Want a Hummer H2? Now is the time to buy!

If you couldn’t afford a Hummer H2 before, maybe today is your lucky day! With GM’s employee pricing and regular cash back discounts, you can get a Hummer H2 for almost $13,000 off! Or you can just go buy a used one for about $5.00.

Changing Gears on Our Debt Repayment

For the last 3 years, we’ve been on a mission to pay off our non-home debt. In that time, we’ve paid off about $82,000! You can track our current status in the debt scales in the sidebar.

But now we’ve decided to switch from paying down our car and school debt to paying down our second mortgage.

If you recall, we financed our home purchase with two loans. Since we didn’t have nearly enough for a down payment (even 5%), we got two loans. The first, for about $311,000, was 80% of the total price of the house, while the remaining 20% was about $78,000.

The Loans in More Detail

So not only did we finance 100%, but we also got a 5-year, interest-only mortgage for loan #1 (the big one). That means by late 2009, we’ll need to either sell the house, refinance the loan(s) or just let the rate reset to the current market rates.

Yeah, we were dumb and couldn’t afford what we bought at the time. But we lucked out and we can now easily afford the mortgages. Whew!

The makeup of the loans are as follows:

Loan 1: 5/1 Interest-Only Arm, $311,000, 5.250%

Loan 2: 15 year balloon loan (amortized over 30 yrs), $78,000, 7.875%

Why Change Our Plans?

Compared to our starting point on non-home debt of $112,000, we’re so close to being rid of it all with just $30,000 left to pay off. So why not finish what we started?

Well, we’ve recently found out how much home prices have fallen based on talking to our neighbors and looking at home sale reports for the area. In another year, in order to refinance both of our loans together (to reduce the interest rate on the 20% loan), we would need our home appraised at $470,000. That’s the 20% equity above the total loan amount that the bank needs to finance the full loan.

At the last appraisal, our home was valued at $470k. Unfortunately, that was about 3.5 years ago, before everything went down the drain. Right now, based on research, I expect it would be appraised at $420,000. Granted, it might not sell for that, or it might, but we would need to give concessions at the closing table, but I’m confident it’s still there.

So with that assumption (and hope), to get our loan fully-financed, we would need to get our total loans from $389,000 down to $336,000. Wow. That’s a $53,000 reduction in the loans.

Our New Debt Repayment Plan

So since our second mortgage is the higher interest rate of the two loans, and of all our debt, even after the tax deduction for interest paid, our plan is to pay down the 2nd mortgage first. I doubt we can pay down the full $53,000 in the next 14 months, but we can get a good chunk of that out of the way. The other hope is that real estate values start increasing by that time and a new appraisal would come in closer to $440,000.

If all else fails and we can’t get both loans refinanced together, then we’ll just refinance the first loan (the one that is resetting) and continue to pay down the second loan. It just doesn’t make sense to skip the mortgage debt that has the highest overall interest rate simply because it’s “good debt” as some people say.

Debt is debt, even if it’s supposedly an appreciable asset (that is currently depreciating) that has tax benefits. If you’re paying more interest on it (even after taxes) than your other debt, then you need to pay it off first.

For us, though, it’s been easier to pay down the smaller $10,000-$30,000 debts because an almost $80,000 loan seems just too overwhelming to handle in comparison. But as I said, debt is debt and we need to make the logical decision right now, not the emotional one.

How To Change Your Car’s Engine Oil

Every car is slightly (or significantly) different in the engine compartment, but most cars follow general rules regarding how to change their oil. In this article, I’ll describe my own methods for changing oil, which I’ve done for the last 5 years.

Why Do I Change the Oil Myself?

Prior to changing my own oil, I was (almost) perfectly content with taking my car to Jiffy Lube for a quick, cheap oil change. With my Acura, I regularly spent the $50+ every 7,500 miles for the synthetic oil change at the dealer or Jiffy Lube. But a combination of factors forced me to take matters into my own hands.

