We purchased a replacement vehicle on Thursday and I am thrilled! It's been such a struggle to balance me getting to work, Matt getting to work, and all the fun stuff in between like Lauren going to the Dr with pneumonia.
We test drove a few Grand Voyager's and looked at a few other older minivans and just didn't get much to choose from. We were ready to buy one from a place down the road from us, but there was some concern about the water pump, and he wasn't willing to replace it or come down on price, so we had to walk away. It was so unnerving because all I wanted to do was just get something and get on already.
So Thursday Matt found an amazing deal online for a 2001 Honda Odyssey. Slightly outside of our budget, but for a Honda, it was something that we had to stop and take a look at. After a test drive and running the numbers, we decided to break our own rule and finance part of the cost of the vehicle. We did put down the $4000 we had intended to use for a vehicle and financed $2480 for 2 years knowing that we'll have it paid off by the end of this year. In actuality, it was only $1480 more than we owed on the van I totaled.
I know, I am still justifying the purchase to myself. I realize we backslid and went off plan. Ultimately though, I really feel as though we made a good purchase since we were able to get a very safe, very reliable vehicle that is going to last our family a very, very long time.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Frugal Living Resources
Dave says to eat lots of beans and rice, and when you get tired of that, eat some rice and beans. Matt and I actually have been eating red beans and rice quite a bit lately, and I have to say it's tasty if done right! We use bacon to make it, and that brings a lot of flavor. We pretty much buy any bacon (READ: CHEAP) that's on sale and I haven't noticed a different in taste at all.
I was checking my email this evening and got my update from the Hillbilly Housewife and thought that it would be a great addition to my blog. I love her updates! And there is just a ton of great information on her site.
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
I use her menu planning options for Angel Food Ministries to help get ideas on what to make with some of the things that come with the monthly box of food. I have an amazing homemade sweet and sour sauce recipe I got that way that is just awesome, and it's not glow in the dark red.
I do keep handy my copy of the Tightwad Gazette, but because it's a book it is a point in time reference. There just isn't anything new in it, so it's great to look through, but nothing new is being added, and that's where Hillbilly Housewife comes in.
I was checking my email this evening and got my update from the Hillbilly Housewife and thought that it would be a great addition to my blog. I love her updates! And there is just a ton of great information on her site.
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/
I use her menu planning options for Angel Food Ministries to help get ideas on what to make with some of the things that come with the monthly box of food. I have an amazing homemade sweet and sour sauce recipe I got that way that is just awesome, and it's not glow in the dark red.
I do keep handy my copy of the Tightwad Gazette, but because it's a book it is a point in time reference. There just isn't anything new in it, so it's great to look through, but nothing new is being added, and that's where Hillbilly Housewife comes in.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Settlement
The claim on the van has been settled. Hooray!
As frugal as we are trying to be, I am so glad that I have AAA insurance. They have really worked hard to make this process go smoothly and I really feel that their settlement number to us is very fair. I know that I could probably find some cheapie car insurance company out there, but when you have a claim like this, it's nice to know that you are being taken care of adequately.
So the numbers came down to
Balance of the loan: $5090.19
Amount of the claim: $4843.50
Amount we owe: $246.69
Considering we rolled money from my Toyota into the loan for the van, I am very pleased!
That leaves us with nearly $4000 (if not $5000 if we have to tap into the BEF) to purchase a vehicle in cash. I can't wait! NO MORE CAR LOANS--EVER! Yes, freedom is creeping into our lives, and so much faster than I ever imagined! My Toyota was financed for 7 YEARS in August 2006. If we had made our regular payments, we would not have been car loan free until 2013!
As frugal as we are trying to be, I am so glad that I have AAA insurance. They have really worked hard to make this process go smoothly and I really feel that their settlement number to us is very fair. I know that I could probably find some cheapie car insurance company out there, but when you have a claim like this, it's nice to know that you are being taken care of adequately.
So the numbers came down to
Balance of the loan: $5090.19
Amount of the claim: $4843.50
Amount we owe: $246.69
Considering we rolled money from my Toyota into the loan for the van, I am very pleased!
That leaves us with nearly $4000 (if not $5000 if we have to tap into the BEF) to purchase a vehicle in cash. I can't wait! NO MORE CAR LOANS--EVER! Yes, freedom is creeping into our lives, and so much faster than I ever imagined! My Toyota was financed for 7 YEARS in August 2006. If we had made our regular payments, we would not have been car loan free until 2013!
Monday, February 23, 2009
In Limbo
I was talking to Matt last night about how I am so frustrated right at this moment by our vehicle situation. Thankfully my friend Jill has been able to drive me to work most days, so that leaves Matt with a vehicle in case the kids have an issue (since 2 of 3 have been sick). But that leaves me pretty stranded at work so I can't do errands or shopping on my lunch hour like I've become used to doing. Not to mention, the vehicle we do have is not the ideal situation for our kids. All three kids sit in one row, with Nick in the middle to irritate Nathan and Lauren on either side of him. If he's not kicking Nathan, he's poking Lauren in the face, smart girl has learned how to bite back ;-)
What else is frustrating is that we don't know where we are in our debt elimination plan. Yes, we still owe money on the van, but until we get a settlement number we don't know if we owe a difference or if it's going to be paid completely off. We hesitate to jump into another vehicle until we know exactly what money we have left to work with.
