One of the best $300 items we've ever bought - a new stove!

Woohoo - we're modernized! Not only is this one hella sexy stove, but it came with a hardcore discount. (did you ever doubt?)

This is one of those times where i absolutely LOVE home ownership because you can do whatever your heart desires. Can you imagine if we were renting and I asked our landlord to upgrade appliances based on the way they look? shoooooooooot.

The original stove worked fine, and we usually don't like replacing things that aren't broken, but it really started to hurt our eyes. I mean, the thing was at least 15 years old! Plus, we figured it can only add value to our place especially if we want to sell it down the road.

Someone once told me to upgrade early on so you can actually enjoy it while living there.

If you make the changes right before you sell, you miss out on all the luxury your hard earned dollars just paid for. Of course, this only works if it's something you plan on doing for sure, but the root of the theory makes a lotta sense....at least when i wanna make big purchases ;)

Once we determined we wanted a newer stove, we just kept our eyes open for sales and it paid off! We originally hit up Best Buy for a different stove on sale for $399 (instead of the original $550) but as luck would have it, they were all out. We were JUST about to leave, when Mrs. Budgetsaresexy saw a lonely little guy hidden in the corner. The nerve! So as any human with a heart would do, we took a nice hard look at that price tag ($299) and we bought it ;) It was even a better model than the one we were originally looking at. And better yet, we found a small dent on the lower part of the bottom drawer....and we all know what that means - more discount! haha...10% to be exact.

So a $550 stove had turned into a $299 stove, and then again into a $270 stove. Add a little tax to it, and voila! A sexy new stove for around $300 bucks.

The hard part was trying to figure out how to wire it up (it didn't come w/ the cord or anything), and making sure to switch them out and not scuffing up our hardwood floors. Nothing some manual labor and googling couldn't fix though ;)

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"You have to look at what you have, not at what you had."

Words of wisdom from the queen of finance herself - Suze Orman (who seems to be popping up everywhere these days!)

I don't know much about her, but it sure seems like she wants me to :) She's on every other magazine, or financial show i check out - my favorite being the SNL skits they always do on her! haha.... she's got one helluva marketing strategy!

But this quote of hers, "You have to look at what you have, not at what you had." is really something to think about. It's SO enlightening, yet so simple. I love it! With all my bitching about sucky cab rides, friends trying to "split" the tab, and those whacked-out investors feeding off of emotions, it's a nice slap in the face to get back to reality. (you can check out her wiki here)

The truth of the matter is that I have a LOT more than I sometimes think, and I'm willing to guess the same goes for you too. Having stable jobs, good families, and nice financial safety nets (even if in theory), beats out those trivial complaints by far. The only problem, of course, is REMEMBERING that you are fortunate enough to have these things - something I should probably focus a bit more on.

That being said though, a little financial bitching every now and then never hurt anyone ;) In fact, it makes life (and blogging) even MORE interesting, not to mention accurate. Not everything that happens to us can be positive, I don't care if you're George Bush or Barack Obama......haha sorry, i'm really not sure where i'm going with this...the words just typed themselves out :)

I think there's a healthy mix of appreciating what we all have, and learning from the reasons why we don't have what we did yesterday ... sprinkled with rants and raves throughout! As for this Suze chick, I'm gonna have to do a little more research and find out how she got this cult following. I heard "The Money Book for the Young Fabulous & Broke" was pretty good, anyone read it?

ps: Thanks for emailing me the quote RSB , it sure got my brain thinking!

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My Toyota Highlander is up For Sale, and Everyone's hatin'

Man, this time last year it would have been sold instantly! Leather, heated seats, 3rd row, 6-cd changer, all luxury man - it's a great buy.

But here we are, one year later and it's already got a bad rap. The second you call it an SUV (*ghasp!) it gets discriminated against :( Sure it sucks down more gas than the pretty boy Prius, but it doesn't mean you should hate on it - it's just looking for a new home.

I've been doing alot to get it marketed, as well as cleaned up. I bought a good $25 worth of sponges, towels, leather cleaner, chrome cleaner, brushes, wax, you name it! Then I spent 4 hours cleaning out the whooooooooooole thing, vacuuming and all. It may not sell anytime soon, but I'll tell you one thing, that bad boy is blingin' ;)

I've also listed it online going on 2 weeks now, but not even a nibble. Can you believe that? Not ONE email, call, question, nada. This is very strange for me as i usually have no problems at all selling things online. I never sold an entire, working, nice car on it before, but I know the concept's the same.

