1depd Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I REALLY hate my neighbor and neighborhood. When we purchased our house four years ago our neighborhood was considered moderately high end. Definitely not a rich neighborhood, but nobody appeared to be hurting for money. Since then we have had about 1/3 of the houses foreclosed on. Some have been sold using low income programs. Houses that haven't sold are often turned into rental properties. This has resulted in a tiered neighborhood, with those who are the original owners or second owners taking care of the property and the rest are being abused the neglected. Due to the decline in the neighborhood, the wife and I started looking at lots to purchase so we can have a house built and get the hell out of here. This year is also the year for my wife's SUV to be replaced. She has graciously allowed me to purchase an F-150 in lieu of her getting a new car. I am so fed up with this neighborhood that I considered buying a cheaper truck than I had originally wanted, so I can buy the land and build the house faster. As a way to get to this goal I decided to wander through one of the local dealerships. What I have discovered is you cannot buy an XLT without the chrome package. The cheaper the truck from Ford, the more dealer installed options are put on it to bring the price up. There was one that had a dealer drop in liner. The liner cost $300, you can get a duraliner drop in for less than $200. Why the hell should I pay over $100 more for a drop in liner? The price difference between an XLT and the FX2 I wanted is so small, it would not help in buying the land I want. Sometimes the universe is conspiring against everything I do. This seems to be one of those times. DAM IT! Rant off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan1 Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 In previous years the FX2 was package in the XLT so it does not suprise me that there isn't a big difference in price between a FX2 and XLT. Pick whichever styling you like best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsfbfan Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 I REALLY hate my neighbor and neighborhood. When we purchased our house four years ago our neighborhood was considered moderately high end. Definitely not a rich neighborhood, but nobody appeared to be hurting for money. Since then we have had about 1/3 of the houses foreclosed on. Some have been sold using low income programs. Houses that haven't sold are often turned into rental properties. This has resulted in a tiered neighborhood, with those who are the original owners or second owners taking care of the property and the rest are being abused the neglected. Due to the decline in the neighborhood, the wife and I started looking at lots to purchase so we can have a house built and get the hell out of here. This year is also the year for my wife's SUV to be replaced. She has graciously allowed me to purchase an F-150 in lieu of her getting a new car. I am so fed up with this neighborhood that I considered buying a cheaper truck than I had originally wanted, so I can buy the land and build the house faster. As a way to get to this goal I decided to wander through one of the local dealerships. What I have discovered is you cannot buy an XLT without the chrome package. The cheaper the truck from Ford, the more dealer installed options are put on it to bring the price up. There was one that had a dealer drop in liner. The liner cost $300, you can get a duraliner drop in for less than $200. Why the hell should I pay over $100 more for a drop in liner? The price difference between an XLT and the FX2 I wanted is so small, it would not help in buying the land I want. Sometimes the universe is conspiring against everything I do. This seems to be one of those times. DAM IT! Rant off. I saw tons of XLT's without the chrome package at my local dealer the other day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesxpress Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 And why would someone post anything about their neighbors or neighborhood on a truck forum?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albitron Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 And why would someone post anything about their neighbors or neighborhood on a truck forum?? Sounds like a "soap box" rant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttnewbie Posted April 5, 2011 Share Posted April 5, 2011 ... And the convenience and chrome discount makes the chrome pretty cheap. Had I known about the convenience and tow package, I would have gone that route instead. Not sure I am going to like chime, but with the package discount (knew I wanted the convenience package), it was about about $100... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1depd Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share Posted April 5, 2011 And why would someone post anything about their neighbors or neighborhood on a truck forum?? Because I was in a bad mood and needed to blow off some steam before I blew up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesxpress Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Because I was in a bad mood and needed to blow off some steam before I blew up. Hummmm? Need to kick the dog or something and leave us out of it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1depd Posted April 8, 2011 Author Share Posted April 8, 2011 Hummmm? Need to kick the dog or something and leave us out of it.. Hummm, sounds like a good idea, except I had to put my long time friend down last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUCKRACER Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 Hummm, sounds like a good idea, except I had to put my long time friend down last year. 1depd. Your neighborhood condition has everything to do with this forum. Your choice of which f-150 affects this forum because people come to this forum for input about which model, which options, which color and so on. Sorry about your friend. Try carsdirect.com for a price. You can build your vehicle on there without giving them you phone number or e-mail. I used them in 02 and got a pretty good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikesxpress Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 1depd. Your neighborhood condition has everything to do with this forum. Oh my...................