A few more frustrations with the Bishops Storehouse part 1

On Monday and Wednesday day this week I decided to go by the Bishops Storehouse in Magna. I wanted to see if there was any truth of suspicion that in fact those who went to get there food from the Bishops Storehouse were not conserving there bank accounts.  Let me give you an example.(all of my examples include vehicles so get use to it)  Say a couple gets married both get  jobs husband buys a full size truck and wife buys a car. Both vehicles are near new and our put on car payments.  Wife gets pregnant but doesn't receive maternity leave.  She has the baby and they are down one income so they go to the Bishop for help because they don't have the funds to pay their rent or food . Now let's see why it is they don't have any money left. First lets estimate the 2 cars. Let's say the truck is estimated at 18000 and the car is around 14000 for the original loan amounts. We will say there credit is satisfactory so The loan on the truck is 324 dollars a month insurance for both vehicles is probably around 1000 every 6 month because both are under 25 and they need full coverage because it's on a loan it could be up to 1200 but we will be conservative. So that adds an additional 83.34 to the auto payment.  Registration will be estimated at about 300 for the first year so that adds another 25 and let's say that they put 8000 miles on it. Typically the average is 12k but they're probably not going to use it to go on a road trip.  I'll estimate gas at 3.50 a gallon and the truck probably gets around 15 mpg. So that adds an average of another 155.56. Even if the truck had warranty you would probably need to at least do oil changes so that adds another 12 dollars. So that truck you've been telling everyone that it only cost 324 dollars a month  actually cost 600 dollars a month.  Now let's figure out the car. The car payment is 266 a month. Insurance is estimated and sits at 83.34 registration is the same at 25 gas will be estimated at 30 mpg with 12000. That's considering they did most of their driving  on the car. That adds another 116.67 and then oil is the  12 dollars average a month with a grand total 503.11 a month.  So on vehicles alone they're probably paying more than rent. That's 1103.11 a month on running the cars. More than likely they are either going to school have part time jobs or not going to school and have full time jobs. If they had full time jobs I'm estimating that they will probably make around 50-55 k year. With a take home average after taxes of about 3000 to 3300 a month. We will estimate  that they spend about 850 a month in rent and if they are full tithe payers they would pay about 330 a month if they based it off net pay. That leaves 750 to 1020 dollars left for their utilities food credit cards medical fun. That only averages out to 255 dollars a week.  Imagine if that was the week you had to pay your phone bill. Groceries and a phone bill would wipe your bank account clean. Now let's imagine another couple who get married and need vehicles.  Husband and wife our conservitive and purchase 2 cars one for 2000 and the other for 500. They pay cash and we will estimate their zero interest loans. Husband has mechanical skills and puts both get running for about 3000 dollars.  Because both cars average the same gas mileage and registration I am going to do this estimate together. So to add to the yearly amount, insurance would be estimated at 700 a year.  Both cars have liability only because they are paid for. Gas would be 2333 dollars at 20000 miles. Registration would be about 200 because they are older and oil changes at about 160.  We will even  add another 600 for unexpected repairs.  The grand total is 6993 dollars the first year keep in mind that this is only for the first year. The next year it drops by 3000 dollars.  So that puts our monthly payment at 582. That's an extra 412 dollars a month over the top example. The next year it's an extra 662 dollars a month.When The top example loses one income they would not be able to cover rent and vehichle expenses.  So here is the question who deserves help more. They both have the same situation but the top example has larger expenses not due to circumstances but due to choices.
So I stop by the Bishops Storehouse house just to browse the parking lot and it's pretty close to my description.  I only focused on the ones that were loading up groceries and I practically just passed by. One that surprised me was a chrysler 300 or a dodge charger with aftermarket rims.  I'm not kidding I'm fasting and donating so some person or family can keep their rims? The other one that surprised me was a newer truck with a really nice camper shell. My question on that  is you can't sell that and downgrade to a car that cost 60 dollars less to fill up? Where is your justification.  How do you look at your car and your situation and justify asking for help. That's only in two trips with short drive by. In part 2 I will explain a couple of stories of where now I wish I would have asked for help but couldn't justify it. I had a job and a nice car. How could I ask. I knew there was things I could cut out of my budget but thinking back now I was doing everything I could and barely getting by. Maybe I should of.
P.S. I am putting my white flag on this subject I just want to get my story and frustration out. 2 more posts that's it.