The problem i'm having, besides the obvious Gas Dilemna, is that there's just a freakin' ton of cars out there on the market. It's like the housing crisis, especially since I'm stuck on my asking price too. I can try lowering it until it's sold, but then I risk being upside down (even more) on the car....and that just plain sucks.

I'm still happy w/ the Caddy I just picked up, but as it stands I technically just put myself in even more debt - something that's probably not the best idea w/ the Mrs. going into Grad School next month. I just figured I would get at least a COUPLE inquiries, ya know? I gotta keep hanging tight though, and hope that the $100 I shelled out for marketing and cleaning it up pays off soon. If i'm really serious about letting it go, I need to keep giving it my all ...and believe me, the idea of keeping all 3 cars is DEF. sexciting to think about!

1 gas-happy car, 1 SUV for hauling stuff & winter, and 1 bad boy classic to roam the streets on the weekends! MM mmmmmm that's tasty. But, I can't think like that - The Mrs. needs the money for higher education. Just gotta keep telling myself that :)

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Not Paying Attention Cost Us $123.00 Saturday Night :(

One hundred and twenty - three dollars, can you believe that?!

And the sad part is, we could have EASILY avoided it altogether! arghh....just thinking of it gives me the heebie jeebies.

Oh well, as soon as I get it out of my system here I'll lock it up in the old "stop thinking about me" department ;)


The whole thing started when we were invited to a combined bachelor/bachelorette party up in Philly at a Dave and Busters bowling alley. It seemed pretty fun all in all, but it also came with a hefty $50/person price tag. While we could have easily, and politely, declined, we were the ONLY friends from the DC area that were left on the list who hadn't bailed. So we RSVP'd w/ a yes, and we started working our frugal magic!

We convinced a friend who lived in the city to let us crash there, even though he would be out of town that night. So that saved us a good $100-$150 from the start! We then decided to just drive the 3 hours up there that night, crash, and then scurry outta there the next morning before any temptation to stay and play came about. Not bad, right?

Had all gone as planned, the whole night woulda cost us $172. That consisted of the two $50 tickets, $40 for gas, $22 for parking, $10 for some pre-party beverages, and zero for the "hotel". Annoying, but do-able. Well, as you have already gathered from my bitterness, it didn't go as plan and we ended up with a $295 bill instead. BOOOOOOO.

Once we got there, here's how the night played out:

• We down our pre-party beverages to get a head start on the night (it's the cheapest way to go!), and walk out into a sea of cabs - Awesome!
• We cab it 3 miles to the downtown D&B, tip the cabby $4 bucks on a $6 ride (I was in a good mood..probably from the drinks!), and got out.
• We walk in and there's a $5 cover JUST TO GET IN! No way jose, we explained we were w/ a party here, and they said we could just go ahead w/ out paying. nice.
• We walk in, can't find the bowling alley, and ask someone to direct us. this is where it gets bad...
• She states, "Oh, there's no bowling alley here. You must be thinking of the D&B outside of town". Come again? there's more than 1 D&B around here? Uh-oh, the fear sinks in, especially considering we're already 20 mins late...
• Turns out the D&B we needed was a good 15 miles away!!! So after blowing $10 on the original cab ride, we now have to grab another and go even further out!
• We flag down another, jump in, and the cabbie explains it'll be around $45 EACH WAY. Now, we had two options here: Continue on our un-merry way, or go back to our friend's place, pick up the car, and drive there our selves. Logic told us to go the latter route, but momentum was telling us to keep going. so we did :( it was a quick decision to make, and since we already had 2 drinks a piece inside us, was it really worth the risk of driving?
• It cost us $48, including tip, to get there.
• Then, because we were pretty pissed, we spent another $15 on drinks while there to help get us in the spirit of things. Luckily, we're both pretty good at keeping it inside ;)
• We bowl a bit, eat some food, talk some talk, and 2 hours later leave.
• It cost us $50, including tip, on the way back.

When it comes down to it all, we just didn't do our homework. We were so focused on cutting costs the whole time, that we didn't even think to google map the address! One simple mistake that cost us $113 dollars. On the plus side, at least we were able to celebrate with the happy couple. Let's just hope they *remember* us being there! haha...

PS: And that's an actual picture from the night too. At least we have that!

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Bike for sale...he he...it's a good one!

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It's time to whip out the old Sell-O-Meter!

