How I would save GM… The Great Auto Lotto of 2009!

Photo courtesy of jhoweaa

GM is a car company right? So how would I save a car company? I would sell it’s cars! Put on your thinking caps boys and girls, it’s time to do some math!

Our Government has committed roughly $50 billion to bail out this automaker. So let’s say the average GM car cost $26k…

($50,000,000,000 divided by $26,000 = 1,923,076 brand new cars)

Let’s keep the math neat by rounding the figure to 1.9 million… that’s a lot of cars right? So then the question becomes, “Who would those cars go to?” And I would answer that question easily, “The GOVERNMENT… duh!”

In my scenario essentially, the government just contracted out GM to operate their entire fleet of vehicles. Everything from FBI cruisers, surveillance vehicles, even the *motorcades of Diplomats and elected officials can be covered by this $50b ‘contract’. (*President Obama already has a stable of tricked out limos produced by Cadillac, a GM brand, so there ya go!)

Next question: “What if the government doesn’t need all 1.9 million vehicles for it’s own use?” Answer: They raffle off the excess vehicles to the public… after all WE did pay for this bail out with our own money right? Any US citizen with the means could essentially enter a lottery to get a crack at the leftover inventory of vehicles. They could buy as many tickets as they like to increase their chances of getting a brand new vehicle for a DIRT CHEAP price.

For example if the government used 1 million of the vehicles to replenish/upgrade it’s stock of fleet vehicles, 900k would be left. Again, to keep the math clean, let’s say that 300k have a price range of $0 - $10,000. They would be raffled off at $100 per vehicle. That would equal $30 million instantly pouring back into the economy. Then let’s say that 300k have a price range of $10,000 – $30,000. These would be raffled off at $500 per vehicle. The proceeds would equal $150 million for this group of vehicles! Then lastly, we have a final group of 300k vehicles with a price range of $30,000 to $50,000. The raffle price for these would be $1000 per vehicle because of the premium/luxury nature of the lines offered at this price. This group would bring in $300 million.

Now keep in mind this is just a basic experiment and it only takes into account one raffle ticket sold per vehicle… but as I said earlier, the buyers could buy as many tickets as they like. The total revenue from the scenario we just did comes out to $480 million, and THAT does not take into account taxes, tags, and freight charges on the vehicles themselves – which again goes back to the government. I would also add a stipulation for any raffle winner that they could sell their current vehicle for no more than equal value of the raffle ticket they purchased! This would again, instantly create a secondary car market and most likely DOUBLE the figures I just gave at the very least.

And what’s more, GM isn’t the only auto company in need of this type of “bailout”. This would serve as the perfect catalyst to reinvent both the US auto market and the overall rules of engagement for the consumer they sell to.

Now, I’m sure some one reading this is going to ask, “What’s the point of the Government spending $50 billion on this example just to make back a minimum of $480 million?!” But to that I ask this question: “What’s the point of the Government bailing out GM with $50 billion and having no plan other than to ‘keep it afloat’ operationally while the company still slowly bleeds to death in this economy?!”

GM is a car company… and something needs to be done with the cars right? I don’t care how much you say you don’t like American made cars… if you could get a brand new one for $100 to $1000 you’d be down for it!

What would you do?
@W

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Deal or No Deal: Part-time Work that Pays

Photo courtesy of cgat

Warning: this post will be very quick and to the point...

Part-time work has always had it's place in our economy. For some it has been a nessescary way of life, but to others it has been an added vehicle to getting "stuff" at a decent discount.

At some point in your life you may have picked up a job at a favorite department store or big box electronic retail chain... y'know just in case THAT jacket goes on sale... or so you can support your video game addiction with some semblance of pride that you earned it.

Now I'm not here to pick on you if you are one who still is working that PT because you want to. But if you are now looking to pick up a second gig because you have to, I urge you to stay away from any place where you could potentially cash in on your employee discount. Alas this means you've gotta find 'work' vs. landing a 'gig'.

If you have a weakness for gadgets then what's the point in taking a job at Best Buy? If your express purpose for getting extra work was to make ends meet, then you'll be setting yourself up to undercut your goals if you do this.

That's why I made the title of this post "Deal or No Deal". You must make up in your mind what type of deal your really going after by picking up that nice little retail opportunity. Is it the kind that gives you the discount on stuff, or the kind that puts you ahead of the game while things are rough? It's key that you don't go into the situation kidding yourself!

This might even mean taking on a job you HATE, or look down on. But dont worry, it'll be good for ya!

