Right, so the rule of three hit in the past couple of days, but not necessarily in a bad way. I have three purchases I didn't plan on making, but will be doing so over the course of tomorrow morning through January.
• iPhone 5 or whatever it'll be called: I'm very happy with the iPhone 4, so I was going to pass on upgrading and use the money to get Mike set up with a phone when he moves. However, I was poking through the used bookstore in Enola on Wednesday, took the phone out of my pocket and noticed a huge crack across the glass screen. It's out of AppleCare, so no use trying to go back to Apple for it. A replacement screen, since you have to replace the LCD as well, is $150. I might as well just upgrade for $50 more. I don't qualify for a handset upgrade until January 6, so I'll do that then. Thankfully, I can still use the phone, and you can only see the crack when you tilt the phone, but yeah ...
• Kindle Touch: I was impressed with the new Kindle offerings, but wasn't sure if I wanted to upgrade or not. I was on the phone with my dad yesterday and told him about the new Kindles. He wanted to get one for my nephew, so he's offered to buy my old Kindle and the leather lighted cover for $70, and I'll get the Kindle Touch. I put in the preorder a couple hours ago and will make the handoff at Thanksgiving. Thanks, Dad!
• A new car: I've been trying to make sure my money is being utilized the best way possible since my credit was repaired. I consolidated what little debt I had remaining to a 0% interest APR, fee-free credit card. My student loans are good, so it'll stay the same. The only thing left was the car. When I got it in 2008, my credit score still stunk. However, I really needed a car and didn't want to go back to Hyundai. So, I wound up getting a base Honda Fit with a 9.5% APR Yeah, that hurt. The base Fit, aka Kurage (Jellyfish), has been a great car, but it lacked some things I really missed such as cruise control. Driving from Arizona to Pennsylvania without cruise control sucked, let me tell you. I did love the car and loved the model.
I decided since my credit was better that I'd refinance the car and get a better interest payment on my loan. I talked to my dad, the car guru, and he suggested I go ahead and trade up. I was right at break-even on my loan, and I was in a good position to negotiate. So, I went down to the Honda dealership and talked with their people. I was looking at the 2012 Honda Fit, which had cruise control standard, but I was shown the 2011 Fit Sport. It had all of the features of the 2012 Fit Base plus all the nice extras that the Fit Sport has such as the bigger wheels for a better ride, fog lights, a USB port for my iPod (I'm gleefully tossing the FM transmitter) and more. Oh, what the heck, I thought, and told them to see what I qualified for.
I didn't just qualify, I blew it away. I got 1.9% APR. They showed me my credit score, and I about passed out. My score was about 150 points higher than it was in 2008 and even higher than the FICO score I pulled Thursday morning! In the end, my payments are the same because I chose a shorter-term payment plan. I worked so hard to get my credit back in shape, and this is the reward -- a car that has everything I want in it, chosen on my terms. I got $8,000 trade-in for Kurage because there was some hail damage I didn't know about. I was estimating $8,600 because of the bumper damage I got going to see my godson when he was born. And, the dealership will pay for state inspections as long as I have the car. That's $100 per year savings.
The other shock came from the insurance. I contacted Geico to put the new car on and was given a quote of $432 for six months. OK, I thought, that's not unreasonable since my current was $408. Then, they emailed me with the new paperwork and charged me $487 without telling me. I was livid, so I immediately went to Progressive to price out a policy there. I got more coverage and lower deductibles for $227 for a six-month period. Yeah, guess who just switched to Progressive?
I go to pick up the new car, a nice metallic grey with black trim that Mike immediately dubbed "Batman" when he saw the photo, in the morning. I'll miss my Jellyfish, but I know he'll get a good home with someone.
• iPhone 5 or whatever it'll be called: I'm very happy with the iPhone 4, so I was going to pass on upgrading and use the money to get Mike set up with a phone when he moves. However, I was poking through the used bookstore in Enola on Wednesday, took the phone out of my pocket and noticed a huge crack across the glass screen. It's out of AppleCare, so no use trying to go back to Apple for it. A replacement screen, since you have to replace the LCD as well, is $150. I might as well just upgrade for $50 more. I don't qualify for a handset upgrade until January 6, so I'll do that then. Thankfully, I can still use the phone, and you can only see the crack when you tilt the phone, but yeah ...
• Kindle Touch: I was impressed with the new Kindle offerings, but wasn't sure if I wanted to upgrade or not. I was on the phone with my dad yesterday and told him about the new Kindles. He wanted to get one for my nephew, so he's offered to buy my old Kindle and the leather lighted cover for $70, and I'll get the Kindle Touch. I put in the preorder a couple hours ago and will make the handoff at Thanksgiving. Thanks, Dad!
• A new car: I've been trying to make sure my money is being utilized the best way possible since my credit was repaired. I consolidated what little debt I had remaining to a 0% interest APR, fee-free credit card. My student loans are good, so it'll stay the same. The only thing left was the car. When I got it in 2008, my credit score still stunk. However, I really needed a car and didn't want to go back to Hyundai. So, I wound up getting a base Honda Fit with a 9.5% APR Yeah, that hurt. The base Fit, aka Kurage (Jellyfish), has been a great car, but it lacked some things I really missed such as cruise control. Driving from Arizona to Pennsylvania without cruise control sucked, let me tell you. I did love the car and loved the model.
I decided since my credit was better that I'd refinance the car and get a better interest payment on my loan. I talked to my dad, the car guru, and he suggested I go ahead and trade up. I was right at break-even on my loan, and I was in a good position to negotiate. So, I went down to the Honda dealership and talked with their people. I was looking at the 2012 Honda Fit, which had cruise control standard, but I was shown the 2011 Fit Sport. It had all of the features of the 2012 Fit Base plus all the nice extras that the Fit Sport has such as the bigger wheels for a better ride, fog lights, a USB port for my iPod (I'm gleefully tossing the FM transmitter) and more. Oh, what the heck, I thought, and told them to see what I qualified for.
I didn't just qualify, I blew it away. I got 1.9% APR. They showed me my credit score, and I about passed out. My score was about 150 points higher than it was in 2008 and even higher than the FICO score I pulled Thursday morning! In the end, my payments are the same because I chose a shorter-term payment plan. I worked so hard to get my credit back in shape, and this is the reward -- a car that has everything I want in it, chosen on my terms. I got $8,000 trade-in for Kurage because there was some hail damage I didn't know about. I was estimating $8,600 because of the bumper damage I got going to see my godson when he was born. And, the dealership will pay for state inspections as long as I have the car. That's $100 per year savings.
The other shock came from the insurance. I contacted Geico to put the new car on and was given a quote of $432 for six months. OK, I thought, that's not unreasonable since my current was $408. Then, they emailed me with the new paperwork and charged me $487 without telling me. I was livid, so I immediately went to Progressive to price out a policy there. I got more coverage and lower deductibles for $227 for a six-month period. Yeah, guess who just switched to Progressive?
I go to pick up the new car, a nice metallic grey with black trim that Mike immediately dubbed "Batman" when he saw the photo, in the morning. I'll miss my Jellyfish, but I know he'll get a good home with someone.
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