Enter GnuCash. A free, open-source financial program, that has just become available for windows (before it was Linux only). GnuCash offers a much more robust program, forcing you to use double-entry accounting (ie. for each transaction, you need a balancing credit and debit), can track investments and fixed assets, and has much better method of splitting transactions. The reporting functionality is also much better, and is customizable.

One of the biggest differences, is I’ll be able to track taxes and pre-tax deductions. Before, when I got a paycheck, I would only input my Net Income, or after tax and deduction money. For example, if I had a $1,000 gross paycheck, I might only enter $600 income, thus losing my tax, health insurance, and 401k deductions. Now, I can record my gross income, as well as all the taxes and deductions. I can now also track my car loan better. I can now not only keep track of payments, but also expense the interest I’m being charged. If nothing else, I’ll be able to actually see how much money the loan is costing me.

I’ve spent a few hours over the last week migrating the past 6 months worth of transactions over, and I’m now completely switched. As a result, all my monthly expense totals for the past 6 months have changed. One of these days I’ll go back and make a note of the changes, but for now, just know that June’s expense report will look a little different. Anywho, I’ll keep you updated on how the software is working, but my so far, it’s working great.

After I calmed down a bit I made the $390 minimum payment and gave Citi a call. I explained the situation, how my records show I had made the payment, but neither Citi nor my bank showed the payment. He told me they might be able to give me back the 0% promotional offer, but I would have to call back the next day, after my payment had posted.

The next day, I made another call to Citi and explained again. The payment had gone through, and I asked about returning to my 0% rate. He put me on hold to talk with a manager. After about a minute of the most intense telephone on-hold experience of my life, the service rep came back and told me that, only this once, they could restore my 0% rate. Thank God. I asked about the finance charges or the late fee, and he basically said, ‘Too bad.’
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So, please let this be a lesson to everybody out there. Don’t forget to make your minimum monthly payments!! I think I got VERY lucky this time, and I only escaped with $140 in finance charges and penalties. That will cut into my profits this round, but I’ll still end up positive, so long as there aren’t any more mistakes.

Automobile : Maintenance $ 26.79
Automobile : Gas $ 373.78
Automobile : Car Payment $ 500.00
Automobile : Parking/Tolls $ 17.00
Bills : Telephone $ 64.05
Bills : Gas $ 9.02
Bills : Rent $ 650.00
Bills : Cable TV/Internet $ 89.87
Bills : Cell Phone $ 85.90
Electronics : Cell Phone $ 108.49
Food : Groceries $ 128.90
Food : Dining out $ 151.24
Food : Booze $ 31.86
Gifts $ 50.81
Healthcare $ 10.00
Homeneeds $ 91.26
Homeneeds : Clothing $ 50.81
Homeneeds : Kitchen $ 41.76
Insurance : Auto $ 7.42
Internets : Domain Registration $ 16.53
Internets : Hosting $ 179.68
Leisure : Movies $ 21.50
Leisure : Newspaper $ 9.08
Leisure : Concert Tickets $ 180.75
Vacation : Lodging $ 134.40

Total $ 3,151.12

It was another expensive month for me, although I did manage to earn more than I spent (barely). I took care of a few important expenses now, so I wont’ have to worry about them later. The domain hosting for $180 is prepaid for two years. Normally I pay $10 per month, but by prepaying for 2 years, I saved about 20%. Also, I bought some things for around the house, cleaning supplies, toiletries, socks and underwear, and some cooking supplies that totaled around $180. Those should last me at least 6 months. I also attended a wedding last month up near San Francisco. I drove, so the Gas category is about $120 higher than usual, and I stuck paying for two toll roads for another $8. I also paid for one of the nights in a hotel, for another $135.

I bought 6 tickets for an upcoming concert (Flight of the Conchords if you’re wondering), of which, I should be reimbursed $120 from friends. I also got my ‘Booze’ category a little more under control. Last month I spend over $150, and this month, it was a more reasonable $31.

It wasn’t a great month, but I took care of a lot of one time expenses. I’m planning on buckling down in June. Less eating out, less entertainment costs, less Booze. Time to get my budget back on track. Stay tuned.