Last summer I started considering picking up a side-job in the evenings. The opportunity that I kept coming back to at the time was delivering pizza's (One of Dave Ramsey's prime examples of a Gazelle Intense hustle.) Truth be told, had it not been for the insane gas price wars last year, I would have gladly taken a job slanging pies! Not because I love the work, but precisely because I hated the thought of that type of work. But it would've brought in some steady hustle money to throw at our debt.

I wasnt concerned with whether or not I'd get a discount on the food, I dont even like pizza enough to do it for that reason. And I wasnt exactly thrilled about slapping one of those lighted pizza signs on my car. But I knew that I could basically challenge myself to bring in a certain dollar amount per night in tips, and at the same time call out my own hours in which to bring those tips in. At the time that was a win-win to some degree.

Not shortly after I put aside the thought of delivering pizza's (right around when gas became $4 buck a gallon!) I was given a nice promotion and raise on my FT job. Problem solved! But I still would have had no problem going through with the pizza plan if the raise had never come and gas was resonable.

Part of the reason I'm even writing this post right now is because I may be getting an itch to again look at taking on some extra work. Not because money is tight right now, but because I dont want to wait until it is tight to get my butt out there to defray the cost!

So there ya have it, just a few thoughts from @W on where you should put your focus if you find yourself needing to bring in extra "dough" lol.

Thanks,

@W





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The @Risk Bailout Plan...

Dow: Down 778 points in one day...

Congress: On crack...

The current bank that holds my account: Changes by the minute....

Financial outlook: Bleakest we've EVER seen...

Personal Opinion on this whole mess:

THIS IS WHY I NEED TO BE DEBT FREE!!! (And why you do too!)

What are we waiting for? What's it gonna take? Why are you surprised?

And most importantly, what are you going to do about it?

Oh and lets end this on a high note.... this just in: Oil is now $95/barrell!

(See, it aint ALL bad news!)

This too shall pass,

@W







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Beer and Money... A Match Made In...(Nevermind)

Photo courtesy of GraphicsDB.com

During this rollercoaster of a year for the economy, Americans have tightened budgets and pinched pennies in various ways. Many have cut back on driving to ease the cost of gas. Many have skipped the box office ($10 per ticket) in exchange for Redbox ($1 per movie rental). (P.S. - I love you redbox, you've been a wonderful friend to my wife and I while we get out of debt! lol)

But one staple of American life has strangely resisted the downward pull of our slumping economy. Actually this industry is experiencing a record surge in sales instead of the decline seen elsewhere.

So what is this magical product? I bet you would say Oil, or Gas, but you'd be wrong... well kinda wrong because they're not the product I'm talking about in this instance.

Homer Simpson would call it DUFF... er - I mean BEER.

For 2008 beer prices are up 7% over the past year as brewers passed on higher manufacturing costs to consumers.... BUT...2008 sales are also up 6.8% as well! It would be one thing if they jacked up the prices and usage remained roughly the same... but you actually mean to tell me that people are paying more for it, and STILL buying more of it at the same time? Is it really that deep America?!

Well in a word... Yes.

See, beer and alcohol are about as close to the perfect 'product' as we'll ever see. When people celebrate, they get drunk. When people wallow in their sorrows, they get drunk. Got that huge promotion? Let's go get drunk. Just got fired after 20 years with the company? Hmmm... I know, let's go get drunk! (and now go look at the picture for this post again lol.... deep aint it?)

And as most of you know firsthand, or have *ahem* 'heard' from others, drinking aint cheap! lol

Still, you have to tip your hat to anyone who has the moral ambivalence to brew and market beer and alcohol. It fits virtually any occassion. unless you dont drink that is...

Making money off of people's joy and pain comes off a bit parasitic or opportunistic to me. In a way it reminds me of predatory lenders, which I've seen my fair share of in the past year. But hey, what do I know?

@W

*Just to clarify, I do not condone the consumption of alchol, nor do I partake of it myself. I just wanted to share this observation with you while it was fresh in my mind.

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How Cycling is Changing My Finances & My Life...

Photo courtesy of .kol tregaskes

I'll be turning 30 in September, and I wanted to do something monumental to celebrate. I was looking for a personal challenge that would both push me and reward me on a number of levels. Somehow cycling has become that challenge for me.

A few years ago when my wife first moved into her condo, we saw 2 mountain bikes (male and female) next to the dumpster with a note on them that read: "Free Bikes, only about 100 miles worth of use ... Enjoy!" So we looked around to make sure this wasn't some sort of setup, and then wheeled them bad boys inside before the person changed their mind! lol

The bikes sat, the tires got flat, and we never ended up riding them until last month.

