flung off this marry-go-round of disaster. In July, our insurance reset, so we got another $500 put into an account and $1000 put into our Flex Spending account to last through the end of the year. By 7/31, all $1500 of that money was gone and we are just about through our deductible (of $3000). Granted, it started a bit lower because of the first 6 months of the year, but still :).

Then, to top it all off, Piper had to get some dental work done and because the Dentist lied about taking our insurance, we owe $591. Sure, they can "take" it and send the claim in, but for the things that are actually covered, it is at 60/40 instead of 80/20. Also, because they are out of network, other things cost a bit more. When I confronted them about this, they simply said "oh yeah, we're not in the network because they make us charge less." No kidding... you don't say?

So, here is my nastygram against "Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry" in Carmel, Indiana. We saw Dr. Laura Brinson Grahm, who actually is a great Dentist, but her business practices are complete crap. The other dentist in that practice is Dr. Rebecca Stuart Donnelson. I'm not sure of her competency, but I still insist that no one do business with them, and if you do currently, please stop :). And for Google's sake, here's some more information in hopes this gets indexed: Address: 13450 N Meridian St. Suite 363 Carmel, Indiana 46032. Phone: 317-846-5893.

Thanks to the wonderful freedom of speech we all have, they can't force me to take this down either, so eat it :). Stating that you can process Delta Dental isn't the same as being in network, and you need to make that clear to patients in need of semi-emergency work.

I've officially got the Vibe listed in hopes of selling that and paying off another year old hospital bill. I've actually got someone coming to look at it tomorrow. They've contacted me before and from the first email I'm sure they are going to low ball me, but we'll see how things go.

What I really need to do is stumble into about $30,000 somehow. That would make things much easier to deal with (and get a few predatory lenders out of our lives). I'd still have a ways to go, but it would be at least a bit more doable. At least my beater is running strong, and I got the AC somewhat fixed too -- so I'm not losing 20 lbs of water during my drive home everyday :).

Let this be a lesson -- Debt is bad, and even worse when you don't have an emergency fund and actually have a couple long term medical conditions to take care of. Cut the cards... live within your means.

More Car Voodoo

I've had some time to really check out the car that I talked about in the last few posts, and have discovered some pretty cool things. The main gem in this is the exhaust problem I had I was able to fix with a $5 roll of JB Weld putty. Turns out that when they put the exhaust on the car, they only welded the bottom half of it to the flange that connects to the header, not the top half. So, a little bit of putty crammed into that joint later, I've got a sealed exhaust system :).

I spent some time cleaning the interior too and it is in surprisingly good shape. I imagine if the previous owner took the time to actually clean it, he could have gotten a lot more out of the car. I'm going to be getting some seat covers here soon, but the seats really don't need it -- they just look a bit dull. After I do some more little cosmetic things to it, it will be a pretty nice little car.

Mechanically, I need to recharge the AC ($30 kit), and at some point the wheel bearings may need to be replaced (I'm noticing some odd vibrations when coasting). Even without doing the usual tuning I do to the intake, ignition, and exhaust systems, this car is getting 32-35mpg -- not bad for a 13 year old car. I'm really curious to see how well it does after I play with it some more.

Now, all I have to do is get the vibe cleaned up and listed for sale. I'll let everyone know how that goes soon. Hopefully it will sell quick :).

Forum Credit Union = Awesome

A few posts back I was ranting about Chase and their aptitude for not being customer centric. With that in mind, I'd like to tell you what happened with my recent dealings with Forum Credit Union.

I had a few questions about a loan I have through them, so I logged into the online banking to get my account number to call. While there, I noticed they had an online chat option, so I decided to check that out. The app ran surprisingly well, and I got someone right away. We worked though the question that prompted the visit, then she asked the classic "Is there anything else that I can help you with?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." I answered. I asked her what would be involved in setting up a checking account, because I was wanting to move my banking business away from Chase. She responded "I can do that for you right here. I just need you to accept these conditions. Agreeing in this chat is the same as doing it in writing." She then proceeded to paste a few paragraphs into the chat window.

