Posted: 7/25/2010 8:36:46 AM EDT
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It has been a rough couple of months. I started a kitchen remodel and all was good. Then before I could get it half way done, I got hit with a new tranny for the car $3500.00, property taxes, tags for 3 vehicles, my part in a party for Moms 80th, and now the pump for the well stopped working. It is not any one item that is a problem, it is the complete stack. I was ready for the property taxes, yet the cost of the tags for my truck, $365, motor cycle, $198, and car $165 were more then I thought it was going to be. The truck is a 2001, bike is a 2006 and the car is a 2006 also.
I did not factor in that the tranny would let go. So I had a hard choice, pay $3500.00 for the tranny or buy another car. Well it has been a good car, no payments,I looked at some used ones for around $4000.00, but mine is in better shape and has lower miles. I have been riding the bike to save money on gas. The bike costs me about $50.00 a week in gas compared to the car at around $110-$120.00 a week. Yes I drive a lot of miles to and from work. About 140 a day. So I pulled a lot of money out of the bank for the kitchen, so it was low before I got the tranny and now I am looking at around $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 for the pump work. When it rains it seems to pour like crazy. I do not make 6 figures so this is a lot of money to me. Just thought I would whine and cry a little. It does not need to be a county, state or even a country wide event that can really mess with you. I am looking at opening some preps to keep food on the table. I can handle any or even most of it, but damn all at once is hard. I can take getting kicked, just not when I am down. Buzz. |
"When it rains it pours." Boy, have I told myself that a lot lately.
Did you have enough savings to cover all of those expenses? A "rainy day" account? If you have it in cash, then use it––that's what the rainy day fund is for. Same thing with preps––they're there to use when needed, not to sit on a shelf and look pretty. Also, with the tags, I always assume this year's costs will be the same as last year's. That way there's no surprises. I normally start saving up for the tags a few months ahead of time––they're very costly here in MS and we know when they're due each year. What about mom's b-day party? I know it's your mom, but if you don't have the money.... Good luck. I've walked in your shoes recently and I know it's not any fun. |
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Quoted:
It has been a rough couple of months. I started a kitchen remodel and all was good. Then before I could get it half way done, I got hit with a new tranny for the car $3500.00, property taxes, tags for 3 vehicles, my part in a party for Moms 80th, and now the pump for the well stopped working. It is not any one item that is a problem, it is the complete stack. I was ready for the property taxes, yet the cost of the tags for my truck, $365, motor cycle, $198, and car $165 were more then I thought it was going to be. The truck is a 2001, bike is a 2006 and the car is a 2006 also. I did not factor in that the tranny would let go. So I had a hard choice, pay $3500.00 for the tranny or buy another car. Well it has been a good car, no payments,I looked at some used ones for around $4000.00, but mine is in better shape and has lower miles. I have been riding the bike to save money on gas. The bike costs me about $50.00 a week in gas compared to the car at around $110-$120.00 a week. Yes I drive a lot of miles to and from work. About 140 a day. So I pulled a lot of money out of the bank for the kitchen, so it was low before I got the tranny and now I am looking at around $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 for the pump work. When it rains it seems to pour like crazy. I do not make 6 figures so this is a lot of money to me. Just thought I would whine and cry a little. It does not need to be a county, state or even a country wide event that can really mess with you. I am looking at opening some preps to keep food on the table. I can handle any or even most of it, but damn all at once is hard. I can take getting kicked, just not when I am down. Buzz. Did the other cars need a transmission? 
Sorry had to pick on that one, other than that I feel you man. I had the same situation 2 weeks about... slowly getting out of it. Very slowly. |
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I had the funds for the kitchen in place and most of what I would need for the tags. They are suppose to go down a little each year, well they raised them so I got it there too. Moms birthday was going to be a nice get together where we do a big BBQ. Not a problem I was ready. Then my two sister got an idea. Well it turned into a pain in the butt. It went from all of use doing a BBQ Dutch oven and so on to a catered event.
Rainy day fund was the tranny, it was all but gone there. I was hanging in there until the tranny and the well. I am tapped out. I will have to use plastic for the well. Just kills me when I was just about ready to get out from under the plastic. Well I have dug myself out of it before, just sucks. I was looking at getting some preps but not for a while now. I have even started looking for a weekend job to help with the funds. Buzz. |
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Buzz, sorry to hear your story.
