Debt, Savings, and a Plan
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We’ve been hemorrhaging money on this build for a while now. I think all-in-all, we’re over budget by about the price of a base model Fiat. I’ve justified this by knowing we’re going to live on the road for an extended period of time, and went into it with a no-expense-spared mindset to make it as comfortable, safe, and enjoyable as possible.
There have been several items on the wish list that I haven’t bought, or things I flip-flopped on for several weeks or months. I have a couple major rules with our finances: avoid interest at (almost) all costs, and never have more in debt (excluding mortgage and vehicle payments) than savings. In the past month I broke both of those rules, but have plans to address them in the immediate future. First, I threw the truck suspension on a 1.99% interest credit card. It’s a very small amount of interest, so I’m going to let it slide for a while. Since I decided not to pay cash, I took the opportunity to pay off some other credit cards, and shifted a couple balances around to no-interest accounts before interest began to accrue. Because our savings account has been going down, and our credit card usage going up, I no longer have the < 1:1 ratio I always keep. Unlike a lot of people, I use credit cards, but I use them for points and benefits and will carry balances on them, as long as there are no interest charges. I try to make sure I have enough to pay them off at any time. Instead of complying with our policies, we’re getting closer to 2:1, but at the very most are paying 1.99% interest on one card. Another rule is not to let our savings dip below a few month’s living expenses, and that rule is right at the edge of being broken right now.
Either right before or after the truck came out of the shop, we elected to buy bikes, a telescope, radios, tools, a toolbox, and lights. It’s been a sizable, calculated spending spree and while the list of wants we’ve been mulling over is finally empty, I’m pulling my hair out a little about breaking my own rules. Fortunately I have a few plans to address that.
One of the plans is to gather a lot of junk I’ve been meaning to put on Craigslist for months, but haven’t, and list it. Even with lowball CL prices I should make a few thousand dollars off of it; there are quite a few expensive items, including hitches, computers, TVs, and tools. I also plan to cash out 1/3 of the HPE stock I own, which is worth several thousand dollars. I’ve been sitting on a GAP refund after refinancing the truck that should bring me close to $800, and need to get that processed. And I made two truck payments a couple months ago due to bank error, and can skip a payment at any time if I choose to do so; though I like the extra payment having been applied. Last, I am expecting a contract renewal to come in next month that should be sufficient to correct everything by itself. I don’t like to depend on these, because you never know, but I am guilty of hedging my bets against this anticipated income. The customer in question has been a loyal one for about four years, so I feel I am fairly safe in doing so.
