I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Resolutions Are Just Goals With A Fancy Name

Setting goals keeps me motivated and helps me see where I am headed, as well as allows me to track my progress.  I am a big fan of setting goals and therefore, I like the idea of resolutions.  Yes, nothing magical happened between December 31st and January 1st - but the arbitrary designation of a new year gives one’s brain the idea of a fresh start.

I’ve already detailed my dual plan of paying off debt and saving for a new-to-us car this year, but I have some smaller goals related to our budget that, if I can stick to them, will help me to reach those more lofty goals.   I like to think of these as my New Year Resolutions, and they are:

1.  Spend $0 out of pocket at CVS and Walgreens this year.  Last year I really got into playing the Drugstore Game, which is using sales, coupons and rebates to get many items free or almost free at CVS and Walgreens.  In total, looking at my budgeting sheet, I spent less than $200 total at the two stores combined, but this year I want to keep that to $0.  I received a gift card to each store for Christmas for $50 (each) and combined with the ECBs (CVS) and rebates (Walgreens) I have already saved up last year, I am going to continue to get great deals and pay almost nothing for many toiletries but this time, with no initial or continuing investment (no matter how small).

2.  Stick to a $100 per week grocery (including household items and toiletries) budget.  My actual spending has wildly varied in the past on groceries.  Some months it was easy to stick to my grocery budget, and some months it seemed impossible.  The prices of groceries in my area, according to my price book, have gone up about 15-20% in the last year, so I have raised my weekly budget, the key is going to be consitently sticking to it.  I am going to look at it on a month to month basis ($400 or $500 per month depending on how many shopping weeks there were).  But the key will be to only by items we need, even if they are a good deal.

3.  Spend less than $100 out of pocket all year on clothing for the entire family.   This excludes socks and underwear.  I originally was going to set this number to zero, but I know there will be some unforeseen needs that I can’t set myself up for absolute failure.  We did get a JCPenney gift card as well as two Target gift cards for Christmas, so we can spend those on clothing before we spend any money out of pocket.  I have been an avid yard sale and thrift shop shopper in the past, and the kids both have plenty of clothing in their current sizes, and a lot of clothing in future sizes as well.  I really shouldn’t need to get much in the way of clothing for them this year.   My spouse has gotten a lot of new clothing in the last year due to his weight loss, and I did a lot of Goodwill shopping, so I think no one actually needs anything.

Related to that third resolution, I was also going to set a resolution to sell all of my kids’ outgrown clothing, but I read that laws are changing that all kid clothing has to go though lead testing to be sold, even old clothing.  This goes into effect in February.  Even if I donate my kids’ old clothes instead of sell them, they will probably end up just getting tossed after February.  It makes me sad.  I have a lot of kid clothing my kids have outgrown that are destined for a trash heap.  Sigh.   I guess I have to try and find some people with babies who want my hand-me-downs, because I can’t bear to just throw them all away.

Did you make any resolutions for this year?

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Saturn Resurrected (For Now)

On the third try at diagnosing what the problem with the Saturn was, the dealership finally got it right.   The part at fault was the crank position sensor, which would fail when the car started to warm up.  Hence the sudden death on the highway and subsequent failure to restart.

The crank position sensor does not give a code to the check engine light when it fails.  Nice design idea there.  Especially since in my research about crank position sensors yesterday, I found out this is yet another known issue with the Saturn L-300 (and L series in general).

I need a comprehensive list of Saturn L-Series issues so that the next time the car dies I can give it to the mechanic and tell them to pick which it is. 

The Saturn is now safely in my garage, and I will be driving it to demo team practice in a few minutes, so it had better behave.    And we’re back on the plan I outlined in yesterday’s goal post.  Save $10000 for a new to us car, most of it in the first 6 months of the year.   Then pay off remaining debt.  On to the next thing!

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The Saturn Is Dead

I probably should have waited until tomorrow to publish that goals post, huh?

My inlaws picked up the Saturn for us this morning, they were going to drive it halfway to Indiana and meet my spouse.  On their way from Saturn to the rental car place (so my MIL could be added as a driver on our rental) the car died.

The two places are 1.7 miles apart on the same road.

To say I am angry right now is an understatement.

No clue what I am going to do.   Sigh.

Added as of 1:32 PM  EST -  Supposedly, for third time today, is fixed, and is heading towards meeting my spouse in Western NY.  Crank sensor was at fault, they claim.  Newest repair done for free so there’s that.  Car may come back to Indiana by tonight after all.

And as of 1:52 AM EST on Saturday - it is in my garage.  I never thought I would see it again, honestly.  ;)  Night!

