Frugal in the Fruitlands

Our first step in solving the Subaru transmission dilemma was bringing it to a transmission specialist nearby. This, as it turned out, was the only step needed, as he confirmed what our mechanic had said (the problem was the rear differential) and told us it would cost approximately $1,800-$2,000 to replace.

All right. $2,000 is a lot less than a new car, we said. The transmission mechanic also said that the work was guaranteed for 12,000 miles or a year, and that he didn’t expect there would be future issues due to this. He was unsure why the problem happened in the first place, but suggested the differential fluid had been neglected or had been drained out and never replaced. For my part, never having had an all-wheel drive car, I didn’t even know there was a fluid to maintain. Now that I know, I’ll be a lot more cautious.

In short, we decided to fix it.

The repair took a few days, and we picked the car up this morning. The total cost was $1,850, $1,000 of which was the part itself. Ouch.

It was not, however, so ouch that we had to put it on credit. Nay, we didn’t even need to dip into our emergency fund (in part because we just received our economic stimulus rebate). That was an immense relief.

I hope this signals a new era in our financial lives - a time when other unexpected expenses can’t manage to throw us off the path to financial freedom.

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I haven’t offloaded any Links Relevant to Mah Interests lately, so here are a few for you:

Moolanomy is sponsoring The Best Wedding Tips and Stories Giveaway. A little over three years ago Matt and I had a relatively frugal wedding at our favorite restaurant in Burlington, MA, so my own entry to the contest will be forthcoming in a week or two.

Student economist Ashwini Agrawal wrote his dissertation on the behavior of the labor union AFL-CIO’s pension fund, finding that “the A.F.L.-C.I.O. pension funds were voting in ways that might help workers when they were A.F.L.-C.I.O. union workers, but not after they switched union affiliations.” This may be unsurprising finding to all of us, but apparently this so angered the AFL-CIO that they’ve been threatening him with a lawsuit.

Unclutterer.com brings us A Simple Way to Simplify Email, using the Remember the Milk extension for Gmail. This so impressed me that I’m in the process of switching from my beloved Tasktoy to Remember the Milk. I’m loving the ability to link tasks to specific emails, and thus keep my inbox clear, but Tasktoy still seems like it’s better for keeping track of things like what blog posts I want to write.

Euphorify is a new but promising happiness/lifehack blog that I found through the ZenHabits forums. Now, if I could break my habit of spending hours reading lifehacker-style blogs, I might actually get something done!

This Bulb Lady article on Naturalizing Bulbs caught my eye. I think I’ll try this with my scilla and grape hyacinths…

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I stopped at Hannaford last night to pick up a few essentials for sandwiches. We went through the express lane, because we only had a few items (deli meat and cheese, wraps, cream cheese), and I was surprised to see my order ring up at $35. I briefly thought food prices really have gone up, huh?

While Matt was swiping his card, I looked at the cashier’s screen then, and noticed the only double-digit item: Black Forest turkey ham: 1 lb @ $19.75.

Matt realized it at the same time I did. “What?” he said, at the same time I said, “That’s not right.” The sign at the deli had said $4.49/lb, but now I realized that the sticker from the deli read $19.75/lb. Why I didn’t notice this mistake when I put it in my cart, I don’t know.

They gladly fixed the error and gave me a shiny new $20 bill back. My only regret is that I didn’t catch the error before Matt swiped his card, because cash, as I’ve discussed before, has a different psychological weight than plastic.

What’s also alarming is that I caught the error simply because there was another row of digits - they could have charged me $9.95/lb and I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

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Some months I do more “wrap-up” posts than I do “normal” posts. Thankfully, this month was not one of them. April brought a few new readers (thank you!) and a theme (health and finance) that inspired… well, only two posts:

• Five Reasons to Skip the Gym Membership. This was a bit controversial, but I stand by my assertion that Fitness Begins At Home.
• Four Frugal Fitness Resources. Since I wrote this I’ve gotten to know RealAge.com a little better and I like it even more now. There are ways in which it’s more commercial than I like (such as prompting you to email family and friends about the site every time you update your real age assessment), but it’s a handy way station for medically-based health and fitness information. That becomes more and valuable every day, as we’re constantly bombarded with fatalistic “Obesity Epidemic” warnings, fad diets, and telecommercials for torturous exercise equipment.