I have a tendency to forget things every now and then (usually more NOW than then) and unfortunately my Fun Fund is usually the first to fall through these mental cracks.

So in honor of it, I am starting a page where I detail all of the items I've sold in order to keep the juice flowing and full of life.

If I have a place where I can see all of my success, then it'll be THAT much easier for me to carry on and keep doing my thang! For those of you unfamiliar w/ this "Fun Fund", think of it as some sort of Rainy-Day Fund. It's basically an allocated place to hold all side monies earned; to be spent on anything my heart desires, no questions asked.

It's not so much the items on the list, though, that's important, but rather the main concept behind it - Motivation.

In the frugal world we've create around us, you can imagine the importance of such a thing! It's the one "safe" place where we can let loose and do as we please. But where does this money come from? Well, that's the creative part my friends :)

I go around the house looking for things to sell! I wrote a detailed post on how i do this a while back, but that's really the jist of it. I look for things that i don't ever use, or even want anymore, and I sell them on Craigslist or eBay. I then take all proceeds and throw it into the pot! (anything that doesn't sell goes straight to our local Salvation Army)

And so far i've done a helluva job spending it :) But isn't that the point? I've picked up kayaks, artwork supplies, kitchen tables, dryers, and loads of other stuff - mainly from the Craigslists and such! haha.... it's all about that "treasure" out there.

To keep up the motivation, here is my master list of all things purged Since July, 2007 - Grand Total and all:

• 1993 Cadillac DeVille (w/ dead break system) - $600.00
• My lot of 32 used (and old) CD's - $20.00
• Abercrombie & Fitch denim jacket - $45.00
• GAP corduroy jacket - $20.00
• Puma track jacket - $20.00
• Etonic track jacket - $6.00 (*tear*)
• "Tiki" picture frame - $2.00
• All-in-one Brother printer (ink-less) - $20.00
• Adidas track pants - $5.00
• "Cuba" track jacket - $4.00 (sucky)
• 50+ LP records - $30.00
• Masonic Nights Templar sword - $45.00 (holler)
• Sammy Sosa baseball jersey - $4.00
• Funky ugly gag gift - $1.00 (ROCK!)
• Express sports jacket - $25.00
• Antique looking wooden desk - $45.00
• Semi-new running shoes - $15.00
  
• Grand Total: $892.00 $907.00

My goal is to keep it updated as time goes by, so hopefully I stick with it! And why not create a similar list yourself? It'll take a few minutes to put together, but then all you have to do is add to it every now and then. Hopefully it'll remind you how good it felt to rid your house of nonsense too ;)

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My Top Referrers, and This Week's Kooky Carnivals.

It really feels like i post these every other day, but it's in fact already been a week - Yikes! Do you know how fast time's been going by lately? No? Well it's the complete opposite of slowwww. As in i can't even remember what i DID this week it flew by so fast. Humph...

But alas, 'tis the weekend and 'tis the time for relaxing! But first, I think it's been a while since I spread some referrer love, eh? We got some newcomers this month and they've been pumping traffic in like crazy! SO THANK YOU EVERYONE :)

• My Money Blog - Can you believe i actually made it on my all-time favorite blogger's blog roll?! That's one of my long term goals now checked right off :) You're my boy, Blue!
• Give Me Back My Five Bucks - Thanks as always Krystal! And good luck w/ all the job searching and all - it's only a matter of time, right?
• Clever Dude - Keep doing your thang! I'm sure i'll chat w/ ya on the IM soon :)
• Chicky Finance - Welcome back from your trip, time to dish the dirt!
• DINKS Finance (tie)- A pleasure, as always good sir. And we need to catch up!
  
• Five Cent Nickel (tie) - Another new one - WOOHOO! Welcome, my friend.

And as always, here's a heap of reading material for ya if you need some weekend filler. All courtesy of this week's carnivals:

• Money Hacks Carnival #21 hosted by Help My Cash Grow, and got hooked up with another Editor's Pick! Always sexciting :)
• Festival of Frugality #135: The Frugal All Over Edition hosted by Antishay Ventenne
• Finance Fiesta #8: Austin Edition hosted by Taking Charge. Received another Editor's Pick. My lucky week?
• Carnival of Debt Reduction: The Secret to Life Edition hosted by American Consumer News. The "Secret" huh? They have one helluva viral marketing plan going on.
  
• The 162nd Carnival of Personal Finance: Baseball Edition hosted by Taking Charge. 2 carnivals in one week? Wow, that takes some crazy energy.
  