First, the big one, Jiffy Lube stole parts off our old Pontiac. They ended up paying for the parts, but that was it for me. From then on, I vowed I wouldn’t take any of our cars to a discount shop. But I still had the Acura that I took to the dealer for oil changes.

Second, at the time, I was working for a major oil company. I found out I could get considerable discounts on cases of oil, especially synthetic, once per year. I also got their premium oil filters for half the price. At first, I bought cases of the oil and took it to the dealer so all I paid for was labor. But that still cost about $20. Eventually, I realized that since I worked for an oil company, I should probably know how to change my own oil (the car’s, that is).

So the combination of fear and pride formed to be the catalyst for changing my own oil, and continues on to this day. Now, I actually enjoy changing the oil because it gives me quiet time, as well as lets me see what’s going on underneath the car. I’ve noticed missing transmission cover bolts and leaks that the dealer has missed!

At the end of this article, I’ll calculate my average cost per oil change, and let you use that to decide if it’s worth it for you to change your vehicle’s oil too.

What Do You Need to Buy to Change Oil?

You’ll be surprised at how little you actually need to change your vehicle’s oil. I’ll split it into two categories:

Must-Haves:

• Oil. Duh. But not all oils are the same. I need a separate article to talk about oil, but for now, I’ll refer you to call your dealer’s service technicians to ask the proper grade (e.g. 5W30, 10W20, etc.), or you can also use the MobilOil.com “What’s the right oil for my car?” selector. It only outputs Mobil oil brands, but it will give you more descriptions and definitions about each oil grade than your dealer probably has time to give you. Also, you can buy oil by the case or the quart. I highly recommend buying by the case. I get a good deal on Mobil 1 at Sam’s Club, compared to the local auto stores. Lastly, cars take anywhere from 3-8 or more quarts of oil. It depends on the size of the engine, the filter and the oil pan. Call the dealer or read your owner’s manual to find out the proper amount.
• Oil Filter. Many people aren’t even aware their vehicle uses an oil filter. The oil goes through it and it filters out impurities. It’s essential that you change this with each oil change! I don’t recommend buying it from the dealer because they tack on an insane markup. Go to NAPA or Autozone or other auto parts store and have them look up your options. Generally, I go for the middle-of-the-pack. I avoid the cheap ones (like $2 each) and the pricey ones (over $8 each).
• Oil Collection Container/Drain. I currently use this open-top plastic container, but I think I might switch to a closed container like this one or this one. Why? Because when I take the oil to the recycling center, I wouldn’t need to worry about it spilling out. My preference would be a larger drain area because the warmed oil squirts out pretty far when you first unplug the oil pan. That means I would highly recommend this one. Call it my own lesson-learned.
• Socket Set. You’ll probably just need one or two sizes of sockets, but you should get the whole set anyway. You don’t need anything pricey, but you want something with a variety of sizes and lengths, such as this one. FYI, you use the socket to unscrew the oil drain plug, but they come in handy for many other car repairs too.
• Oil Filter Wrench. These come in numerous designs and sizes. If you’re doing more than one vehicle, most likely the filters will be different sizes. In that case, I suggest getting an adjustable wrench/pliers like this one or this one. Otherwise, if it’s just one vehicle, or if you just want to get the exact size socket, find out the diameter of the filter (usually in millimeters) and get the appropriate end cap (it fits on your socket wrench). They look like this one. I recommend just going to an auto parts store and fitting the filter to ones they have there to be sure you’re buying one that works for you.
• A funnel. You really don’t need anything fancy here. Just a funnel to pour the new oil down into the engine.
• Safety glasses. You don’t want the oil splashing into your eyes. Not because it’s hot, but because it’s oil.
• Ramps. I put this at the end of must-haves because for some higher vehicles (like my truck), I don’t need a ramp to get under it. But for cars and vans, or just for convenience, you’ll need ramps. This will probably be your most expensive one-time purchase. I got the Rhino Ramp 8000 at Advance Auto Parts for about $35 after tax, but if you want to order from Amazon, they have them for $46.

