I think it's going to be "One of Those" Weeks...

[milee]

Can't complain - had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with the family and life is good. That being said, pretty sure the next few days are going to be um, interesting.

DH just left for a 3 day trip and our youngest son is starting to get sick. When I went out a few minutes ago to get some medicine and grocery shop, my car wouldn't start. Thought at first it might be a battery issue, since none of the electronics worked, but when I popped the hood to take a look, the battery indicator seemed fine. So I got back in to see if there was a locking issue or something similar and it started continuously beeping. The beeping won't stop. But nor will anything work. Nothing. Pretty sure if this keeps up much longer, I will have a battery issue on top of whatever else is wrong, though.

Not the end of the world, but pretty inconvenient, especially with DH out of town. I'll wait 'till tomorrow and have it towed to the mechanic. Meantime, we'll just get up a little early so we have time to walk the little over a mile to the school bus stop tomorrow. Not that I think walking that far should be a problem for boys, just that with the 8 year old especially, walking just takes so long.

So enough rambling and back to the money part. This board has been good for me because money stuff like this (pretty sure I'll be paying for a couple thousand dollar repair tomorrow) would have really upset me in the past. Now, knowing we have the reserves to pay for exactly stuff like this means it doesn't throw me off. Just part of the plan and to be expected over time.

Are there ways that the board has given you a new perspective on money?

[swamp]

Im sorry youve had a crappy start to the week that hasnt even started yet. I hope it doesn't continue on the current trajectory.

This board makes me feel like I can never save enough.

[milee]

No worries on the car thing. Not fatal, just a brief blip of inconvenience. But I can hear the beeping from inside and it's driving me a little nutsy. Maybe it's best if the battery just goes ahead and dies.

As for saving enough, you're right about that feeling. For me, it's not just the saving enough, it's where the heck to invest it. I suspect over 40-50 years, the Phil method is good and the averages work out, but I do think there is going to be some major turmoil in the intervening period and the huge ups and downs could be devastating depending on where you are the in the retirement stage.

[servant_of_dog]

I can totally relate, Milee. We woke up this morning to no heat. Several hours and an $800+ repair bill later we're snug again. I'll second Swamp's comment that this board makes me feel like we can never save enough, but damn it's nice to have that money set aside when we need it. Hope everything improves from here on in.

[drivingaround]

Is the car still beeping? Can your neighbors hear it? Just an idea but if you unhook the battery leads the beeping might stop. Won't hurt the car and could save your battery if that isn't the issue.

[drivingaround]

Oh, and when my truck started with the nonstop beeping, after it wouldn't start then wouldn't hold a jump start, turned out to be the alternator.

[milee]

Good idea on the battery leads. I'm a little chicken to touch it, but will try.

[milee]

Luckily, my neighbors are old and their house isn't very close, so I don't think they can hear it. Neither can my two boys. Guess I have that "mom" super sense of hearing.

[milee]

Oh, and back to that other thread on if each of us has our "own" cars, I'm really glad I didn't suggest that DH take my car (because it's older and has more miles, so keep the miles on the older car) on his trip. Yes, it's a pain to deal with this and still make sure the kids get to school and the business stuff happens tomorrow, but that's nothing like the inconvenience of having things like this go bad on the road. Glad he's in his new, working car.

[Nazgul Girl]

Yes, I agree about feeling like you can never save enough. We just paid $ 2700 for a new furnace for our rental. Got zero percent financing for 18 months, but still, a new furnace right before Thanksgiving ? That's rediculous. I am always torn between saving more and more, and having the urge to have some fun going on a vacation, or replacing a malfunctioning 20 year old refrigerator or an old crummy tv with something better.

[milee]

The littlest guy (8 years old) was very sniffly and congested yesterday. Couldn't tell if it was allergies or a cold. When he wakes up, I'll get an idea which and decide if school's a good idea. It's allergy season year 'round in Florida and we spent most of yesterday outside, so could be either.

But yes, if it's allergies, he's walking a little over a mile to the bus.

Then, I'll need to get the car towed and find a rental or picking them up in the afternoon will be interesting. Their afternoon bus dropoff spot is around 5 miles away - too far for them to walk.

[happyscooter]

Hang in there. Sending BIG hugs your way.

[Deleted]

That's crazy on the bus stops! Also a good reminder to me of regional differences, that and the fact that around here there isn't school today (or tomorrow probably...)

Wishing you luck on the car and everything else, hoping it looks up.

[Deleted]

Wild start to the week, good luck! You don't happen to have a German car, do you? My VW used to beep and send warning lights all over the place and nothing ever happened. My Ford gives me no warning and tries to destroy itself.

This board has made me more cautious about money and given me a totally different perspective on budgeting. P&M makes me paranoid.

[Deleted]

This board taught me just about everything I know about money.

And pm gives me a fun place to debate with no real world repercussions.

[wvugurl26]

Nov 26, 2012 11:21:31 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

Wild start to the week, good luck! You don't happen to have a German car, do you? My VW used to beep and send warning lights all over the place and nothing ever happened. My Ford gives me no warning and tries to destroy itself.

This board has made me more cautious about money and given me a totally different perspective on budgeting. P&M makes me paranoid.

I thought she had a Mercedes SUV.

[Regie]

Quick question on the car. My DH has a van that has the key with the plastic fob and a plain key. If he tries to start it with the plain key it does all kinds of funny stuff. Could your key fob be going bad?

