Freedom Account to the rescue!

Well, I just heard back from the mechanic about our car repairs, and the work is quoted at $689, so we're almost perfectly on-track (with next week's payday contribution, we'll have $625 saved up, so we're essentially over-budget by $64). My new "mini-goal" for September is to make up this $64 without dipping into the Emergency Fund, but we'll see how that goes.

Next to gift purchases (Christmas and birthdays combined), vehicle service is the single biggest category in my Freedom Account savings plan, so it is very encouraging to have had this "cycle" of saving and spending go so well, and to come out so close to budget. It remains to be seen how the gift-giving will pan out this Christmas, but I can see that my basic approach is working, and I am really stoked to keep working toward my goals.

Did I mention that I'm a fan of the Freedom Account? Just checking...

Welcome new subscribers; I'm still here, I promise!

Sorry about the dearth of posts in the last few days. There's been a lot going on, and I simply haven't been spending much time around a computer. I feel especially bad, given that my number of RSS subscribers has jumped to 21 in the last few days, despite the lack of new content. Welcome to my new subscribers; thanks for reading, and I promise I'll try to keep up my post count.

We were visiting friends out of town this weekend, and suddenly had our "Check Engine" light come on in the car. I immediately checked to make sure that the gas cap was secure, and that the oil level was high enough; both checked out, and the car was running perfectly smoothly. The light was also steadily on, rather than flashing, so we drove it home, and I have the car in today getting checked out. We also need a brake light replaced, and to have the suspension checked (there's a bit of a clunking when we go over bumps), so it may be a fair chunk of change to get the car a clean bill of health.

That's why I'm so thankful that I've been socking money away in my Freedom Account and Emergency Fund; I have $560 saved up that is specifically earmarked for vehicle service, and another $640 in the Emergency Fund, so it's unlikely that this will put us deeper in debt. I'll be annoyed if this wipes out the Emergency Fund, but being able to pay cash for the repairs will ease the pain considerably. I still hope that the Freedom Account will cover it.

We seem to be more or less on track to meet my goals for September (assuming the car repairs go well). There's one recurring monthly purchase that I forgot to factor in when calculating the available cash for the next week, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to ride it out anyway. I'll let you know...

Canadian Black Book®

I found a link to the Canadian Black Book® Web tool, which estimates the current Black Book® value of trade-in vehicles in Canadian dollars (like Kelly Blue Book for Canadians). The link is available through manufacturer websites (I found links for both GM and Toyota).

I'll be using this in the future to come up with more realistic values for our car in my net worth calculations.

Enjoy...

GM Canada Black Book® portal
Toyota Canada Black Book® portal