Automobile : Gas $ 212.59
Automobile : Registration $ 244.00
Automobile : Car Payment $ 500.00
Automobile : Parking $ 28.30
Banking : Fees $ 7.25
Bills : Telephone $ 63.63
Bills : Electricity $ 54.43
Bills : Gas $ 34.34
Bills : Rent $ 652.00
Bills : Cable TV/Internet $ 89.81
Bills : Cell Phone $ 50.53
Business : Traveling $ 215.35
Food : Groceries $ 122.66
Food : Dining out $ 157.04
Food : Booze $ 158.16
Gambling $ 200.00
Healthcare : $ 10.00
Homeneeds : Clothing $ 201.25
Insurance : Auto $ 103.42
Leisure : Dodger Tickets $ 335.00
Miscellaneous $ 19.80
Total $ 3,981.21

Ouch. First month this year that I operated at a net loss. I had a few big purchases out of the ordinary. The Dodger tickets, at $335 was the biggest out-of-ordinary expense. I also had my car registration due ($244), and business trip related expenses ($215). The business trip will be reimbursed this month, however. Then of course, there’s the trip to Vegas, which set me back a couple hundred bucks between gambling losses and eating out all weekend. I also made a pretty big clothing purchase. I had a 20% off coupon for Old Navy, so I bought 9 new shirts, a pair of shorts, and a jacket.

My ‘Booze’ category was way too high last month. I’m glad I stopped including booze in the ‘Miscellaneous’ category, so I can really see how much I spend on alcohol. $158 in a month is obscene. Granted a bit of that was in Vegas, but still, I need to cut back. I’m making a goal this month to get that number under $50.

To get a fair quote from each company, I decided on the best coverage for myself, and stuck with throughout the process. For the record, I’m 25, male, single, live in greater Los Angeles, and have no at-fault accidents (2 non at-fault which shouldn’t hurt my premiums) and no tickets or arrests. I’m insuring one car, a 2005 Nissan Frontier, and I drive around 15,000 miles per year. I decided on the following coverage:

Bodily Injury Liability: $50,000/100,000
Property Damabe: $50,000
Medical Expense: $5000
Uninsured Motorist (Bodily Injury) $25,000/$50,000
$500 Comprehensive Deductible
$1,000 Collision Deductible
$20/day Rental Car

I visited each companies website, typed in all my information, and here’s the results:

• Auto Club – $1,920
• Mercury – $1,880
• Progressive Direct – $2,426
• Geico – $2,108
• State Farm – $1,948
• AllState – $2,194
• Esurance – $1,736
• Liberty Mutual – $1,587

These are obviously very personal, customized quotes, specific to my background, driving record, and driving habits. Your mileage will certainly vary.

That said, in my case, Liberty Mutual was by far the least expensive. Better yet, a few days after I filled out the online form, an agent sent me a new quote, with a new price of $1,493, for the same coverage. Almost another $100 off! My roommate has Liberty Mutual, and in his price shopping, they were also the cheapest. I talked it over with my dad, and Liberty Mutual was his first auto insurance company. I would definitely feel comfortable going with them.

I still have 3 weeks before my old insurance expires, but it looks like after that, I’ll be making a switch. The only question now, is do I go with the lowest premiums, or is there another company that’s worth the extra cost? Could their customer service or handling of claims be better? If so, is that worth a couple hundred dollars a year?

Automobile : Maintenance $295.43
Automobile : Gas $169.65
Automobile : Car Payment $500.00
Automobile : Parking $5.00
Bills : Telephone $63.64
Bills : Gas $15.37
Bills : Rent $650.00
Bills : Cable TV/Internet $73.78
Bills : Cell Phone $49.88
Business : Traveling $281.80
Education : Other $2.25
Food : Groceries $326.99
Food : Dining out $86.47
Healthcare $10.00
Homeneeds $65.30
Investing : Commission $10.00
Leisure : Movies $20.00
Leisure : Newspaper $10.00
Miscellaneous $171.30
Other Expenses $2.00
Total $2,808.86

Another month, and my expenses keep rising. There were a few expenses out of the ordinary on here. First, the business traveling. I’m flying to Austin next week, so that money will be reimbursed in April. Second, the auto repair category is abnormally high. My truck just had it’s 30,000 mile service. I knew it was coming, however, so I was prepared for it. Thirdly, the grocery and the household expenses are both higher than normal. I’ve been buying more groceries last month to sort of stock up on cooking basics (flour, sugars, oils, etc.) so I can cook better meals at home. I also purchased a slow cooker, as a way to make bigger meals with less prep time for a lot less money. Lastly, the “miscellaneous” category was $170. This is mostly going out to bars and buying alcohol. I have no excuses for this one.

