I'm declaring my emergency fund covered.
I am 94% of the way to meeting my bathroom budget, and 93% of the way to buying a new refrigerator. Halfway to Rothville.
Bought some Mason jars for preserving our expected bumper crop of tomatoes... I bought five plants, but three have surfaced as surviving seeds from last year, making eight in total! Boy it's a good thing I love tomatoes! I also want to try pickling ginger, beets, radishes and cabbage, to get the nutrients and enzymes from lacto-fermentation.
I started a book by John Cummuta. His Web site hawks a program for $79.90 but I can save you nearly $80 by just sharing this with you: arrange for 10% of your take-home pay to go to your debt payments. That 10% is the "amazing Accelerator Margin." Where to find that 10%? Ideas abound on this board, other personal finance forums and Websites. Such a favour I do for you. Now you can do something for me:
Find me a 2001-2007 era vehicle that gets 37 mpg highway/29 mpg in-city and can carry at least three people (no Fits, SmartCars, motorcycles nor scooters) and have storage space in the back for Costco runs.
Show me how I can knock 10% off my heating bill this year on $100/month: duct sealing? insulating the water heater? Do not suggest windows, insulation in the attic, programmable thermostat, nor leaving the house unheated from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM in the winter when someone works in the home. These have been considered and have either been implemented or discarded as physical cruelty. The government's home energy savings Website tells me I can save maybe $71 extra per year, if I ditch my old refrigerator.
Carbon footprint of house: 6.2
Carbon footprint of car: 6.8
Happy Monday
July 7th, 2008 at 09:34 am
July 7th, 2008 at 09:56 am
July 7th, 2008 at 10:56 am
been averaging 40+ mpg over last 4 tanks
seats five
has fold-down seats for extra trunk space
July 7th, 2008 at 11:02 am
The car is very small but incredibly roomy for just how small it is. 4-doors and plenty of room for Cosctco runs. Particularly if you only have one child, you can fold the back seats down and carry a LOT. We have not gotten that benefit since having 2 kids, so much. But with one child we often folded one seat down to carry large items. It's also our road trip car, 4 of us plus luggage, since the gas mileage is too good.
The cars were dirt cheap (stopped production in 2001 or 2002 so no newer models) for a while, but are increasing in value lately with gas prices.
My only other advice is don't write off a car for its outside size. The 4 door subcompacts can be much roomier than they look from the outside. Look in those trunks too - you may be pleasantly surprised. I haven't seen the newer Toyota subcompacts up close, but I figure they have to be similar in size. Ford Escorts were discontinued in 2001 or 2002, orelse we would buy one again. I am eyeing the Matrix or Yaris for next round - you can get them with trunks. But like I said, I just assume they are similar - I haven't seen any up close.
I've been in a Fit. Our Escort is like 4 times as roomy. Though it doesn't look like much.
July 7th, 2008 at 11:03 am
July 7th, 2008 at 05:41 pm
I have a 97' Honda Civic LX and it has 4 doors. You can get a Civic Coupe, which would be only two-doors. Mine is a sedan, or 4 doors.
July 7th, 2008 at 06:56 pm
July 8th, 2008 at 08:45 pm