A Car Update

In late October 2007, I mentioned that our car (a 2001 Daewoo Laganza) had died. It is shot, but still has some value (although not much).

After a lot of thought, I have decided to sell the car on eBay. I took some pictures, gave an accurate description and listed the car last Friday night. I was hoping to get around $400-$500 for it.

The auction doesn't end until this Friday and, to my surprise, the car is already at $400, and has over 10 people watching the auction. While it may not "move" a lot from here, it is nice to know that it is already where I wanted it to be.

Since that day in October, Leah and I have been living with one car. Some folks at church loaned us their car for awhile (and we are extremely thankful!), but we have decided to try it with one for awhile. It gives us a chance to get out of debt faster (since we have less insurance to pay) and to make sure that, when we buy another car, we are informed and ready (read: to pay cash!).

We are moving to Nashville at the end of March and we aren't sure how this whole "one car" thing will work, but we also don't want to buy a car that we can't afford just because we "need" a second car. (Note: I was watching a car last week on eBay, but the price jumped and I stopped looking.)

I have been trying to look for information on reliable used cars, and today Yahoo! Finance has a good article about buying used instead of new. In the article, the writer mentions her personal blog, where she recently wrote about reliable used cars. I found this brief article interesting, too.

It's not the most fun in the world having just one car, but we can make it. We are saving up slowly for a good, cheap car to buy, but I'm thinking it would be smart to wait until we move (or at least until very close to the move). The reason? We'll have to get tags in Tennessee. Why pay for tags twice?

If you have thoughts about car buying--especially recommendations of reliable and inexpensive used vehicles--feel free to leave a comment.

And, if you want a Daewoo Laganza for parts...check out eBay!!!

WYTI Featured

James's article on Life with Pets was featured this week in the Carnival of Financial Planning.

Adam submitted the article, so they accidentally credited him with the writing.

Enjoy the entire carnival (James's article is 3rd) here.

WYTI Links: 11.09.07 -- High School Playoffs Tonight!

My Alma Mater--Walker High School in Jasper, Alabama--hosts a state playoff game tonight for the first time since I was a Senior (2001). One of our fine young men at Midway is a starter on defense. It'll be chilly out at the stadium, but it should be a fun night of football. Hope your area's teams do well also!

Friday links:

• Behold the Miracle of Compound Interest (via Erin Burt, Kiplinger.com) Start young...start now...
  

• Trimming the Fat: Forty Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Required Spending (via The Simple Dollar) From back in June...some helpful suggestions here...

• 1 Year Ago Today -- 10 Things We've Done to Regain Financial Control (via Gather Little by Little)

• Lessons from the California Wildfires (via Kimberly Lankford, Kiplinger.com)

WYTI Links: 11.02.2007 -- Productivity Edition

Being a responsible steward of God's blessings goes much deeper than just how we handle and view money. We must be responsible for all of the blessings He sends our way.

When we stand on judgment, we will be held accountable for how we used the time we were given. There is only so much of it to go around. No one has any more or any less than anyone else. Therefore, how we use our time goes a long way determining our success in all areas of life.

Here are some "productivity" links for this week. Remember, I'm not necessarily the most productive guy out there, but I did read about it on the internet/play one on TV/stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

• David Seah. The subtitle for his blog is, "Better Living Through New Media." He has created many helpful applications for helping get things done more effectively and efficiently. Personally, I use the Compact Calendar for planning (right now, my 2008 version is covered in black, blue, and red ink) and the Desktop Flash version of the Emergent Task Timer (part of the Printable CEO Series).

• Skrbl. I haven't really used this site, but it looks like fun and sounds interesting if you work in a team setting. It's an internet-based whiteboard. All you do is share the URL to your specific board, and others can log in and edit the notes and information written there.

• Mozilla Firefox Cheat Sheet. If you're not using Mozilla's Firefox as your primary internet browser, you're missing out. Most importantly, it's more secure than IE. Additionally, it's far more customizable and efficient. Here's a comprehensive list of shortcuts and cheats for the browser.