One thing to note with the ramp is that it’s heavy duty plastic, not metal, which I like (it doesn’t rust and it’s lighter to carry). However, even though it’s rated at 8,000lbs, and my truck is about 4,400lbs, I did notice some bulging on the sides when changing the oil last time. I think I’ll need to upgrade to the 12000 Extreme model. You don’t want the truck falling on you!

Nice-to-Haves:

The following is a list of items that I found useful for making the process easier:

• Paper towels or rags. You’ll inevitably get oil somewhere when you unplug the oil pan or unscrew the filter, so keep these handy.
• Garbage bags to throw out your waste. I just use old grocery store bags. Keep in mind, though, that you don’t toss out the old oil or the oil filter. You’re supposed to recycle each. Also, the oil containers are considered hazardous waste because they held oil. See what your municipality wants you to do with these items.
• Plastic/newspaper/cardboard to place under the vehicle and prevent oil from staining your driveway.
• Plastic/vinyl/rubbers gloves to keep the oil off your hands. Be careful with your choice, though, because if you touch a hot part of the engine with some gloves, they’ll melt onto your skin.
• A magnet. Sometimes you’ll drop the oil pan plug into the oil and it’s easier to fish it out with a magnet than with your fingers. Ok, maybe I’m just clumsy.

Anything else you guys and gals find useful when changing oil? That’s exactly the items that I use when changing oil, as you’ll see below.

How I Change My Vehicles’ Oil

Since starting to change oil about 5 years ago, I’ve changed oil in a range of vehicles: a Pontiac Grand Am, Volkswagen Passat, Acura TL-S, Honda Ridgeline, Mitsubishi Galant, Chevrolet Malibu and soon to be a MINI Cooper (I’m not driving 60 miles round-trip for an oil change!). Even among those mostly passenger cars, I’ve seen some big differences.

For example, the VW Passat’s oil filter was HUGE. I had to go buy another filter wrench for it. And the Chevy Malibu didn’t have a cannister filter. Instead, I had to unscrew a container at the front of the car and drop in the new filter. And each vehicle’s filter seems to be placed wherever the engineers could find room at the last minute. In the Ridgeline, it’s placed above a spot that makes it impossible to drain cleanly. I always have to use a wad of paper towels to clean it up. And just last week, in a conversation at the auto parts store, I found out the BMW 3-series takes 8 quarts of oil! No wonder their oil changes are so pricey.

So rather than write an article that covers every type of vehicle (and model year), I’ll just state the general steps for changing oil:

1. Drive your vehicle for 10-15 minutes to warm up the oil. You might need to drive longer in the winter. You need the oil to be viscous (liquid) enough that it pours out easily and carries the contaminates with it.

2. Set up the ramps on a level, solid surface. I’ll either change the oil on the grassy area in front of our driveway (to hide oil spills) or on the driveway itself. I get my wife to line up the ramps with each wheel and make sure I’m driving up onto them straight. You don’t want overhang on the sides or front of either because your vehicle could be imbalanced and tip or slide more easily.

3. Set your vehicle’s parking brake! You don’t want that thing shifting at all and putting more pressure on the ramps. Also, turn off your vehicle. You don’t want it to be running while you’re draining the oil or you’ll break it…very badly.

4. Set up your ground covering. Even if you’re changing on the grass, you don’t want to spill oil into the environment and not be able to clean it up easily. Also, it’ll protect your driveway or landscaping from unsightly stains.

5. Locate your oil pan plug. In most vehicles, it’s facing to the rear of the vehicle since manufacturers know you have it inclined on a ramp and it eases drainage. There’s really only one plug down there, but it’s easy to confuse it with a transmission bolt if you’re not familiar with cars. The oil pan will be under the engine, usually in the center when you’re looking up at the engine from below.

