Again, didn't mean to offend you Chainblade but you asked our opinions. I still contend that the pink elephant in the room is the girlfriend. Not to bring up painful memories, but don't forget it was your last love interest that got you into such a financial mess in the first place. I'm just saying that your choice and judgment of women might be at the root of your financial problems. A bipolar person is almost never going to be a well adjusted and financially contributing member of a relationship. I would think long and hard if this is something you want to deal with long term. I would proceed under the assumption that she is contributing as much as she ever will, what you see is what you get. You can wish and hope she's going to graduate from college and get a great job, but the statistics for such things related to the mentally ill is pretty bleak. Try this experiment: wish in one hand and shit in the other, then check to see which hand fills up first.
I feel your pain in vehicles. It seems no matter what we get, there's something always wrong with it. My wife (long time ago) bought her parent's cavalier and the heater core went on it. Luckily, we had found some poor sap that didn't know HOW extensive it would be to replace it, and we only paid $300 to have it fixed (versus $900 anywhere that was smart enough about it). Then we bought a new Chevy Optra that had sensor problems all over the place, not to mention it was a pig on gas (2L engine and a 40L tank...could barely get over 300km on one tank on the highway!) and she must have blown 3 tires in the span on the 3 years we had it. Then we bought my parents minivan and the fuel-pump went on it. Pontiac (go figure) $900 fix that my parents paid for. One week later, it went again. Thank god for warranty. And now my little mazda...has a leak somewhere, probably going to be costly to fix, but if I had just paid my insurance deductible after hitting a ditch, I probably would have had everything fixed...but NO...I didn't want to pay my deductible and didn't want to get it fixed, so I've probably paid 3 times as much as my deductible in repairs.
i get what you are saying msp. but my ex-wife and my g/f are very different. my ex-wife cost me $2000+ a month in food, and always ALWAYS had to buy whatever she wanted if she wanted it. $20,000 (that's my half) in debt in two years is ridiculous. my g/f isn't that way at all. she agrees with me on how to do finances. she was making more money but we decided to have her to something she actually likes. life is too short to be stuck in someplace you hate. i mean just recently, remember when I was considering leaving the computer industry to just go to something else and make more money? you guys talked me out of it because of that very reason. low and behold, a couple months later, I got a good IT job. she is doing what she likes to do. she's only been there a couple weeks. the starting wages suck but they get higher and like i said, she is supposed to be manager by december. i made the decision to allow her to do this. i knew it would be a financial strain considering the paycut. just last night, she actually offered to go back to making more money. basically i gave her the choice of doing that or just getting a part time job so she can still keep her fun job. once she gets health insurance back, that will help. she isn't on any meds right now. she needs to be. when she was on them, she was fine.
don't have insurance so can't afford it. hell, even with insurance, can't afford it. gotta have money to buy things
Chainblade re: canceling your gym membership. I definitely see what you're saying and I'm proud of you for not wanting to revert back to your old habits but sometimes in difficult times you have to sacrifice things you may not want to. You can still maintain a healthy lifestyle without a gym, but it's up to you to have the willpower and determination to do it. It might be difficult at first but try to look at alternatives... Maybe you and your girlfriend can go for walks/jogs together, maybe you can organize a weekly basketball pickup game with coworkers or friends, maybe you can rent an ice rink and go skating/play hockey with friends once a month. You can definitely fill your life with activity but it's just more difficult than just going to the gym for an hour every day. There's $40/month saved re: Comcast. That $100 is for TV/internet? Perhaps cancel your TV service and just have internet. If you want to watch TV, just download the shows you like to watch. I tried to look up packages in your area and a basic internet is $42.95/month, so there's another $40~ saved re: Vehicles. The car payment, the horrible gas mileage and the high cost of insurance on that Explorer are crippling you. For someone on a tight budget, a Ford Exploder is the worst vehicle to be owning. Just by switching to an economical car, you could probably save yourself $100 a month in gas alone. I think it's an American (North American) mentality to get what you want beyond your means. Struggling with bills should automatically mean you simply don't buy a vehicle you can't afford. I've been driving a 1989 Civic for 3 years now that I paid $3000 CDN for at the time (and in your country this would cost you $1000) and pay $130/month in insurance (which is good for BC) and get 40mpg. Repairs are all reasonable and definitely not frequent. However, I'm now considering a cheap, low-cc motorcycle which would be much more economical (70mpg+ and $40/month insurance) and save me $2000-$3000 a year. Between you and me, I could simply not afford to drive a Ford Explorer and I don't know how you manage it. I definitely agree with you about sacrificing money for happiness though. No sense picking up a job you will hate just for more money. That's why I'm staying where I am, because I really enjoy it and my happiness is #1 Little things add up and it will all help you in the end
thanks dustin. ya the gym can go bye bye. i probably will just maintain (instead of getting muscle) but that will be ok for a while. i called comcast again wondering why I'm paying so much. i got them to drop the price so that's cool. like i said, im also looking into clearwire, which is only like $25 a month. we'll see if that works. edit, i should correct myself as ya $100 includes tv. however, my roommate pays that so comcast is $60. it's not $42, that's like a special or something as I asked them that and they said in my area, it's more because of my area... as far as the explorer goes. i know it's not the best thing to have. if i was shorter, I wouldn't care. when my 94 explorer engine blew, I ended up with the 2003 mazda protege. good gas mileage but since i'm so tall, it hurt my back to bend down intoo the car, hurt my back when sitting (as the seats aren't made for someone so big) and cramp my legs. I really tried it honestly for couple months but i just couldn't justify being hurt so save a few bucks a month. so i went back to an explorer. i would had rather have a toyota 4runner but they are going for way more than explorers are (for obvious reasons). at this point, it doesn't really matter because even if I sold it, i'd probably get $1000 and then somehow have to buy a better car for that much. Trust me, I wish I could drive a Civic but i can't ;-( (maybe the new ones i'll fit in but they are too much obviously).