• Classic Tie Knots (via Brooks Brothers). Here's a "how-to" guide for several different tie knots. Since many of us wear ties on a regular basis, this might be helpful.

• Building Strong and Memorable Passwords (via Corvus Consulting). You can't be too safe on the internet today. This is a helpful suggestion to creating unique--but memorable--passwords for each site you need login information. I've started using this technique for the various sites to which I login.

• How to Get Up Right Away When Your Alarm Goes Off (via Steve Pavlina). Helpful tip here. Boy do I need to implement it into my routine.

• Make a 12 Sided Calendar (via Lifehacker). This is a fun little project. Definitely needs to be printed on cardstock.
  

What I'm Thinking

As I continue to think about the car situation (scroll down to the last article if you don't know what's going on), I keep thinking about the decision my wife and I made quite a while ago.

We are paying for a car right now, and we really don't ever want to do that again. We know that there is a chance we might have to, but we really hate doing it.

I'm a guy. I get car fever every so often. Yeah, I'm one of those who likes to go to the lots after they close and look around; you know, when the sales persons aren't flocking to you like sharks to blood. I know I've bought my last new car (the car we are paying on is used, in fact), but I still enjoy looking.

So, what are we going to do about our car situation? We're still deciding, but I found a short presentation that makes it harder to even consider a payment. Here it is. Enjoy.

Let's see...live with one car for a while and have over a million dollars, or go more deeply into debt...

We may decide to buy a car, but we are doing our best to avoid a payment.

Just as an update, my wife and I--yes, together--sat down last night with our budget, our bills, etc., and talked about this situation. We feel like Step One is complete: just getting "the numbers" in front of us will help us decide.

WYTI Links: 10.25.07

Thursday links this week:

• How I Live Without Using Credit Cards - My Simple System for Living on a Budget (via No Credit Needed) Thanks to Adam for recommending this worthwhile write-up.
  

• Budgeting is Like Baking Cookies (via ChristianPF) I'm a big fan of analogy/comparison articles. These are some excellent points about budgeting.

• An Annoying Email I Got (via I Will Teach You to Be Rich) The end of this conversation is where this really gets interesting. Finances are no different from faith in this perspective: advice (even Biblical) is of no use unless we are willing to change.

• Where To Stash Your Emergency Cash (via Michelle Singletary, Washington Post)
  

• Inexpensive Ways to Woo Your Wife (via Clever Dude) This is a guest post by Clever Dudette (Clever Dude's wife) about cheap ways to keep the spark lit with your wife. You've still got time this afternoon to implement some of these suggestions :).
  

An Interesting Look

Before reading this brief article, please take a moment to read "A Guideline Budget: How Do You Compare?" on Gathering Little by Little.

If you do much reading on financial planning, or any reading on budgeting, you will probably find a similar breakdown of how to allocate your funds. I find the comparison in the article to be quite interesting.

I also find it eye-opening. Did you notice that nowhere in the "guideline" was there a line item for "Church" or even "charitable giving"? Even if you looked at the miscellaneous category as that kind of spending, it would only be 8% of the budget (at most).

Recently, Wes wrote an article on this blog that I hope you will go back and read. Sometimes faithful Christians really have a struggle with their attitude towards money. The reason is quite simple: we either give like we should and stay deeply in debt (or just waaaay behind the "Joneses"), or we live like everyone else without giving anything but a token to the Lord.

Christians need to remember that, in our "budget meetings," the Lord doesn't just come first. What? Isn't that what we always say? Write down what you make and put "Church" or "Giving" as the first item on the list? Yes, we should do that. God shouldn't get the leftovers, He should get our first "fruits."

However, that's not the only place God should be in our budget meetings. The Lord shouldn't just come first on the piece of paper or on the spreadsheet. He should be in charge of the meeting! Every decision, from the debt reduction to eating out, should have our spiritual lives in focus.

