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Journal Em Emalb's Journal: The Em report 20

Journal by Em Emalb

So: here's what our hero's been up to:

El Wifo is in the process of buying a new car. An 06 Honda Accord EX-V6 to be exact.

Holy fucking crazy interest rates these days batman!

I bought my truck a little over 2 years ago, at an interest rate of 1.9%.

They initially offered a rate of almost 7 percent. WTF? She has great credit too.

So we're researching different routes, no effing way we pay that much juice.

Other than that, we are looking to buy a new house. New construction even.

It should be pretty nifty. That's a few months down the line, but we've got a ton of stuff to do to the current house so we can sell it.

It should be fun to watch me get off my lazy ass and actually do these things though.

Anyway, that's about it. Still playing lots of poker, still hanging out. George, good hear your family is safe. Things will work out dude, I know this. You'll be alright, so will Joe and Angie. It's hard, but you've got a ton of folks rooting for you.

How about the rest of you? How you doin?

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The Em report More

The Em report

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  • Check out what Greenspan and then Bernanke have been doing to Prime the last few years [moneycafe.com]. Little of 2 years ago put you at the floor when the Fed was trying to pull us out of the recession by creating money supply. Since that worked (economic growth had been pretty strong from '03 - '05) they started to bring it up in an attempt to corral inflation. The problem: a lot of that growth in the last few years has been in real estate. I mean, why not? If mortgage rates where dirt cheap (as they too are tied t
    • Yeah, I dig the interest rate thing. I understand it even.

      We're in a damned if you do, damned if you don't economy.

      And that blows moose cack.

      Anyway, almost halfway home, a few more hours and I'm outta here.

  • ...Nothing, you idiots! Dr. Z's dead! He's locked in my basement!

    There are three things working against you on that Accord:

    1. The rising tide of the prime rate. I got the same shock on my house
    2. When you bought your truck, The Big 3-ish weren't just addicted to incentives like rebates and 1.9% rates, they were like junkies hitting rock bottom. Chrysler had a bit of a relapse with this summer's round of "employee pricing" (which isn't working, by the way), but everybody else is trying their level best to cle
  • If you think cars are getting bad, housing is getting worse. Get that contract ASAP before the fed decides to raise rates again!
    • Yeah, this situation sucks. :( Here I am a year out of college and with a decent job, and I am hoping to move out of my folks' place in the next 12 months.
      • Let me add to the above that it's extra-hard, since I decided to buy a new car back in May before I left my old job as I worked at a Toyota dealership and got a nice discount on a Toyota Yaris. I wanted a good car to drive back and forth to the new job as it's 4x the distance from where I live now.
      • I got out of school when the .com bubble burst. I had to live in an apartment for several years before I got my house... but I did get a bitchin interest rate: 30 year, not changing, 4.725% Its so low that when people call me up to try and give me the "we'll save you money by getting you a lower interest rate", I tell them the rate and they say "Wow, that's a good deal. Guess we can't help you".
        • Wow, 4.725% is awesome. I was hoping to save up for a downpayment on a house while still living at home (and some $$ for furnishings too) and avoid paying rent somewhere altogether. However, I do pay some rent to my parents to justify my living at home. I suppose I might as well just get an apartment and get out of there - they have been driving me nuts lately. :(
  • Yikes.

    Not much here. By which i mean, yeah, everything. Too much to do.

    Still trying to organise shelving in the living room. Might buy a desk this weekend and prime and paint it. Running a fever again.

    Interest rates. *sigh* I mistypes that as inertest rates the first time, then realised that they're anything but inert.

    Bills to pay, electric co. to argue with, need to pick up some more movies to watch.

    s
  • We're crawling out of the debt hole, and shouldn't have a car loan ever again. Borrowing money to purchase an asset whose values plummets like one of Cheney's hunting buddies is a mistake I'd care not to repeat.

    New construction can be a great experience - the wife and I did that a couple years ago (although we were only in the house for 11 months before a new job neccesitated a move), and will probably do again in the future. Just be on top of the details, be prudent about "upgrades", and spend wisely on
    • re: new car

      Jen has driven her 97 cavalier into the ground, it's time for a new one. She's been super patient, but right now she's driving my truck to work since I work from home, but it's getting to the point that it's a real hassle if I need to go into the office or something.

      Re:poker

      I play on poker stars mainly, with an ocassional foray into party poker's horrid site.
      • One recommendation I'd like to make is, if you're going to a dealer for a Honda, to check out the certified-used vehicles. We got a '99 Honda Odyssey when our twins were about to be born, and at the time it had ~40,000 miles on it. The dealership guaranteed the vehicle for 12 months, and it's still rock-solid reliable 100,000 miles later. Hondas rule.

        Party Poker is an interesting site. I started playing there in 2004, and stopped sometime early last year. On the anniversary of my signup in both 2005 an
  • Pancakes Emmy baby! Pancakes!

    Okay, so I burnt the first couple, but yo uget that when you're drunk.

    Pancakes! Yum! 8^)

  • Bah. Had a root canal this morning. Been laying around the house watching Animaniacs dvds and sucking on ice chips. Still tender and a little sore about 6 hours later. Oh well.
  • I went in and told my guys that I wouldn't accept a rate above X%. They gave me a rate of X-0.2% I can't remember what it was, but it was a damn good rate at the time. Most dealerships that aren't so busy they are turning away business will work with you to get you to buy the car. You do have to be willing to walk out without the car however (or use that poker face to make them think you are willing to.)
  • I've got a '99 Accord that's been working very well for me since I bought it in 2001. Went to an Ed Voyles dealership, over in Marietta, if you've checked out that area. They even had a computer set up in the dealership for customers to check out Edmunds.com, KBB.com, and Carfax. Very good deal

    I pre-arranged financing of my own from a credit union, and got a good rate. Challenged them to give me a better rate at the dealership, and they did. Paid ahead of schedule for a couple of years, turned around and re

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