6. Place the oil drain bucket under the oil pan. One BIG tip here is that the oil will shoot out a good 1-2 feet in the first few seconds (assuming it’s warmed up sufficiently), simply from the pressure inside. Place the oil pan further back to catch the oil, but make sure there’s still enough of the pan under the plug area itself. You’ll see what I mean when you do it. Just make sure there’s enough plastic or newspaper on the ground to catch the spill, because only the luckiest don’t spill any oil on their first try.

7. Unscrew the oil pan plug: Prior to doing this, make sure you have the right size socket on the wrench, your hands are covered appropriately, and you have your safety glasses on. That plug can get pretty hot to the touch (it probably shouldn’t burn you though), so be careful. My method is to loosen the plug with the socket until I can spin it with my fingers. That only takes about 1 turn of the wrench. Then I use my fingers (covered with a folded paper towel) to unscrew the bolt. Pay attention here because as the bolt is loosened, oil will start dripping out and when it’s almost off, the pressure behind it could push the bolt away unexpectedly. That’s usually when I lose the bolt in the oil pan and have to fish it out (hence the magnet).

8. Let the oil drain. I don’t have a timeframe for draining the oil, but I generally go do something else for about 10 minutes. If it’s windy out, keep an eye on it since the stream of oil gets thinner, it can be blown around more easily and splatter.

9. Plug the oil pan. Since the oil filter in my vehicles isn’t close enough to the oil pan plug, I need to plug up the pan, then move the drain bucket. But your vehicle may vary. When I plug up the pan, I use the same bolt as before. I wipe off any oil, screw it in , and tighten it about one turn with the socket wrench. You don’t want to tighten too much and make it hard to get off the next time. As a note, some vehicles use a washer on the bolt that needs replaced with each oil change. My Acura did, but I got a handful for free from the dealer’s service dept.

10. Drain the oil filter. This is the part I usually dread because it can be messy, depending on the location of the filter. Use your oil filter wrench to loosen the filter, but be careful not to push too hard or risk denting the filter and making it hard to get off. Once loosened, continue to unscrew it slowly by hand while letting the oil from inside the engine and filter drain out. Be prepared for about 1-2 cups of oil to pour out when it’s completely unscrewed.

11. Install the new filter. Wipe off all the oil that leaked on the car parts and around the opening for the filter. Before screwing on the new filter, I recommend rubbing some oil (new or used) on the rubber gasket and inside the threads to make removal easier the next time, and to make for a better seal. Also, you’re supposed to add a bit of new oil into the filter before putting it back on, but I usually don’t because I worry it will leak out when I put it on. Tighten it by hand first. And when you can’t tighten it anymore, use your wrench (carefully) to tighten it just one-half turn more.

Ok, at this point you’ve drained out all the oil, put the plug back in and installed the new oil filter. It’s time to check your work by filling it up with new oil.

12. Pop open the hood and locate the dipstick. Pull out the dipstick (make sure it’s for the oil, not the transmission fluid), wipe it off, put it back in the whole way and pull it out again. Make sure there’s no oil on the stick. If there’s oil, you may have missed a step or not drained for long enough. Put the dipstick back in before the next step.

13. Locate where to pour the oil into your engine. Most engines have a roughly 2″ cap on the engine that shows an oil can symbol, but check with your owner’s manual or dealer first. One of our vehicles actually had me pour the oil in through the dipstick tube (which was a bit difficult).

14. Pour in the oil. Again, I’ll defer to the owner’s manual or dealer on how much and what type of oil to use, but when I’m ready, I just set the funnel in the hole and pour the oil in bottle by bottle. Pour in slowly so the oil has time to go into the engine and not overflow out of the engine or the funnel.

15. Close it up and let it settle for a couple minutes. Before you start up your engine, give the oil a chance to make its way from the engine down to the oil pan. I generally just wait a couple minutes for this.

16. Check for leaks Before starting up, look under the car for new oil leaks to make sure you tightened the oil plug and filter properly.

