Making progress still on getting this loan under control. I have a larger payment coming out later in the month of ~$600. I’d love to get under 37k for the month of August. My reserves are lower than I had hoped with last month’s bike purchase, and some other recent purchases.

I got two flat tires on my mountain bike, rewrapped the handle bars on the road bike, bought some additional accessories, a backup hard drive and some other items totaling around $200.

Were they worth it? Yes. Did I overpay? Don’t think so. Did I need everything at this particular moment in time? Probably not.

So about the above picture. Yesterday, my rear derailleur snapped in half. Not the day I rode 20miles in a day, but the day after I was only a mile away from home and doing like 2mph. It was more an inconvenience than anything, my partner drove my car over so I could get the bike loaded up on the bike rack and didn’t have to suffer longer than necessary in the 100° temperatures that embody summer living in Texas.

Joe Mhalic, one of my inspirations for writing this blog wrote some articles about budgeting recently, using a fictional character Max. I am beginning to realize that just I take home an extra $1100/mo doesn’t mean it’s not advantageous to have a plan with where my dollars are going in advance. I’ve been eating out a lot more which is eating into a substantial part of the difference.

I normally don’t do steakhouses because they’re expensive and I’m not a big steak person. However a few weeks ago we went to one for someone’s going away celebration and between the appetizers, drinks and my main entree I shelled out $120. Then my partner and I went to a birthday party. I didn’t pay the bill (he paid half), but it was at a high end restaurant. For the four of us food and wine totaled around $455. The words too rich for my blood come to mind.

I’ll be in NY (primarily for a wedding) over the next two weeks, look forward to meeting up with old friends and family. This will be right before my next paycheck, so unless I want to use credit I’ll have to be really particular about not spending too much.

My next post will be about budgeting and a plan that works for me. I know I’ve done a lot of bouncing back and forth about different plans. I’m learning from past failures though. Even when I’m bad, I’m not that bad, which is more than I can say for many people. 🙂

I didn’t 100% need a new bike. The $185 road bike I bought from Amazon in April was fine overall. In need of some adjustments, but perfectly ridable and allowing me to get some much needed exercise in. However the more I rode it, the more I felt it was lacking. Felt every little bump in the road, teetering on the edge of a puncture or bent rim. In 4 months ownership, never a case of being stranded or having something go wrong on a ride.

I’m not normally this gentle on a bike and wanted something in all frankness I could rough up a little bit and not bat an eye. So I started looking at Mountain Bikes. First on Craigslist. Messaged a few sellers but none of them even so much as responded to my email. Then there’s the concept of caveat emptor. Last thing I want is to spend $200 on a bike and need to spend $100 to fix it or later discover irreversible damage.

Next I checked out some of the bigger name bike shops. REI was one in particular. I liked what they offered, but the prices were way too high for my liking and they’re had a rash of bad publicity lately. So I decide to look at some smaller bike shops in the immediate area. They’ve all shut down. I expand my radius and see a few that met my criteria but none were open on a Sunday. Typically no Sunday and no late hours go hand in hand. That’s gonna be a problem.

GT Timberline 2.0 Bike : 349.99
Thule Thruway Pro Rack: 79.99

Total: 429.98
Tax: 35.47
Grand Total: 465.45

So yeah almost $500 for a bike. The first day I got it I rode 10 miles on it. Weighed myself and down 4 pounds almost lighter. Granted it’s mostly water weight, but if I keep this up the fat will just melt off me. I did puncture the inner tube though to my dismay. So maybe I get to ride again tomorrow if it’s fixed. If not it’s all the gym for me.

On top of that, I booked a flight to Las Vegas for November (~$310). It wasn’t my idea but I was pretty much peer pressured into going. This will be my 4th “trip” of the year. The Pennsylvania one for an interview and NY mostly for a baby shower don’t really count in my mind. Going to NY again for a wedding September.

