by Vicky Monroe
Excellent news and unhealthy information! Our Fiesta died after reaching almost 200,000 miles. It might not begin up anymore and our mechanic mentioned the repairs would price greater than the automobile was value, so we must always simply put money into a used automobile.
However the excellent news is that we had been capable of purchase a low-mileage used automobile that solely price a bit greater than our most popular $15,000 price range. In our space, sedans aren’t very fashionable. We couldn’t discover a sedan that match the price range and mileage we had in thoughts. All of them had method too many miles or had been luxurious sedans that had been $5K to $10K too costly.
We Settled on a Chevy Trax
Fortunately there have been quite a lot of subcompact SUVs available on the market, together with a pleasant three-year-old Chevy Trax, which is what we ended up going with. We solely paid $16,500 for it and negotiated a free brake job into the acquisition as a result of they sounded just a little squeaky. It solely has about 25,000 miles, which we’re pleased with. Clearly we paid money, which felt nice! It’s so good to have the cash for an enormous buy already earmarked so that you don’t should stress.
Imagine it or not, the Trax’s MPG is about the identical as our previous Fiesta. It tracks the MPG on the dashboard and we’ve been averaging about 37. I’m guessing it’s because we drive primarily on backroads, so there isn’t quite a lot of stopping and beginning and we don’t go too quick.
Insurance coverage is a contact extra at $30 monthly. However we additionally modified our home-owner’s insurance coverage to decrease it by about the identical quantity, so it’s just about a wash. We’re excited to have the ability to sleep at the back of the automobile to economize on inns after we go on street journeys to go to household!
New Job Might Require a Transfer
I needed to get your opinion on one thing else occurring in our lives. My companion is vying for a promotion to a different division, however the brand new job might require a transfer. The said wage vary of the function reveals that it could possibly be a 40% pay improve over my companion’s base wage. And that’s if my companion solely earns on the bottom finish of the wage vary. It’s attainable that even greater pay could possibly be negotiated.
It might’ve been much less of a pay bounce if bonuses had been nonetheless coming in, however we’ve gotten nothing because the modifications to the compensation construction. And sadly, we don’t see that altering primarily based on how the bonuses are calculated. This new function doesn’t have as a lot bonus potential, which is why the bottom pay is way greater.
Though we must promote the home and probably hire an house or purchase a brand new place, this looks like a possibility we must always not move up primarily based on the wage improve. Do you all agree that one of these pay bump is just too laborious to move up?
Value of Dwelling in New Location Is Low
Lease costs for small flats within the new location are solely round $700 monthly, so it’s a equally low price of dwelling space. It’s in the identical state, nearly three hours away. If we didn’t wish to hire, we might additionally purchase a house for the same quantity or probably even much less. I’m open to downsizing and placing a number of the cash we make from our dwelling sale into retirement to additional us alongside in our different monetary objectives. What do you all assume?
Clearly nothing is ready in stone. Proper now there’s a hiring freeze, which is why interviews can’t proceed but. It looks like hiring freezes happen yearly at this firm, in order that isn’t regarding. It’s going to finish in about two months, so we must always know extra then. However my companion has been actively shadowing within the division and having some constructive conversations concerning the new function. So likelihood is good that there can be a constructive consequence. The one hurdle is probably having to maneuver to the brand new territory. It’s attainable we might negotiate to remain the place we’re, however we don’t need my companion to lose the function simply due to logistics.
I’d love your ideas!
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Vicky Monroe is a contract private finance and life-style author. When she’s not busy writing about her favourite cash saving hacks or tinkering together with her price range spreadsheets, she likes to journey, backyard, and prepare dinner wholesome vegetarian meals.