17. Start ‘er up! Start up the engine, but do not rev the engine! The oil isn’t distributed through the engine yet, so revving the engine could damage it. Just let it run for about 5 minutes.

18. After letting the oil distribute evenly through the engine, move your equipment from under the car and drive the car off the ramp. Move the car to a level spot (not facing downhill or uphill), shut it off and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

19. Check the oil level. After the car sits, the oil will settle down into the oil pan and then you can check the oil level. Pop the hood and pull the dipstick. Wipe it off (you never use the initial reading), put it back in, pull it out and verify the oil reaches the designated marker on the stick (your stick will vary). If you need more oil, then add it at this time, or check back in a few days and try then.

20. Clean up. As I mentioned, you need to recycle the oil. DO NOT POUR THE OIL DOWN THE DRAIN! Dispose of the oil containers and filter as required and supported by your local municipality. Pat yourself on the back for a good job, and hope your car doesn’t blow up in the next few days.

Costs of Changing Your Own Oil

Using the price of items I listed as required equipment above, the cost of one oil change would be:

- Oil. I get Mobil 1 Synthetic from Sam’s Club for $30. Five years ago when I first started changing my oil, a case was only about $20, so for historical comparison, I’ll use an average of $25 per 6-pack, or about $4.20 per quart. The oil will be your most variable cost over the years, but places like Jiffy Lube factor in the price as well. Don’t think they’re keeping their prices the same or using the same quality oil as costs rise. I use 4.5 quarts per oil change, which costs $19.

- Oil Filter. I spend about $4 per filter on average for the Purolator oil filters at Advance Auto Parts.

- Oil Container/Drain. I paid $14 for my container.

- Oil Filter Wrench. I paid $5 for the adjustable wrench on clearance, but I’ve bought other sockets or wrenches until I found one I liked and worked for all my vehicles.

- Ramps. I paid $35 for mine.

- Socket Set. I got my set for free a decade ago, but so you can compare, I’ll say $10 (you can find pretty cheap ones on sale).

- Funnel. $1

- Safety Glasses. I just wear my regular glasses.

TOTAL COST FOR ONE OIL CHANGE: $88 (using synthetic oil). If you used regular oil, it would cost about $78-80 (about half the price for the oil). Recall that the oil and filter accounts for $23, while the equipment is $65. That equipment is a one-time purchase.

For just one vehicle, for one oil change, it seems to just make sense to take the car to a discount shop or even the dealer. But who does all this work for just one oil change?

For two oil changes, the cost comes down to $65 + $8 (2 filters) + $38 (9 quarts of oil) divided by 2, or $55. That’s now the same price as taking it to the dealer. Three oil changes comes down to $45.

After doing at least 15 oil changes myself in the last 5 years, the price comes down to $27 per oil change at the premium price. But a third or more of those oil changes were with regular oil, so now I’ve gotten the price of the oil change down to the discount shop price for regular oil. If you’re using regular oil for your vehicle, you can expect a payback period in less than 12 oil changes, or about 3 years.

Granted, the numbers will vary by your vehicle needs such as amount of oil, the oil grade, regional prices and of course the number of vehicles you’re doing (I was doing 3 at a time for a few years). And you’re not just changing the oil to save money here. You’re doing it because you want to learn more about your car, have a direct hand in the maintenance, and make sure you know how it was maintained.

Manufacturer Warranties

One big disclaimer here is that you must make sure that you aren’t voiding your vehicle’s warranty by maintaining it yourself. Warranty departments like to have records to prove problems aren’t attributable to poor maintenance. Also, when you sell the vehicle, you usually don’t have anything other than receipts to show as maintenance records.

It’s your personal choice to risk the wrath of the dealer’s warranty department. I’ve chosen to risk it myself, but then again, I’m a rebel.

Conclusion

Basically, you need to change your vehicle’s oil about a dozen times to pay back the cost of the materials compared to what Jiffy Lube charges, but you can also save money by getting your equipment used (like the ramps, etc.) or on clearance. I personally don’t care about the cost anymore because I simply don’t trust the mechanics taking the same care as I would with my car.

