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Winter Has Arrived

November 23, 2022 I had been putting this off for a few weeks/months now, optimistic that Fall might stretch on a little bit longer – but this past week’s winter weather brought with it a reality check, it’s time to replace the tires on my vehicle. I’ve just started to research pricing at local tire shops and trying to narrow down which tire choices will be the best value – both in related to cost and performance in wet/winter weather. I’ve also been checking some of the retail stores, Costco in particular. Unfortunately, in my situation I know I will have another added cost associated with the tire replacement, an alignment. My current (worn) tires have some toe wear – or wear that is on the inner edge of the tire, more excessive than the rest of the tire. An alignment should fix this but will come with the added cost. What is slightly complicating my cost comparisons is that some of the places I have found the best tire prices at don’t offer alignment services (i.e., Costco). So, I have been looking at prices for tires and alignment at the same place – which typically offer a slight discount on the alignment with purchase of the tires, compared to purchasing the tires at one place and an alignment at a second place. One other factor is coming into play, and I am hoping it works toward my advantage, are manufacturer’s rebates and Black Friday. Right now, there are several manufacturers that have their rebates posted through the end of the year, and an a few of the shops offering additional discounts related to Black Friday. My goal over the next couple days is to finish my research and cost comparisons so that I will be able to take advantage of any of the sales/deals – and slightly lessen the impact to the checkbook. You might also be interested in As the year comes to a close, so does Season 14 of Project Money. In preparation for writing our final blog post we reflected over what has occurred over the last 6 months and the strides our family has made. Below, in no particular order, are a few of the highlights from our journey: In the last week we had to take Robin’s car, a 2019 VW Atlas, in for a couple of recall notices we had received. Nothing completely out of the ordinary and wouldn’t have any out-of-pocket costs – so it wasn’t something that we had put much thought or effort into – outside of scheduling the appointment. Unfortunately, what we anticipated being a ~1 hour visit ended up being 5+ hours and spurred a larger discussion. One of the topics we had mentioned in our posts from earlier this year was an employee stock purchase plan offered by Robin’s employer. We have never participated in any stock purchase plans before through our employers but being a bit more vigilant as part of Project Money, we decided to give the program further consideration. Being part of Project Money has pushed our family to take a more active role in managing our finances, necessitating weekly conversations that have spurred growth from both educational and fiscal perspectives. One of the topics we had discussed was micro investing, investing small sums of money in fractional shares of stock or ETFs. With Thanksgiving behind us, the countdown to Christmas has “officially” begin. This year, as part of our Project Money journey, we have been planning to approach things a bit differently when it comes to our holiday budgeting. I had been putting this off for a few weeks/months now, optimistic that Fall might stretch on a little bit longer – but this past week’s winter weather brought with it a reality check, it’s time to replace the tires on my vehicle. I’ve just started to research pricing at local tire shops and trying to narrow down which tire choices will be the best value – both in related to cost and performance in wet/winter weather. I’ve also been checking some of the retail stores, Costco in particular. Over the last few weeks, we have been working to refocus, and get back to some of the basics as we start to head into the end of year holiday season. Over the past few weeks and months, I had seen several news reports about I Bonds, usually with a corresponding endorsement of their attractiveness as an investment in today’s market. I’ll be honest, my only experience with bonds was a savings bond that I received as a child – and I can remember waiting for what seemed like an eternity until I (and the bond) were old enough to cash in. After that I haven’t given them much thought until the past couple weeks. We have reached the point of the year where we have one foot firmly planted into heating season and thought we would reflect on what energy saving tips we have used previously and are currently using to help reduce our bills. 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