Author Topic: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)  (Read 8725 times)

AH013

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Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« on: September 22, 2014, 06:30:00 AM »
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-expenses-you-dont-plan-for-but-should-2014-09-22?siteid=yhoof2

Apparently cars sometimes need repairs.  And apparently these "repairs" can cost money.  Who knew?  Apparently 46% of Americans didn't.

Also, homes sometimes need repairs too, and that may cost money.  And people need repairs too, and that can cost money.  And you need books & supplies for school, and even those cost money too!  I swear, what else haven't they been teaching us?

Left

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #1 on: September 22, 2014, 06:35:15 AM »
occasionally people need to be fed too, and that cost money... but if you're smart at it, you can feed people once a week, twice if they are still children :)

doesn't most of these fall into the emergency fund area though? So why plan for it if I already have a general purpose emergency fund?

dcheesi

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2014, 07:02:54 AM »
occasionally people need to be fed too, and that cost money... but if you're smart at it, you can feed people once a week, twice if they are still children :)

doesn't most of these fall into the emergency fund area though? So why plan for it if I already have a general purpose emergency fund?
True, but if you're budgeting then it still helps to account for these sorts of things. After all, you do need to replenish the emergency fund after you've paid for the repair, so that you have the money for next time. Assuming of course that your long term savings aren't liquid enough to tap into (or, in the case of many families, simply don't exist!).

2ndTimer

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2014, 09:27:34 AM »
OMG, yesterday I went to the bathroom and discovered that I needed to wipe my butt afterwards.   How could anyone be expected to plan ahead for that????????

Bob W

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2014, 09:36:32 AM »
Failure to plan is a plan to fail.   I'm generally opposed to emergency funds for people who know how to handle money.  But for people up to their asses in debt they are a good initial step and can teach some savings habits they otherwise wouldn't learn.

The other end of the coin is that for low income people,  which is most of the US population now, it can be very difficult to save money.   It can be done though.

SwordGuy

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #5 on: September 22, 2014, 10:02:39 AM »
The other end of the coin is that for low income people,  which is most of the US population now, it can be very difficult to save money.   It can be done though.

Median family income is $51,000+.   So, no, "most" of the US population is not composed of low income people.

GuitarStv

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #6 on: September 22, 2014, 10:16:06 AM »
OMG, yesterday I went to the bathroom and discovered that I needed to wipe my butt afterwards.   How could anyone be expected to plan ahead for that????????

Need?

That's clearly a want, not a need.

ThirdTimer

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #7 on: September 22, 2014, 02:20:25 PM »
It looks to me like that table is just reporting that 46% of people had an unforeseen car repair expense in the past year, not that 46% of people who had car trouble were shocked and stunned that it could happen to them, or 46% of people didn't have money saved up to pay for their car repair. I think the point is just, hey, these sorts of unpredictable expenses come up really frequently, so we should all have a savings buffer to pay for them. The shameful part of the article is that 36% of American workers have less than $1000 in liquid assets, which means that a big unpredictable expense could send them scrambling for the credit cards.


TreeTired

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #9 on: September 22, 2014, 03:00:41 PM »
When my car needs a repair I just donate it to charity and buy another one that runs!


Well, not exactly, not always, but sort of.    When our son got his license we paid $2000 for a used Saab with 120k miles that was in pretty decent shape.   The plan -  which worked -  was with the exception of routine maintenance limited pretty much to oil changes,   to drive it into the ground.   OK, I did very reluctantly replace the muffler at one point. 

paddedhat

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2014, 05:25:11 PM »
When my car needs a repair I just donate it to charity and buy another one that runs!


Well, not exactly, not always, but sort of.    When our son got his license we paid $2000 for a used Saab with 120k miles that was in pretty decent shape.   The plan -  which worked -  was with the exception of routine maintenance limited pretty much to oil changes,   to drive it into the ground.   OK, I did very reluctantly replace the muffler at one point.

Thanks, you made me smile and fondly remember my departed, wonderful, and deeply influential step father. He was the real deal, long before blogs like this. In fact, he would of found 95% of this blog to be a ridiculous exercise in stating the obvious. He followed your "drive it into the ground" protocol, all of his life.