Looking forward to another lovely week around the blogosphere everybody. Thanks for reading!

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A Personal Thank You to Great Customer Service out There.

Oooooooh how I love me some excellent customer service! Seriously, in a consumer driven society shouldn't we be getting this all the freakin' time anyways? (the answer is Yes). Being a Customer Service Manager myself, I understand and appreciate the role the customer plays - without them, I wouldn't be sitting here right now typing away on my work's computer ;) Shhhh...

But the sad truth is that there are some real big idiots representing companies out there, and most of them flat out suck. But why? I mean, our whole job is to help out the CUSTOMER! That's our #1 goal, to make sure they're happy - or at least resolve whatever it is they have an issue with. It's really not that hard. But I digress.

Today's post is more about those sexy reps who know their ish, and know how to treat their lifeline. Unlike those flying mythical unicorns, GOOD customer service agents are in fact out there :) And I've been lucky enough to come across a few lately! Sometimes you might only be able to find them by speaking up, but they do exist.

Here are two recent stories that restore my faith in people, all relating to finance of course:

1. Amazon.com - Always a pleasure to work with, whether directly w/ them, or with a private seller using their store solutions. I recently ordered the book "Your Money or Your Life" through Portland Books, and let me tell you something, these people don't mess around! I unfortunately got an older version of the book, probably due to my own fault, and within hours of emailing them they offered to give me 100% of my money back! I responded that i actually don't need that, I just wanted mail it back for the newer one, and they said " Oh, well i already returned it - so just keep the book anyways :)". DAMN Gina! A+++ service.
2. ProductsWithPersonality.com - I have two love stories with them. The first was when a pair of cuff links I ordered arrived w/ tiny dents in them. Not the biggest of issues, but since i was giving them away as presents, it's kinda tacky. I emailed over and an associate named Heather apologized quickly and sent out another pair to replace them, again stating I could keep the others! (if anyone would like them, just holler and they're yours - they're currently sitting on my desk collecting dust). The 2nd part was that I had to place a second order for only 1 pair of cufflinks as I had left someone out the first go around - totally my own fault. But the shipping was the same $7 bucks whether i ordered 1 or 10. So, being the frugal one I am, I shot over another email on the off chance they'd hook me up with a discount. And they did! They actually just wiped the entire charge off, so I ended up paying $0 for shipping :) That's what I call "above and beyond".

Great customer service IS out there, but you'll have to do your part sometimes too. It's all about relaying over your problems in a way that allows the rep to actually HELP you. Take it from me, if you call in and immediately start bitching the second I pick up, the last thing I'm gonna want to do is help you (remember, you called ME for help in this case). I'll still help you cuz it's my job, but you better calm down a bit ;)

It's also good to offer ways in which agents can address your complaints. If you tell them their products are crappy and you'd like them to "do something about it", don't expect great results. Instead, let them know what you'd like to see happen and be calm about it. If it doesn't work, you can always do the popular thing and simply ask for a manager. And who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and I'll be the one who picks up! Awwww yeahhhhh.

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Grab $5.00 off your next purchase at Borders.com!

I just got this not-so-junky-mail in the mail today. It's a clean $5.00 off anything on their new website! It doesn't get any hotter than that my friends.

If you're on the verge of picking up a new book, cd, or video anyways, check it out here first and see if you can get lucky: www.borders.com.

Just be sure to use the code "BR41925" at check out, and do it before August 8th. OH, they also have free shipping on orders over $25.00 right now...but don't get all crazy and end up blowing more money than you meant too. You could always blame it on me if you'd like, but it won't put any money back in your pockets ;)

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My 4 Favorite Pieces of Financial Advice E-V-E-R.

Every now and then a bloke or two will ask me for my best financial advice, and while I wished I could refer them to a single post of mine, unfortunately I never could....until today!

This post encapsulates my all-time favorite "words of wisdom", jotted down in one simple place.

