Somewhat Z related...
 

I'm heading off to the dealer tonight to kill off the extended warranty.

Anyhow, I could then basically 'suspend' my payments until it "catches up" - allowing me to apply what I would normally pay, to credit card debt, wiping that out all that much faster... ;)

Not that anyone really cares, but, I've been going on a massive debt-payoff crusade...lol...

That, and with the turbo kit, and supercharger kits nearing release, I doubt I'll be able to prevent myself from installing one or the other, which will kill any warranty I have on the drivetrain (which was the main reason I got the warranty)...which, until I get an induction kit, I still have the factory warranty until 3yr/36K, which I should know by then if it's worth keeping/modding...and might even be paid off by then...lol

Good luck on your crusade; those cards are a real killer once you start to sink instead of swim.

Don't we have a 5 year powertrain warranty?

Could be, dunno. Either way, I had a 6yr/75K everything warranty, for $1200.

They said it'd be pro-rated...which I said, it's not even outside the factory warranty, how's it pro-rated?

He (finance manager) kind of talked in a circle...

I'll get it hammered out tonight. This is the same guy that was trying to sell me Simonize treatment and teflon interior crap.

If it is "pro rated" and you haven't dipped into the extended warranty aspect then I'd assume you would get a full refund. But things never work out the way they should lol

Good luck on the pay offs man! I have been debt free for 3 years now. If I have it I OWN IT! No payments anywhere. I have found that it is much less stressful and very blissful to know that I don't have to make payments to anyone. It's much easier to just wait a little while to get what I want when I have cash. You get better deals, and usually get more time to think about your decisions and purchases. Makes everything work better and in your favor.
As for the turbo or charger, I prefer chargers. Turbos have to spool up and with the amount of revs we use that can be a real bummer. They have come a LONG way since I owned my last one, but it was exactly that. After owning and installing several chargers they are what give me grins. Nitrous is a great thing to, but for street and road course cars it's not an option really.

Likewise, my old Corrado was supercharged and I loved every minute with that car. Supercharger's the way I'll go here, too.

I feel u. I hate credit cards myself. But whenever I go too long paying cash. My credit score drops. So if I need to make a big purchase? The rate goes up! :(
U need to keep something active. Which I really hate.

Anyway, I really wish u good luck on wipin that debt out Kannibul. :)
I sold my G35 to wipe out debt n the remainder of what was left is what I'm using to buy my Z in dec. Plus I'm saving. It would hav been nice to have my G and my Z. But I still have an altima 3.5se. I luv the vq35 so I guess I will just stillen mod the altima like I had the G35 coupe?
Hopefully by dec I will have saved enough to buy my car outright??
I'm thinkin of takin some money out for mods n finance around $11grand

I think it's 3 years, 36K miles.

You're WAY better off paying as much as you can, as soon as you can, rather than "saving up to pay it off later".

Especially with credit cards. Those things cost you money daily depending on your balance from the previous day * (APR/days in year) = daily interest amount added to your balance...per day!

Rinse and repeat each day.

For example, if you have a 10K debt, 10% APR, tacks on $2.73 on day 1 of your billing cycle for an end of day balance of $10,002.73, the next day it costs you, $2.74, for an end of day balance of $10,005.47...rinse/repeat...

That's also why, if you pay off a credit card and have a zero balance, you end up with a balance the following month...because the accumulated interest isn't "shown" until the next billing cycle, however, it is calculated and added on DAILY.

It's also better to pay NOW rather than save up, because then you can't be drawn into buying something and delaying the payoff of debt.

For the record I'm not knocking the debt free life, I think it's an awesome thing to be, but I do have a question. How does one buy a house like this?

Personally, I dont think credit is the devil if used properly by responsible people. As a kid (18) I did some dumb things with credit that ended up taking me years to fix, now it's fixed and I learned my lesson I have things on credit (house, car) even have a credit card (but I dont actually use it anymore, it just happens to be my oldest line of credit so I refuse to close it). I think buying things in cash is awesome, but what about buying a $150,000 house for you and your wife(or husband, depending on the person).

-William

Well, in a nutshell, you can't unless you have a pile of money laying around that happens to be the same as the house you plan to buy (or more).

My point is to get rid of the debt. Then I'll have enough money coming in that I won't need a credit card - I could either buy it outright, or, save easily and get it within a reasonable amount of time.

IF I can manage to stick with it, I'll have my house paid off by the time I'm 39, in addition to any/all other debt, and I'm 31 now. Bought the house in 2005 for 30yr term...

Holy crap batman on having the house paid off that fast, that is awesome. I wish you luck with it and if you have any secret tips on how you managed to pull it off, pass them on to your fellow Zers.

-William

2 incomes, no kids.

Use Microsoft Money, input all your incomes and your bills.

I have 3 checking accounts. One for income deposits and electronic payments, one for expenses / purchases (gas, groceries, starbucks, eating out, movies, etc), and one for unbudgeted expenses (ie, starbucks, eating out, movies) - weekly, we transfer $XYZ that covers our budgeted amount for groceries and gas. What we don't spend on groceries and gas, goes into unbudgeted. Unbudgeted covers anything "extra".

It sounds like a pain, and in a way it is, but, it also forces you to realize what you have and what you DON'T have...and makes you a lot more stingy on buying something.

Using Microsoft Money, you can project out future income and bills - I have mine currently clocked out to the end of next year, which helps in knowing where those extra checks will hit, and keeping everything above $0. We also have a "Buffer" line item (for us, $600 in income/deposits, $100 in expenses, $0 in unbudgeted) - to help cover anything that we "oops" on.

In addition:

Bought a house that was literally 1/2 what they approved us for.

Last December, I refinanced our Civic for as much as we could get, was originally set up on a balloon payment after 48 months, and it had higher than a 10% APR, refinanced it, got a lower APR (around 6%), did it for 5 years for the most I could get from the bank - used the "overage" to pay off my motorcycle (which also had an APR over 10%). This reduced our expenses immediately, which I started rolling to my Credit Card (APR over 10%), which after that, will go to her card which had a higher balance, but lower APR (and higher min. payment)

I also have (and will) use this years tax return. I also found out I misfiled my previous 2 years taxes, and refiled them, getting a lot more back - enough to pay for my credit card, then allow me to fill it back up, and now it's half paid off again (due to payments, not tax returns)

Lastly, I CLOSED our credit card accounts - this locked the interest rates. I still have to respond to the credit card company when they send a notice of change, and declare that I'm not interested in raising my interest rate (duh?)

Not a lot of people know they can close a credit card account while it has a balance and it DOES NOT hurt your credit score.

Even though I bought the Z, I'm still chucking a good amoutn of money to the credit cards - more than my Z payment and civic payment combined...but, I also don't have cable tv at home, or a phone at home (cell phone is a pay as you go as well - it's cheaper if you don't talk/text ($10/mo vs $??/mo!)), and my wife and I car pool, which saves quite a bit, when you think about it (we work close to eachother, and drive the civic which gets decent mileage)

Anyhow...I'll spill more if anyone's interested...

I totally agree with u n I'm leaning toward that mentality. But polarity has a point as far as when it comes down to buying property n needing credit. My credit is decent. I'm 710. Tryin to get at least 720 to 750 by time of purchase. I was thinking if I take a 10k finance at 6% n pay it off in a few months I might maybe be able to boost my credit further?
N by taking the partial loan. I can do a few small mods. Springs, sways, intake, head full exhaust.?
I'm not even sure... I gotta make up my mind by dec.
Respectfully, thanks guys for your input and advice. It will be taken into careful consideration. :)