Around the same time a co-worker of mine who also lives close by, told me how he bikes in to work once or twice a week. He said the health benefits from it made him feel brand new, and that by doing so he saves about $30 in gas per week. ($$Ca-ching$$)

After hearing that, I was sold on the idea... but he went on to explain that it takes him 1 hour and 45 mins. to get to work, and that's just ONE WAY! Also it's about 26 miles from Leesburg to Tyson's Corner... or the distance of a marathon!

Like I said I was already sold on the idea because gas ain't cheap and $30 a week equals $120 a month that can go towards debt... That's a no brainer for a Gazelle Intense dude like myself right?

Yeah, I was sold alright, that is until I got out on the WO&D Trail for the first time. I was overdressed, poorly hydrated, and over-confident. It took me about an hour to go 5 miles my first time out. but it taught me a lesson in preparation. (Click the link to read my wife's excellent article on it) The next time out it took me 30 mins. but it taught me how to efficiently use my gearshift. Each time out I kept learning something new and adding it to my routine and now I can do that same 5 miles in about 15 mins. But while these time improvements were great for a 5 mile distance, they accounted for roughly 10% of the total distance to my goal.

See, It's great to have short-term goals, but it's important to keep in mind how well they are helping you meet your expected goal. This is particularly important to keep in mind when dealing with finances. Yes, it's hard to stop living in the moment and focusing on what this week's check will do for you this week. But at some point I hope you'll ask your self "What do I need to do so that one day I won't need to worry about next week's check being short?" or " When do I want to stop working for my income?" or "When do I want to start saving for my future, retirement, children, or business?".

Short-term goals are great. But they're called 'short-term' for a reason. They are meant to lead to a larger success, and they provide you with the momentum and confidence to do so.

Yesterday, I reached my goal in cycling, I made it all the way to my job in 1 hour and 40 mins. And I achieved this a full month before my birthday! Yes it's a great feat and I'm proud of what I accomplished. But it has now forced my long-term goal to change. See I didn't take into account that once I made it to my goal, I would also have to cycle all the way back home the same day.(I barely had enough energy to make TO my goal lol. You mean to tell me I gotta go BACK?!) So now my next challenge is to be able to make it to work and back home in decent time! But at least all it costs me is a FREE gallon of water per round trip instead of $4 per gallon of gas to drive!

Happy Trails!

@W

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Our First "Non-emergency" Emergency

Photo courtesy of ultramarineblue

*The names, faces, dialogues, and timelines have been changed to protect the author - er I mean the innocent. lol

Tuesday morning 8:57am
My wife and I woke up, got ready for work, left the house, hopped in the car.... and just SAT there. When I tried to start up the car it seemed like all sorts of crazy things happened all at once and there were all kinds of alien error messages on the display that I'd never seen before. I tinker with the lights, door handles, the key, etc trying to mojo my car to life but It's not happening.

9:20 -- (To my wife) "Well I have that plug-in battery charger in the trunk, let me hook it up and we'll be on our way..."

9:30 -- (To the charger) "What do you mean your batteries are dead?!?" Oh the irony...

9:40 -- (To my wife) "Well, I guess we better just call AAA..."

9:45 -- (To the person on the phone) "What do you mean it's expired?!?"

10:00 -- Thinking...

10:15 -- Still thinking...

10:16 -- At this point *'Husband Panic' sets in. That’s what I like to call it when you know your wife is waiting on you to make a decision but you dont know WHAT to do! And to make it worse, every option you're considering has dollar signs attached to it. * This occurs internally and is completely undetectable by the wife. (Yeah right!)

10:20 -- We do what we must, we use our emergency fund to renew the AAA membership, because well this is a full fledged emergency.

Fast forward to 11:30
AAA arrives. The car is completely dead now, no response at all. He gives us a jump and we decide to try to drive the car for a while to see how it's performing.

12:30pm -- Obviously neither my wife or I are going to work today so we focus on the issue at hand: making sure our car is alright, it's the only one we have... and right now, though it's running, it's not letting us get out of first gear which makes me very very affraid. (My 'Husband Panic' is saying, "$ Please $ don’t $ let $ it $ be $ the $ transmission $!!")

12:45 -- While eating lunch in the car - which has been running since 11:30 and wasting our precious gas away and is now down to 1/8th of a tank - we decide to pray for guidance on what we should do next, and that this not set us back financially.