And in an optimistic note, we had a showing on our house on Friday. I wish I could say we had gotten an offer, but nothing as of yet. We aren't picky, we'll take whatever they offer, they just have to make it.
What else is frustrating is that we don't know where we are in our debt elimination plan. Yes, we still owe money on the van, but until we get a settlement number we don't know if we owe a difference or if it's going to be paid completely off. We hesitate to jump into another vehicle until we know exactly what money we have left to work with.
And in an optimistic note, we had a showing on our house on Friday. I wish I could say we had gotten an offer, but nothing as of yet. We aren't picky, we'll take whatever they offer, they just have to make it.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Some Shopping Savings
Just wanted to throw it out there some of the shopping I managed to squeeze in today.
Walgreens
4 packs of BIC razors, 1 bottle of saline solution, 1 tube of Colgate toothpaste, 1 bottle Garnier Fructis Conditioner.
Total before sale prices: $34.35
Sales: ($5.80)
Coupons: ($13.75)
Total: $14.80
After rebates: $8.46
Considering the razors are normally $5.99 for a pack of 4, I am pretty happy with this trip. Matt shaves his head and has very sensitive skin, so whenever I can find these particular razors on sale, I stock up.
I also had to run to Meijer to pick up my vitamins (do you know that they do free prenatal vitamins there???), and picked up a few groceries while I was in the store waiting. I snagged a bunch of 6 organic bananas that were marked down to 37cents! I was pretty happy with that since my kids will eat bananas morning, noon, and night. I am not sure what the criteria is that they use to mark down their produce, but even their mark downs are in better shape and last longer than our local grocery store!
Meijer:
bunch of bananas, 2 bags of Quaker rice cakes, 4 boxes of pizza rolls, 2 liter of Dr. Pepper, 10 cups of Dannon yogurt, 3 cups of soy yogurt, 2 cups of Meijer yogurt, 10 Lean Gourmet's (quick lunches for me at work), 2 Lipton side dishes.
Total before sale prices: $39.86
Total after sales and coupons: $16.07
Not one of my better trips, but not the worst either. Lauren and I have been eating a lot of yogurt, and Nick has taken a liking to it as well, so I have been buying more of that lately. Unfortunately, Nick can only have the soy yogurt, so I can't get as good of a deal on it as I can with the bigger national brands. But you can bet if I can find some coupons for Silk Soy yogurt, I am going to load up!
Walgreens
4 packs of BIC razors, 1 bottle of saline solution, 1 tube of Colgate toothpaste, 1 bottle Garnier Fructis Conditioner.
Total before sale prices: $34.35
Sales: ($5.80)
Coupons: ($13.75)
Total: $14.80
After rebates: $8.46
Considering the razors are normally $5.99 for a pack of 4, I am pretty happy with this trip. Matt shaves his head and has very sensitive skin, so whenever I can find these particular razors on sale, I stock up.
I also had to run to Meijer to pick up my vitamins (do you know that they do free prenatal vitamins there???), and picked up a few groceries while I was in the store waiting. I snagged a bunch of 6 organic bananas that were marked down to 37cents! I was pretty happy with that since my kids will eat bananas morning, noon, and night. I am not sure what the criteria is that they use to mark down their produce, but even their mark downs are in better shape and last longer than our local grocery store!
Meijer:
bunch of bananas, 2 bags of Quaker rice cakes, 4 boxes of pizza rolls, 2 liter of Dr. Pepper, 10 cups of Dannon yogurt, 3 cups of soy yogurt, 2 cups of Meijer yogurt, 10 Lean Gourmet's (quick lunches for me at work), 2 Lipton side dishes.
Total before sale prices: $39.86
Total after sales and coupons: $16.07
Not one of my better trips, but not the worst either. Lauren and I have been eating a lot of yogurt, and Nick has taken a liking to it as well, so I have been buying more of that lately. Unfortunately, Nick can only have the soy yogurt, so I can't get as good of a deal on it as I can with the bigger national brands. But you can bet if I can find some coupons for Silk Soy yogurt, I am going to load up!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Minor Setback Or Is It?
The final word is in, the van is a total loss. So we are back to the drawing board so to speak. We can't really make a determination where we are financially in this mess until we know how much our insurance is going to pay out on the claim. We looked around online a little bit, and there really aren't many comparable older vehicles for sale in our area to really put it up against, so I am not sure how it will go.
I was able to cancel the large payment I sent through last week, so at least we don't have that money tied up. We just don't want to run out and buy a new vehicle with it until we know if we're taking a loss on it or not.
We are leaning towards buying another inexpensive vehicle and paying cash outright for it. So far we've combed through Craigslist to see what's out there and what we have to look at. But again, hesitant to make a move until we know more about our claim.
I was able to cancel the large payment I sent through last week, so at least we don't have that money tied up. We just don't want to run out and buy a new vehicle with it until we know if we're taking a loss on it or not.
We are leaning towards buying another inexpensive vehicle and paying cash outright for it. So far we've combed through Craigslist to see what's out there and what we have to look at. But again, hesitant to make a move until we know more about our claim.
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