Do The Work to Save Money

My neighbor came by today. She said her phone bill with the cable company was getting too high. So she switched to Vonage. However her phone was not working. She said that Vonage said some thing needed to be connected up. My neighbor did not know how to do that. She asked if I knew.

I kind of know what Vonage is. You have an Internet connection. They give you phone service over that Internet connection. But I don't know any specifics. I told her the person that needed to help her get her phone working was her phone provider - Vonage.

Now I am all for cutting costs by switching providers. I do it myself from time to time. However you got to be ready to do all the work associated with the switch. Unfortunately I cannot go help someone out to save a buck or two. That's the wrong way to roll.

Right now I am in the middle of switching my Internet service provider. It is a tiresome task. Got to switch all the printers in the house to use the new router. It is on the list of things to do. Eventually I will get around to it. Time is money.

Cable Company Failures

As part of moving into my basement, my brother took over the cable bill. Right now that also comes with Internet service and free HBO. We changed the service into his name a couple months ago. However these cable jokers keep sending me the bill.

I called up the cable company. They said there was nothing they could do. I would have to return to the physical store to get the billing fixed. My brother and I went to the closest store. My GPS could not find the address. Neither could MapQuest. Google showed me a map of the place. I figured the route out on my own.

The rep at the store told me he had no place to enter the name for the billing. He said I needed to call the main office. Oh no. The main office told us to come there. We were not going to leave the store without this resolved. The nuclear option would have been to cancel all the service.

I called the cable company while in the store. I told the guy on the line that either he or the dude in the store needed to fix this. The guy on the line said he was not sure why the store rep could not resolve the problem. However he promised that he fixed it.

Terrible customer service. We are only using them because their price is right. Otherwise they are a bunch of bumbling fools for service and support. Still might switch to another provider if the bill keeps coming to me. There is only so much incompetence that I can take.

Volleyball Surprise

My buddy from college and I went out last week. I thought he said he wanted to drop by our alma mater to see the girls basketball team play. Sounded weird. But I am down for an adventure. When he dropped by my house, he clarified that he wanted us to visit his graduate school to see their volleyball team play.

Traffic was bad. We arrived after the first match started. Parking was tough. We waited for some people to leave so we could scoop up their parking space. Luckily we brought my little car and we could fit easily.

My buddy is a student there. He could get into the sports event for free. He had to buy me a ticket. Seemed a bit pricey for women's volleyball. But hey. He was paying. We found good seats over in the opponent's section of the bleachers.

We saw his college win the first match. Was some exciting play. Then his team won the second match too. At "half-time", a lot of people got up and walked around. I was hungry. But I did not see any concessions. The opponent mounted a third match assault. But it was not enough. My buddy's team swept them 3 games in a row.

Kit Kat Gets a New Car

Momoko had a doctor's appointment early in the morning. She brought us home some Chik Fil A for breakfast. After that we emptied Kit Kat's car, and headed to the dealership. The took a look at Kit Kat's car. But they would not offer full price for the trade in. We decided to buy the Mitsubishi Mirage anyway. They gave us some temporary tags. We took both cars to CarMax.

The CarMax experience was quick. Sold the car to them and Momoko got a check. Kit Kat was sad. We at least kept her vanity plates. Time was ticking. We returned to the new car dealership. They gave us a permanent registration for the car. They also put our old plates on the new car. Was really really getting late.

We called Little Kat to pick us up some Chinese food. I went to work as soon as I got home. Luckily I had some Chinese food. This was well into the afternoon so I was hungry and behind at work. Kit Kat and Momoko proceeded on to go to the bank and run other errands. The adventure of buying Kit Kat a new car is finally over.

Finding Kit Kat's Next Car

It was getting late in the game to get Kit Kat's car. We had an appraisal for her old car that would expire very soon. The Nissan Versa Notes were too expensive and the Nissan dealers shifty. It was time for a family trip to CarMax.

We found the Honda HRV roomy enough even though it was small. Momoko could buy one for herself and give her CRV to Kit Kat. Unfortunately, Kit Kat did not approve of that plan. I saw a 2011 Nissan Versa there. Too many miles and too old. Brought back memories of the last time we went car shopping with Kit Kat.