When we do that, we will adjust our "percentages" accordingly.

WYTI Links: 10.19.2007 (Almost) The "Third Saturday in October" Edition

The "Third Saturday in October" is always a big day in the south...'Bama vs. Tennessee. Too bad it's been relegated to the 11:30 am slot on LFS. Here's Friday's links...

• Why Money Doesn't Buy Happiness (via Newsweek)

• How to Best Handle Old Credit Card Accounts (via Consumerism Commentary) Having "old" credit card accounts can be a good problem to have...here's some advice on what to do with them.

• 10 Ways to Build the Habit of Saving Money (via Get Rich Slowly) It's subtle, but I love how the title says "Build the Habit of Saving Money." Becoming a responsible steward is a process. Hopefully, children are reared in this direction from an early age. If not, adults need to have the patience to change bad habits into healthy ones over time.

• Thirteen Ways to Reduce the Effect of "Bad Luck" in Your Financial Life (via The Simple Dollar)

• Two for one: 5 Ways Paperless Personal Finance Saves You Money & Risks of Paperless Finance (both via Blueprint for Financial Prosperity)

Have a great weekend...

WYTI Links: 10.16.2007

Some links for your Tuesday:

• Do We Spend More When We Swipe Plastic? (via Poorer Than You) I've heard this claim over the past several years (of course, it hasn't exactly kept me from using our debit card instead of cash). PTY doesn't set out to disprove the claim, only to verify or validate its source. Officially, there is no firm conclusion. However, I tend to agree with PTY's assessment that it depends on personality rather than monetary medium.

• What Is Your Status Symbol? (via ChristianPF)

• 8 Personal Finance Lessons I Learned from Monopoly (via Blueprint for Financial Prosperity)

• Getting to Now: How to Beat the Procrastination Habit (via Get Rich Slowly) I've had this stored away in my unposted links folder for almost a month now...never could get around to posting it ;)
  

WYTI Links: 10.12.2007

Finally, fall football Friday (weather) forecasts are upon us...

Here's some linkification:

• Six Online Shopping Scams (via SmartMoney)

• Widow Loses Credit History Along with Husband (via Consumerist) This highlights the importance of checking credit reports regularly. You can do it through annualcreditreport.com NOT the one with the catchy advertising jingle (it's not really free).

• 14 Children's Cold Meds Withdrawn from the Market (via Consumerist) If you have young children, take note of what's in your medicine cabinet.

• Planning Your Collegiate Finances (via We're In Debt) I've posted several links to advice for HS grads or college students before; the more those generations are encouraged to view and handle money responsibly, the better.
  

• Going Steady with Your Boss - 20 Reasons Your Job Is Like a High School Relationship (via Money $mart Life) This is rather humorous; I'm sure it's much more applicable for people in professions other than public ministry...just a slight bit of Friday humor for you.
  

WYTI Links 10.03.2007

Some links for your Wednesday:

• The Simple Dollar Book Club: Your Money or Your Life (via The Simple Dollar) I'm two chapters away from finishing my current reading material (Visioneering by Andy Stanley). When I finish (hopefully today), I plan to start Your Money or Your Life and read Trent's detailed reviews. He's previously published a review of the entire book.
• Top 50 Christian Business & Finance Blogs (via Bootstrapper)

From ChristianPF.com (who might have commented on one of Wes's recent posts):

• What is an IRA account? I know we've mentioned IRA's before, but this is another helpful summary about them. If you're a preacher or paid minister, opening an IRA of some sort is a very helpful thing...chances are, you have no other retirement, like a 401k. Some congregations will even match (either 100% or 50%) your donations to an IRA...thereby giving you free money.
• How to Budget with ING Direct This highlights the usefulness of online accounts--specifically the ING Direct savings account, which allows for easy multiple accounts.