One day, as an older teen, I asked to borrow his old, high miles Olds. I couldn't start it, and asked if he had any idea why. He then gave me the usual, "Jesus, we just can't have nice things with you around, what did you do to it this time?". I then pushed it down the street to a local mechanic. In a few minutes the guy said, " this old heap is too worn out to even suck gas into the carb. Tell you dad it's time". With this guy's professional blessing, it was final time to stop beating the dead horse, and find a new one.

My mom got so tired of driving a totally clapped out 67' VW bug that she took it to the inspection station and told the owner " you NEED to find a problem with this car. A problem that not only causes it to fail inspection, but is so expensive to repair that it will be best to leave it here for the junkyard to pick up. If you won't do that for me, after all the years of me driving, and you patching this POS,  I'll find another garage"

LOL, that's growing up MMM style in the 70's............
« Last Edit: September 24, 2014, 06:22:47 PM by paddedhat »

Scandium

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #11 on: September 25, 2014, 10:53:27 AM »
It looks to me like that table is just reporting that 46% of people had an unforeseen car repair expense in the past year, not that 46% of people who had car trouble were shocked and stunned that it could happen to them, or 46% of people didn't have money saved up to pay for their car repair. I think the point is just, hey, these sorts of unpredictable expenses come up really frequently, so we should all have a savings buffer to pay for them. The shameful part of the article is that 36% of American workers have less than $1000 in liquid assets, which means that a big unpredictable expense could send them scrambling for the credit cards.

yes, this. Noticed that too. I have plenty emergency savings, but that doesn't mean I foreseen car repairs. So I'd fall into the 46% as well.

Gundy

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2014, 04:22:15 PM »
Quote
The lesson: Americans should start saving more, by putting a little bit of money away each month (how much you save each month will depend on your budget) into their savings until they have six to 12 months of income saved up, experts say.

Quote
You should also save beyond this so-called emergency fund “for the large, one-time, unexpected things, like car repairs, home fixes, or health care bills,” says Criscuolo.

What is the emergency fund for then?

I feel like mainstream financial pundits keep padding their emergency fund number. It used to be 3 months of expenses. Now it's 6-12 months of income plus another fund. That's a lot of money not earning any interest. And at a 5% savings rate, it's going to take the average family a long time to get there.

MrsPete

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2014, 05:55:34 PM »
I particularly like the book The Frugal Gazette, and this thread makes me think something in that book:  The author makes the comment that if you need a minor car repair and don't have enough in your short-term savings to pay for this type of "yeah, you know it's going to happen" type of thing, the real problem isn't mechanical. 

eyePod

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2014, 08:15:27 AM »
Hm, the health care one hits me in the face. I f'd up recently and got an MRI (long story, didn't need it, but it made the wife/mom happy). The MRI wasn't the mistake. The mistake was that the place that was recommended for the MRI wasn't in my network. There goes a nice $300 learning experience (was about $300 more than if I'd gone in network). At least it was one of the latest model MRI machines?

So that bill was unexpected, but easily absorbed. We just didn't get to put as much extra to the principal of our mortgage than we wanted to last month.

eyePod

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #15 on: October 10, 2014, 08:18:36 AM »
Quote
The lesson: Americans should start saving more, by putting a little bit of money away each month (how much you save each month will depend on your budget) into their savings until they have six to 12 months of income saved up, experts say.

Quote
You should also save beyond this so-called emergency fund “for the large, one-time, unexpected things, like car repairs, home fixes, or health care bills,” says Criscuolo.

What is the emergency fund for then?

I feel like mainstream financial pundits keep padding their emergency fund number. It used to be 3 months of expenses. Now it's 6-12 months of income plus another fund. That's a lot of money not earning any interest. And at a 5% savings rate, it's going to take the average family a long time to get there.

Hmm, my emergency fund is for unplanned events. Like losing my job. It's fully funded and we don't add any money to it at all.