If you take out all the abnormal expenses, the month was just average. I’ve been eating in more and more, so the dining out expenses was only $86. I hate that I had to pay $5 to park this month. I think that was a trip to the movie theater and a valet tip. Serves me right for living in the city. I’m going to make it a goal this month to cut down on the miscellaneous expenses. Since most of that is alcohol, I’m going to create a new category for it. I think before I thought I could disguise the alcohol expenses in that category and maybe it would slide. Not anymore.

Let me go back for a second. Last year, I was living at home, in a much nicer part of LA, and I had about a 5 minutes commute to work. My premiums were $1,500 for the year. When I moved to my apartment in September, to a much less desirable neighborhood only 30 minutes away, they sent me a bill for $300. (It’s not a bad or dangerous neighborhood, but just not as nice) The $300, by the way, was only for the 4 months or so remaining on my policy. If you break that out to a yearly figure, they charged me $800 for moving 30 miles. I couldn’t believe it.

Anyways, my premiums are now up to $2,500 because, in addition to the move, I’m now also driving more miles per year. So that dangerous combination led to a $1,000 increase. That figure was absolutely absurd, so I called up AAA to see if I could lower my premiums.

They guy I talked to was really nice, and he was actually shocked my premiums were so high. He couldn’t really explain the jump in price, other than the move was actually that expensive. He worked with me over the phone for awhile, and the only way to lower the premuims was to lower the coverage. My coverage was almost maxed out with pretty low deductibles, which is probably much more than I needed (could I realy cause $300,000 worth of damage in one accident???), so I figured it was in my best interest to lower them.

After playing around with the coverage and deductibles for awhile, I found a set of numbers I was comfortable with. The new premiums are going to be just under $1,900. While it is over $600 less than before, I still think it’s a bit high. So, I’m now going to be shopping around for a new auto insurance company.

So, my question now, is what’s the best way to go about it? I’m planning on getting quotes from various company’s websites, but does anybody have any better ideas? Any tips for getting the best price and discounts? Do insurance companies match prices? Any help is much appreciated!

Before, I used to average at least 75-80 mph on the highway. Even though I drive on the dreaded 405 every morning through the Westside (if you’re not from Southern California, think of the worst traffic zone in your area, then mulitple by 1,000,000,000,000,000 and you’ll get an idea), I wake up at 5am so the road is pretty clear. The past two weeks I’ve been changing my driving habits. I’ve kept my speed as steady as I could, using cruise control when possible, slower acceleration, less braking, and trying to stay behind large trucks whenever possible to cut down on wind resistance. I’d say my average speed for the last two weeks was around 65 mph.

Because I keep extensive gas mileage statistics, I know I’ve been getting around 18.5 mpg for the past 2 years. My best mileage, ever, per gallon for a tank of gas was 20.69. Well this past week, I averaged 22.2 MPG. A new record for me and a 20% increase over my average MPG, and nearly 10% better than my previous best! I couldn’t believe it!

If I’ve been speding $200 a month on gas, which I have been, a 20% savings will save me $40 per month, and $480 for the year. All for driving 10 MPH slower.

Now you’re probably thinking to yourself, ‘well sure your saving a few bucks, but it takes you forever to get to work.’ While it’s true it will take longer to get places, but probably not as much as you think. My commute is about 35 miles door to door. Ignoring traffic congestion, stop lights, and city streets for a minute, if I average 75 MPH, it will take 28 minutes to get to work. If I average 65 MPH, it will take me 32 minutes. A difference of only 4 minutes. Not that big of a deal.

Besides the gas savings, there are plenty of other benefits. For one, it’s a lot safer driving slower, and I never have to worry about speeding tickets. I’ve also noticed I’m much less stressed while driving. Before I’d get upset if there was a slow driver in front of me or if traffic was moving too slow. Now, I almost hope traffic is moving slower (55 PM would be ideal).

So there you have it. Slow down, and save $500 a year. Try it out for yourself.