12:50 -- My wife remembers seeing an auto shop that specializes in servicing our make of car. So we drive over there, talk to the mechanic, and I reluctantly agree to let him run the $90 diagnostic.

1:30 -- He comes back and tells us that ALL of the problems are being caused by a bad battery and that he has reset the onboard computer parameters for us free of charge, and that he is also willing to install the new battery at cost! (without any service chages, etc) Praise God!

2:30 -- A family member came over to the shop to loan us their 2nd vehicle if we needed it, which at this point we do. The costs have slowly been mounting through the day and they have now exhausted our emergency fund.

The AAA, the diagnostic charge, and the replacement battery did us in, but our emergency fund did it's job perfectly!On top of this, I have every reason to be thankful that this emergency was able to be contained within our emergency fund at all! I was thinking of electrical damage ($$$), transmission work ($$$) and possibly engine work as well ($$$), but God protected us from those types of financial difficulties!

Equally important through this ordeal was the poise of my wife, and our ability to be of the same mindset in the midst of the storm. We both saw this as a CLEAR opportunity for God to show himself on our behalf, and He did just that. It was beautiful to see our Spiritual Peace working in tandem with our Financial Peace during this situation!

A friend of mine once defined a financial emergency simply as "Anything that happens that you have no financial provision for." So I guess I can't truly call this an emergency at all, we had the financial provision, and more importantly the Devine provision to weather this particular storm.

Isaiah 26:3 says:

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Thanks again for joining me,

@W

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May Madness *UPDATE*

Photo courtesy of Canobie Fan

Last Friday I posted about all of the various expenses that seem to all converge on our finances in the lovely month of May! Here's a quick excerpt if you missed it -- and if you did miss it just scroll down the page and get to reading yo! lol

"...So that's been the month to this point, but even more daunting is the rest of the month to come! My cousin is graduating from medical school on the 19th in Richmond (again gas is the issue), My mother has a birthday on the 23rd, I'm in a wedding in New Jersey on the 25th for the same cousin, and on the 29th my niece is graduating from high school in South Carolina... our mode of transportation will be by car... gas is approaching $4.00/gallon... not to mention that before we can even GET on the road we need to replace the 2 front tires and get an alignment and oil change as well (We're looking at maybe *$250 for those to be done)!! This is why I love and hate May at the same time!!"
*Though it says $250, it actually should have said $350. Big... big... difference ha ha.

So I just want to give a quick update... God has really been in the midst of this process. It seems that at every turn I see costs coming in below what we had estimated! This is great because it gives us more resources to throw away at the gas pump while we're on this trip.

I had estimated it to cost about $200 for the front tires to be replaced. But check this out, we ended up getting 20% off because we experienced some customer service issues where we got the work done. (A very long story, but as you can see it worked in our favor.) So we ended up paying $166 after taxes were included!

"But wait... there's more!"

So next comes the Oil change, tire rotation, and alignment.. I was expecting these to come to about $150 total: $40 for oil, rotation included, and $110 for the alignment.

Well I forgot that my car requires synthetic oil which adds $25 to the cost out the gate, but as a buffer they had a special going where it basically took $35 off the cost of the oil change! Truth be told the special on the billboard outside said "Oil change and rotation -- $19.99" but of course the synthetic oil removed that as an option. Sigh... So anyway it came up to $45 for the oil change and rotation (which worked out well since the tires were replaced the day before!)

The only thing left to do was the alignment. Man, again I'll be honest here... after I drove around with the new tires I REALLY had 2nd thoughts about having the alignment done at all. I wrestled with it for a while cause y'know this is $110 we're talking about! And to make it worse the more I drove, the more I realized that at least in MY opinion this thing was driving straight as an arrow! At one point I centered it in my lane, took my hands off the wheel, and just let it steer itself. I kidd you not, I went for a mile straight like this and the wheel stayed right where I had aimed it.

I finally decided to still have it done, with a lil prodding from my wife. Yes we could pocket the $110 and put it towards something else... but we just got brand new tires, so if we didn't get the work done now, WHEN would we ever get it done? Fact is there was no more advantageous time to do it than now. And besides we're not just doing it for the sake of this trip, we NEED our car in tip-top shape cause right now it's the only one we've got. Shoot, if you could've seen how it steered before we replaced the tires, you would NOT have ever wanted to drive in the lane next to us on the road. No lie, the alignment was so bad that if you took your hand off the wheel, it would INSTANTLY veer 45 degrees to the right! lol wow, the things that the Lord keeps us safe through! Final cost came to about $140 because we had a $15 coupon that we used towards the work.

