[nidex]

Originally Posted by Chainblade

your reply just came in as I was about to reply so I'll respond to yours. i don't have payments on the ford. that would be ridiculous as it's a 92. it's on the kia. the kia was a $15k loan with 19% interest. right now, what maybe I could sell it for $12k (just a guess). ford explorers are selling around here for $1000 or less and there are TONS of them. so i can't just sell the kia as I'll be upside down in the loan that I wouldn't be able to pay off.

Since it's through a bank I'm assuming you have full coverage. Wouldn't it be a shame if one morning you woke up and your Kia had just vanished into thin air? Since you say you have a bottom of the line insurance company they wouldn't have the money to polygraph you.

I kid, I kid. I do not condone any illegal activity.

With cars, you're taking a risk no matter what. Every car will have problems here and there. It's just that some cars break less often, have less serious problems, and cost less to fix when they do break.

And with your starter, honestly there really is not much you can mess up.
Disconnect battery cables.
Follow positive battery cable to starter, there should be 3 bolts (probably 1/2 inch wrench size on your Explorer), take them out.
Pull starter away from flywheel, take the wire off of the starter (probably 10mm nut)

If there's a shim(metal spacer piece), make sure to put it back. Installation is the reverse of removal, obviously. It's really that simple.

As far as finding a new place, you'd really be surprised at what you can get with shitty ass credit. I know this from personal experience.
Also it sounds like you're just slightly overexaggerating about your girlfriend taking the bus.

Originally Posted by Chainblade

and my g/f will be on a bus for half her life walking around in the dark. kent isn't a nice area. but that's okay though as we'll be saving money, it's ok to risk being killed.

According to this, it's got about an average crime rate for a city of that size, which by the way is pretty fucking small.
For about 2 and a half weeks when I had no place to stay in Chicago, I stayed with a friend of mine in this neighborhood. I would get off the orange line train at 49th & Western, and walk to his house(actually his grandmas house) on 54th & Damen, which is 5 blocks south and 4 blocks east.

I constantly had people asking me for money, if I wanted to buy shit, etc. But never once did I feel like my life was in danger. It's really all about how you handle yourself.

But like MSP said, none of us really know shit about your daily life. We're not trying to argue with you, we're just trying to offer advice. You also have to realize that just because you don't have the lifestyle you wish you had, that doesn't mean you're doing horrible. Don't sweat it too much, it's only money. You'll live.

[namelessentity]

Flipping burgers is not a high stress job. Face it, no one is going to be "happy" in minimum wage jobs. She needs to take closest job that will hire her and stop being picky. It doesn't need to be forever, just until something better comes along.

I really don't think trying to manage a side business a smart idea for you at this point. You need something consistent so you can count on a specific amount every month. You should be looking at a part-time job that basically matches up to your other one. You want to try to work 9-5 at your full-time job and then work 6-10 elsewhere. This way you still get your weekends (of whatever days you get off) and you don't kill yourself. You don't need to do it forever, but it's an extra 500+ a month. Also, you can take some vacation days at your full-time job and work full shifts at the other job. That way you can basically pull in 2 full paychecks occasionally.

I also went on DSL reports and qwest is available in Kent, why aren't you using them? Oh, and I know they suck, but it's still faster than dial-up, and a a whole lot cheaper.

[Chainblade]

well i personally wouldn't care about walking in a crime area but having my g/f walk in not the best areas in the dark isn't a good idea, don't ya think. and ya, i'm exaggerating about the amount of time the bus would take. luckily her work is in seattle. it actually wouldn't take too long but the bus stop is like 3 miles from her work. not terrible and ok during the day but not the greatest at night.

you also gotta remember that my g/f has clinical depression and bipolar so while flipping burgers might be ok for us for a little while, with my g/f's problem, she will be unhappy and have problems.

qwest is available in Kent but not in our area unfortunately, unless something has changed recently. i'll shall check our address. that would be nice if it's available here now.

edit: ya i just checked our address and qwest dsl isn't available for us. darn.

[ThatHideousStrength]

I don't want to sound like a dick but you've been wanting to buy stuff on the forums. Why not get rid of your cable payments and all that jazz. Do you have a cell phone and a house phone? Get rid of the house phone.

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by ThatHideousStrength

I don't want to sound like a dick but you've been wanting to buy stuff on the forums. Why not get rid of your cable payments and all that jazz. Do you have a cell phone and a house phone? Get rid of the house phone.

i didn't know i wanted to buy anything from these forums...i haven't bought anything on here, nor do I plan too. if there is anything i ask for, it's for a project for a customer so I'm getting paid to buy it.

no i don't have cell phones and house phones. that would be dumb to have both.

i'm looking into clearwire again. they are only $25 a month but the last time we tried them, they sucked in this area. it wasn't usable. i'm ok with slower internet but it would drop connection all the time. hopefully they are better now as that's quite a bit cheaper.