That was all it took. She later asked if I wanted debit cards, so those are on the way now. It was by far the coolest experience I think I ever have had with banking. In contrast, most of the correspondence I've gotten from Chase was a small bit of actual content surrounded by auto-generated legalese and the typical "You are very important to us" nonsense. If I were so important, why is most of what you send generated by a computer?? :)

Anyhow, if anyone is looking for a financial institution that isn't going to screw you over (in service or financially), I would highly recommend Forum. They are quick, courteous, and well, they are a Credit Union. They weren't involved in the sub-prime shenanigans and have a decent financial position. Unlike Chase, I don't foresee Forum changing rates on anything to try to compensate for their bad decisions -- but I digress :).

Bottom line: Forum Credit Union = Awesome.

It may be Crap, but it's mine.

Project "find a beater" has been a success, and as of last Friday, I'm the proud owner of a 96 Grand Am. To be fair, it probably isn't that much of a beater. I mean, the interior is a bit rough, the engine is strong (recently rebuilt), and the body is in GREAT shape. The kicker is, I managed to pick it up for $850 :). It has 155,000 miles, which is low for a car that old.

The only REAL problem with it a small exhaust leak between the header and catalytic converter. Out of comic curiosity, I called a muffler shop to see what they would charge me to replace that section of pipe. Apparently "they would HAVE to replace the entire cat for that pipe to be replaced" -- at $600. I was trying really hard not to completely laugh at the guy considering the car is only worth $850 :). After some quick searching at Advanced Auto Parts, I found I can fix it for under $50. SO, that will be my project for this weekend. After that is done, I'll be able to start driving it as my daily, so the Vibe will be listed for sale soon. It will be good to finally get this debt snowball rolling.

If anyone is interested, it is a 2003 and in awesome shape, 88K miles, and I will be listing it for $6800 :).

I'm actually kind of excited about this in a sick sort of way. It reminds me of getting my first car. Even though it isn't all that great, you can enhance its value by accessorizing it :). I'm totally going to be getting an 8-ball shifter for this thing... :)

Lazy....Economy, and Other Musings

After my glorious rant before, you'd think I'd run right out and try to switch banks. The truth is my work hours keep me away while the banks are open. I have, however, found out there is a branch of a particular bank I want to check on close to my house, so maybe over a weekend or a day off I can run up there and get this business straightened out.

On a positive note, despite what the government is trying to do to the economy, it seems to be starting to recover on its own. With the DOW approaching 8000 again, things are starting to look up in various markets. Let's just hope it continues. My only problem is not having any cash to invest now, because man, I would make a killing :).

The other day I was listening to a local talk radio show, and the host brought up coupons. Specifically, he was wondering if people who thought coupons were too much of a hassle were starting to use them if they had them, or were actively hunting them. I suppose I'd fall into the category of using them if I have them, but I'm definitely not actively seeking them out. Perhaps I should. Let me pose this question: how many of you are using coupons more when you didn't before? Also, if you are, where is a good and easy place of finding them? :). Like I said before, I'm too lazy to put too much effort into anything for too long :).

Until next time..

Quick Money Saving Tip

I was in Target the other night picking up a few things, one of which was diapers. If you have kids, then you know how many of those bad boys you end up going through and how much of a drain on the budget they can be. Anyhow, after I found the size 5 diapers, I noticed something a bit off about the price. I wasn't exactly sure what it could be, but the numbers just didn't sit with me.

The smaller pack was listed at $9.99 for 40, and the Super Jumbo Mega Value Pack was $18.99 for 72 diapers. It must be the little bit of OCD in me, but the numbers didn't feel right. I pulled out my trusty calculator to figure out the cost per unit of the diapers I was about to purchase.

I looked at the Jumbo Pack first, figuring it was going to be the best deal. The cost per diaper is $.263 per diaper. I thought that wasn't too bad, and checked out the smaller pack. To my surprise, the 40 pack came out to being $.249 per diaper.

So, I bought two 40 packs and went on my way :). The moral of the story is that the large bulk packs aren't necessarily the best deal. Always check the price per unit to make sure you're not that hapless victim of a marketing gimick.