So all in all, we came up to about $305 for maintenance on the car when we expected to pay $350... and guess where that surplus $45 is going? Yup right towards gas expenses. Sigh...

See ya when we get back,

@W

I did'nt even know God could type!!

Photo courtesy of pbrian49

So check this out... We just got a letter in our mailbox this evening from God. Yeah the letterhead says it came from our mortgage company, but God devised, typed and mailed it out to us. (Hmm does God use stamps? lol)

To make a long LONG story short we had an on-going issue with our mortgage company. They had wrongfully imposed insurance coverage on our condo unit, which caused our mortgage payment to go up by nearly $200 each month. The reason we knew this was wrong was because my wife used to work as a loan officer. The type of loan they were trying to force on us was not required by law because we owned a condo versus owning a single-family house.

The truly amazing part is that if my wife had not been aware of our rights in this situation, we would've been swindled out of an extra $200 each and every month! This really makes me wonder about others who have no idea what their rights are when dealing with corporations and companies that throw around intimidating verbage and clauses on their forms.

We had told them that they would not receive a penny more from us than we had already been paying no matter what the statements said. I'll be honest, it took great faith for us to say that to them. But we came to a point where we were not willing to be moved on the issue. And we knew that God was on our side. There was no way we could afford what they were demanding and that was that. And what's more they were demanding something of us that they had no right to demand.

Ok so i said i would keep a long story short, but if you've read ANY of my posts you'll know I just cant do that lol. So let me add some background. In order for us to prove to them that we did not have to purchase the policy they demanded, they wanted US to provide proof of our condo association's insurance coverage for the unit. Our condo association assesses a $250 fee for requesting this information... Wait I'm not sure your following me so I'll put it another way: the mortgage company wanted us to pay to prove that we don't need insurance on their property, and the penalty for NOT doing so would be that they would FORCE a policy of their choosing onto our loan and make us pay anyway!

That's practically like the bank you secured your auto loan thru telling you that they need you to buy Supreme-grade gas from a specific gas station even though your owner's manual says that only Mid-grade is required for your vehicle! And if you refuse, then they will fill your gas tank with Supreme in the middle of the night and simply add the cost to your loan each and every month lol. How absurd would that be?! Could you imagine walking up to your car and seeing a receipt sticking out from under your windshield wiper?! It's a crazy visual, I know, but I think you see my point.

Now to be "fair" lets look at this from the mortgage company's perspective. Until we pay off the mortgage in full, THEY still OWN our house. So any insurance purchased only protects THEIR investment! But wait, if they were so concerned about insuring THEIR investment against any type of damage or loss, why would they use us as a middle-man to achieve that? Because just like many other clauses and mortgage company policies, it's assumed that just because they said it or put it in writing, it must be lawful and the homeowner simply MUST be obligated to do it. This type of thing is done on a daily basis to millions of homeowners across the nation. And nine times out of ten the homeowner complies with the demand because they have no idea what their rights are within the situation.

So anyway enough of that, lets get back to the letter from God. Back in March we get an official looking letter from our mortgage company saying that effective April 1st our payment would be inflated by $200, which started this whole long drawn out dispute. So then another identical letter arrives yesterday in the mail from our mortgage company saying that effective April 1st our payment amount would be reset again... But the catch is that this "new" payment amount is now $50 lower than our ORIGINAL payment! The only difference between the 2 documents was the new payment amount and the date the letters were issued. Ok, so no it's not a huge amount, but we had specifically been praying that God would relieve the situation somehow... And he did! And not only that the letter came just days after my last blog post about the cost of gas and all of the miscellaneous expenses that seem to be hitting us this month. And on top of that, we had basically expected God to only keep us at our original payment amount in the first place... we never even thought for a moment that it would decrease! We were only expecting fairness in the situation, but God wanted to show favor!

What a blessing it is to be able to see God's hand in times of blessing, trial and even uncertainty. By answering our prayer about the bogus insurance, He also freed up some extra loot for gas JUST as we as we had prayed as well! He's always looking out for us!

Ephesians 3:20,21 says it this way:

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Thank you Jesus!

@W

May Madness

Photo courtesy of kerindaj

Hi guys,

Unlike my last post, I haven't been hiding so much as I've been buried with tasks and functions to attend. The month of May is notoriously busy for me each year because of the many birthdays, graduations, weddings and holidays that happen in this lovely mid-spring month!

