Brakes and Rotors

Ralph Whitbeck — Mon, 28 May 2007 04:50:23 GMT

My brakes started grinding this week so I needed to get that fixed...I bought the parts Brake pads and rotors and went over to my cousins house and he helped my put them on....I swear to god it was so easy...I am going to do it myself next time.

I found instructions online for my type of brakes so I can do it next time.

http://www.2carpros.com/how_to/how_to_replace_brakes.htm

tools I'll need to get the job done:

14 mm socket
18 mm socket
C-Clamp
Mallet or hammer (in case the bolts are tight)
Jack
Brake pads
Rotors (if worn)

End of Week 1: Resolutions Update

Ralph Whitbeck — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:38:49 GMT

Well here we are at the end of week one of my resolutions that I set for myself. Just wanted to update where I am at, how I am doing to keep me honest.

I have heard from you that you thought that putting my resolutions on my blog was a great idea. Even though my personal finances might be scary to talk about openly, I agree. But I feel if I don't publish how I am doing I might get lazy and stop doing it. So blogging about will keep me motivated to push forward.

Lets start with my Personal Finance Goals:

My wife and I sat down today and planned out our bills and budget for the next paycheck. It's tight but my wife was able to work out a temporary reduced payment to the mortgage company so that will help out. Again this is a first step and as I kept telling my wife this is just a plan...things might not happen the way we plan but we should be able to adjust easily to things as we move forward and refine out budget for next payday.

We have a couple of issues to work out though. One being figuring out why we don't get paid on the weekends when payday falls on a weekend or holiday. Our account was majorly screwed up on Christmas because my pay didn't come in until the 27th. Every other year it's in the account on the 23rd. We already talked to the bank and they say there must be a problem with our payment processing center. So I need to follow up on that.

As for the emergency fund goal of $1000, I found I have $140 in an account I haven't been watching very closely so that is becoming our new emergency fund account. Bonus is that I found it pays off a good interest every month and quarter. I have this feeling though we might need to touch that money this pay period so not all good news but at least we have a little something to fall back on if needed.

As for figuring out my debt, I feel at this time we should focus on getting our bills paid on time and get a solid and sound budget under us before we start allocating money to debt. Also I've read that you need to set up an emergency account first before really starting to tackle debt. So that's the plan.

Now let's get updated on my personal goals:

As for my losing weight resolution I've been trying to watch my portions when I eat and I think I've been doing a decent job. Plus I've limited my eating to just during meals and have cut out the snacks as much as possible. The hard times for me is late at night when it's been 6-8 hours after dinner and you get the hunger pains. That's when will power is nonexistent and we make the fourth meal (as Taco Bell calls it). I know for a fact that that is the meal that does the damage and is the meal that I need to cut.

But this afternoon I took a walk around the blocks (see graphic to the right). I loaded up the iPod Shuffle with podcasts and waited till the rain squall went by and then took my walk. I walked 2.53 miles according to Google Earth and I was gone for about 45 minutes so I averaged about 2MPH.

It's funny when you're listening to the iPod you can walk so much further and longer then if you were just walking cause you have something occupying your mind with something.

Either way I came home all sweaty and jumped in the shower and felt good about my workout I had. I'll try and do another walk tomorrow but probably not as far.

I'll still need to figure out my starting weight though so I can track it. I'll try and find a way to do that tonight.

As for getting my family organized we are working on it. Alot of progress will be made after the personal finance goals are met and we can budget in some organizational tools, like a filing cabinet for me and one for Hope. Eventually I'd like to get a safe but I think that a long term goal at this point.

And finally, my last goal was to blog more. And I feel that I have made some great progress this week with some quality posts. I hope you are enjoying them.

My New Years Resolutions

Ralph Whitbeck — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 19:25:50 GMT

I'll make some resolutions, I am really going to try and stick to them too. I'll even keep you all posted on how I am doing.

Here they are in no particular order:

Personal Finance Goals

Figure out my debt.
Work towards reducing my debt.
Pay off my car.
Start a savings account and put $1000 in there for emerency funds (this is a phased goal but for now $1000 is hard enough to do)
Pay all bills on time.
Plan a budget and maintain it.

Personal Goals

Lose weight (the last I weighed myself I was getting close to 230 lbs) Goal 200lbs.
Keep myself and my family organized (this sounds easier then it is, with five people living under the same roof this is extremely difficult)
Blog more, I lead an interesting life (sometimes ;) there has to be somethings that others might find interesting.

I've been working today on trying to get myself more organized so I can start tackling the above list.

Ralph Whitbeck - Blog - Personal Finance

Brakes and Rotors

End of Week 1: Resolutions Update

My New Years Resolutions