For those of you who do already change your own oil, let me hear about your experiences, thoughts and costs!

Riches do not equal Prosperity

A few weeks ago, when I learned our house and truck have devalued quite a bit, a personal friend of mine who calls himself “Realist” here a guy called “JiggyPete” who commented as “Realist” (NOT my personal friend “realist” who refuses to punctuate and capitalize) left the following comment:

Ok, the economy sucks. You live in a nearly $400,000 dollar house, own three cars, and are working on a Master’s Degree. Poor you. I don’t honestly think you know what a poor economy is like. Quit whining!

That comment really irked me and I left a harsher reply than I probably should have. However, the comment reminded me of a George Lopez quote that I’ve been saving for the perfect moment…and this one is it, oddly enough:

If you don’t know, George Lopez is an incredibly funny comic who takes Hispanic stereotypes head on in his stand-up acts, TV show and movies. Unfortunately, the TV show was canceled in 2007, but is currently in reruns. So, in one of the episodes, George Lopez said the following to his wife during an argument about money (which they often argued about):

We have a house and 3 cars. Would we be in this much debt if I wasn’t successful?

It fit our situation perfectly. We also had 3 cars and a house, but we also had a huge amount of debt. We overspent on home and car alike, and we’ve finally gotten the latter down to a reasonable loan amount, while selling off our third car recently.

So if you couldn’t guess from the article title, the intent here is that just because we have material possessions, doesn’t mean we are prosperous or successful. One of the 3 cars wasn’t ours, nor is the house. They both belong to the bank.

Putting things into perspective

I do recognize that Realist’s point was to be happy with what we have because it’s so much more than 99% of the world. But I didn’t write the article complaining about the falling values because we want to upsize. Rather, I wrote it to point out that we are not as liquid as we would like. That means if I lost my job, or if we needed to move to another job location, that we can’t sell our house very easily, and we probably couldn’t sell the truck without taking a slight loss.

Also, just because we own a $400,000 home doesn’t mean squat when you see that the main difference between his home in central PA and my own near D.C. is our pool and a different layout. They’re both Cape Cod styles from the 40-50s. While we paid $400k for our home, his cost him around $100,000. So our home is almost the same, but because of its location, cost 4x as much.

I won’t guess too much at salary, but I know we don’t make 4x in combined income compared to him and his future wife, but I’m pretty sure it’s at least double. So Realist definitely has the better deal in this situation, but one thing to remind ourselves of is why we’re in the D.C. area. Realist has very few job opportunities that still pay well in his location (my hometown), while I can easily find a comparable replacement (or better) in under a month if needed. And THAT’S why we’re sacrificing our family connections: mobility and job security. We have to keep reminding ourselves of that because otherwise this area is killing us.

Even more perspective

Ok, so we have 3 cars and a $400,000 house. We’ve illustrated that most of it isn’t even ours. But to put it in even more of a stark contrast, let’s look at comparable homes of some of our neighbors.

While none of our neighbors has a pool, I can still compare our home to a neighbor’s who has a similar lot size and square footage. We bought our home about 4 years ago; they’ve been in theirs for 30 years. And while we paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for our home, they paid $50,000 for theirs (30 years ago). So I can think “We’re doing so well because we have such an expensive home”, but in reality, the guy across the street is living in the same house, but paid an eighth of the price. It’s not a $400k house until they sell it. Until then, it’s just a $50,000 house.

So we have 3 examples of basically the same house, but for 3 widely differing prices: $50k, $100k, $400k. How can I feel prosperous when I’ve paid the most for the same house compared to my friend and my neighbor? I don’t. I just feel blessed that I can still make the mortgage payments.

Conclusion

As you can see, our “$400,000 house” means nothing because it’s all relative to where we live and the average salary in our area. We probably have the same after-tax disposable income as Realist, even though we make more in salary. Someone in Vietnam could say the same thing to him about his $100,000 house and 2 cars (counting his future wife’s). Someone in Zimbabwe could say something about that Vietnamese guy’s “expensive” house. It’s all relative.

