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And...life just happened

April 10th, 2014 at 03:06 pm

So, I drove to work today like any other day. Except that today my tire pressure light came on. My car's been running a little louder than normal, but I figured it was struggling to get out of the winter blues and just need an oil change. When the light came on, I thought 'Oh, that's why it's been running weird. I get to work, and drumroll please...

My tire's flat...not just flat, but flaaaaatt.

Now, I get to take it in this afternoon. The oil change had been budgeted out of the extra money I throw at my debts, but now I'm faced with a decision, tap the EF or take more from the debt repayment fund. I budgeted 470 for my next paycheck to go to my car. 300 will bring it to 7 grand and (lots of) change.

Should I put that 170 to any additional car costs or tap the emergency fund? I don't feel like this is a true emergency, but I also don't want to derail my debt repayment too much...thoughts? Advice? General musings?

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “And...life just happened”

  1. just a thought Says:
    April 10th, 2014 at 03:20 pm 1397143223
    1397143223

    I would try to avoid taking money from your emergency fund, if at all possible. If a true emergency arises, you will be glad to have the money there. We generally try to cash flow all "emergencies" and only use the fund if we can't.

  2. Mooshocker Says:
    April 10th, 2014 at 03:21 pm 1397143269
    1397143269

    The only advice I can give you is this......"you cannot earn money to pay for your bills or retirement if you have no vehicle to drive to and from work with"

    Translated.....keep the car in tip top shape!

  3. CB in the City Says:
    April 10th, 2014 at 03:28 pm 1397143716
    1397143716

    I would try to "cash flow" the expense, but if you can't, I'd take if from the EF before derailing the CC repayment plan -- as long as you feel you can replenish the EF quickly.

    You might want to establish a separate "slush fund" for small overages like that so you don't have to disturb the EF OR the repayment plan.

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    April 10th, 2014 at 04:14 pm 1397146460
    1397146460

    I would say use that $170 and cash flow as much as you can without dipping into the EF, which if I remember right is still less than $1K. Can you remind us about your debt repayment fund? Are you stashing cash to make an offer an a debt?

  5. Debt-free by Thir-ty Says:
    April 10th, 2014 at 07:52 pm 1397159545
    1397159545

    Thanks for the advice everyone!

    CCF, I send pretty much everything extra to my car right now. My goals for the year are the car and a personal loan. After that, it's just dominoes with the student loans. In all honesty, my car will still be paid in the month I planned, it might just push to the second paycheck of that month...

    Just heard from them. 20 bucks to repair the tire. I'm going to do that, but I may have to slightly adjust my plan to start saving up for new ones as they're recommending I replace all of them fairly soon.

  6. creditcardfree Says:
    April 10th, 2014 at 09:45 pm 1397166300
    1397166300

    Paying cash for current needs, such as tires, should come before debt payment and before raiding your emergency fund. I hope that helps!

  7. snafu Says:
    April 11th, 2014 at 02:22 am 1397182951
    1397182951

    Of course the damaged tire gets fixed but I suggest doing some research about the best tires for your type of car. Your neighbourhood library likely has Consumer's Magazines and the annual paperback book. Look for your car brand discussion group and ask about tires or check the tire 'thread' if they have that option. You need to know your car's tire size and any recommendation in the owner's manual. Check out on-line comments/complaints about tire outlets with-in an hour's drive. If you have friends that are car smart ask for help.

    In our community it's very popular to buy super expensive 'Performance' tires. I don't understand this $$$ monster but it means they trade perfectly good tires for super expensive ones. The tire outlets sell these hardly used, regular tires for way cheaper than new ones. I've bought tires from the wreckers who were capable of putting their tires on my rims but it's an all day process. It's exchanging time to save a passel of money.


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