That's why we need to put away savings months/years before these mini-SHTF's occur, because they surely will. To not become 'house poor' by paying off lower interest loans [house] too fast and instead saving the money for rainy days. [If folks can't save with discipline, they're probably screwed by default] Not that you did, but others seem to want to... Also, you may think you are saving by riding a motorcycle everyday, but look at the stats of costly accidents. |
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Buzz, I'm just curious, but how did your tags go up when the vehicles have depreciated? (I'm thinking the answer may lie in your geographic location.)
I know it sucks to use CC's for stuff, but sometimes you gotta do it. I've done it before myself. We keep a high-limit, low-interest CC for those unforseen emergencies that outpace our cash reserves. |
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Quoted:
I had the funds for the kitchen in place and most of what I would need for the tags. They are suppose to go down a little each year, well they raised them so I got it there too. Moms birthday was going to be a nice get together where we do a big BBQ. Not a problem I was ready. Then my two sister got an idea. Well it turned into a pain in the butt. It went from all of use doing a BBQ Dutch oven and so on to a catered event. Rainy day fund was the tranny, it was all but gone there. I was hanging in there until the tranny and the well. I am tapped out. I will have to use plastic for the well. Just kills me when I was just about ready to get out from under the plastic. Well I have dug myself out of it before, just sucks. I was looking at getting some preps but not for a while now. I have even started looking for a weekend job to help with the funds. Buzz. From a financial view you did good Buzz. Really you had almost all the predictable things covered. You were in until the well needed maintenance; that was a second rainy day close to the first––the auto repair. The only money that I see that you could have controlled was on mom's birthday. You had planned and budgeted for the bbq, but you family decided to up-sell the party. When the sisters started changing the party, you might have been smart to say "well sis if you all want the catering, that is ok, but I will only be able to contribute $$$ to the party." The way I read it is that each sibling was to contribute an equal amount, but two people treated the party budget as open ended. |
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Most of us have been there.....can I offer a suggestion to you. Dig yourself out of this and from now on set up budget catagory for things you want to do......1 emergency fund, used solely for emergencies (the well and tranny would fall under this) a home improvement catagory which is what you would have pulled out for the kitchen. .....I have an emergency fund and am setting up a seperate car fund as my truck has almost 200,000 miles on it so I need to be ready for whats coming......The key is to not look at the emergency funds as a way to fund projects or toys........that way a 3500 tranny is annoying but not catastrophic.
Like I said ,been there done that so im not coming down on you just offering a suggestion |
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We had about half of the kitchen covered. There is always the $200.00 here and there but not needed right now. We got the big stuff from the savings and we were picking at the rest. You know pay cash for a cabinet or two. We had been doing it out of pocket on a paycheck basis. Meaning if there was extra, we could get it, if not it waited.
After the last major life event, I had worked back up to a fund of 3K. That was what I had in the emergency fund. So I scrapped up a $500.00 and drained it. I was ready for what I thought the tags would be, but being in Kalifornia, some one has to pay. Well, the well guys says he has to pull the pump, 440 feet down, new pump, labor, and a new tank, $2,000.00. The tank has a rust blister in the side and it is ready to go too. Looks like a second job is in the works. I was SOOOOOOOO close to getting out from under the plastic. I have $700 on one and $980 on the other. Now, it goes way back up again. DAMN!! Here are a few shots of the kitchen, I have added the counter tops, granite 12 inch squares, sink, and all plumbing for the sink 
Thanks for listening. 
Buzz. |
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Well, just 2 quick notes... My wife just lost her job this past week, and I had my hours cut way back. I know that saying it could be worse doesn't really help but.....
If it's any consolation at all, your kitchen project is looking real good. I need to do mine but obviously that won't be happening any time soon!! MournSword |
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Dude. You're not describing SHTF, you're talking about everyday life for me .
But seriously.. realizing that crap like this happens all the time is one of the things that turned me on to prepping. It's really more about being able to handle life's everyday difficulties than being ready for a 9.0 earthquake or EMP. Conveniently though, the same practices and frame of mind prepare you for all. 
I've even got some kitchen pics out there somewhere if I can find the Before and After's... |
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The tranny and the well pump sounds like the only emergency. You gotta figure taxes and insurance are going to go up. Especially in a bankrupt state.