Also this month one of my cars developed transmission issues, and I developed an action plan for dealing with it.

My own fitness goals were moderately successful. My goal was to exercise for 30 minutes each and every day, and I did this for 19 days out of 30. I exercised every day for the first 10 days, and then fell off the wagon due to sickness, exercising an average of three or four days a week for the rest of the month. Given this, I’ve decided to recommit to this exercise goal for May. In an attempt to add more strength training and flexibility training to my fitness routine- -since most of my exercise was walking - I’ll also attempt to add a five-minute stretch after every walk, and try for a strength training workout three days a week.

Things to look forward to in May:

• Frugal in the Fruitlands will get its own domain name this month. I have a free one that comes with my webhosting that needs to be repurposed.
• I’d like to start writing some “money memoirs.” Some of you - especially those who read from LJ - probably think my near-obsession with money and frugality makes me an odd bird, and I thought you might be interested in where that mindset comes from. Would you find this feature interesting or insightful?

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Thanks to all the folks - here and on my LJ - who have given me advice on my Subaru and its transmission problems. It seems I have a few options:

• Have a new or rebuilt transmission installed. This costs ~$2,000, and most are guaranteed for 70,000 miles. However, there’s also the argument that this is just throwing good money after bad, especially since I happen to know that the Subaru also needs new struts and has a bent right front wheel.
• Buy a used car. It would probably be no more than five years old or $10,000. We would likely go for a compact or sub-compact, and hold off on getting a hauling vehicle until our next vehicle breaks down.
• Lease a new car. Some readers view this as a “long-term rental” and are skeptical of it, but others point out that since you’re driving a new vehicle under warranty, you won’t pay nearly as much in maintenance. Plus, it arguably costs the same over a ten-year period - and while you do call the used car your own at the end, you may not have much more car left to drive at that point.

So the plan is this:

1. Cool down for a couple more days. I have a lot of data to process and it’s not good to do it while too emotionally wrought.
2. Call my mechanic and ask him if a replacement is feasible and sensible. If it is, ask him about how much it would cost and if he can refer me to someone who could do it. (He might be able to himself, but I doubt it from the way he talked about it).
3. Take the car to the dealership, tell them it was diagnosed with a major transmission issue, and get a second opinion and an estimate on replacement costs. Stress that they are NOT to fix anything without my approval. My goal in this is to find out if other ‘99 Outbacks have had similar issues and if the dealership is willing to be helpful in any way to keep us as customers. I’m distrustful of dealerships, though, so I don’t have much hope here.
4. Get Consumer Report’s New Car Buying Guide out of the library and read up on leasing and some new car models that interest me, such as the Honda Fit.
5. Figure out how much we car we can actually afford.
6. Shop a lease while simultaneously shopping for a used car, so that we can get an idea of how much the two will cost us over the long-term.

In the end I am hoping to figure out what the most frugal option is - repair, buy used, or lease (notice how buying new is Right Out). I’m not convinced that conventional wisdom re: owning vs. leasing is correct (look how wrong I was about owning vs. renting), and I want to do the math myself.

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For a bit now the Subaru has been making a high-pitched whine when accelerating. Bringing it to my mechanic to fix, he diagnosed a major transmission problem and gave the car three months to live.

I have no idea how this happened. The mechanic suggested that transmissions shouldn’t fail like that, and that the fluid level might have been neglected, but we’re pretty good about checking stuff like that. According to Consumer Reports, 1999 Outbacks have a much greater than average risk of having major transmission problems, so we may not be to blame at all.

Either way, we’ll be replacing the Subaru - far before the 1994 Tercel, amusingly. Now I’m wishing we hadn’t put our $6,500 federal tax refund towards the mortage! We still have our emergency fund *wince* + our MA tax refund + our government bribe economic stimulus rebate - around $3,000, total. This is clearly not enough to buy a quality used car, and I would like to finance as little as possible, given the ripoff that auto loans usually are.