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Reflecting On Goals For 2008 and Moving On To 2009

Last year, all the goals I set were based on debt elimination and how much per month we could pay to debt.  Even though last year was full of financial challenges, it also had many financial blessings.  When I set the goals, I wasn’t formally employed.  But soon after, I started tutoring chemistry online, and then a few months later, I started teaching taekwondo at night - first three nights a week and now 5 nights a week.  So the goals I set in December 2007 for 2008, that I thought at the time were a stretch based on 2007, ended up being easier than I imagined to hit.

My goal was to pay at least $1100 per month to debt, which would cause:

• Eliminate credit card debt by March 2008
• Spouse’s student loan under $5500 (snowball calculator says $5847)

I more than met both these goals - our credit card debt was paid off in February, and my spouse’s student loan was paid off completely in October, and then paid off our remaining car loan in November.  The only non-mortgage debt we have left is my student loan, which has a balance of slightly over $10000 and a $145 minimum monthly payment.

Our financial goals this year are slightly more varied than debt elimination.  Circumstances dictate that we prepare for the inevitable demise of my primary vehicle.  Our responsibilities dictate that we become more prepared for emergencies.  And we are going to try as hard as we can to do it all without adding new debt.  We’ve decided on three major goals (that even in our current financial situation, are a stretch) :

• Pay off student loan
• Save $10000 for new (to us) car
•  Save a $2500 emergency fund

Our plan is to save the $2500 emergency fund first.  I’m not sure what our starting point is yet - once the car is back here at home and the broken tree is dealt with ($200, they are coming early next week) I’ll look at our checking and figure out how much can be moved to savings.  Our emergency fund has $300 in it right now and I think, if the car behaves, we can get it up to $1000 again rather quickly.  Once we save the other $1500+ (hopefully, by February) we move on to phase 2.

Phase 2 is saving for the car and paying off student loan simultaneously.  For six months, we hope to pay $300 to the student loan and save $1500 towards a new vehicle.  Anything we have for snowflaking above that $1800 total goes towards the new vehicle saving.   This $1800 goal per month will include our budgeted minimum debt payments of $810.41.  This will be a stretch to meet every month and will necessitate us spending as little as possible and saving everything we can.  Which is how, frankly, I operate best.

(I got Walgreens and CVS gift cards for Christmas to let me continue to play my Drugstore Games so I can shop.  My goal is to make the $50 on each of them last all of 2008.  )

After 6 months of this payment schedule, we are entering phase 3 and flip-flopping them.  $1500 per month to my student loan and $300 towards a new car, with any available overage going to my student loan. At the end of twelve months, if we hit both these every month, we’ll have paid off my student loan and saved at least $10800 towards a new car.  If we could start this in January then it would be done by the end of 2009, but since it will most likely be at least February if not March we start, it will go into 2010.

If the Saturn behaves that long.

My ultimate goal is to have the student loan completely paid off in 2009, and save $15000 to a new (to us) car as well.  I’d like this car to not just be a stopover car but be a 10-15 year car, which $15000 to $20000 will accomplish.  That timeline’s not impossible - my GEO Tracker was still going strong at almost 14 years old when we replaced it for practicality reasons (I was having a baby and the back seats were not car seat friendly, or even safe after years of weather abuse from my convertible days).  The Corolla we have is still going strong at 13 years old.

But if the Saturn bites the dust before we can save for a new used car, we’ll probably go with something older and cheaper that won’t last us as long as I’d hope, but will be more reliable than said Saturn.  And avoid a loan as much as possible, or at least make it as small as possible.

And then the priorities shift to paying off said loan quickly and efficiently.

Here’s to 2009!

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Happy New Year!!

Welcome to 2009!  I hope you had as much fun as we did celebrating the end of 2008 (we received Rockband 2 for our PS3 as a crazy generous gift from my brother for Christmas, and we spent the end of 2008 rocking out ) and look forward to a prosperous and fiscally sound 2009.

Actually I am told that my spouse spent a good portion of the beginning of 2009 continuing to rock out.  I am a wimp and went to bed at 12:15 am.

I am a regular contributor to Frugal Hacks, and I have a post there today about my three actionable goals for 2009.  In short - pay off debt, make car situation good, build emergency fund.

I am still on an emotional seesaw of “I do NOT want any new debt” and “I do NOT want to put any further money into the Saturn”.  Time will tell in 2009 which wins out, and I am sure I will be musing on this for a while to come.  But I do remind myself that the Saturn’s continued demise is trying to create new debt all on its own, without even involving another car.  And that’s not a good thing either.

For now I wish my spouse and his parents an uneventful time getting the car back from NY to here.

Have a wonderful New Year!

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