What matters is if you’re enjoying yourself. The Zimbabwean could love his life, while I’m very discontent with my own right now. Even the Realist enjoys his life more than I enjoy mine because he’s close to all his friends and family, while we’re at least 2.5 hours away from any of them. Possessions mean nothing if you can’t enjoy them.

Getting a car without earning it

Last week, I announced we were selling our 1997 Pontiac Grand Am to a relative. Well on Friday evening, we battled traffic for 4.5 hours to get to Pennsylvania (normally takes under 3.5 hours) in 2 vehicles to get to Stacie’s parent’s house.

The following morning, we dropped the car off at the notary and stopped at her relative’s house to pick up the check for $1,800. We stayed a little longer to have a chat with the parents while their daughter was sleeping (till noon as usual). If you recall, they bought the car for their 18-year-old, college-bound daughter.

Earning vs Gifting a Car to Your Child

We were a bit upset going up to PA this weekend because we learned that they were planning on keeping “Greenie” (the car) for just a year and then trading it in on something “better” for their daughter. We were under the assumption that she would drive this car into the ground, as it probably has another 50k miles left on it. While chatting, I brought this up (I didn’t mention our distress at the idea) and the dad suggested it was just a thought, but it depended on how well the car ran after her freshman year. They totally expect her to trash the car in the next year. Based on what she’s done to her mom’s car, it’s a valid expectation.

However, the problem that I saw in all of this is that the daughter didn’t earn any of it. But in their eyes, she earned it all just by being in existence. You see, this couple tried hard to have a kid for a long time. Eventually they had “Em” while in their forties. Because they finally had a daughter, they were just so happy that they spoiled her rotten.

“Em” doesn’t have a job, although she does hand-craft some clothing for a certain band she likes and sells them on eBay for a small profit (maybe enough for gas money). She seems like a very respectful daughter, although her parents told us she doesn’t respect property. She doesn’t take care of her stuff, nor their stuff (like their car), and they can’t understand why. Hmm, I wonder.

But the big question here is should “Em” have earned the car by working, or was her parent’s gift justified? They’re also paying for her college education, housing, food, etc. and not expecting her to work at all while in college. Is this the right way to teach her the value of earning a dollar? Do you think there’s a better way to get her to appreciate material stuff?

Still a market for SUVs

J. Money (formerly J. Savings) proved this week that there’s still a market, however small, for SUVs. He sold his Toyota Highlander for a loss after having it up for sale for weeks. The interesting part was the buyer paid $19,000 in cold, hard cash! I can’t imagine walking into a bank with a bag full of Benjamins like that.

Why did he sell? Read the article for the full story (he’s a good storyteller), but basically he wants to shed the expensive car payment and use that money to save towards paying a future car in cash. Same reason I still consider selling my Honda Ridgeline, but now I don’t have a fallback car since we’re selling the old Pontiac.

Congratulations J!

Google not reporting subscriber numbers today

No, I didn’t repulse 1000 readers. Google isn’t reporting Google Reader subscriber numbers this morning for at least CleverDude.com and BuildingNutrition.com. That’s over half of my readers for both sites.

I don’t think all sites are affected (just did a quick scan of a few other PF sites), but if you notice a much-reduced number on your site today, that’s why.

Clever Dude is now officially OLD!

Today is my 30th birthday. I’m not as old as I look (well, the same decade). This means that I am now officially old to the younger generation and thus I have no insight into the problems that kids, teens and twenty-somethings face, right? Yesterday, when I was 29, I could definitely relate to the problems of someone in their twenties, but now I’m too old.

I guess I have to start talking about retirement more. And start shooing the kids off the lawn. Wait, I already do that. Man, I’m old.

