Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 18:20:12 GMT -5
I'm really glad I started this thread actually. I now realize the cars are the least of our worries. We need to start eating cat food and ramen now and squirrel away every friggin nickle we can get our hands on just to pay for college. We'll worry about the cars when they break.
High income my ass. I be broke.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Sept 17, 2012 18:23:15 GMT -5
FWIW, DH says that it's not mileage that leads to a car's death, but age. That is, a 10yo car with 300K miles is probably a better deal than a 20yo car with 100K miles. Seals/belts/hoses drying up with age and that type of thing. You might be better off not keeping your current cars for the girls, but selling them on CL when the time comes, or trading them plus a few K for a newer vehicle - since even if they're in good shape when you park them, and you drive them once a week and change their oil every 3 months, etc., they may not be in good shape when it's time for your girls to drive.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2012 18:28:55 GMT -5
You make too much for your kids to get much of anything for college (and it will just get worse when Loop's career takes off), so there really isn't much point in not saving, just so your EFC is slightly lower.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 18:34:38 GMT -5
That's what I'm thinking. There's a huge difference between a car that gets driven regularly, and one that only starts to take a couple laps around the block once a month. If we replace the cars several years before the girls start driving, I would worry that our cars would need a lot of work to keep them drivable for the girls later after sitting around for a couple years. Probably not worth it.
KBB says Loop's car is only worth $3k now. Mine is even lower, because of the hail damage and higher miles. Put a few more miles on them, park them for a couple years, and I just don't think they're worth keeping. Then again, I don't think either of us could replace our vehicles for what KBB says their worth. At least not without getting some POS with a ton of mechanical problems.
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Colleenz
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Post by Colleenz on Sept 17, 2012 18:38:32 GMT -5
Good thing Loop has that job prospect starting next month!
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Loopdilou
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Post by Loopdilou on Sept 17, 2012 18:41:34 GMT -5
Wait.. we're buying them cars? I was going to buy them good bikes, helmets, and bus passes
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 18:48:25 GMT -5
No, we aren't buying them cars. We're giving them our POS's when we replace them. Unless we replace our POS's really soon, then they aren't worth keeping in the garage for three years, so we'll trade them in when we upgrade, but then we do have to buy them cars.
They can't ride a bike to Stanford, and we can't afford to have them live on campus. That's not entirely accurate. We won't even be able to afford their tuition, we sure as fuck can't afford to have them live on campus. There, that's better.
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Loopdilou
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Post by Loopdilou on Sept 17, 2012 18:50:29 GMT -5
Yes, but they can ride their bike or take a bus to the Community College! ;D
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 18:58:37 GMT -5
Then they can live with us for a couple decades after because their job at McDonald's doesn't pay enough to get their own place. You gotta think long term!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2012 19:00:54 GMT -5
No, we aren't buying them cars. We're giving them our POS's when we replace them. Unless we replace our POS's really soon, then they aren't worth keeping in the garage for three years, so we'll trade them in when we upgrade, but then we do have to buy them cars. They can't ride a bike to Stanford, and we can't afford to have them live on campus. That's not entirely accurate. We won't even be able to afford their tuition, we sure as fuck can't afford to have them live on campus. There, that's better. They can bike to the bus, take the bus to SJ, switch to the bus going to Palo Alto, bike from the stop to Sanford.....
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Loopdilou
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Post by Loopdilou on Sept 17, 2012 19:05:23 GMT -5
Actually, they can take CalTran from Gilroy straight to Palo Alto and then ride their bike. There ya go, honey. No car required! ;D
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 19:05:30 GMT -5
That would give them lots of time on the bus to get their homework done, which they wouldn't have if they drove back and forth...
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 19:06:29 GMT -5
Uh... how are they getting to Gilroy every day? Teleportation? Last I checked it was 20 miles away.
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Loopdilou
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Post by Loopdilou on Sept 17, 2012 19:08:17 GMT -5
The bus... picks them up a half mile from the house
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 19:15:00 GMT -5
You guys are cold. My hail damaged, dirt brown, Ford will have about 200k miles on it when Stinky is 16, and you'd have me trade it in for a couple hundred bucks, if I can even get that, instead of giving it to the kiddo. That's harsh.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Sept 17, 2012 19:17:26 GMT -5
Alright, so back to the question. Would it be worth replacing the cars a little early, so they'd be totally paid for and we'd have more available cash while they're in school. Or should we try to get maximum value from the vehicles we already have by keeping them as long as possible? Does the parents debt load even factor into FAFSA stuff or is it just based on your income? Say we had car payments for the two years before the kids go to college, would that lower our income for those years, or do they not care? As you know we live in NJ. Which is not even close to having colleges as cheap as Cali. According to the formula the US gov came up with the only things not on the table is the amount already in your retirement accounts and the equity in your primary residence up to some amount and about $40K in savings. They not only don't care if you have a car payment they could care less if you are paying on Fed Plus SL's for kid number 1 when you apply with kid number 2 going into college. They also don't take COLA into it either. I played with the calculator using our numbers, which are lower than yours, and I couldn't get it to show much aid unless I made our income way below $60K.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Sept 17, 2012 19:23:06 GMT -5
Speaking as someone whose first car was a turd-colored Ford, your daughters will thank you, take the $200, and ride the bus
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Sept 17, 2012 19:42:34 GMT -5
Speaking as someone whose first car was a turd-colored Ford, your daughters will thank you, take the $200, and ride the bus My almost 17 year old DD is dreaming of being the driver of a 1997 fd Taurus that my son says is plaid.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Sept 17, 2012 19:48:27 GMT -5
Mine was a 97 too! Oh those were the years...