There's a bazillian of things I'd love to share with everyone, but there are 4 main biggies I repeat over and over again - whether on this blog, or when talking to friends, family, or strangers. They aren't new, but they sure do work! And I follow each and every one of them personally, even if I do slip at times ;)

I truly believe that these will improve anyone's finances, regardless of age, occupation, or net worth. Your wallet will thank you, your peace of mind will thank you, and you'll find yourself feeling sexier than ever! So here they are - my all-time favorite pieces of advice:

1. Pump up your 401(k)
If your company offers it, jump in as hard and as fast as you can! Contribute AT LEAST as much as your employer matches. if they match 100% of 6% invested, invest 6%. If they match 25% of 3%, invest 3%. Whatever the case may be, their portion is FREE money baby! Aka 100% guaranteed profit before it even gets invested! And if you have the means to put even more in? Then you, my friend, qualify for the Bad A$ of the year award ;)

Not only that, but Uncle Sam will hate you for it... at least for now (that's a good thing). The more you invest, the mess taxes you pay out that year. Say your annual gross income is $50k. Well, if you don't put anything in at all, you pay taxes on that $50k. BUT, say you contribute $10k towards your 401(k) in that year, well now you're only taxed on $40k! (you pay the taxes later) So yeah it may suck initially "being out" of a little money each paycheck, but over time you'll get used to it and maybe even forget since it's all automated. Either way, those amounts pile up BIG time over the years, and you'll be thankful you jumped on this money train when you did!

*if your company doesn't offer a 401(k), OR they don't match, consider picking up a Roth or Traditional IRA instead (or in addition to). There's a pretty cool breakdown of the differences and benefits here.

2. Track your spending for 3 months
This is the one thing you can do to learn EXACTLY where your hard-earned money goes to. Think of it as an E-True Hollywood Story based on Your Financial Life - you think you know, but you have noooo idea! haha...okay, well maybe it's not that drastic, but you'd be amazed at the things you'd find if you actually sat down and sorted through it all. Even if you do it just one time, and one time only, it'll give you a better over all picture of your finances.

Once you know EXACTLY how much you spend, you can then figure out how to move forward - whether it's to remain on the same route you're currently taking, or move to a newer one. I went back through 3 months of checking and credit card statements to figure out my habits, and boy was i surprised! It wasn't so much in seeing the items purchased, as I remembered them all, but it was the grand total of the expenditures that hit me. I had a guestimated a budget of $500 for my credit card each month, but in reality i was spending between $800-$1200! Woops. I then created a more realistic budget ;)

3. Create an Emergency Fund
Simply for a great peace of mind! There's something to be said in having a pile of cash in your account for whatever it is you'll need it for. I really don't know what constitutes an emergency, exactly, but for me it's more of a stash to keep myself out of trouble ;) As for how much to put in there, I personally shoot for 3 months, but it really depends on what you're comfortable with. It can be 2, 3, even 6 months, whatever you feel would make you sleep better at night. Once you reach that point, you're all set! You can then go about using your money as you wish, knowing you have that safety net.

4. Pay off all Bad Debt
Get rid of it! Whether it's credit cards, outstanding loans to friends or family, or whatever - it's not great to have. This is much easier said than done, of course, but my goodness if it's not true. It effects everything from credit scores, mortgage rates, car loans, and even worst - your overall happiness :( What would you do if you had $0.00 in debt?! How insanely awesome would you feel! It's not gonna happen overnight, and it certainly won't be easy, but it's definitely imperative to work it all out. Whatever you need to get rid of it, just start.

And that's it! Those are my Top 4 all-time favorite pieces of advice I give out. Some are easier to follow than others, but they all work magic on your financial health!

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Combining cell plans into one "Family Share" plan rocks!

The Mrs. and I have been looking for some more money hacks lately, and we stumbled across a great one!

By combining both of our lines into one "Family Share" plan with Verizon Wireless, we'll have maximum bang for our buck :)

I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier, but it's all good now! All carriers work a bit differently, but the concept is pretty much the same and SUPER easy to set up - most times you can even do it over the phone (esp. if you have the same carrier)! It may not be convenient for everyone, but if your spouse/significant other has a separate account than yours, you could be missing out.

I was paying around $115/mo, or my company was actually as it's also used for work (holler), and the Mrs. was paying around $65/mo. Now combined, however, we'll be paying around $110 TOTAL! That's a savings of $60 a month (or $720 a year) for only about 45 mins of work.

Here's what we did to get hooked up:

1. We reviewed the last 3 of each of our statements online to get a good picture of exactly how many minutes, texts, pictures, web visits, etc we use. Like most people, we originally picked a plan for ourselves that we *thought* would be good, and then left it alone until the next renewal time. So we had to see how well we guestimated our uses, and figure out if we still actually NEEDED a bazillian minute plan.
2. We chose a new plan that fit into our usage. It turns out we barely call anyone outside of our network! Guess all that convincing of my friends and family to switch over paid off. Plus, we text wayyyyy more than we actually call people! haha.... how awesomely strange our generation is becoming?
3. We made a phone call and combined our plans! Well, actually we made two calls. Mrs. Budgetsaresexy had to call and give permission to have her account converted over to mine, and then I had to call and actually combine them. We ended up with a 700 min shared plan for $69.99, a $5 insurance plan, and two $10/mo text packages to cover our thumb's addiction.