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reddragon Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 (edited) Sorry to hear about your situation...but I find that things always end up working out no matter how bumpy the road is till you get there! All the best and remember everyday above ground is a good day....Some people are battling cancer and aren't as lucky to have the "problems" you have...a little perspective is always best. Edited April 20, 2011 by Reddragon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1depd Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Sorry to hear about your situation...but I find that things always end up working out no matter how bumpy the road is till you get there! All the best and remember everyday above ground is a good day....Some people are battling cancer and aren't as lucky to have the "problems" you have...a little perspective is always best. Yup, I know what you mean. The wife is a brain tumor survivor, and I've done several tours in the mid-east. As far as the neighborhood situation goes, the best I can hope for (short of the neighbor's leaving), is Paul Ryan's budget framework being passed as the budget (I highly doubt that will happen). If that happens my pay as well as the wife's will be cut dramatically and we will have to cut almost $1k per month out of our budget. The only way to get that level of expense cut is to walk from the house. The wife and I have been living on a tight budget, because she used to work in the banking industry and when the melt down happened to say her job was questionable was a stretch at best. At the same time she was having serious health problems and we cut our expenses to a minimum. Even if you cut all of the niceties out of our budget (cable, phones, internet, truck payment, etc) we wouldn't cut $700 and we would still lose the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 The wife and I have been living on a tight budget, because she used to work in the banking industry and when the melt down happened to say her job was questionable was a stretch at best. At the same time she was having serious health problems and we cut our expenses to a minimum. Even if you cut all of the niceties out of our budget (cable, phones, internet, truck payment, etc) we wouldn't cut $700 and we would still lose the house. Then why on earth are you looking to buy a NEW truck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1depd Posted April 20, 2011 Author Share Posted April 20, 2011 Then why on earth are you looking to buy a NEW truck? She changed jobs to one that is more stable. Unless she develops a long term case of the dumbutt, she won't be fired (she took a job many pay levels below her experience level) although a lay-off is not an impossibility. If Congress decides to substantially cut compensation, which is still up in the air, then we are in trouble. If Congress cuts our compensation, the truck payments (or lack thereof) would not be enough to matter. We would have to cut about $1k per month, all of the liabilities that we could cut, outside of the house payment equals less than that amount. Unlike the government the only thing that matters is that our expenses do not exceed our income. Whether we purchased the truck or not is irrelevant. Either way our expenses would be more than our income. The only thing that can be cut that would bring our expenses in line with our income is the house. The rest of it is like saving $38 billion when we have a $1.5 trillion deficit. It doesn't matter. We still wouldn't make our bills at the end of the month. Without the truck note I would literally have to cut off electric, gas for the cars, water, internet, phones, cable, auto insurance, default on the two credit lines we have (payments <$100 per month) cut out half of the food budget, bum a ride to work everyday, then hope for O/T so we could afford to pay the house note. Or I could walk from the house and actually be able to take a shower and eat dinner in a lit dinning room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 She changed jobs to one that is more stable. Unless she develops a long term case of the dumbutt, she won't be fired (she took a job many pay levels below her experience level) although a lay-off is not an impossibility. If Congress decides to substantially cut compensation, which is still up in the air, then we are in trouble. If Congress cuts our compensation, the truck payments (or lack thereof) would not be enough to matter. We would have to cut about $1k per month, all of the liabilities that we could cut, outside of the house payment equals less than that amount. Unlike the government the only thing that matters is that our expenses do not exceed our income. Whether we purchased the truck or not is irrelevant. Either way our expenses would be more than our income. The only thing that can be cut that would bring our expenses in line with our income is the house. The rest of it is like saving $38 billion when we have a $1.5 trillion deficit. It doesn't matter. We still wouldn't make our bills at the end of the month. Without the truck note I would literally have to cut off electric, gas for the cars, water, internet, phones, cable, auto insurance, default on the two credit lines we have (payments <$100 per month) cut out half of the food budget, bum a ride to work everyday, then hope for O/T so we could afford to pay the house note. Or I could walk from the house and actually be able to take a shower and eat dinner in a lit dinning room. So you take on more expenses?? Why not save up to build a buffer in case that does happen, so that you can hold out until you can sell the house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 So you take on more expenses?? Why not save up to build a buffer in case that does happen, so that you can hold out until you can sell the house? It's called "I want a new truck and I'm willing to rationalize my butt off to get it." Been there, done that. Not criticizing, just observing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted April 20, 2011 Share Posted April 20, 2011 It's called "I want a new truck and I'm willing to rationalize my butt off to get it." Been there, done that. Not criticizing, just observing. Understand...I'm just thinking the last thing I would do if I were concerned about losing my house or making less would be buying a new truck. It would be more along the lines of saving money, cutting expenses, and looking for ways to make more money just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1depd Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 (edited) So you take on more expenses?? Why not save up to build a buffer in case that does happen, so that you can hold out until you can sell the house? If you missed it, I stated I highly doubt Ryan's budget framework will be passed as an actual budget. So I think my compensation is about as safe as yours. Believe me if I thought there was a good chance the framework would become the budget I would have either purchased a newer used truck or used some of the cushion to completely fix the wife's truck, rather than buying the brand new one I bought. Even then if the framework was passed as the budget I would lose the house any way. I already have a good monetary cushion saved up. As far as saving up more of a cushion, it wouldn't really matter much. I am not going receive a pay raise in five years, if the framework becomes the budget. So I would need to save up $40-50k in less than a year to be able to outlast the down turn. That is also assuming no other increases in expenses. Neither is likely to happen. Due to my position I have to receive approval from the legal people in my agency before starting any off duty employment. The only job I have ever seen them approve is cutting yards. In this area yard cutters are a dime a dozen so the pay is not good, add to that I would have to invest in about $4-5k in equipment it makes that idea a money loser in the short and mid term. The wife is currently looking to go back to the uncertainty of the private sector, but with a very good pay raise after working a short period in federal service. Edited April 21, 2011 by 1depd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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