And of course with this blog being about our personal finance fiascoes, naturally I'm looking at these various events with an emphasis on the cash needed to pull them all off.

So here is what my month of May has looked like so far from a dollars and cents point of view:

May 8th I had to pay $100 out of pocket for a farewell party for my departing manager at work. (The money will be reimbursed, but it will be s-l-o-w in returning to it's rightful place in my pockets!)

May 9th I had to get fitted for a tux for my cousin's wedding. (more on that below) I'm a groomsman, and although $150+ isn't a bad price for a tux rental, timing is everything, and right now timing is TIGHT!! lol

May 11th my wife and I hosted a Birthday/Mother's Day Dinner at our house for my mother, mother-in-law, godmother, my wife and myself. Though we kept the menu pretty basic, thus keeping costs down, a lot of time, energy and fuel went into researching and gathering the materials used for the event. Let's say $50 total was put towards the event when accounting for gas.

Ah, yes let's discuss fuel for a moment... we recently increased the amount of money we budget for gas to $75 a week. That's up $10 a week from what our traditional consumption has been in the past. ($65) The frustrating part is that we have had to come to grips this on the fly, which is not easy. We kept coming up short in the recent weeks and found ourselves using Blow money on gas. So instead we decided to lower our entertainment fund a bit each month and put the rest towards gas. UGGHHH!!!! An extra $40 a month is now going towards just gas, and that is only so that we can continue to do the minimum amount of traveling possible. From home to work, work to home, and church once a week is our normal routine and now even that is pushing us to our limit. "Gas" is quickly becoming a cuss word in our household. But I digress...

Next up was May 12th, my wife's birthday... This year my best friend and I joined forces to celebrate our wives' birthdays together. We did this on the 13th because it was the day between both of their birthdays. I wont get into the details, but basically we cooked and served them a very unique and interesting dinner experience lol. Again here, just as with the Mother's Day dinner, even though we didn't go overboard with spending (I must be careful here, she's my number one reader for this blog lol.) a lot was spent in gas rounding up the items for the menu, etc. oh, and text messaging. (Sorry, you just had to be there to get that.)

So that's been the month to this point, but even more daunting is the rest of the month to come! My cousin is graduating from medical school on the 19th in Richmond (again gas is the issue), My mother has a birthday on the 23rd, I'm in a wedding in New Jersey on the 25th for the same cousin, and on the 29th my niece is graduating from high school in South Carolina... our mode of transportation will be by car... gas is approaching $4.00/gallon... not to mention that before we can even GET on the road we need to replace the 2 front tires and get an alignment and oil change as well (We're looking at maybe $250 for those to be done)!! This is why I love and hate May at the same time!!

Whew -- calm down Adrian... count it all joy man! (James 1:2)

Ok, sorry about that, i flew off the handle a bit there, I know...

But before I go I'll leave you with a few stats I've compiled for our trip and the estimated costs we'll be racking up for the sake of family!

Total estimated miles from DC to New Jersey to South Carolina and back to DC: 1650
Total estimated hours of drive time from point to point (not including intra-city driving): 25
Estimated Avg cost of mid-grade fuel per gallon: $3.85 (it will be more expensive in the north and less in the south)
Estimated cost per fill up: $63.14 ($3.85 multiplied by 16.4 gallon tank capacity)
Estimated Avg MPG: 20 (according to fueleconomy.gov, a VERY useful site these days!)
Estimated number of fill ups: 5 (MPG multiplied by Gallons per tank divided by total miles)
Estimated cost of fuel for trip: $315.70 (cost per fill up multiplied by number of fill ups)

Your prayers will be appreciated! @men! lol

The bright side to all of this is that by sticking with the TMM, we started the process of properly budgeting to help defray some of the costs associated with all of these various events and the costs that come with them! And this was all done MONTHS ago, because it's built into our budget! There is a category for vacations/trips that we set aside money for, and also there is a category for gifts as well. Now I'll be honest we haven't done it exactly as Dave Ramsey suggests, but we've made a pretty good run at it considering we are still VERY much in the thick weeds phase of defeating our debt!

I for one am proud though, because 12 months ago, I would've just as quickly suggested skipping a mortgage payment so that we could make this trip and all the rest of May Madness happen as planned. The Total Money Makeover, really shows us how we are growing in our financial maturity.... and it will give us plenty to talk reminisce on when we finally take our first "paid in full" trip once the debt is gone!

@men to that too!!

@W