But then we put $50 into a car fund every month even if we don't spend anything.

Elderwood17

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #16 on: October 10, 2014, 09:14:46 AM »
Well, if you just trade your car in every three years before the warranty runs out you don't have to worry about it - duh?!   Sheesh, who are all thes people driving such old cars that the warranty has run out.   (Major sarcasm alert)

skunkfunk

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #17 on: October 10, 2014, 10:11:04 AM »
Our government is horrible and middle class life is ruined because NEEDS should not come from your hard-earned salary!!! That's for playtime, and it's why I put rent and all other stupid necessary expenses on the few credit cards I have left that are not maxed out. Emergency funds aren't for car repairs, they are for spontaneous trips to Cancun or if a new higher-resolution TV than the one I bought last month becomes available, or in case Apple releases another gadget. I could go on but I'm getting sick thinking about all these possible unplanned emergencies that are beyond my credit limit.

sheepstache

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #18 on: October 10, 2014, 10:15:41 AM »
Our government is horrible and middle class life is ruined because NEEDS should not come from your hard-earned salary!!! That's for playtime, and it's why I put rent and all other stupid necessary expenses on the few credit cards I have left that are not maxed out. Emergency funds aren't for car repairs, they are for spontaneous trips to Cancun or if a new higher-resolution TV than the one I bought last month becomes available, or in case Apple releases another gadget. I could go on but I'm getting sick thinking about all these possible unplanned emergencies that are beyond my credit limit.

It's like you are reading my facebook feed.


gimp

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #20 on: October 10, 2014, 12:42:34 PM »
Quote
in case Apple releases another gadget.

[Confirmed by various sources] rumor has it that there will be an announcement on Oct 16th. Stay tuned for cool apple products! It's been a while since the last announcement (Sep 9th.)

skunkfunk

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #21 on: October 10, 2014, 12:55:16 PM »
Quote
in case Apple releases another gadget.

[Confirmed by various sources] rumor has it that there will be an announcement on Oct 16th. Stay tuned for cool apple products! It's been a while since the last announcement (Sep 9th.)

Well shit, guess I better apply for another credit card. Does apple have a financing plan??

« Last Edit: October 10, 2014, 01:00:34 PM by skunkfunk »

gimp

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #22 on: October 10, 2014, 03:09:38 PM »
Not that I know of, hah! But you can link your cards to your new iphone, which makes paying for stuff easier. That system might be announced as going live on Oct 16th as well.

skunkfunk

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #23 on: October 10, 2014, 03:11:19 PM »
Not that I know of, hah! But you can link your cards to your new iphone, which makes paying for stuff easier. That system might be announced as going live on Oct 16th as well.

AWESOME! Now I won't have to dig through my various wallets 10-15 times per day (depending on day of week, of course. I can't leave my house for the 3 days before payday.)

gimp

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #24 on: October 10, 2014, 05:08:35 PM »
Yeah, it's going to be a really cool system, whenever it goes live. I bet (I don't have any knowledge of course, I'm just guessing) that there will even be companies catering to Apple Pay where you sign up and they don't even send you a credit card, you just get the account automatically added to your apple wallet. Before, you used to have to hand over cash for a purchase; now we do it with cards, but there's still an element of giving something to get what you're buying; soon, I bet you'll just be able to sign up - boom - press a button and you've paid. No need to dig through 10-15 cards; just sign up for another account any time you're near empty!

philby85

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Re: Your Car May Eventually Need a Repair (and that costs money)
« Reply #25 on: October 10, 2014, 10:50:11 PM »
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-expenses-you-dont-plan-for-but-should-2014-09-22?siteid=yhoof2

Apparently cars sometimes need repairs.  And apparently these "repairs" can cost money.  Who knew?  Apparently 46% of Americans didn't.

To be fair, it may have been the size of the cost that they didn't plan for. The article says "While drivers expect to shell out money for gas and routine oil changes, repair costs often surprise them.". If you need anything done more than a regular oil or tyre change, it is easy to underestimate the cost.

The stat that 36% of Americans have less than $1000 in savings is concerning.