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Sept 17, 2012 20:21:30 GMT -5
Lol, Dark - I thought you were asking how frequently you'll have to replace the cars that your kids will total! At least one will, you know (BTDT). If you have more cars than 2 (1 each for you and Loop), the others will automatically be assumed by the insurance company to belong to your kids. You'll pay much higher rates when they have their own cars as teens. I like the "save up cash and buy new(er) cars before the girls go to college" plan. There are 2 different time windows you have to keep in mind regarding the FAFSA. Assets are reported as of the day you fill out the FAFSA, so up until you fill it out you can make changes to your assets. Your income, however is reported from the previous year's tax return, so looks back to the middle of the kid's junior year. If you want to look at what influences the current EFC (finaid's calculator is using 2008 numbers) here are the formulas and charts: ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/082511EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdfThis is one instance where having kids young is a drawback - the amount of assets protected is greater for older parents.
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Cookies Galore
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Post by Cookies Galore on Sept 17, 2012 20:55:07 GMT -5
Do you have any elderly relatives with newish cars? You can always wait for them to die and the girls' driving to college conundrum is solved. That's kind of how I got my car!
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 17, 2012 21:16:49 GMT -5
Only on my side of the family, but they'll probably go to relatives that need them more.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2012 21:26:46 GMT -5
This is one instance where having kids young is a drawback - the amount of assets protected is greater for older parents. The whole formula seems to be against having kids younger. They don't protect as much of the younger parents assets and college hits just as the parent's income is peaking, but the years of saving weren't there, because when the kids were young the parents were struggling.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2012 21:58:27 GMT -5
pooks - take a look at what they protect in savings/income for a single parent vs a 2 parent family -- less than half of what they protect for a married couple. Huh? I guess cat food for one is cheaper?
Is loop riled up enough yet to start a movement to normalize college costs? Every kid with some skin in the game? My kidz are just about done with college, but it has pissed me off enough to keep working on making a change. Dumbass Senators just send stinking form letters back. No onez got the ballz to make real fundamental changes to the system. Too big, Too scary.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2012 23:38:49 GMT -5
If they are so close in age, all you really need is 1 car and they can figure out how to work out the schedule between them. Until the younger one turn 16, the older one will be the driver... And since they are both in the same grad, besides sports, their schedule shouldn't be that much different.
As for college, if they dorm there is no need for a car really. Most colleges don't allow first year students (that are dorming) to have cars on campuses anyway; at least it was true for Rutgers, Hofstra and SUNY Albany.
As for the costs of college, we are paying back out own loans so can't help you there.
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t-dog
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Post by t-dog on Sept 17, 2012 23:40:35 GMT -5
I highly recommend not running the numbers - I did and now I am vaguely sick. I shudder to think what college is going to cost when my 9.5 year old is ready to go! Lets hope the pitching arm holds up and is of value to some 4-year university!
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Sept 18, 2012 0:01:54 GMT -5
See! No good can come from that stupid calculator on finaid.org. All it's doing is taking years off the lives of every parent in the country due to the stress. Well, years off middle income and higher parents. It's a plot by the poor to kill us off and steal our retirement savings!! Those sneaky bastards.
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giramomma
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Post by giramomma on Sept 18, 2012 6:37:29 GMT -5
As for college, if they dorm there is no need for a car really. Most colleges don't allow first year students (that are dorming) to have cars on campuses anyway; at least it was true for Rutgers, Hofstra and SUNY Albany. This. I live in a college town and work for a college. I get a free bus pass every year because the campus is not equipped to have enough parking for close to 65,000 students, faculty and staff. Incidentally, students also get a bus pass as well. We also have government and businesses down town. Twenty years ago, one had to pay $50-100 extra for a parking spot NEAR campus. (Public parking on campus will run $10/day). So, you figure $100 in parking costs, $100 in gas, and $100 in insurance and maintenance costs. That's $300/month, and I think that's alot of money going to something that may or may not be a need for a person. DH and I didn't get cars until we were 21-22. I was 22 when I could afford a car (pay for insurance, gas, and maintenance.)
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Sept 18, 2012 6:43:31 GMT -5
See! No good can come from that stupid calculator on finaid.org. All it's doing is taking years off the lives of every parent in the country due to the stress. Well, years off middle income and higher parents. It's a plot by the poor to kill us off and steal our retirement savings!! Those sneaky bastards. At least I am not the only one who felt like that when I ran the numbers. I think I lost 10 years of my life when I saw that number for our EFC. You daughters though can get part time jobs and maybe make a deal that you and loop will match whatever they make to help them buy a car. Or they get your older cars and they put their money for the increased insurance rates. They might be able to share during HS and not need one in the first year or two of college since like Cawaui said most don't allow them to have a car. Trust me the fed gov's EFC is a much bigger worry for you than if they can share an old beater. ;D
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Sept 18, 2012 8:18:14 GMT -5
Get your girls good in some sport so that they get scholarships. Even golf. Colleges have to have female athletes. DD got offered a swimming and a golf one. She's a better swimmer than golfer but not bad at either one. She chose not to go to that college, jerk, but still, she was offered. Find an odd sport that the college needs athletes for and get them good at it.
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