I was also faced with the task of making some changes to my car’s audio system. I have an iPhone 5, but originally had a 4 when my system was upgraded. The iPhone cable was able to charge the phone and locally stored music fine. Streaming is hit or miss. Most the time when I go through my Spotify playlist it comes up Error 01. Researched the error and basically I could buy some expensive Bluetooth contraption that may or not work. So instead of using the phone data connection cable (which has two adaptors and disconnects when I nudge it the slightest bit) or buying a new head unit I decided to do a head unit -> RCA -> maniplug connection. Get the cables Wednesday for $~20, hopefully it all works…

One of my dream cars for a while has been the Infinity G series. They offer great performance and a convey a sense of affordable luxury.  Then I checked Fuelly and the mpg figures were abysmal. 20.6 on the high end with mixed driving and 19.4 on the long end. I currently do a lot of stop and go with A/C on full blast averaging 23. My next car should be hovering around 40 and offer some excitement. Thinking 2016 or something on my car undergoes a major meltdown, whichever happens sooner. Also a lofty goal but I’d love to be able to buy it entirely with cash. All speculation though…

Last but not least, life isn’t about just paying off debt. It’s about experiencing the world outside and spending time with people you enjoy, whether they be friends or family. For me too much extreme makes me feel like a slave to money. I literally count every penny and have felt stuck in the house an entire weekend because I didn’t want to spend $50 to do stuff. That’s not healthy and often leads to destructive behavior in the long run.

Couple of different things going on in my life right now.

1. Becoming close to a vegetarian. A lot of things about meat disgust me and more often than not I don’t feel good about myself after eating it. From a digestive standpoint it takes a long time for my body to break it down. I also could stand to lose some weight at 220lbs. I may not be 100% compliant, but I keep reading about all the people who feel better once they’ve integrated more vegetables into their lives. Many have lost weight in the process too. I figure why not become one of them. There are of course other reasons as well. We’ll see how I feel after a couple days.

2. Looking back at some of the people I used to interact with frequently on Long Island in the gay bar scene. Good people, but professionally it does not appear they are making any types of advances. One guy a year older than me works at a local hardware store and I speculate he isn’t making very much money. A girl who is 4 years younger is a cashier at a dollar store. Then my friend with a Bachelors in Business works in a McDonalds. Is it a sign of the times with employment on Long Island? Possibly, some refer to people my age as  part of a long generation. Finished high school after the dot.com bubble burst, started college right around the time 9/11 happened. Then when we completed college, the nation was at war and millions of private sector jobs were gone. Problems compounded on LI as many companies moved to NYC or packed up and went out of state.

I don’t know for a fact what my income would be had I not met my partner or moved, but my take home pay now is 80% more than it was 2011 in New York. Neighbors across the street from my parents are looking to sell their house because they can’t afford it anymore. My aunt on LI has been looking months for a job.

3. This month has been really good for my cash-flow situation. Multiple checks coming in:

• Previous employer last two weeks of work
• Previous employer vacation money
• Previous employer bonus check in mail Saturday – I guess they were feeling generous or forgot about it.
• First week of work at new employer
• Next two weeks direct deposit.

This is the first time I’ve had a good chunk of cash sitting in my account. I plan to keep $3k in my checking at all times and have a significant portion of the rest go to Sallie Mae. This amount will vary based on other priorities at the moment. Did have one expense come up, for our AC unit to be repaired. Shelled out $240 for it, hadn’t been serviced in a year and water was leaking into the upstairs bathroom. I’ve been eating out more, but socializing more as well. It’s a tradeoff I’m trying to shift in the right direction. Threw out some food lately that hadn’t been used. About $20 worth and I know it sounds silly but I feel bad for wasting it.

Overheard on an exercise podcast that one of the best ways to boost testosterone is to get more sleep. This is an area I need to get better at. So going to bed before midnight instead of 1:30. I need to be more rested at my job, especially with so many meetings. Falling asleep is not the right answer.

This month I did double payments.

8/7: 453
8/4: 452.76

Brought the total balance down to 37,989.74. Psychologically I wanted to get this thing under 38k. At the beginning of the year in Month 9 I had 42057 in total debt. Still not backing down, $1k a month is the plan and once I have enough saved even more will be going toward the loan.

Have a trip coming to New York in September for a wedding. That alone was 307.78, my bf will be paying for luggage as we are taking a discounted airline that basically nickels and dimes you for every single thing.