Reflecting on the positive.

So I just wanted to share some exciting news but before I do I want to share a short version of how we came to this point and maybe you will understand why I loathe car payments.  I have once in the past told the story but it takes too long and I get angry when I am done so here is the short version.  I barrow a car from father in law because mine breaks down.  I make the payments while I barrow it. FIL buys a truck. FIL wants to sell me the car. I don't want the car wife does. I make a deal. She learns to drive it without my help we can buy it. It's a stick shift . She fails miserably. My car gets fixed. I convince wife not to buy. Wife and I tell in laws. They are mad. At home that night FIL tells wife to return the  car and that she's burning bridges. Wife caves buys the car. I drive the car and periodically had to pick up wife at work because Mother In Law is her transportation and is unreliable.  Wife and I want to become independent and a stick shift car is not going to get us there. Did I mention wife doesn't have her license.  Wife and I make the decision that we need to get an automatic car. Husband knows this before the first car. Wife and I buy a brand new 2007. Hyundai Elantra with only 43 miles on it. Freedom comes at a cost. Car is driven off the lot with a 23000 dollar price tag 8.99 % interest. Wife eventually gets licence.  One kid born no assistance not even wic. Move from AZ to UT No assistance.  Can't afford our place we move to another appt. new baby move to house. Find out we are pregnant trade the Elantra for a 2003 chrysler town and country.

So there's the short version. Now what could be so exciting? I have for the last seven years I've tried to pay off my car loan. We did switch cars and it helped. We went from just over 8k to 5500 but it's still a car loan and has been the discussion of many fights between us. It's not paid off but I just made a payment that puts it at around the 3500 mark.  That really lifted my spirits.  I am so close. If I had and could afford my original car payment I would have it paid off in less than 10 months. Here is a couple of cool facts.  My original car interest was 150 dollars a month. 3 days equivalent is more than I pay now. My car interest per month is just above 14 now. I'm so close I wish I could set up a fund just to pay that off. I'm thinking of going camping to celebrate.  We are almost there I want that gone so bad. In other news we are doing good.  All the bills are paid we are caught up and ahead except for medical bills. Thanks for reading.

white flag is going up on this subject.

I feel like I need to get this out there. Its been weighing heavily on my mind lately. And quite frankly I've been spending way to much time researching and thinking about this subject. It is time for me to let it go plant my white flag and put my time and effort elsewhere. What has been on my mind? Our own church welfare system The Bishops Storehouse. It's honestly a wonderful program where members pay fast offerings it goes into a fund and "needy" or "poor" members get help with all sorts of bills like mortgage, utilities, medical bills and in some instances car payments. From what i have read and understand most of the time bishops will avoid paying car payments but through a story my neighbor told me when he was a repo man I found that in some circumstances they will in fact pay car payments. Then there is the Bishops Storehouse where members can get basic necessities to keep them afloat. All the blogs I've read describe it as nothing fancy but life sustaining.  One blogger said that a worker would tell her that she wouldn't get enough for five people. She went on to say that she already had 2 frozen turkeys and she had plenty of food. I don't know about you but a whole turkey or any kind of meat right now is "fancy" to me. Fruit such as apples and peaches are "fancy" to me right now. Milk bread peanut butter and eggs would be "fancy" to me.
 I bring this up for several reasons and I have questions for those who have received assistance.  My wife and I have not asked for assistance from the church for our small family mainly because we couldn't justify it. How do you justify assistance?  When does it cross that line where you ask? Is it after you buy a nice new dodge ram 2500 and a nice newer home and unexpectedly your wife becomes pregnant with twins? Is it after you get laid off at your higher than average waige job after working there for several years and didn't live within your means? Is when you couldn't afford to feed your horse? Do you have a garage full of toys? A house full of dogs? Did you just recently return from Alaska Hawaii Ireland and then ask? A few of these examples are true.