Since we do have another vehicle, we may be able to delay the purchase until we can afford it. Unfortunately having one car is just not a viable option for us long-term, as we live in an area with unreliable public transport and there are days when I need to drive separately from Matt, for doctor’s appointments, classes, etc. Believe me, I wish it weren’t so. I hate driving and maintaining cars in the worst way.

We’re also not sure if we want to replace it with a wagon/small SUV (nothing bigger than a Forester), because we do need some carrying capacity. On the other hand, with gas prices such as they are, another compact wouldn’t be a bad idea for our daily commute - and we showed this weekend that you can even fit 10 5-foot fence posts and 100 feet of chicken wire in a Tercel.

On the wagon front, the Subaru Forester and the Toyota Matrix look promising. From what CR says (I picked their Used Car Buying Guide up from the library), the Forester has some engine problems before 2003, and of course the Matrix wasn’t made before 2002, so there are some price implications there. If we go the compact route, the Corolla is, of course, consistently rated highly; and the Echo/Yaris do okay. The Honda Civic is also appealing, as is the Scion xA or xB.

There’s also the leasing option. Django’s been trying to convince me that this is the way for my car-despising self to go, and I don’t disbelieve him - it’s just that, short of shopping for a lease directly, dealerships aren’t exactly forthcoming with the figures I need to determine if this is the right choice for us.

What are your thoughts on this situation?

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The techniques you’ll read about on Problogger aren’t what catch my eye when I read a blog . I see right through tricks like adding “sexy” to a post title. What I’m looking for is humanity. Passion. Direction. Something that tells me that there’s another human being behind that byline, and they might actually be someone I’d like to know.

Here’s a shout-out to some newer blogs with lots of personality:

MakeItBetter. Nicole and I have a lot in common. We both work in marketing and are impressed by the ideas but turned off by its methods. Likewise we share a distaste for American consumerism. But what really strikes me is the passion and experience with which she writes. Yes, there are some typos and misspellings scattered here and there - but they don’t take away from the ideas. I hang onto every word she writes, because I sense she’s putting it out there for a reason - she really does want to make it better. I recommend her “Crap Detox” series as an introductory read.

Taking Control of Our Money. I’m always inspired by stories of people who are getting out of debt. I also appreciate opinions that are contrary to mine and might even be seen as “controversial” in the personal finance world - such as buying bottled water, or liking The Secret. Her post “Stuff” is a sobering look at how new possessions come into and leave our lives, sometimes untouched.

You Grow Girl is actually a well-populated blog, but I just discovered it myself. I love Gayla’s gorgeous photos - her picture of Scilla siberica made me go, “Hey, so that’s what the previous owner planted around that tree!” Most importantly, she’s diligent about replying to comments. I asked her a somewhat off-topic question about organic gardening and soil amendments to raise pH on her Earth Day post, and she answered it within the day.

I found Junk Mail Gems thanks to Frugal for Life. This blog is all about repurposing what we would typically call “junk” - bottle caps, used greeting cards, candy packaging, and, of course, junk mail. I love to see what kinds of things we can save from the landfill. I especially like today’s post, “Happy Earth Day!” about turning used greeting cards into new ones.

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You can blame Retirement: A Full-Time Job for this meme sheepery. I guess I should have listened when some of you told me personal finance bloggers were bad influences on me

Four jobs I’ve had
- My first job was shelving books at a used bookstore in my home town. The owner paid me in book trade.
- In college, I worked at the Computing and Information Services Help Desk, helping students and faculty with their computer problems. This is where I met the Boy, by the way, and also where I learned I never wanted to do tech support.
- One summer while I was in college, I worked at the Adirondak Loj in Lake Placid. It was basic grunt work. I got paid minimum wage, cleaned toilets, made beds, and lived in a tent.
- I worked for a month over summer break in college for a fulfillment company in Wilmington, MA. I spent a lot of time stuffing envelopes, entering postcards into databases, and re-reading all the Harry Potter novels.
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In honor of my monthly challenge to exercise 30 minutes daily, this is health and finance month on Frugal in the Fruitlands.

