2011 Oxygen Sensor and Water Pump for Camry
2011 Tires for the Old Camry
2012 New Laptop
2012 New Mattress
2012 Brakes for Mini-Van
2013 Cell Phones for a new Provider
2013 Tires for the Mini Van
2013 What will the next thing be?
The expenses cycle never ends as many things need replacing and others are needed to save some dollars. The list above is a small breakdown of the things I needed to replace in the past 2 years that I can remember. Whenever I feel positive about saving some extra dough something almost always comes up. What is wrong with this picture? What can be done to eliminate the dreaded cycle with expenses affecting our lives? Maybe it helps to have a plan in place to cover the future needs and wants. As soon as I buy the tires for the minivan, should I begin to save for the next set of new tires in 2 years or is that considered going overboard. I will take the new purchase price of about $400 and divide that by 24 months, which gives me a monthly amount of about 17 dollars.
Should I have a replacement fund for everything in my life or is that going overboard as well? What if there isn’t enough money to cover all the replacement funds, on top of retirement funds, emergency funds, and college funds. What would somebody do then? Increase your income is my only answer.
It may seem like a lot of whining but there is something to ponder behind the madness going on in my head. If I eliminated a car and found a job where I can walk to work I will eliminate a lot of unnecessary expenses. I will also save on gas and insurance costs, but my time will take a major hit as commuting by foot takes added time. Maybe I can invest in a cool road bike to slash my walking commute by a third. Let me not get ahead of myself as I first I need to find a job in my town. Ha Ha
Sacrifice now for a better tomorrow is a way of life that needs to be taken seriously by people. A little here and there will not do much to improve your situation, but if you consistently apply this mentality you will win big later. Keep pouring on the focus to better all situations and you will be a part of the secret society, the one I just made up in my mind. LoL
How do you sacrifice to win big later? How do you handle the cycle of expenses?
I like to think optimistically in this life for the most part, but when things like the list above happen to strike unexpectedly I tend to say what in the F— is going on, out loud from time to time.
Comment if you have a good luck or bad luck in recent times with random unexpected expenses.
Rich Uncle EL
Right now…we're starting out…and working on the emergency fund as well as paying up some of our debts (almost done there…then we can concentrate on the emergency fund and then the replacement account).
Back in a day when I was single….I had 2 accounts….one was the rainy day fund and one was the oh sh!t fund. The second fund was for the stuff that you know needs to be replaced…tires appliances….repairs…but then I was also stupid enough to have that emergency Visa….errrr.
My formula for the second account wasn't very big but it really did help out when it came to replacing tires (which I need to do here soon for both our cars). I also just kept these two funds in a bank account across town with no atm access.
Yes you have to have emergency accounts to cover us from catastrophe. I have to find the patience for all these replacement funds. Thanks for the comment.