WYTI Links: 09.28.2007

Just another dial-up week :) [But we're still extremely thankful for the internet we do have]

• Do Student Loans Affect a Mortgage Application? (via Kiplinger Personal Finance)

• Top High-Yield Savings Accounts: Interest Rates & Some Thoughts (via Money, Matter, and More Musings)

• 6 Places Where Precision Matters (via Dumb Little Man)

• Simple Tips to Organizing Your Vital Information - Are You Prepared? (via My Estate Planning Career Blog)

• Is the Value Menu Really a Value? Comparing the Homemade Double Cheeseburger to The McDonald's $1 Version (via The Simple Dollar) This is a classic post. The post itself is intriguing. I think Trent conducted his "experiment" pretty fairly and thoroughly...and in my opinion, the health factor trumps price anyway. It's also amazing to read the comments and see how many people almost seem "offended" that even the cheapest thing on a fast food menu isn't that great of a financial deal. I guess we're still not ready to accept that something we've been told is a good deal is not really as good as it is presented. BTW, advertising is the only difference between Mickey D's and Trent's experiment. Equipment is a moot point (because homes already have cooking equipment and McDonald's billions served have more than paid for their burger presser). My guess is that they're still making dough off that $1 Double Cheeseburger (and an even greater % on those fries and drink). James, you have anything to add from behind the scenes we might not be aware of?

Have a great weekend...

WYTI Links: 09.21.2007

Sorry for no links thus far this week...my internet has been even slower than normal. Maybe these will load...

• The Simple Dollar Guide to Eating Out (via The Simple Dollar) Look past his advice regarding alcohol; I'm intrigued by his philosophy. Plan to eat out big and expensive (just not very often). We love a meal done right, but we often settle for eating out at cheaper--but lower quality--places too often. We may try to implement a similar approach ourselves.

• Seven Pieces of Financial Advice for High School Students (via The Simple Dollar)
  

• Pre-Career Advice (via Wise Bread)

• Burger King to Offer Healthier Menu Options for Kids (via Consumerist)

• How to Clean Your Home in 19 Minutes (via CNN Living)
  

WYTI Links: 09.12.2007

Here are Wednesday's links:

• I Will Never Be Wealthy If I Am Not Already Rich (via Family Finance Blog)

• When a Saver and a Spender Say "I Do" (via Get Rich Slowly) Good read to consider if you're doing some pre-marital counseling anytime soon...
  

• Balancing Living for Today and Saving for Tomorrow (via I've Paid For This Twice Already)

• An Interesting Voluntary Simplicity Exercise That Can Really Improve Your Financial Situation (via The Simple Dollar)

• A Wealth of Smarts Does Not Guarantee Actual Wealth (via David Biello of Scientific American)
  

WYTI Links: 09.07.2007

Here are three more links for a Friday.

• The One Hour Project (via The Simple Dollar) I mentioned one of these specific areas on Wednesday. Here is the first post of the month-long series. Trent will be linking all additional One Hour posts to this one as well. It has already started out as a very helpful series.

• 10 Awesome Free Websites Tools Services That I Use Every Week (via No Credit Needed) I use 3 of these regularly (Flickr, OpenOffice, and Gimp). I recommend all three if they seem to meet some of your needs.
  

• Stop Going Crazy for Birthday Parties for Kids (via Money, Matter, and More Musings) This just made me laugh. Just a warning though, there is at least one word that is not appropriate for a Christian audience.

I'll post the results of our August goals sometime soon. Because of some good fortune, we were able to purchase a brand new mattress on Wednesday (We've been sleeping on our futon since July). If you are anywhere near Jasper, I would recommend Tubbs' Salvage on 9th Avenue. We were able to buy a brand-new Queen PillowTop (on both sides) mattress and box springs for $230. Additionally, the owners are members of the Crossroads church here in Jasper.

Have a great weekend!

WYTI Links: 09.05.2007

Three links for you today...

