Thing 2: Budgetized

And it feels so good! Or bad... yes, bad.

Now that I have a car loan to pay off, it is time to finally get my act together and create a realistic budget that I won't break in the first week.  I did some expense tracking last year and discovered a few surprises ($500 on food in a month? On just grocery stores?? Who ate all that?) and a few not so surprises that needed to be changed.  I wouldn't say I had a problem with money before, but my budgeting system was not exactly restrictive.

My goals are:

1) pay off my 5 year car loan in 3 years as I did with my BMW
2) save a set portion of my income each month through an automatic savings plan, rather than just saving whatever was left over
3) reduce my spending on clothing, eating out, and home decor related goods
4) be an all around cheap wad

My new budget is now set.  I've added an additional monthly car payment on top of the minimum to pay off the loan in a tad over 3 years.  I've also set up the automatic monthly savings plan.  Both of those payments will be coming out of my next paycheck for the first time.  Oh dear...

I've already stayed in budget on my clothing spending for the first two months of the year, and I technically wasn't on the budget yet.  I think at this point I have just about everything I could need in my closet.  Also, the combination of my mall hatred, hesitation to shop online, and unhappiness with the current styles at my favorite stores hasn't exactly put me in the mood to go shopping.  This must be a sign of a deeper, more serious problem.  When a woman loses the will to shop, something must be going on!

Now I must work on my cheap wad tendencies.  Just wait until I get hit with my next fee.  Even if it's legitimate, I'm fighting the hell out of it!


March 1st starts the budget tracking.  Please think of me as you eat your $50 steaks and drink your $100 bottles of wine.

Thing 1 - Das Auto

There's a new car in my parking spot (and a lovely new car loan on my credit report.)  The title of this post might be a bit misleading because in fact I did not buy a Volkswagen.  I briefly considered the restyled Beetle because it looks pretty good now, but then I put that out of mind.  No more German engineering for me.

I sold my car because it was a time bomb that has already gone off a few times.  Don't get me wrong, I loved my BMW and it was a great car to drive when it worked.  But the problem was that when something went wrong with it, I usually ended up spending my entire bonus, or several months worth of savings, to get it running again.  The car fell out of warranty shortly after I purchased it so I've been on my own for the repair costs.  Yes, it was no ones fault but my own for buying the car.  But then again, no car should have as many problems as this one did with the amount of miles that were on it.  Long story short, it was a huge headache.  The final straw was when it broke down on the side of 495 in rush hour during Christmas break and required a tow across three counties.  Luckily I was rolling downhill when the engine cut out so I could drift across a lane of traffic onto the left shoulder rather than stall out in the middle of the road.  Fuel pump.  Who knew.

Here's a little taste of why it was time to sell this car:

Front brake replacement - $844 <--- this is ok, but why so expensive?
Mysterious dealer "Inspection" - $818 <--- thanks for filling my wiper fluid though.
Rear brake replacement - $783 <--- ditto #1
Engine pulley (2) replacement - $930 <--- why did this break?!
Air intake boot replacement - $191 <--- not to bad I guess
Front bushing replacement - $601 <--- car felt like it was falling apart
Front strut replacement - $953 <--- car REALLY felt like it was falling apart
Front brake replacement - $549 <--- found a cheaper place! no longer care about quality!

Fuel pump/filter replacement - $973 <--- 3 days after the previous brake service. ugh.

This was all in two years.  And doesn't include other expenses such as new tires and oil changes ($150 each, luckily just once a year) because those are expected.  The car also had another rear brake replacement and battery replacement coming up this year, plus whatever else decided to pop up.  It was paid off so I tried to keep it as long as I could since paying for the maintenance was less expensive than buying a new car.  Lately the car hadn't been driving right again and I know there was something else related to the fuel issue that needed to be looked at.  The braking and acceleration were causing problems and I didn't trust driving it.

Solution: sell sell sell!  

                                                                         bye bye

Well, it was actually a trade in but nevertheless, it is now in car land awaiting its unfortunate third owner.  The car is essentially in the same condition it was when I bought it (appearance wise) so someone is going to think they got a great deal.  Sucker!  

I purchased a 2012 Nissan Altima Coupe with 101 miles on it.  It has everything I wanted plus some extra features that were a bonus.  I also purchased the extended bumper-to-bumper warranty so I don't have to pay any absurd maintenance costs for 6 years.  That is the best thing about this car.  Or it might be the bluetooth integration for my phone.  

Having a reliable car with low expenses has definitely taken a load off my shoulders.  It also gets much better gas mileage and takes REGULAR gas!  This change definitely qualifies for my list.

12 Things

It's easy to talk about making changes, but it isn't very easy to get the momentum going to actually DO it.  Even the best attempts seem to get lost in the activities of daily life, illness, tax season, you name it.  Yes, I have been sick for the past month now and I'm currently on the third relapse of the same virus.  This time around I was unfortunate enough to get hit with an extra severe double ear infection like none I have ever experienced before.  I haven't been able to hear out of one ear for two weeks and the other seems to be working at about 50%.  It's weird.  I feel like I'm in my own little bubble because I have no idea what's going on around me.  I have a greater appreciation for what Alex is going through having lost most of the hearing in his left ear.  "At least you have hearing in one of your ears" doesn't seem like a very good response anymore.  It sucks!

I've also been busy with my taxes and Alex's Federal, Maryland, AND Virginia taxes (gosh...) so I can get them out of the way before round two.  I expect to prepare tax returns for five people this year and I don't want to leave them all until April.  Good thing my weeknight social life is non-existent!

So anyways, I really needed to find a way to keep on top of the many things I've been putting on the back burner.  This is my plan: 12 months, 12 things.  This year I will focus on changing or improving 12 things in my life.  I'm not saying that my life is terrible because it isn't.  But couldn't everyone benefit from a little organization, a little improvement, a little cleaning up around the edges?

I'd like to try to check one off the list each month, but I don't want anything to be forced so they may come more often, or less.  I don't have a list of what they will be, but I have a general direction for a few of them.  I know I need a budget and a real doctor (no more Patient First for me!) and I need to solve my dietary mysteries (I think it may be gluten related. Goodbye bread.)  I'm hopeful that Alex and I can take our first ever vacation together or if not, at least go on the long weekend trip I've had planned for the past few years.   And of course, there's always the new job that has been the elephant in the room.

So now I have my plan, and I'm happy to say that it is already in motion!  The post for Thing 1 will be coming up shortly....