[namelessentity]

Yeah, I noticed the dslreports reviews were mostly negative. Although you generally see people complaining online, not praising.

Anyway, I hope you don't think we're all attacking you. I just want better things for you, you're a good guy.

[nidex]

Originally Posted by Chainblade

you also gotta remember that my g/f has clinical depression and bipolar so while flipping burgers might be ok for us for a little while, with my g/f's problem, she will be unhappy and have problems

This made me lol. Don't know if this is news to you, but the only person that would actually be happy flipping burgers is this nigga:



No offense, but from my observations thus far, your girl seems like a basket full of problems that's bringing you down with her. I had one like that for a while, and I'm extremely glad I got the fuck out of that mess. Always saying she couldn't do something because of [insert problem here]. Sometimes we all have to do things we don't like. It's called life.

[Dustin]

This is a FANTASTIC thread guys

[fornik8her]

92 Ford explorer starter solenoid should be located on the passenger side of the vehicle, behind the battery, on the side wall. Should not be too difficult to replace. Be sure to disconnect at least one of the battery cables before trying anything with the solenoid though, so ya don't get accidental sparks. Good luck...

[b00gerflick3r]

...ehm. disconnect the neg [-].

I'm textbook when it comes to electrical on ecm powered vehicles. no offense fornik8her.

[MSP]

Again, didn't mean to offend you Chainblade but you asked our opinions. I still contend that the pink elephant in the room is the girlfriend. Not to bring up painful memories, but don't forget it was your last love interest that got you into such a financial mess in the first place. I'm just saying that your choice and judgment of women might be at the root of your financial problems. A bipolar person is almost never going to be a well adjusted and financially contributing member of a relationship. I would think long and hard if this is something you want to deal with long term. I would proceed under the assumption that she is contributing as much as she ever will, what you see is what you get. You can wish and hope she's going to graduate from college and get a great job, but the statistics for such things related to the mentally ill is pretty bleak. Try this experiment: wish in one hand and shit in the other, then check to see which hand fills up first.

[MaesterB]

I feel your pain in vehicles. It seems no matter what we get, there's something always wrong with it.

My wife (long time ago) bought her parent's cavalier and the heater core went on it. Luckily, we had found some poor sap that didn't know HOW extensive it would be to replace it, and we only paid $300 to have it fixed (versus $900 anywhere that was smart enough about it).

Then we bought a new Chevy Optra that had sensor problems all over the place, not to mention it was a pig on gas (2L engine and a 40L tank...could barely get over 300km on one tank on the highway!) and she must have blown 3 tires in the span on the 3 years we had it.

Then we bought my parents minivan and the fuel-pump went on it. Pontiac (go figure) $900 fix that my parents paid for. One week later, it went again. Thank god for warranty.

And now my little mazda...has a leak somewhere, probably going to be costly to fix, but if I had just paid my insurance deductible after hitting a ditch, I probably would have had everything fixed...but NO...I didn't want to pay my deductible and didn't want to get it fixed, so I've probably paid 3 times as much as my deductible in repairs.

[Chainblade]

i get what you are saying msp. but my ex-wife and my g/f are very different. my ex-wife cost me $2000+ a month in food, and always ALWAYS had to buy whatever she wanted if she wanted it. $20,000 (that's my half) in debt in two years is ridiculous.

my g/f isn't that way at all. she agrees with me on how to do finances. she was making more money but we decided to have her to something she actually likes. life is too short to be stuck in someplace you hate. i mean just recently, remember when I was considering leaving the computer industry to just go to something else and make more money? you guys talked me out of it because of that very reason. low and behold, a couple months later, I got a good IT job. she is doing what she likes to do. she's only been there a couple weeks. the starting wages suck but they get higher and like i said, she is supposed to be manager by december. i made the decision to allow her to do this. i knew it would be a financial strain considering the paycut.

just last night, she actually offered to go back to making more money. basically i gave her the choice of doing that or just getting a part time job so she can still keep her fun job.

once she gets health insurance back, that will help. she isn't on any meds right now. she needs to be. when she was on them, she was fine.

[MSP]

She's not on her meds? Jesus fucking Jah! Dude, that's like pulling the pin out of grenade.