Stopping my Roth IRA contributions for the moment. Invested a couple hundred in a highly volatile stock, which could end up being a brilliant decision down the road or could blow up miserably. 401k is taking off where that was, with the benefit of more diversification, less fees, matching if the company continues to offer it after 3 years and a higher monthly contribution of 274 vs 200.

More to come soon.. 🙂

A Good & Bad Days

Easiest way to explain this is probably to go in chronological order. I preface this story with the fact that I was flying to Philadelphia for a job interview.

Thursday / Friday

I work during the day and leave at about 4 to come home for purposes of getting last minute packing completed, walking the dog and briefly tidy up the house. Right before I leave, my friend asks me what’s on the floor and I tell him a hairball. I think little of it as I’ve seen it before.

Friend picks me up from the airport around 4:45, I have one carry-on bag, a messenger bag. We arrive at the airport before with time to spare. Initial scheduled departure time 7:25 PM. American Airlines has a series of delays and I don’t end up leaving until 10:45pm Central Time. During this time I have several conversations with a recruiter about what will happen should the flight get cancelled. Would the company be reimbursed and if I do need to reschedule for the next day should I even bother as my landing time would be significantly delayed. The key figures at the company would not be available and it would be just a waste for all parties involved.

Flight lands at PHL Airport 3:01am and my interview starts at 8:30. My limo driver was a super nice guy who talked about the meaning of service both in his current day job as well as for his daughter. He knows a lot of people who work at the company and speaks very highly of them. In all his time driving people around he says not one of them had anything bad to say about the owner. I appreciate the heads up information, but am also cranky as heck and would’ve preferred to sleep in the Lincoln Town Car instead. Even at over 315k miles, the car rode like a dream.

I get to the hotel, an older man at the front desks asks who I am, gives me a card and tells me about the complimentary breakfast. Come 4:45AM I get to my room, complete with a king-sized bed, free wi-fi and granite countertops. Brush my teeth, set my iPhone Clock Alarm and wake up at 7:00. Recruiter was hopeful I could sleep in a couple hours, but everything stayed on. I iron the extremely wrinkled suit, dress shirt and slacks.

Meet with several executive in the company, they are all very approachable and had several questions about my background. I also asked them questions to get a better understanding of what some of their short and longer term goals were. Two things I did notice right off the bat. Not one minority (as a black man I like to see at least one other person of ‘color’) other than the cleaning people and most of the people there were older. By older I mean what would be my parents age or older. It’s great that a company retains its talent for long periods of time, but it can be a bit intimidating when the gap is soooo huge. The slightly updated 1970s vintage headquarters did not impress me and felt more like a makeshift office than something completed. Our rented office in Dallas looks 10x better than it. I was treated to lunch, then met with a realtor.

The realtor was probably the youngest guy I met, I would put him at early 40s. He showed me a couple different properties in the suburbs as well as they numerous places to go shopping. The only place that really wowed me was on the higher end of our price range. A good 70k more than our current home, though it was complete with modern furnishings, energy efficient and brand-spanking new. The only problem is the place couldn’t be built until October. I would have to use their lender to top it off. Something about the area didn’t click with me. Maybe the lack of a night life, the key highlight of the area being some of the shopping spots like Wal-Mart, WaWa and Pep Boys. I get a thrill from variety and this place didn’t really do it for me. He was kind enough to take me to the Verizon store for a phone charger and allowed me to use his corporate discount.

Kind of awkward timing, but while meeting with the realtor, I get a call from a place I interviewed with weeks before and they made me an offer right back in the Dallas area. The offer was very competitive and more than I ever made before. A few hours later in the day I get another offer from the company I interviewed for. Not horrible but 24% less than my other offer. Two offers in one day, that has never happened to me before. I’m used to going through an entire interview process and not getting any offers.

That night It’s pouring down heavy rain, I walk to the nearby Mexican place to grab some enchiladas, head to bed finally and get a good night’s sleep for once.

Saturday:

I miss the cut-off for breakfast since my limo driver is 15 minutes early. I do fall asleep in the car and before I knew it I was at the airport early. Grab a big breakfast, plane takes off and lands on-time.  No issues. Friend picks me up, stop at another friend’s house, grab dog and get to relax for a bit.

