zoom-zoom

Looks like I'm in the market for a car. It seems that most any job I take will require a commute of 30-60 minutes each way. I went car shopping with my dad on Saturday, and started winnowing out the cars I don't care for. Sorry Honda, Toyota, and (All American Cars)! Mazda and Subaru are in the front-running. I'm still debating over new vs. used. It really depends on how long I plan on keeping the car. If I keep it, say, 12 years, then buying new saves me money in repairs over the long haul. If I keep it 4 years, buying used gets me a lower total cost, factoring in depreciation. All the cars my family's ever had lasted about 12 years, barring unforseen destruction from trees falling on them. But who knows where I'll be in 4 years? A car that's suitable for me, a single guy getting ready to go completely independent might not be suitable for me, a young married guy trying to make a down payment on a house. Trying to think down the line like that gives some perspective to the whole affair. If I can get even a few months out of the beater 1992 Crown Victoria with a beat-up exterior we've got, then my financial situation looks a lot better, as I will have paid off my debts and saved some money. That gives me more room to negotiate a good deal. The car is ugly as sin, drives like a huge ungainly boat, and chews through gas, but all it needs to be in good running order is some fluid changes and new brake pads. That's about $50 worth of materials. Its maintenance costs are skyrocketing (new transmission, new top end, new exhaust system in the last few years.), and the gas prices are nasty, so it's not a good long-term solution. But it should be able to get me by until I'm on stable footing. The biggest issue with the Crown Vic is that it failed its last emissions test. It passed the year prior, so I'm not sure what the problem is. Either way, $450 waives the emissions standards. That's almost the value of the car. I've been getting a crash course in all things financial lately. Tithing, savings, taxes, retirement funds, budgeting, car payments, car loans, car pricing and negotiation (insanely complex), expenses, insurance (medical, auto, life), and housing costs. I've been learning how to work a spreadsheet as well. I've gotten a feel for how all the variables interrelate, and have looked at my options given specific salaries. Now I just need to find out what my actual salary will be. Which means I need a job offer. And some informed advice from people I trust to know about the IT industry. And I need to start measuring my actual expenses. I've got some projected expenses for the next few months, but I'm sure that they're not reflective of the actual totals. Time to get comfy in Quicken, and start saving receipts. Well, doing something with them other than stuffing my wallet to overflowing. My new new new resume is getting mucho positive feedback. This is good. My interview on Thursday was with an IT staffing service trying to figure out where I'd be a good fit for one of their clients. The interview itself went well, but the client they're suggesting at the moment would only be a good fit if what they need is a Java/PHP guy as opposed to a PHP/Java guy. Right now that is ambiguous. And I think that the salary the recruiter quoted me was a lowball offer. I could probably do better elsewhere. I need more feedback on that though. This coming week is going to be important. I'm going to start hammering my contacts for information. I need to get interviews out of these people. Once I do that, I'm golden. On every job I've ever been offered, the interview was offered only grudgingly. But once I actually got to talk to the folks I'd be working with, the tone of the conversation changed dramatically and the offer came swiftly. Time to jam my foot in the door.