• The One Hour Project: Clean Out Your Media Collection (via The Simple Dollar)

• Creating a Basic Budget and Organizing Your Financial Documents (via No Credit Needed)

• Can I Use My Emergency Fund For That? (via We're In Debt)
  

WYTI Links: 08.31.2007

It's Friday once again...the Friday before the first Saturday of College Football!

Here's some links:

• Top 20 Ways to Save Money at the Grocery Store (via Curbly)

• Ads I Hate: Good Parents Buy (via Get Rich Slowly)

• Reflections from the Checkout Line (via I've Paid For This Twice Already...)

• Teaching my 3 Year Old the Value of Two Dollars (via I've Paid For This Twice Already...)

• Ten Ways to Save on Birthday Parties (via SavingAdvice.com)

WYTI Links: 08.30.2007 (PtP Edition)

I've been at the BJCC in Birmingham all week for Polishing the Pulpit. If you've never attended, you need to seriously look into it for 2008. It should be the last week of August, and they are thinking it will likely be in Sevierville, TN. If you are able to get away for a week or two devoted to a lectureship of some sort, this should be toward the top of your list.

Here are some links to suffice for the week...consider it an "emotional" edition:

• The Emotional Impact of Debt (via One Million and Beyond)

• Personal Finance Isn't Rocket Science, It's Personal Motivation (via SavingAdvice.com)

• Money Mistakes to Avoid: Procrastination (via Money $mart Life) This is huge for me...I'm a big procastina

• It's Okay to Spend Money (via Five Cent Nickel)

• The Weight of Stolen Money (via Money, Matter, and More Musings)

• Considering the Cost of Things I Took For Granted (via I've Paid For This Twice Already...)

• Getting Over the "Taboo" of Generics and Store Brand Names (via The Simple Dollar)
  

Pandora: Music Money Saver

I was reading an article this morning from Lazy Man and Money, and he mentioned something that I can't believe I've failed to mention on this site.

I love music, and I listen to it a lot. Having a music collection, though, can really become expensive--and quickly! CDs, even used, can cost $5-$10 each. Some own iPods and download songs; but at about $1 each, a few dozen songs can quickly run you into a lot of money.

If you are near a computer with high-speed internet very often, there is a great way to save money and learn about new songs. Pandora.com is a site that offers free internet radio, and it caters the music to your tastes. Simply register for an account, tell Pandora what your favorite song(s) or artist(s) are, and let the algorithms take over!

If Pandora plays a song you like, you give it a "thumbs up," and that song goes into heavier rotation. If it plays a song you don't like, give it a "thumbs down," and it is never played again. You can even choose to have a song not play for a month.

While I don't listen to my station as much as I used to, I still get on my radio station about once a week for a few minutes--especially if I'm making sign-up sheets, or doing other work that doesn't require a lot of concentration.

Pandora is continually adding songs and features, so your station will never grow cold. It is a great way to listen to tons of music and do it for free.

Oh, and if you ever want to know what's on my station, just send me an email, and I'll send it to you. Trust me, it's the greatest station of all time!

WYTI Links: 08.24.07

It's Friday!!! Here's some material to check out...

• Life is Like a Game of Chess (via Money, Matter, and More Musings) I love a good analogy...this is nice.
  

• What Does an Insomniac Who Has a Personal Finance Blog Do at 2 AM? (via No Credit Needed) Very simple--but helpful--guide to making purchases.

• 20 Great Nuggets of Personal Finance Advice (via Get Rich Slowly) Nice collection of quotes...

Car Corner:

• Free Crash Test Videos from Consumer Reports (via Get Rich Slowly) I personally think safety is the most overlooked aspect in considering the cost of a car. These are helpful if you're in the market for a vehicle.

• You Can't Trust That CARFAX Report! (via Clever Dude) This is a little scary, actually. We just bought a car back in May, so we went through the whole CARFAX process. It's a shame it might be unreliable.