But which kinda car requires a $3500 trans job? I need to know to avoid it. I priced a 4LE80 at $1500 and a 4LE60 at $1000 a couple of yrs ago. The Sebring trans was $1500, so I bought a used one for half price installed. |
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The tranny and the well pump sounds like the only emergency. You gotta figure taxes and insurance are going to go up. Especially in a bankrupt state. But which kinda car requires a $3500 trans job? I need to know to avoid it. I priced a 4LE80 at $1500 and a 4LE60 at $1000 a couple of yrs ago. The Sebring trans was $1500, so I bought a used one for half price installed. Yep, I was wondering about the $3500 tranny too. A rebuilt tranny from Ford last yr was $2000. |
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PT Cruiser. Now if I had a place to do it, I would have gone the used or junk yard tranny. Being that I would have to do it in the dirt driveway with a floor jack and wood blocks, not that I could not have done it, it is now owned by the tranny shop for as long as I own the car. I do plan to own it for a long time. Being front wheel drive, the tranny and engine drop out the bottom of the car. I have done one, total pain.
Truck will need an engine here pretty soon, it has 205,000 miles on it, the valves make a lot of noise, con rods are starting to make noise when cold, so it will be time soon. I could not have both 4 wheel vehicles down at the same time. I have worked my butt off to get out of car payments, card payments. Now I am right back there again. In Kalifornia, the tags went up again. The changed the way they figure the fees. They raised the weight fees and other stuff they tack on. The actual reg fees is down, but they added more crap to make money. It is just all the costly things happened at the same damn time. If it would have lasted another 2 months, not a problem or if it would have gone out 2 or 3 months ago, not a problem. Once I realized that prepping for the rainy day is not different to prepping for the day to day slap life likes to give us, that solved a lot of problems in my mind. I will be through this soon, just dust my self off and get back up swinging. Mournsword, I feel for you, I know what is happening could be worse, it can always get worse. But I do feel for you and your wife. At work when I started, there were about 60 people. There is now 23 people. Of those there are the original 20 employees and there are the 3 contractors left. I am one. I could get the letter any day. I have been worry about it because they keep telling us that they are not planning to let any more go. I may be there sooner then I thought. Thanks. Buzz. |
| I can't believe the prices for your tags, I about shit my pants when I saw those. Are they really that much?!? I only pay something like 50 to 60 bucks for my truck per year, I don't recall the cost for my motorcycle, but it isn't that much. That's un fucking real. |
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PT Cruiser. Now if I had a place to do it, I would have gone the used or junk yard tranny. Being that I would have to do it in the dirt driveway with a floor jack and wood blocks, not that I could not have done it, it is now owned by the tranny shop for as long as I own the car. I do plan to own it for a long time. Being front wheel drive, the tranny and engine drop out the bottom of the car. I have done one, total pain. Truck will need an engine here pretty soon, it has 205,000 miles on it, the valves make a lot of noise, con rods are starting to make noise when cold, so it will be time soon. I could not have both 4 wheel vehicles down at the same time. I have worked my butt off to get out of car payments, card payments. Now I am right back there again. In Kalifornia, the tags went up again. The changed the way they figure the fees. They raised the weight fees and other stuff they tack on. The actual reg fees is down, but they added more crap to make money. It is just all the costly things happened at the same damn time. If it would have lasted another 2 months, not a problem or if it would have gone out 2 or 3 months ago, not a problem. Once I realized that prepping for the rainy day is not different to prepping for the day to day slap life likes to give us, that solved a lot of problems in my mind. I will be through this soon, just dust my self off and get back up swinging. Mournsword, I feel for you, I know what is happening could be worse, it can always get worse. But I do feel for you and your wife. At work when I started, there were about 60 people. There is now 23 people. Of those there are the original 20 employees and there are the 3 contractors left. I am one. I could get the letter any day. I have been worry about it because they keep telling us that they are not planning to let any more go. I may be there sooner then I thought. Thanks. Buzz. Buzz, I'm curous why you started a kitchen rmodel with your job situation so shakey? Folks are going to lose jobs and the sad thing is there aren't going to be significant numbers to replace them. In other words, the recovery some folks talk about isn't going to happen and our jobs will continue to dry up indefinately. |
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Quoted: I can't believe the prices for your tags, I about shit my pants when I saw those. Are they really that much?!? I only pay something like 50 to 60 bucks for my truck per year, I don't recall the cost for my motorcycle, but it isn't that much. That's un fucking real. Yeah, I don't get the registration fee. Weird. But then, he is in California. |
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On the well pump what are you saying about plastic? Is the connecting pipe plastic? That's what I have in my well and it seems to work fine. The actual well casing of course is 8" steel.
