What’s happening in the world of A Dime at a Time this week?
To summarize, some good things and some not so good things. Let me get the bad over with first.
Our winter car will be going in for service at the end of the week. The estimated repair cost is $1500. Ouch, ouch, ouch! Some of the work is repairs while another biggie is replacing a timing belt. We are way past the recommended mileage of having this done. I view it as one of those “pay now or pay (much more) later” types of things. We will also need new tires before next winter, but that can wait until later in the fall. Even though we will be switching to our summer vehicle in about six weeks, Hubs doesn’t feel these repairs can/should wait. We depend on this winter car, so keeping it in good running condition is imperative.
Some good news. Thanks to our beefed-up emergency fund, we can cash flow the expense! I may still slow our snowball down just a smidge to build this fund back up again. My security gland feels much better having more in this fund.
Other good news is that I’ve been asked to work extra hours taking care of the preemie this week. I should earn an additional $150 for doing so. They have also asked me if I will work Saturdays on a regular basis, or at least until/if/when I go back to my seasonal job. I say until/if/when as there are several changes that I’m not so sure about for this upcoming season. More on that in the coming months as I still don’t know a lot about it.
This past week I had a teaching moment with a couple I know from a Bible study I attend. As is often the case, we got off topic, and the matter of life insurance was brought up. One of the couples is a few years older than we are, and their lack of coverage was quite concerning. They had a $5,000 face value whole life policy on the non-working wife (taken out 30 years ago) and only accidental life insurance on the husband. What made this even more concerning was that they weren’t in a position of being”self-insured” meaning they have enough in savings to cover the death of a spouse. This couple later asked me some more questions and yesterday I dropped off our Dave Ramsey material to them. They had heard of Dave (and at one point were even invited to a class), so I hope they’ll use the information and make some changes!
Anything exciting happening in your world?
Ouch, I’ve been through the timing belt thing. But yay for cash-flowing it! Hmm, nothing super exciting this week, but we did save 24 dollars with coupons at the grocery store a few days ago, and that’s more than double the usual for us, so we were pleased.:-)
Apparently, if the belt goes out, it can become a major expense. Best to take care of it now. Hey, saving $24 is exciting! I used to be really good about using coupons. Since our move, not so much.
That definitely doesn’t sound like that couple is prepared for an untimely death. When DH was working (and I was SAHM) we had a policy on him. Now that I’m the one with the only income, the policy is on me, plus I have a $70,000 policy through work. I got my life insurance through Dave Ramsey’s website.
OneFamily recently posted…Just relaxing
I’d be very scared to be in their situation. You just never know. Hubs and I have two policies on both of us. One privately and the other through his work. Years ago our son went through Zander (who Dave recommends for insurance) and their rates were very good.
We are currently shopping for tires for my husband’s truck. The front two are low in tread, apparently low enough for him to get a flat tire this weekend. Boo!!
~Lisa ~ recently posted…Meal Plan Monday 3/19/2018
That’s no fun. 🙁 Hopefully, you can find a decent price. Google for internet coupons too. I did for the car repair and found a $25 coupon. Not much considering the cost of the repair, but every little bit helps.
I HATE car repairs, unfortunately, they are a necessary evil. Dh just said he will need 2 new tires soon – thankfully I have a car repair account in my Cap 360 account so we will also be funding that with cash.
Got a $40 refund from our health insurance company for an overpayment we apparently made, so that will go directly into the savings account to beef that up. Great news on the extra hours – every extra hour is pay down on debt!!!!
This might be too personal a question, I’m not sure but how much do you like to keep in your savings account/emergency fund? I know Dave Ramsey says $1000, but even though we have debt, that doesn’t seem like enough to me and makes me nervous.
I’m right there with you! I honestly think I’d rather go get a root canal done that go for a car repair. Good job having a car repair fund.
Woohoo on getting the $40 refund…and for telling the money where to go!
Not personal at all. Stay tuned and I’ll post the answer in a day or so.
I did the timing belt and water pump replacement a couple of years ago. I think it cost about $600 (but I also had other work done, oil change, filter changed, etc.). It is a pricey repair, but better safe than sorry! Way to go on encouraging your friends to learn about Dave Ramsey!
Unfortunately, it is just one of those things that needs to be done. Still cheaper than replacing the car.
I graduated from FPU!!!!
Rhitter recently posted…On My Precious Littles
YIPPEE!!!! Now I bet you could teach a class!!!
I’m sure Rhitter could and with the amt of debt she is tackling, she’d be a great encourager!
Proud of you for becoming an official graduate!