And that's it! Pretty easy, right? I was pretty convinced it was gonna take a week or two to get it all sorted out, or at least a visit to a store to sign some paperwork - but nope. All it took was some quick online research, and a quick call or two! This may vary by having separate carriers of course, but i'm sure it's a lot simpler than back in the day.

Oh, and the best part? None of our contract dates were extended! Sexyyyyyyyyyyyyyy time. The only difference is that now I'm held responsible for her phone line. So if i wanna skip on over to AT&T and pick up the newest iPhone (or better yet the Sidekick w/ T-Mobile!),i'll not only be breaking my contract, but her's as well.

But whatever, we both have under a year left on them, and since most of my friends now have Verizon, I doubt i'd switch anytime soon anways... Now if they start handing out those Sidekicks for free, then i'll be in trouble ;)

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The Smartest Advice on Money I Ever Got. What's Yours?

Before I share my own, totally boring, advice from over the years, I wanted to share my fav. quote from an article in this month's Money Magazine (Aug). It comes from their "Smartest Advice I've Ever Got" article which covered 30+ smarty pants, and the one thing that stuck by them over the years.

My awesomest was from Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, on her father being the "most frugal human being" she's ever met:

"Borrowing money is like wetting your bed in the middle of the night. At first all you feel is warmth and release. But very, very quickly comes the awful, cold discomfort of reality."

How awesome is that? I seriously WISHED someone had told me that back in the day...i'm not sure if it would have changed anything, but it sure would have stuck :) I think i need to start hanging around some more clever people...

The smartest advice I ever got isn't nearly exciting, but it IS helpful! While my mom and grandma have always been the most frugal of the group - creating my addiction to yard sales, thrift stores, and Ta Ta Ta TJ Maxx - it's my dad who's usually the go-to guy when it comes to the overall picture.

The one thing he's always harped on, along w/ many others, is to "never put anything on a credit card that you can't pay off". Plain and simple, but oh so true! It may not be as sexy as Elizabeth's quote, but it sure is smart. And while I may not pay the purchases off asap, I ALWAYS have some sort of plan and timeline in mind before swiping.

What about you guys? Do you recall any helpful advice over the years?

----------
Here's another post I wrote on the role money has played growing up.

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I just bought the Caddy! AND, I slapped it on my Credit Card!

Betcha didn't see that one coming, eh? Haha...Yes, after 5 days of test driving, researching, and thinking about it all, I decided to buy the Cadillac :)

And to be honest, I'm not even sure it was the 100% best thing to do financially at this point, but I made a decision and I took the chance. That's really the best way to learn anyways, right?

So how much did it cost? What are the deets?

The Price:
It was only $3,100! It was originally priced at $5k a month ago, then dropped to $4k, and then to $3,400 when I saw it. Guess the crazy high gas prices scared everyone away? Well I took advantage, and as much as i felt bad for the guy, I had to offer lower - $2,800 in fact. After some more bargaining, we finally settled on the $3,100.

The Car:
1993 Cadillac DeVille! Shiny maroon-red with tan leather interior, carriage top, and impeccably clean for a car it's age. Seriously, the thing is a beast. The owner was a mechanic, and car fiend, so he tweaked all the parts and made sure it was in top shape. He even loaded it with a new exhaust system to get that nice gargling sound ;) Pimp, much? OH, and he also added an alarm system, along with key-less remote (which didn't come standard) AND the best yet - A remote engine starter! haha... so i can start it from inside my house on a cold wintery day! MMmmmmmm.

The Financing:
Once I realized I was falling in love with it, it was time to figure out the financing. I checked w/ our local credit union, where my current car's financed with, and they just laughed i my face saying the car was too old. I then checked out USAA, of course, and the best they could do was 6.75% - not bad, but not all that great.