If he is replacing the pump and the storage tank you are doing well at $2k for 400' of pulling. I paid $1300 last winter to replace a pump and it's only 160'. If you get a new storage tank I would really look at one of the bladder tanks made of synthetic material. I replaced my old galvanized tank with one and it requires pressurization alot less frequently. That tells me that it's better sealed and of course will never rust. Sorry to hear about your troubles, happens to all of us from time to time. |
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Re: the tags.
In California they have to have a 2/3 majority to raise taxes, but only a simple majority to raise "fees". Thus, we see our car tags go up since they have a harder time raising money from taxes. Not that it stops them from raising taxes either, but the car tags are a "freebie" the Dems in the state legislature gives themselves. Buz, I know your pain. I won't get into the list, but in this year alone I have spent over $8000 on unexpected/necessary expenses. I'd be doing well if it weren't for those, but fortunately I think I am done with that and might start being able to catch up. Fortunately again we had cash for all those expenses, but that means we have no savings any longer. |
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Well, the well guy finished and it is now $2153.00 for the total job. He replaced the pump, tank with a new bladder tank with the synthetic bladder, all new controls, valves, pipes and fittings.
This is the type of guy he is. I talked to him and he said pay him a $1000.00 and take the next month to pay the rest. This is why he is the guy I have had do the well work for me. EXPY37, the reason I started the kitchen is because it was needed. We had a tiny water leak behind the cabinets we did not see or hear. IT was a tiny drop of water every minute or so. Well the sub floor was rotted out and nasty, we started to smell the mildew and by that time it was to late. Also, my job has been shaky for 4 years now. I could go in tomorrow and not have a job, or it may be 10 years. I got tired of worry about the job and having a crappy kitchen, so we saved up some and just did it. Will, by plastic I mean the much hated, greedy blood sucking credit card. I have worked my ass off to pay the damn things off. Looks like we are going to try to get a loan to pay off all the junk and put some in the account to replace the emergency fund. Hope we get it. Would make it a little easy to handle. Yaish, I know I am not alone, I just need to cry into a beer with other people. I have a possible weekend job. Simple warehouse stuff. Checking stock levels and moving stuff around. I know this is just a pot hole on the road of life, but still racks you around. Buzz. |
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Never cry in your beer Buz, it dilutes the alcohol!!
Still, I'd say you're doing well. You've got a handle on your expenses and were able to manage during a small fiscal crisis. Not bad, and only possible because you'd been diligent before. I'd say stand tall, you're doing a good job. |
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Never cry in your beer Buz, it dilutes the alcohol!! Still, I'd say you're doing well. You've got a handle on your expenses and were able to manage during a small fiscal crisis. Not bad, and only possible because you'd been diligent before. I'd say stand tall, you're doing a good job. Yah no shame here.......but when its over do a AAR and honestly ask what you could have done better......then come up with a plan to be better prepared for next time. |
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Well, the well guy finished and it is now $2153.00 for the total job. He replaced the pump, tank with a new bladder tank with the synthetic bladder, all new controls, valves, pipes and fittings. This is the type of guy he is. I talked to him and he said pay him a $1000.00 and take the next month to pay the rest. This is why he is the guy I have had do the well work for me. EXPY37, the reason I started the kitchen is because it was needed. We had a tiny water leak behind the cabinets we did not see or hear. IT was a tiny drop of water every minute or so. Well the sub floor was rotted out and nasty, we started to smell the mildew and by that time it was to late. Also, my job has been shaky for 4 years now. I could go in tomorrow and not have a job, or it may be 10 years. I got tired of worry about the job and having a crappy kitchen, so we saved up some and just did it. Will, by plastic I mean the much hated, greedy blood sucking credit card. I have worked my ass off to pay the damn things off. Looks like we are going to try to get a loan to pay off all the junk and put some in the account to replace the emergency fund. Hope we get it. Would make it a little easy to handle. Yaish, I know I am not alone, I just need to cry into a beer with other people. I have a possible weekend job. Simple warehouse stuff. Checking stock levels and moving stuff around. I know this is just a pot hole on the road of life, but still racks you around. Buzz. Buzz, you can be very proud the well guy judged your character to be worthy of his trust. |