Did you perform the maintenance on you car or did you have it done for you?
I recently started doing all maintenance and repairs on my car and the savings are incredible. A few friends make fun of me for spending a few hours here and there doing my own brake jobs and tune ups, but until the value of my time reachs $85-$100/hr, I can't justify taking the car to a mechanic (unless its something that requires an expensive tool).
Also, being able to perform my own car maintenance allows me the ability to drive a real beater (87 Honda Accord) and not get taken to the cleaners on maintenance and repairs...stuff WILL and DOES break on a true beater. But I paid less than most ppl pay for a TV and my maintenance and repairs expense which is parts only (and a tool here and there) is well below what my friends pay when their BMWs and Infinities need a brake job, or a head light replaced. LOL, the headlights on my friends BMW went out and he took it to the dealership...they wanted $110 to replace them...hahaha...cool car buddy.
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I like the fact that you bumped up your savings rate to "catch up". This is a key part in setting and meeting financial goals that I think most ppl ignore. Most people come up with a nice round figure that they (think) they will need to have at a certain age in order to retire. When something doesn't go your way (home maintenance goes over budget, stock market is not performing) it is imperative to make up the ground...otherwise you will end up at retirement age having not met your savings goal...and to chalking it up to "bad luck" is a displacement of blame. IMO. so kudos to you...I enjoy(ed) your blog...just need more posts.
Great outlay
Commenting by HaloScan