In the end, Momoko did not want to buy Kit Kat a used car. I said we could go look at a Mitsubishi Mirage. Momoko thought it looked too small based on the pictures. I said that we learned from the CarMax trip that nothing beats sitting in real cars in real life to know how they are.

Kit Kat drove us through many back roads to get to the Mitsubishi dealer. Their cars were parked tightly in their lots. The sales guy let us take the car for a spin by ourselves. We all fit in the little thing. It struggled with acceleration. But Kit Kat swore that it took turns very well.

Too bad we did not bring Kit Kat's old car in so it could be appraised by the dealership. The sales guy did not offer us the online price due to us not qualifying for some incentives. But the walk out price was the best around. hands down.

We decided to go home and think about the purchase. It did not take us long to determine we wanted that car. Since it was late, we would have to return the next day. That is a story for another blog post.

Nissan Bait and Switch

We went looking for a car for Kit Kat. Found one online that was cheaper than her Honda Fit. But it seemed equivalent. I called them up to see if I could get the advertised price from the Internet. They said no. A manager would have to give me my actual price. I asked to speak with the manager. He said he would call me back in 5 or 10 minutes. He did not. I should have known something wasup.

Eventually I got a quote from the salesman. We went to the dealership. Test drove the car. It was good. Asked if they would match the CarMax appraisal value for the Honda Fit. No. They tried to low ball us. All right. Then I asked if we could just buy the car outright without the trade in. They came up with some high number for the price. I told them I was previously given another quote.

The sales guy said he just passed on the quote from another manager. I asked to speak with that manager. Apparently that manager was out of town for the week. WTF? I told them I would go check around with other dealers. On the way home, I got a call saying that they could match their initial verbal quote. Too late. They failed.

I am not going to support this bait and switch marketing. Maybe we will have to pay more somewhere else. I would rather give my money to an honest car salesman, if there are any that deal in Nissans.

Viva Italia - Fiat 500 Pop

I had my Fiat 500L four door car appraised by a dealer. They said they would give me a lot of money if I sold it to them. Good news for me. However, this meant I was not going to give my current car to Kit Kat. I then went in search of a new car for myself.

Now I always wanted the smaller Fiat 500 coupe. I found the cheapest offer for a new one online. The dealer told me the price I saw online was the price I would pay. No tricks. I brought my old Fiat over there and test drove the new one. It was fine. They would not pay me what I was previously offered for my old car. That's okay. I just bought the new Fiat coupe outright.

Then I had my brother drive me back to the dealer to pick up my old car. Went to the other dealer and quickly sold the thing. All in all, it cost me an extra couple thousand to get into a brand new car that I like. This was only possible because the new car dealer was desperate. They shaved a whopping $7.5k off the MSRP for me.

Now I got a brand new car. It has the Italia option. That means there are the colors of the Italian flag on the side of the car and on the seats. The side mirrors are painted red. There are stripes going down the side of the car. I would never pay extra for such nonsense. But it does set my car apart.

So the only thing left to do is find a new car for Kit Kat.

Musical Cars

Kit Kat's car is having some problems. Momoko does not want to keep paying for repairs. What are we to do. I think I have a solution. I bought a used car. It is a 2014 Fiat 500L. It runs okay. Got navigation built in. Also has an aux port to jack in an iPod. Comfortably seats 4 people. Might be time for me to pass this car on to Kit Kat.

What we will legally be doing is having me sell my Fiat 500L to Momoko, who will then let Kit Kat drive the car all the time. I will then go buy another used car. Maybe a Fiat 500 two-door coupe. I can get a 2015 edition with super low miles for just over $12k. I think it will be a fun car to drive. Not very practical for our family. But perfect for me when I go to school or on local travel for work.

I told Momoko I could give her the super family rate when I sell her the car. Pretty much will sell it to her for half of what I could get if I sold it to the dealer. We are hoping Momoko can sell Kit Kat's broke down car for at least that amount, if not more. That way Momoko pays no out of pocket costs. Kit Kat gets a car that should last for at least another 3 to 4 years with minimal maintenance. I get to choose another car to drive.

Only downside is that I need to come up with $12k for my newly acquired car. Some of that will get offset by the money Momoko gives me for my current car. If this was the only car money I had to dish out, I would be fine. But Little Kat is driving a low mile super old vehicle right now. He loves it. But it is nearing the end of the road. I will probably have to buy Little Kat another car to drive when his dies.