One of our two cats has gotten progressively worse. She won’t eat or drink water. At this point I’ve grown concerned. I’ve seen her sick before but never this bad. I thought about the vet, but get very emotional about these kinds of things. I record video of the cat drinking water and show what she looks like. I put food up to her face and she just turned around and wouldn’t eat it. Her regular vet was closed and I really wasn’t sure what to do.

Sunday Night / Monday:

Spend the day cleaning up the house. Cat still isn’t eating or drinking. I get even more nervous. I pick my bf up from the airport at 1am Monday morning. I’m tired at that point but am trying to be supportive so I did it without complaining. He sees the cat and says immediately we need to go to the Animal Hospital. We go to a local place, me riding with her in the back seat. She was meowing a lot, I could tell there was something wrong with her. Temperature is low (~96°F), blood work done and given some subcutaneous fluids to put some nutrients in her body. They give us some appetite boosting medication. We leave the vet around 5 and come home.

I’ll spare the details, but less than 5 hours later next day we lost her.  Probably the most emotional day ever of our nearly 3 year relationship. I was powerless to do anything to make him feel better about what happened. I drove to the pet clinic place to pay out final respects. I wonder if I could’ve caught it sooner. I did try to feed her several times even putting her face right on top of the bowl and nothing. Try not to cry when I see pictures of her. Maybe she’s just a cat, but a cat that I’ve bonded with and looks the same as the one I grew up with from around birth to age 7. Below is a picture from almost 2 years ago when we first moved to Texas. I’m really going to miss Odie.

Monday Evening
Asked a question about compensation and ended up getting a bump over my original offering. 5% in the door without working I’m down with that. The last 6% I got from my current employer was only after nearly a year on a much smaller base. I’m focused on doing good work and maintaining excellence in everything I do. This development may allow me to actually stay true to my goal of having no more student loan debt by the age of 32. I plan to put $1k a month toward it, max my Roth IRA and do 401k up to the match. Have about $200 in my Roth now and really not sure how to invest it properly. Getting a 50%+ bump in salary, can’t complain even though parts of the job will be new to me. I call it a work in progress once I can figure all this stuff out. ..

At times, the money spent on my student loans seems like it’s been put in a giant black hole, never to be seen again. I went back and took a look at my transaction history.

My first student loan payment was made on November 6, 2007. Monthly payments at the time were 289.79, not the 452.76 I currently pay. So my payments are technically 56% higher than they were when starting this loan and my monthly income is close to the same. Closer to 93% more if you consider I’m paying $600/month now. That’s sort of insane.

I’ve paid a total of $18,170.48 in payments, 8002.31 of which went toward interest during that time. 10,168.17 toward the principal. Original Loan disbursement amount was 46,769.87. Current balance is 38,887.89. I’ve paid 7881.98 of the principal down. Quite frankly I’m tired of keeping these loans around. 

Putting the numbers all together one sheet makes things much clearer. I advise others to do the same. It raises awareness of actual cash outflow and the sense of urgency.

Paid nearly a $1000 down in a month. Percentage-wise only about 2.5%, but it’s better than the 452 I typically pay. It’s been a struggle not going to lie. I feel like the debt is the equivalent to modern-day slavery. Instead of a race of people oppressing us by denying what are now considered basic inalienable rights…as long as I have this debt I’m missing out on opportunities to invest and build up my overall net worth.

Still under $39k is progress. I keep the original amount in the name of this blog for the very reason of reminding me how far I’ve come. On the principal amount I had about $1800 of interest last year. It may not sound like a not, but if you’re looking at 5400 worth of payments in a year roughly, the interest at this stage is about a 33% of that. Then with Income-Based Repayment all that interest for the last year got rolled back into the principal amount. So it’s like a vicious never-ending cycle.

Still on track to pay the $600/mo I’ve been paying and more as my budget allows. That still puts me close to 6 years (age 36) before it’s paid off. I’m not going down without a fight on this goal of being  out at 32 though. Fight, fight, fight! 😉