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by MSP

She's not on her meds? Jesus fucking Jah! Dude, that's like pulling the pin out of grenade.

don't have insurance so can't afford it. hell, even with insurance, can't afford it. gotta have money to buy things

[Dustin]

Chainblade

re: canceling your gym membership. I definitely see what you're saying and I'm proud of you for not wanting to revert back to your old habits but sometimes in difficult times you have to sacrifice things you may not want to. You can still maintain a healthy lifestyle without a gym, but it's up to you to have the willpower and determination to do it. It might be difficult at first but try to look at alternatives... Maybe you and your girlfriend can go for walks/jogs together, maybe you can organize a weekly basketball pickup game with coworkers or friends, maybe you can rent an ice rink and go skating/play hockey with friends once a month. You can definitely fill your life with activity but it's just more difficult than just going to the gym for an hour every day.

There's $40/month saved

re: Comcast. That $100 is for TV/internet? Perhaps cancel your TV service and just have internet. If you want to watch TV, just download the shows you like to watch. I tried to look up packages in your area and a basic internet is $42.95/month, so there's another $40~ saved

re: Vehicles. The car payment, the horrible gas mileage and the high cost of insurance on that Explorer are crippling you. For someone on a tight budget, a Ford Exploder is the worst vehicle to be owning. Just by switching to an economical car, you could probably save yourself $100 a month in gas alone. I think it's an American (North American) mentality to get what you want beyond your means. Struggling with bills should automatically mean you simply don't buy a vehicle you can't afford.

I've been driving a 1989 Civic for 3 years now that I paid $3000 CDN for at the time (and in your country this would cost you $1000) and pay $130/month in insurance (which is good for BC) and get 40mpg. Repairs are all reasonable and definitely not frequent. However, I'm now considering a cheap, low-cc motorcycle which would be much more economical (70mpg+ and $40/month insurance) and save me $2000-$3000 a year. Between you and me, I could simply not afford to drive a Ford Explorer and I don't know how you manage it.

I definitely agree with you about sacrificing money for happiness though. No sense picking up a job you will hate just for more money. That's why I'm staying where I am, because I really enjoy it and my happiness is #1

Little things add up and it will all help you in the end

[Chainblade]

thanks dustin.

ya the gym can go bye bye. i probably will just maintain (instead of getting muscle) but that will be ok for a while.

i called comcast again wondering why I'm paying so much. i got them to drop the price so that's cool. like i said, im also looking into clearwire, which is only like $25 a month. we'll see if that works. edit, i should correct myself as ya $100 includes tv. however, my roommate pays that so comcast is $60. it's not $42, that's like a special or something as I asked them that and they said in my area, it's more because of my area...

as far as the explorer goes. i know it's not the best thing to have. if i was shorter, I wouldn't care. when my 94 explorer engine blew, I ended up with the 2003 mazda protege. good gas mileage but since i'm so tall, it hurt my back to bend down intoo the car, hurt my back when sitting (as the seats aren't made for someone so big) and cramp my legs. I really tried it honestly for couple months but i just couldn't justify being hurt so save a few bucks a month. so i went back to an explorer. i would had rather have a toyota 4runner but they are going for way more than explorers are (for obvious reasons). at this point, it doesn't really matter because even if I sold it, i'd probably get $1000 and then somehow have to buy a better car for that much. Trust me, I wish I could drive a Civic but i can't ;-( (maybe the new ones i'll fit in but they are too much obviously).

[Dustin]

How tall are you? Even when I was 280lbs~ I still fit in an MR2 and a Civic comfortably. I'm only 6'0 though, but I've seen much taller people than myself easily fit in my Civic, lots of leg room and head room just due to the shape.

You know what I would suggest? On one of your days off go find a newer (92-95 [EG] would be a good generation) Civic at a dealership and ask to sit in it and test drive it. You might be surprised... It's worth an hour of your day to go try it right?

[Chainblade]

Originally Posted by Dustin

How tall are you? Even when I was 280lbs~ I still fit in an MR2 and a Civic comfortably. I'm only 6'0 though, but I've seen much taller people than myself easily fit in my Civic, lots of leg room and head room just due to the shape.

You know what I would suggest? On one of your days off go find a newer (92-95 [EG] would be a good generation) Civic at a dealership and ask to sit in it and test drive it. You might be surprised... It's worth an hour of your day to go try it right?

I'm 6'6" so that's makes a big difference. and yes, I've already tried civics. i tried a 95 civic and i couldn't do it. i drove it one block and my legs were hitting the steering wheel where i could barely turn and i felt so cramped that it hurt. it just wouldn't work.

thanks for trying though. like i said, i don't want to own an explorer, i wish i could had fit in a small car comfortable. i tried several different ones. even if I ended up with a car that I could fit into comfortably, I still have to bend down to get into the car, which hurts my neck, back, and knees. when i went to the chiropractor, he said it was suicide for someone as tall as me to not have a truck because bending down to get in and out of a car will end hurting me worse when I'm older.

[Dustin]

What abo