My car is currently on its deathbed.  My 1990 Toyota Camry has been so good to me for so long.  However, I took it in to a repair shop a few weeks ago because I thought the rear cylinders were leaking.  I wasn’t too worried because rear cylinder repairs are only a couple hundred bucks.

Turns out I was right… sort of.   Not only were the rear cylinders leaking (slightly), but both front CV joints on my car are cracked, I have a bunch of “valve issues” and I’ve got oil leaking on my timing belt.  Total projected repair cost: $1800.  My car’s blue book value: sub $500.  So I’ve come to the conclusion, that sometime in the near future, I need to find another car.

I see so many commercials from car insurance companies that say: “People who switched to this insurance saved $x on average.”  That is, for the most part, a pretty worthless statement.  Why would anyone switch to a different car insurance provider if it cost more money?  They all essentially provide the same product.  Thus, the statement that people who switched to this insurance saved $x on average says this: people with particular characteristics switch to insurance companies whose insurance algorithm favors those characteristics.  In other words, car insurance customers act rationally.

Additionally, if you are a good driver, you should be dissuaded by an insurance company who offers “accident forgiveness.”  An insurance company is going to have to cover their costs one way or another.  If they don’t increase premiums for someone’s first accident, that just means they are using everyone else’s premiums as a whole to subsidize that person.  So if you are a good driver who doesn’t get in any accidents, this is not a good thing.  It’s not like a company who offers accident forgiveness is less profit hungry.

I drove home from Blacksburg, VA to Arlington, VA this past Monday and averaged 40.75 miles per gallon.  I was pleasantly surprised, as I drive a 1990 Toyota Camry that is rated around 32 mpg highway.

I think the reason for this was drafting off a truck the entire way.  Although drafting off of passenger vehicles is generally not recommended, because if they slam on the brakes, you’re in trouble; drafting behind a truck is significantly safer because trucks take a long time to slow to a stop, so if you see brake lights you’re not necessarily doomed.  In addition, trucks are huge and block a lot of wind.

Anywho, there was a truck driving 75 mph for 200 miles of my journey, so I just sat behind him.  When I filled up upon arriving home, I calculated that I had averaged 40.75 mpg.  My recommendation is if you happen to have a truck driving near you on a highway, it might not be a bad idea to draft off of the truck to save some fuel.

Apparently, gas prices rising as spring and summer approach, as they do every year, surprises some people, as does the fact that the long term trend of gasoline prices is unquestionably upward. In an article about these high gas prices that I read today on Yahoo news, there were some interesting quotes.

“It kills me,” said Gloria Nunez, 53, as she filled her Ford Explorer SUV at a San Jose gas station. Nunez, a clerk for a communications company, has started working a couple hours of overtime each week to help soften the blow.

“All of a sudden you kind of have to watch your pennies,” she said.

It might not kill you, Gloria, if you made a tiny sacrifice and bought a smaller car.  And guess what… you’d save money on your initial car purchase over a Ford Explorer, and save money on gas!

Several customers at a Mobil station in St. Petersburg, Fla., were upset because there seemed to be no real reason for the price increase…

“Katrina, I can understand,” Franc said. “I didn’t see a very good explanation this time. You hear so many excuses it gets to where you don’t believe anything anymore.”

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the savings rate for all of 2006 was a negative 1 percent, meaning that not only did people spend all the money they earned but they also dipped into savings or increased borrowing to finance purchases. The 2006 figure was lower than a negative 0.4 percent in 2005 and was the poorest showing since a negative 1.5 percent savings rate in 1933 during the Great Depression.

Does it scare anyone else that on average, the country is spending much more than it’s saving at the same time social security is on the verge of collapsing?

I posted an article last year about the 2005 savings rate being negative. Below is a list of “money tips” from that article. Check the comments from the article for more tips.

George’s Financial Tips