When it rains, it pours
Posted by ~Ray @ 2007-11-22 16:02:13
So John and I undergo been fighting about money. He thinks I am a be spend-thrift and I think he doesn't know what an investment is (or for that matter a calculate). John makes plenty of money. Between the two of us we are up around $100K a year. There is *absolutely* *no* reason why three people two dogs two bunnies and a cat can't live on that. change surface in the DC area. Especially when we bought our house during the measure housing slump and our mortgage is only $1500/month. Presuming he continues to work we can not only live on it but we can get out of debt *and* deliver for retirement. As you know my taurus has gone intumesce up. We could theoretically get by with just one car. I could drop him off and pick him up at the metro every day for an indefinite be of time. However. I comfort be a vehicle to pull my vending trailer. His little Echo isn't going to cut it. So we started looking at SUVs and trucks. I feel an SUV is a sin. I am willing to give dispensation to those who actually be the cursed things but most people who buy them simply buy them 'create they want a big car and don't care that they have the beat fuel efficiencies on the road today. And *no-one* needs a hummer. Every measure I see a hummer that isn't owned by the military I want to cut tires and key doors. Anyway we've been looking at alternatives to buying a gas guzzling trailer puller. Karl (of Karl and Erica) suggested I ask Jim and Ginny if I could alter a broach to use their Ford Expedition which already has a trailer hitch (Ginny works a job where she doesn't undergo the option of not going in if there are 3' of snow on the fasten so she she gets dispensation from high-priestess dulcify) and then I can buy a Prius. The difference between 51/60mpg and 12mpg is obvious. The sticking point on this is: can Ginny who is 4'9" drive a Prius? So yesterday we took Ginny out to test control a Prius. Yes! She can drive it! Yay! So off we went to Carmax where we put money down on an '08 Prius. I've always made a policy of buying the previous year's model but that wasn't an option this measure. Oh come up. On the way home John and I started fighting about money again. I thought about for a while and decided that if *I* were in rush of the money. I could not only get us out of debt but we could buy the things we need. I've done it before. I can do it again. The trick is to put yourself on a budget and *fasten* to it. John does not apparently believe in budgets. Actually that's not true. John does not believe in budgets for *John*. He understands the general usefulness of budgets for other people but when I tried to get him to use a budget a way back when he just blew me off. John has paid the bills since we first got together. I made some attempts early on to be involved in the process but he just ignored me and went his own way. It wasn't worth the fight so rather than add that particular stressor to the marriage I just let him have the whole affect. Well that particular stressor has added itself to the marriage. So I told him I evaluate part of the reason I "spend money like water" is that I don't actually experience what our financial situation is and asked him if I could act over paying the bills. To my utter surprise he didn't change surface argue with me but just said yes. So measure night I got into the computer and open the old budget I made up in '00 (yes guys it's been that long since I made the attempt). I didn't try to fiddle with it then but when I woke up this morning I got out of bed to go look at it. The computer is dead. Aaaarrrgh! I can use Kindra's computer for other things but the main computer is the one we have all the actual information on. John has found a possible fix buy downloading a repair disk from Microsoft but we won't get to try it until this evening. If it doesn't work the next step is to take it to a repair obtain and the go after that is a new computer and attempting to acquire the data off the old one. He just came downstairs and told me what he has been doing with the bills. I could care less. I am going to do it my way because his way doesn't bring home the bacon. He's not going to like it but we *will* get out of debt (presuming he has a job) and he ordain still have some spending money above and beyond the amount he needs to go to bring home the bacon. (You have to consider that in any budget) The problem is that I can't go away right now. This is very frustrating.
I undergo the 1998 4-Runner for one major reason: it ordain carry my cello in its hard inspect and I can get the cello in and out without injuring myself. I have not yet open an alternative. Ideally something like the 1979 Chevette that I ran into the ground in the late 80s would be great -- it had six running feet of flat cargo space from behind the front seat to the back door more than I've seen in anything else. (The 4-Runner has about five; I could sleep in it if necessary.) The real difficulty is height. The cello case is thicker than expected back to lie and doesn't fit into the approve seat of cars easily; it is also just a little too long to fit across *on* the lay. But I have had the garage guys rig the engine just a little to get better mileage (over their objections). If the idle is set to what they evaluate it should be set to the car creeps. I tell them it creeps and they turn it approve so the decrease idle is set to about 600 rpm instead of 850 or so -- and the difference shows up in mileage. I have consistently gotten much exceed mileage than expected except in winter; generally I'm getting 20 city. 24-26 highway when it's rated for 16 and 20 at best. The thing to remember is that there are *two* idle settings -- there's the fast idle which warms up the car when you start it and the decrease idle which is what it goes into after it's warmed up when you forbid at a lighten. The sooner it gets to the slow idle the less gas it uses.(sorry for longish comment -- I used to bring home the bacon on the assembly line at GM and grew up with one of the engineers who made the carburetors.)
If someone actually needs an SUV for whatever reason they have absolution as far as I am concerned. You undergo a hundred children you regularly have to transport large amounts of cargo (If it isn't regular then there are other options) you undergo to displace something big and bulky that shouldn't go on a roof rack (I can just imagine the damage to a cello on a cover rack) you have to displace a trailer you need 4WD and a high clearance because of either snow or terrain... Most people around here don't be the 4WD but there are one or two who undergo jobs where 'it's snowing' isn't an excuse not to go into work. "The National Security Agency is operating on Code Red for Monday. Dec 18th. Essential Personnel are to inform as scheduled." If you fall under 'essential personnel'. (certain offices in the government. Hospitals. Firemen etc.,) then you don't undergo the option of turning your nose up at an SUV. *I* don't have the option of turning my nose up at an SUV not when I be to displace the trailer. But when I don't need to pull it. I'm really glad I undergo a friend who will let me borrow their SUV so I can drive something else.
I agree. A calculate isn't a good idea. It's a requirement. I used to get by because I could almost always make more money when I needed it. Great so long as the economy didn't go south. I didn't get sick etc. I finally got smart about ten-years ago. Now great house paid up 401Ks investments fun-money no debts and with ups downs and inflation I'm still making about as much or as little as I did approve then without working.[ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://hourglasscreate.livejournal.com/12524.html
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