[milee]

All is well. Thanks so much for all the good wishes. Turned out to be not a huge deal and some really good surprises came up along the way:

My boys are awesome. They cheerfully woke up 30 mins early to get ready for the Big Walk. Were in Team [Milee's Last Name] mode and really pitched in to make things work in the house since they knew it might be a crazy day. Littlest guy was much less sniffly, had no temp and ate well, so probably just had allergies.

Right after a 6 AM run, had a plan and rental car all reserved; walk the boys to bus stop, run 2 miles to car rental place, no biggie. Things were rolling along better than I hoped. But the first really good surprise happened when I called the tow company. They had someone nearby and were here in 10 minutes. The tow truck driver was super nice and was able to get the car started! Only $45, which I happily paid. Kept the car running and was able to drive the kids to the bus stop and then directly to my mechanic, who had a replacement battery in stock and did the work while I waited.

Second good surprise happened in the mechanic's waiting room. This is a local place that specializes in Mercedes, BMW and Porsches and I've always thought they did good work for a reasonable price (approx. 2/3 the cost of the dealer.) Anyway, while I was waiting, there was an elderly gentleman waiting as well and the owner came out and had a very kind, honest conversation with the gentleman. Something like this, "yes, Mr. ____, you do need a new transmission. And that is something we do here, but I just can't in good conscience do that for you. In addition to the transmission, you really also need x, y, and z, but if you did all that work it would cost more than the car is worth. I know it's been a wonderful car for you, but it's time to start looking at another car and not do any more work on this one." The older gentleman was not happy to hear this and kept asking the repair shop owner to just put a new transmission in and the repair shop owner kept politely and kindly refusing. It was nice to hear how honest he was - would have been so easy to just do that expensive repair, collect the cash and send the customer on his way but he was doing the right thing. Glad I go to a shop like that.

And the final good surprise was that those Germans look all serious but actually have a wonderful sense of humor. The battery on this thing is located under the passenger seat and you can't believe what it takes to replace the sucker. Luckily, the batteries are good for 6-8 years (mine that finally failed was 7 years old), so you don't have to do it often, but dang they're in a funny spot.

So bottom line, the kids got to school just fine, the car is working and nothing was really that bad. Life is good.

[swamp]

[Deleted]

Glad to hear it

[resolution]

Glad it worked out so well. It's nice to do business with an honest shop.

[kgb18]

Sorry to hear that milee. I've kind of being having "one of those" months. Professionally, personally just nothing is going quite right. I'm crossing my fingers that December improves.

[milee]

Nov 26, 2012 21:16:00 GMT -5 kgb18 said:

Sorry to hear that milee. I've kind of being having "one of those" months. Professionally, personally just nothing is going quite right. I'm crossing my fingers that December improves.

It's weird how bad things tend to come in clusters. Here's to hoping that you're done with your "bad thing" cluster and heading into better times.

[lurkyloo]

I actually have to disagree on the continued refusal to fix the car. It's good that the shop owner pointed out that it really didn't make sense, but it's still the car owner's business if he wants to throw away money on an older car, perhaps for sentimental reasons. DH hit a small boulder in the road in one of his cars and the initial mechanic told him it was totalled. He found another mechanic who was willing to fix it anyway; 4-5 years later it's still one of his daily drivers (and he was pleasantly surprised that the repair bill wasn't even all that high, maybe $700 on a car worth $1500-2K). Anyway, my point is that your shop should have given their customer the information, then treated him like an adult and let him make his own decision.

Very glad to hear your son is okay and the car just needed a new battery though

(edited to clarify confusing language)

[milee]

Loo, I hear you on the concept of letting customers make their own decision. I'm usually very adamant about those things myself.

It's a tough call, though, when the customer appears to be in his late '80s, frail and maybe having some cognitive decline. I think the shop was just trying to make sure they weren't taking advantage of the guy and were trying to look out for his best interests, especially since these cars are so incredibly freaking complicated now and it's very easy to rack up the repair bills on them.

Put it this way - the way the shop handled the situation is how I hope a shop will handle it with me when I'm at that point and they have technical info I don't have.

[happyscooter]

Did everyone realize that a key fob has a battery? (Someone please say 'no, they didn't know that, so I won't feel so dumb')

[milee]

Nov 27, 2012 8:18:26 GMT -5 happyscooter said:

Did everyone realize that a key fob has a battery? (Someone please say 'no, they didn't know that, so I won't feel so dumb')

I knew it had a battery, but I also knew the key fob battery wasn't the problem because I tried using the spare and got the same problems.

Trust me, don't feel dumb. DH is an electrical engineer (us CPAs call them the "other kind of nerd") and whenever I ask him for help with my computer, phone or any electronic, the first thing he asks is "Is is plugged in?" or "Does it have power?" As annoying as that question is, sometimes I do discover that lack of power is indeed the issue, so I've gotten better about checking multiple things before I ask.

[wvugurl26]

It sounds like you have a good mechanic milee. Glad it was just a battery and that the little guy is doing better. Hope the week gets better!

Allergies suck, this is week six of a sinus infection. I missed a few days of Mucinex and it is back with a vengeance.

And engineers are a special breed! I think that's common knowledge not just a judgment by us cpas.

[milee]

Yeah, my family is riddled with engineers. I'm a little bit of the outlier as a finance person.

I like me some geek. Guess it's genetic.