Looking back at my Twenties

I constantly feel like everyone else is doing so much more than me. I have friends with beautifully arranged homes. Friends touring remote parts of the globe. Friends starting their families, or even having their third kid. Friends well-advanced and respected in their careers.

But this morning, while sitting on the toilet, I reflected on what I accomplished in my twenties (in no particular order):

• I met my soulmate at age 21. We got engaged when I was 22.
• I got married at 25. Surprisingly, compared to my friends, I was actually one of the first to get married. My parents, however, got married in their early twenties. The sign of the times I guess.
• I ran and finished a marathon at 28. I was slow, but I finished with only 5 months of training (and no running prior to that).
• I visited Ireland twice. Once with a friend and once for our honeymoon. Oh, and I’ve been to Canada which makes 3 international trips total.
• I completed half of a masters degree. Last week was my last class of the summer and exactly half of the classes I needed to take.
• I went skydiving at 22, just before 9/11 happened.
• I graduated from college and got a great-paying job at 22. It took me an extra year as I changed majors in my senior year. And that job was a springboard for getting even more pay once I left due to the knowledge I gained.
• I  attended the Pope’s mass in DC. So now I can skip that if we ever visit the Vatican.
• I (we) bought a house at 26. Just a year after getting married, we bought our first house. Too bad it was near the height of the housing bubble.
• I’ve touched almost a half-million lives through this site. Well, I’m rounding up from about 400,000 unique visitors since I started this site in June 2006. By the way, I was 27 when I launched Clever Dude.

There are hundreds or thousands of other notable instances in the last decade, but I’ll keep those for my stories in future articles. But now that I’m 30, what do I have planned?

Looking forward to my thirties

Well, I’m not actually looking forward to being in my thirties, as age 40 is just on the other end of it. But I do get to look forward to a mid-life crisis where I’m justified in buying an expensive sports car, right? But seriously, here are just the few things I have on tap for the next few years:

• I expect to finish my masters degree when I’m 31 (next year)
• I expect to be debt free (except the mortgage) sometime in my thirties. I’ll be writing a post soon about a change in debt repayment plans, which is why I didn’t give an exact age here.
• We’ll make a decision on having kids. Right now, kids (whether biological or adopted) are on hold until I finish my degree. Also, we’re not sure whether we want to have kids at all, but sometime in this decade we’ll make the decision. I hope.
• Find a job I enjoy. I really don’t enjoy my current job at all, and I really don’t like government contracting either. I have leads on what I think is the perfect job (at least in the IT field) for me, but I’m waiting on a position to open there. Once there, I’d like to stick around for a long time.
• Lose 30lbs, and keep it off. I’m tired of being fat, but I’m also just tired. I need some extra motivation to get up off my butt and achieve this goal!
• Launch an automotive-related site. I have the site all ready for content, but I’ve just been too burned out to write anything. Personally, I like cars more than finances, so I’d like to spend more time on that site in the near future.
• Hit 1 million visitors on this site. At my current rate of growth, I’ll hit that mark in another 1.5-2 years, but I’d hope to get there a little faster.
• Increase side income. I get some decent income from my various websites to help pay down debt, or take a vacation, but I’m always looking to increase that revenue in case something happens to either of our day jobs.

Those are just a few of my goals for the next decade.

What did Stacie get me for my birthday?

I specifically told Stacie I didn’t want any gifts or parties for my birthday, but she went out and got me something anyway. Actually, she got me 3 gifts.

- The most special, and one that I’ve been looking forward to, was chocolate chip cookies. They’re my favorite food of all time, and I easily go through a dozen at a time, as long as I have milk (see weight loss goal above). She made about 4-5 dozen last night.

-. As an unexpected gift, she got me two Wii games:Lego Star Wars and Thrillville. I’m looking forward to some downtime to play these games, as well as our Wii Fit, but with the olympics on, we’ve found it hard to take our eyes off the TV!

Thanks Stacie! And thanks to all you readers for making this site a success. I can attribute some successes in the last 2 years to your own input via comments, guest posts and direct emails. Keep them coming!