Monthly Archives: October 2023

Repair or Replace?

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My Subaru is in the shop.  My beloved 2012 Outback with 107,000 miles on it.  I took it in Friday for a scheduled service (a major service, which was already going to come with a four digit repair bill), and they discovered a few more things on the verge of failure.  It’s going to be expensive.  Expensive enough that it made me think about whether it was worth fixing, or if it would make more sense to replace the car.

Ultimately, I decided to make the repairs, despite the price tag.  My Subaru is paid off.  And while a nice new car sounds appealing to my senses, it is not appealing to my wallet, especially with car loan interest rates looming around 7% or higher.  And even to replace my Subaru with a car of equivalent age and mileage would cost more than twice the cost of the repair.  Although I originally bought the Subaru used, I know it has been well taken care of for at least the last six years.  The tires on it will be good for a couple more years.  It’s already set up with a trailer hitch and wiring to be able to tow my little camper.  So I’ll have a big outlay of cash for the big repairs now, but then my car should be good to go for another 100,000 miles.  Or at least until I retire and my needs change.  If I were to buy a new car now, it likely wouldn’t even be paid off before I retire.

A really huge car repair bill can give you pause.  Especially when it’s an older car with a lot of miles.  It would have been easy for me to walk away and start searching for a replacement.  But the reality is that my old Subaru is of more value to me than it is to anyone else.  And for about a year’s worth of car payments (or hopefully less), my old Subie will be ready to roll for a lot longer.

Would you repair or replace?

 

Saving at the Pump

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How much does a gallon of gasoline cost?  Nobody knows.  The price of gasoline is all over the place in Centre County right now.  A gallon of 87 octane can cost anywhere from $3.54 to $3.85, depending on what station you visit.  Even the prices from one Sheetz to another can vary depending on which end of State College you are on. It’s enough to make you crazy.  I’m accustomed to prices varying from city to city, but not such large disparity within one town!

I’ve never been the kind of person to drive around chasing the best price for a gallon of gas.  But a difference of 30 cents per gallon when I put 13 gallons into my Subaru is $3.90.  That’s more than the cost of one gallon.  And that’s worth driving a little further for—there’s no way that I’m going to burn a whole gallon of gas just driving across town to the less expensive station.

Luckily there are ways to lower your per gallon price, as well as ways to know how much your local stations are charging before you make the drive.  I’ll be honest….that $3.54 per gallon price is at Sam’s Club, so you can only take advantage of that with an annual membership (which I maintain for other reasons—gas prices are a bonus for me).  But there are stations in Bellefonte charging similar prices without a membership fee.  I’m a Sheetz loyalist, but my local Sheetz has the advertised price of $3.85.  I never pay full price for gas at Sheetz, though.  I save three cents per gallon by using my My Sheetz card, and an additional five cents per gallon for using my Sheetz branded credit card.  I also collect rewards and offers on my My Sheetz card, so right now I have an extra 11 cents off per gallon waiting to be used.  That will bring my next Sheetz gas purchase down to $3.66 at my local Sheetz, or $3.56 at one at the other end of town.  Sam’s is still cheaper, but not enough to make it worth going out of my way.

So how is a person to know where to go to get the best price on gas?  Just driving around defeats the purpose.  Thankfully, there is an app for that.  I use the Gas Buddy app on my phone to check the prices at local stations whenever it is time to fill my tank.

Someday I’ll get an electric car so I can avoid all this gasoline nonsense and just charge up at home.  But that’s not an option for me right now.  But I feel like I’m making the best decisions I can to fuel up in an economical way.  Are you getting your best deal on fuel?

 

 

Fall is a Great Time to Prepare for Winter

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When I woke up this morning it was really cold outside.  It came on all of a sudden, as it tends to do in Pennsylvania.  So as we move toward the winter months (which seem to last from November through April in Pennsylvania), it’s a great time to think about things you can do to be prepared for winter.

First, it’s a good idea to check your home for places that cold may seep in.  If you have drafty windows or doors, you may want to add plastic over the windows, insulated drapes, and perhaps tuck a towel (or some other fancier draft stopper) under the door.  If you have cold walls, hanging a tapestry or quilt can add a layer of insulation.  If your floors are cold, area rugs can help.  And if you have houseplants, you should move them away from the windows a bit so they don’t get too cold.

It’s also a great idea to make sure you are ready when the snowflakes start flying.  I have seen several inches of unexpected snow in central Pennsylvania as early as mid-October.  If you have steps or a sidewalk that could get icy, now is the right time to procure a bag of salt or other ice melter.  If you have a car, make sure to throw in that ice scraper and snow brush now.  And if you don’t have a snow shovel, you may want to get one in case you have to dig out your car.

It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes a winter storm can be bad enough that we lose power.  Are you prepared for the loss of power?  Know where you have a flashlight or battery powered lantern.  Have warm clothing and blankets on hand in case your apartment gets too cold for the norm.  Have some shelf-stable food and plenty of water available in case you can’t get out for a few days.

As the foliage is just turning its glorious colors, it seems weird to be thinking about winter.  But preparing for winter in advance is much easier than heading into it without forethought.

What’s Up With My Student Loans?

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Federal student loans are in a bit of a state of chaos right now.  After a three year pause, interest started accruing again on September 1st, and payments are starting this month for anyone who was in repayment before the pandemic, and also for anyone who stopped attending school from March 2020 through April 2023.  That is a LOT of student loan borrowers.  All going into repayment at exactly the same time.

To keep things extra confusing, a lot of borrowers have had their loans shuffled around to a different loan servicer (the company that handles the management and collection of the debt) during the pause.  Several of the old familiar loan servicers, including Great Lakes, AES, and Navient (AKA Sallie Mae), have gotten out of the federal loan servicing business.  There are several new players in the federal loan servicing space including Maximus, Aspire, Ascendium, and bunch of other companies I hadn’t heard of before recently.  So we have new servicers at a time when millions of borrowers are entering repayment for the first time.

I’ve heard from several currently enrolled students that their in-school deferments have not yet processed for this year.  And that doesn’t surprise me at all.  The loan servicers are without question overwhelmed.  And the in-school deferments are not their top priority right now.  But I do have confidence that the servicers will eventually get these deferments processed retroactively to the start of the fall semester.  So if you are in school and receive notice that you have a payment due, what should you do?  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you should ignore it.  The school has sent your enrollment verification.  The loan servicer has access to it.  And the deferment will eventually be processed.  If there is a mis-labeled missed payment jammed in there, there are protections in place so you will not suffer any consequences for this “missed payment.”  So, believe it or not, you should ignore it.

I’ve heard reports that wait times to get through to a loan servicer on the phone are hours long.  And nobody wants to be on hold for that long.  So what can you do to make sure everything is in order?  There are several things you can do that don’t involve calling the loan servicer.

  1. First you should make sure you know who your loan servicer is, just in case it changed during the pause.  You can always find this information at http://studentaid.gov in the “My Aid” section.
  2. If you have not yet established an online account with your loan servicer’s web portal, you should do so.  This portal should be able to provide the most up-to-date information about your student loan account.  This will be much more efficient than trying to get through to a human on the phone.
  3. If you have general questions about repayment plan options or repayment strategies, there are options outside your loan servicer.  You can reach out to the financial aid office at your school.  If you are a law school graduate, you can also get help from AccessConnex.
  4. If you have specific questions about your student loan, you may be doomed to wait on hold to talk to your loan servicer, but this should be a last resort after you try to work through options on their web portal.

This is a less than ideal time to be a student loan borrower.  The system is not working at its best.  But your school’s financial aid office will always be your ally in working through the process.