Then i had one of those "Ah-Hah!" moments and got to thinking about my credit card! The interest is variable, but $hit, it's only 5% right now! And plus, I only plan on having the "loan" until I can sell and payoff the SUV. Soooooo, I called back USAA and asked if there were any specials running and they were! If i used one of those checks they send out with the statements, I could put the entire $3,100 on it for a measly 3.4%! And it's locked in for an entire year - now THAT's more like it ;)

So now what?
Yes I found the perfect car, for a perfect price, and with perfect financing (for me, that is - i don't recommend going the c/c route if you don't work well with them), but now I have TWO cars. And that's on top of Mrs. Budgetsaresexy's car too!

Well, I now have to sell my SUV. And I have a feeling it's gonna be a tough one these days. Anything with "SUV" and "higher gas prices" involved is sure to get tricky. And worst case? I'll pay a little interest on the card, pay a little extra insurance, and drop the price a bit. I can't imagine having the car for months on end (knock on wood), but it is something to consider...just not as yet ;)

So while a plan like this isn't for everyone, i really feel like i'm on the right track and that I picked up a great opportunity. And not only for the car itself (which is totally rad), but for our financial future as well.

The day of zero car payments isn't too far away!

All I have to do now is sit and pray for some good offers to come in. Can you imagine the relief of losing $443 monthly car payments? My goodness that's sexciting :) I might have done things the other way around here, but damnit if i don't feel alive right now. That's life baby!

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Weekly carnival round up - aka weekend reading material :)

Here were the carnivals around town this week, including one that I personally hosted my self! And let me tell you, while it looks semi-easy and clear cut, those bad boys take a loooooot of work to put together. And I don't say that to toot my own horn (toot!), but only to give due respect to those hosting them, or thinking of hosting them, throughout the blogosphere. I'd also really like to see that term "carnival" go away too....it never sits right with me. But anyways, here are this week's links:

• Finance Fiesta #7: Mamma Mia Edition, by Living Almost Large.
• Money Hackers Carnival #20, Chicago style, by This Writer's Wallet. Made #1 editor's pick!
• Carnival of Personal Finance #161: The "Feeling Renewed" Edition, by The Budgeting Babe.
• Carnival of Debt Reduction - Gazelle Intense Edition , by Not the Jet Set.
• Carnival of 20-Something Finances: "Viral Pictures" edition., by yours truly - J. Money

Stay tuned for my car post - coming up next ;)

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I did it!!! 4 1/2 hours later, and no more floody flood!

WHEW! Seriously, i will forever have mad respect for plumbers - that job is no joke! I know they get paid (a lot) for it, but my goodness, I am one tired puppy.

But, 4 and 1/2 hours later, we have success :) There's a lot that went into it, most of which is pretty boring, but hey you might be bored, right? At the very least, you can relate to the new expenditures that were thrown into the mix. Of course, this is on top of this morning's $45 visit. *sigh*

I hold my head up high, though, as I officially did a house-related job all by my lonesome! I hope you're reading this Mrs. Budgetsaresexy ;)

Here's a semi-quick rundown of today's adventures:

• Used hose on "jet" mode to try and unplug tube in cement - failed.
• Tried two more times - backfired and hit J in the face ;( failed.
• Used hacksaw to cut pipe. Not small enough. failed.
• Went to neighbor's to borrow small saw. failed.
• Went to Home Depot - Success!
• bought skinnier hack saw - $11.97
• bought petite coping saw - $6.99
• bought thin skinny saw - $9.99
• bought duct tape - $2.79
• bought 2 flashlights - $6.97
• bought 15 ft' plumbing snake - $9.99
  
• bought long skinny plastic thingie - $1.98
• TOTAL: Roughly $54.00
  
• Tried out saw #1. failed.
• Tried out saw #2. barely failed.
• Tried out saw #3. Success!
• Used hose on "jet" mode to try and unplug tube in cement - hit J. in the face, again. failed. again.
• Went outside for 8w98405567th time to dig for outside pipe - SUCCESS!
• Clean pipe of pact-in mud, rocks, and dirt - Success!
• Put pizza in oven - Success!
• Snake pipe a total of 13 times to rid of all stagnant water - Success!
• Remember pizza is in oven - failed.
• Take pizza out of oven, and eat pizza - failed.
  
• Attach cut-off piece of pipe to pipe attached to A/C with pipe connector - Success!
• Take a break and down 2 bottle of water, while sweating profusely over the 2 cats and watching the temperature rise once again to 84 degrees - Success!
• Turn A/C back on and check all piping and dug tunnels.......SUCCESS!

See what i mean? Plumbers have it hard boy, I'll give them love any day of the week after what i just went through. But after all of that, here we are, 4 and 1/2 hours later....me eating my pizza (finally), and you reading what i have just typed. What a day!