I don't have the nicest of vehicles. I don't have a gas gussling high payment truck. I don't have a nice house built in a nice neighborhood I don't have dogs because dogs require vet bills and food. I can't afford that no matter how cute they are.  I struggle to put food in my fridge and to keep my bills paid while others with high mortgage payments ATVS horses dogs nice new gas gussling trucks camping trailers without resorting to selling their posessions  turn to their bishops for help when it was their poor choices that contributed to their bank accounts draining with no savings.  I'm not perfect but my hand is not asking for help out of a brand new van while parked at a 300,000 dollar house either. It seems as if the "needy" are greedy and the "poor" are poor choice makers.

I want to end by this last story and maybe a few pictures.  I am currently on short term disability due to an at home accident. My bishop did check on us but was surprised that I couldn't go back to work. Not once has he asked us if we needed help. My wife even noticed it today. He asked how my hand was but didn't ask if we needed anything. Not that all bishops are perfect but you would think that he knowing I'm out of work would have at least asked. I wish that he would have asked.  I wish more that he would show up at my door with the relief society president with an order in hand and a checkbook. One mortgage payment (which would be half of the average around here) and a food order would help substantly. I think tonight I am going to write down a "when I can justify asking formula" that way instead of questioning we will know. With our current plan of moveing I'm thinking we may need to consider assistance.
 Last question to those who  are currently on church assistance.  How does your fridge compare to mine?

 Just wondering. Mine is mostly condiments (half needs to be thrown away) my fruit compartment is the hardest to keep full. Below is my very lame deep freezer. Notice the fish I caught last week:)

 Time to go grocery shopping!

is it worth it to always fix it right.

Well first of all I'm still wondering about the fate of this blog. I found out on Sunday that according to the book of Job I'm not being punished but being tested out of love. I'll take that. Guess that means I can continue ranting right?.
Since my last post I have been on short term disability due to my injury and have come upon one challenge after another. One of my biggest challenges is not having funds to cover my expenses or surprise expenses so instead of asking for your help and set up a donation account, I've been  finding ways to save money while fixing my day to day problems. For example my car was overheating and instead of filling it up with antifreeze I filled it up with water. 1 it won't waste antifreeze if there is a leak and 2 antifreeze is pricey for me right now. I know my engine could have problems down the road if I kept the water in there that's why it's just a temporary fix until I have a little more cash flow or the first day of freezing temperature s which ever come first. I also was low on oil and that can contribute to engine cooling problems I filled it with used engine out of my van when I did my oil change. Now I know there might be some die hard mechanics out there who might chastise me and tell me that I should never do that and/or should always use a good synthetic blend and for those people I have 3 questions : How long have you owned your car that you babyd with synthetic oil changes? How much did you estimate you spent on all of your oil changes and did you get more than Kelly blue book or fair market value for your investment when you sold or trated it in.  Chances are that when I sell my car I will  get fair market value on my car if the engine is running. It doesn't matter what kind of oil I use. I'll have to reserve another post on that subject.  And besides oil is expensive now. Used oil isn't the right fix but a temporary fix in my situation is better than spending my cash cushion.  My last fix was a plug to my blower motor resistor which if not fixed means no ac heat or defrosters. My power cord to the plug burned up and melted the plastic and the entire plug needed to be replaced.  I started to think about how I would find one and ran into several pricing problems.  First if I went to the salvage yard there would be the gas to get there, an entrance fee and then even though it's cheaper than a new one I would feel like they are overpriced.  So I figured I would end up around 15 bucks which could help our cash cushion right now so I decided to see if I could German engineer it with duct tap and splicing wires and I was able to pull it off. So I feel like I won in 3 different ways. 1 the salvage yard doesn't get my hard earned money. 2 I fixed the problem and should last until there is a new owner. 3 it cost me absolutely nothing. Win win win. Always question if it's worth it. If I had unlimited cash flow trust me it would be fixed right (actually that might be a lie. I just can't stand people getting an easy buck from me) well that's it for tonight and I don't feel like editing so I'm leaving my blog raw tonight.