How tall are you? Even when I was 280lbs~ I still fit in an MR2 and a Civic comfortably. I'm only 6'0 though, but I've seen much taller people than myself easily fit in my Civic, lots of leg room and head room just due to the shape. You know what I would suggest? On one of your days off go find a newer (92-95 [EG] would be a good generation) Civic at a dealership and ask to sit in it and test drive it. You might be surprised... It's worth an hour of your day to go try it right?
I'm 6'6" so that's makes a big difference. and yes, I've already tried civics. i tried a 95 civic and i couldn't do it. i drove it one block and my legs were hitting the steering wheel where i could barely turn and i felt so cramped that it hurt. it just wouldn't work. thanks for trying though. like i said, i don't want to own an explorer, i wish i could had fit in a small car comfortable. i tried several different ones. even if I ended up with a car that I could fit into comfortably, I still have to bend down to get into the car, which hurts my neck, back, and knees. when i went to the chiropractor, he said it was suicide for someone as tall as me to not have a truck because bending down to get in and out of a car will end hurting me worse when I'm older.
i've done the Accord before. i can fit ok in it. Still hurts back back and neck but the leg room is decent. i still have to bend down though which hurts my neck, back, and knees. i know you guys might say that i should sacrifice health to save money but i'm not willing to do that. reguardless of what car you suggest, i still have still sell my explorer (which is easier said then done) and I'll probably only get about $1000. $1000 isn't a lot to buy an accord or camry.
I actually am shocked it hurts you so much to get in and out of a vehicle. Do you have previous injuries or something or is it a result of your past weight?
i'm sure part of it is related to my past weight problem. my chiropractor even said for someone my height (even if fully healthy) should have a truck or SUV to have more room and not to bend down to get into the vehicle. my shoulders slouch forward from years of bending down into cars and under doorways and such. i was going to the chiropractor to try to correct some of the problems but it became too pricey at $20 a pop to go a couple times a week.
let's get back on topic here for a bit lol. so my mechanic looked it and said it was the starter. also said i need a new belt and a power steering flush. i'll double check the belt to see if it needs it done but is a power steering flush needed? i've heard that it's not good to do that on higher mileage vehicles. waht do you think? edit: ya so i'm i was researching it. seems to get mixed info on whether a power steering flush is needed. however, from what I'm reading, it looks to be an easy job so I'll just do that myself. you all have motivated me to learn how to do this stuff on my own so I am going to slowly try this stuff.
Power steering along with all other fluids in the car should be maintained on a regular basis. How regular is up to the manufacturer, but all fluids have a life-span. People saying you shouldn't do it on high mileage vehicles are saying this because they're cheap. The theory is that if the vehicle has high mileage, the seals are worn down and the old fluid which has collected dirt and debris it keeping it from leaking. In reality--if this were even true, all you're doing is delaying the repair and making your life more difficult and costly in the long run because your power steering pump blows up or something along those lines I'm glad to hear you're motivated to do the work yourself, that's great!
the shop was charging $133 to do the power steering flush. that's pretty ridiculous. for something I can do for a lot cheaper I'm sure. i figured the power steering flush wasn't a life or death situation (like the truck not starting and the possibility of the belt snapping) so I got those done. trucks back up and running. my parents lent me the money. have to pay them back in the next month or so but I should be able to. anywho, in the future I'd really like to start doing this crap myself. what's better, Haynes or Chilton for a good DIY book? or is there another one you'd all recommend?
Just get the service manual for the Explorer. Hell, you could probably get an E-Book or PDF of it on torrent.
Power steering flush? Don't bother, just make sure there's fluid in it. On Fords you can fill it up with transmission fluid too. No point in dumping extra cash into a 92 Explorer.
I just noticed this. One thing to consider, if she were properly medicated she could probably maintain a higher paying job. How much are the meds per month?
well considering she can't get the drugs without a doctors prescription, i don't know how she would get them without insurance. secondly, are you really saying that she should quit her job that she loves and is in the field that she wants to do in life to make more money? i don't care if she is on drugs, anybody would be unhappy doing something that sucks. I worked in call centers for four years. It's up there as one of the worst jobs you can have. you are stuck in a small cubicle talking to customers that are complete ass holes to you, while your supervisor "says" all they care about is customer service but all they really care about is having fast call times, no after call work, following the call script, among other stupid stats. it's an extremely stressful environment. I don't have clinical depression or bipolar disorder but I was extremely unhappy and not a person you would want to be around because of that job. call center jobs usually pay decent because people are constantly quitting. i think they have like a 98% attrition rate. anywho, like i've said before, life is too short to spend it 40 hours a week in hell. Yes, we struggle through our bills but we always make it somehow. If it ever came to the point that we couldn't, then I would make both of us get a higher paying job (even if we hated it). I love my job but i'm sure I could do something else in life that pays more. But it just isn't worth it. My g/f is looking for part-time job as well so I don't really see why she needs to quit the one she is at.
And that means you gotta be a cheap fuck. When you don't have the extra money, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. edit: And you don't need insurance for a prescription. You go to the doctor, pay for the doctor visit. He gives you a script, go get it filled, pay for that. Or take it to a big place and when they want you to pay at the pharmacy say you have more shopping to do, walk off, then put it in your pocket or walk out with it like you already paid for it.
Oh yeah I totally understand. I'm in the same boat, but just don't discount full and proper maintenance.