All in all I spent a total of around $99.00, and it was well worth it. A job like this would have run around $125-$200 when I initially called to make an appointment! Ouchy mama that's a lot of money.

We now have a clean piping system, our A/C is back on full blast, my brain is pact full of knowledge, and I can now enjoy the rest of my day off. Oh, by the way - Did i ever mention i bought that cadillac last night? Post coming tomorrow :)

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Ahhhhh our basement is flooding! (so why am i here posting?)

Because i needed a break ;) That, and i frugal'd (word?) my way into a discount! Mrs. Budgetsaresexy came home last night to find out that there's water swimming around our basement, and it was about to flood into our carpet! We luckily caught it in time, but have been trying to figure out what the F happened all night long - and without the A/C running :(

We narrowed it down to either our condensation pipe in the A/C unit, or the pipe embedded into the cement part of our basement. So i'm home from work dealing with it, and the A/C guy just came and left....and told me we needed a Plumber! D'OH. (have i mentioned how much i LOVE home ownership?)

He then turned around and said, "That'll be $89.00". ARGHHHHHH....I thought, and to which i replied with "well, since you're here, can you at least poke around a bit and give any pointers?" (I also brought in our little kitty in hopes he was a cat man...turns out he was!) He gladly looked around and told me some things i can do myself before calling in professional help. And, on top of that, he hooked me up w/ a 50% discount and only charged me $45!!!! HOTNESS.

So, either the cat won him over, or he just really felt bad for me ;) Either way, I'll take it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go be Mr. Sexy Handyman...there's no way i'm dishing out more money without a fight!

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I loaned my brother $1230 and I WILL be getting it back.

This is part two of a two part series on loaning family money. This is the GOOD part. (the not-so-good part is here)

Last year my darling bro was considering his first foray into home ownership. He was certain he could afford his condo, but he just wanted to be 200% sure. At the time I had a couple hundred dollars at my disposal each month, so I offered to hook him up.

Having just gone through the process myself, I knew it was kinda scary so we came up with a plan (might sound familiar from my net worth updates) and The Bank of J. had its first customer!


The Loan Details
We threw around some ideas, and ultimately came to the best way to pad his liquid cash AND relieve a little stress. It's pretty laxed over all, but we put down in a contract enforced by Dad. They always like to do that, don't they? Here's what we came up with:

• $123 a month (10% of his total mortgage payments)
• 5% interest rate, compounded monthly. I wanted to bang out the importance of compounding interest and all, as well as make it more "official" (and likely) that he'd take it seriously and pay me back.
• He can stop receiving payments at any time, no questions asked.
• I can stop sending payments at any time, no questions asked.
• No repayment date - in theory. He can pay back any and all of it at his own discretion, but it's "understood" that he'll do so as extra money comes in - or when/if he sells the condo.

The Past 10 Months
My brother has a tendency to lose track of things - even checks! So it hasn't been the smoothest of transactions over time, but it's not the worst that can happen, so it's all good. In fact, i've grown even more patient with him! Here's a breakdown of all transactions, along w/ the running total that I send over to keep things organized:

• Oct check - $123.00 - cashed
• Nov check - $123.00 - cashed
• Dec check - $123.00 - cashed
• Jan check - $123.00 - cashed
• Feb check - $123.00 - cashed 3/05
• Mar check - $123.00 - cashed 3/26
• Apr check - $000.00 - *lost*
• Apr/May check - $246.00 - cashed on 6/2
• Jun check - $000.00 - *lost*
• June/July check - $246.00 - pending

Total: $1230.00
Total with 5% interest (compounded monthly): $1258.54
*i used the calculator at: http://www.coolmath.com/calculators/calculator-annuity-1.html

Re-Payment is Near
We're going on the 11th month now, and he's already good to go! Not only has he gotten all his finances in order, but it seems he's actually INTERESTED in personal finance! *gasp* Perhaps his older brother has been planting some good seeds? (Uh thank you.)

The last loan installment from the Bank of J has been sent, and the period of re-payment officially starts today. I think sometimes people just need an extra push to get them started. And while he hasn't started paying me back yet, I'm pretty confident that it'll go smoothly. You'll be the second to know if it doesn't! (He'll be the first ;) )

There's a HUGE difference between my brother's situation, and my uncle's situation, but it does go to show that everyone has the *potential* to follow through with their promises. Thus, I shall continue to loan away!