I have a shameful confession to make. It’s April 21st, and I’ve only exercised 15 out of 20 of the days this month. Last week was especially bad, because I’d been feeling sick and run-down. This all culminated on Thursday on what I think was a migraine. Oy… what a perfect month to devote to health, hm?

But, as promised, some fabulous frugal fitness links. (Yeah, I totally said that just for the alliteration).

RealAge.com. The “real age” quiz - which is quite comprehensive - is the namesake of the site, but the site is much more than that. Basically, it’s the web hub for Doctors Roizen and Oz, the doctors behind the YOU series of books (You: On a Diet; You: Staying Young, etc), which I consider to be the most sensible diet and fitness books out there. I’d especially recommend the Workout Center, where you can view videos of different workouts from their books (some with basic gym equipment, some without). This is good for uncoordinated people like me who spend entirely too much time frowning over text descriptions of exercises. Note: if you opt to view one of the workouts; it will take you to a log-in page, but you can skip signing up for the website if it bothers you - just click on the links to the left to get where you want to go.

I mentioned Cool Running’s Couch to 5K running program before, and I’d like to mention it again. To quote the article in question, “The idea is to transform you from couch potato to runner, getting you running three miles (or 5K) on a regular basis in just two months.” The authors admit it is more of a “walking-and-jogging” program, as you build up your endurance, than it is training for any kind of foot race. In my continuing effort to Bike Up The Big Ass Hill, I may be starting this myself next month. The only equipment you need here is a good pair of running shoes.

Some geeks prefer the Lifetime Fitness Ladder of the Hacker’s Diet as a way to improve their fitness. Each rung on the ladder is composed of a series of basic calisthenics - for example, bend, sit-up, leg lift - which you may remember them from gym class. As you climb the ladder, you simply do more of each. The benefit of this program is that it’s short (10-15 minutes each) and that you can easily track your progress as you ascend the ladder. Like the YOU workouts, there’s no equipment needed, but keep in mind - no doctors were involved in authoring this program (though it is based on the Royal Canadian Air Force’s “5BX” program).

Spending 40 hours a week at work, it’s hard to find time to exercise. I make sure to take a 30-minute walk over my lunch, but I also value the simple exercises mentioned in Exercise on the Job. I’m not sure I’d necessarily crunch abs in my office chair, but I have done some of the wall work while in the bathroom, or leg work under my desk.

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In honor of my monthly challenge to exercise 30 minutes daily, this is health and finance month on Frugal in the Fruitlands.

Five years ago, I had just graduated from college and was living in Haverhill, working part-time at an auto supply. I had the afternoons free, and it seemed to be a great opportunity to get in shape. Near my job there was a Workout World, and I decided to walk in one day and check it out.

That was my first mistake.

The Hard Sell. When I inquired about a membership, I was greeted by a chipper employee and given a tour of the facilities. It wasn’t until after this tour that I sat down with the bleach-blond, over-tanned owner and was shown a contract and a schedule of fees. The monthly fee was $19.99, but together with the sign-up costs, the membership would cost me over $400 in the first year.

I was hesitant.

She promptly lowered the sign-up fees by $50.

I was still uncertain: “You know what?” I said, “Let me think about this and come back tomorrow.” She lowered the fee again, and said they weren’t sure the monthly rate was going to stay at $19.99 a month for long, but if I paid them $10 today, they would hold the rate for me for a week.

… yeah, that was a big lie. If you’re at all familiar with Workout World, you know that’s their gimmick: $19.99 a month. It’s right on their sign. It’s still $19.99 a month, five years later. No way in hell were they going to raise the rates.

But I was an idiot. I paid the fee, and came back the next day and signed up (admittedly, at a greatly reduced sign-up fee. I hate to think what would happen if I didn’t try to exit my seat as quickly as possible).

In retrospect, I realize that from the moment I walked in, they had me. They showed me the gym first, so I would see all the nice features. Then they put me in a position from which I could not politely extract myself. Their goal, of course, is to get you to buy right now. They know if they get you out of their sight, you’re not going to come back. They let me “get away” with the $10 fee with the logic that if I pay them $10 today, I’m likely to come back, thanks to our friend the sunk cost fallacy.

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