Thursday of the Week
Thursday, March 16th, 2023 11:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio43F out there, but a little rainy this morning. I noticed that the tiger lilly shoots have now popped out of the ground, and the onion grass, of course, is very green, in patches all over the front and back yards.
We heard songbirds back there, before it started to sprinkle, and I saw a bright red cardinal just off in the neighbor's tree.
We made it out there by 11:10 though! A few minutes earlier than yesterday, so the backslide has been brought into check.
--<>--
I finally applied for the big personal loan from PNC just a minute ago. I applied for the whole 35K, to be paid off in 60 months, or 5 years.
I said it was for home improvement, rather than debt consolidation.
It gave me an application number and said I'll be contacted in two business days... which means Monday.
Now we wait.
All this time I've been so sure I'd get this loan, I didn't stop to think about what would happen if I didn't. Now I get to dread that scenario the whole weekend!
------------{=0=}------------
12:08AM
Bad day for my feet. It was a struggle!
BUT...
Three hours into my shift, my phone rang. It was a call from Pennsylvania? Didn't recognize the number, but Android said it was legit... not spam.
Okay, so... the P, in PNC stands for Pittsburg! This was a 412 area code so... downtown Pittsburg! This was a call from PNC national headquarters!
The woman on the phone said they could not give me the full $35,000.00, BUT...
They could give me $34,900.00!
She just wanted to call, to let me know they were sending me an email with the offer and the terms! Well, how nice of her!
--<>--
I picture some guys looking at the application and at first being like, "Whoa, little janitor man! Hahah! Cool you're jets there! You'll never get the whole 35K! that's only for people with credit scores above [checks my credit score] Oh my god, Susan, call headquarters!"
And headquarters was like, "We'll handle this!... who does he think he is? He's getting 34.9K and not a penny more! Also, Janice... call him immediately, and... let him know he needn't set foot in a branch bank. He can do it all online! That'll show this janitor who's boss!"
--<>--
So... I have looked at the terms.
The interest rate is 24.24%... which is pretty high, but it's not the worst.
The monthly payment would be $780.60... and that's a LOT higher than I imagined.
However, I did the math, and over the past three months, I've paid, to the car payment, full coverage insurance, and my three credit cards... around $820.00 a month.
So, if I paid the car and cards off, and went to liability insurance... I'd pretty much break even every month!
In other words, I'd be exactly as strapped as I am right now.
BUT... I'd own my car... I'd be able to take care of the horrible tree problems, and update the old fuse box to a breaker panel with circuits to spare, and I'd have a cushion of cash in savings to pull from instead of using the credit cards.
Those are all pros, but having the trees gone and a breaker box installed are HUGE stumbling blocks out of my way forever!
And the cushion will buy me desperately needed time...
As things stand, I really CAN'T pay all the bills for April!
I'm only making $14.50 per hour, and even full time, that's not enough to cover the mortgage and the other bills... and still eat.
So that right there, kinda forces my hand to take this loan... so that I can keep BMO off my ass in April... and in May, June, July...
--<>--
I've said before, this loan buys me two years, but... let's be cautious and assume it only buys me one year.
One year before I'm left paying that $780.00 payment for four more... on top of the mortgage for four more, without any cushion.
What that means, is I have one year to increase my income.
A raise ain't gonna do it, unless I get lucky and the union renegotiates for a big cost of living adjustment... which I can't count on.
But I could advance from custodial work into maintenance... which would get me a few extra bucks an hour.
Another avenue, is to get somebody else living here to help out with the bills.
And the third avenue is to start doing side jobs on the weekends.
But none of those things are mutually exclusive. I could do all three simultaneously.
The point is, it's possible to hack together a plan... in one year... to increase my income enough that 2024 is sustainable and tolerable.
And it goes like that, through 25, 26, 27, and 28.
But if I can make it to 2029... I suddenly have a TON of extra money, because both the mortgage and this home improvement loan get paid off.
--<>--
That's a loooong walk, on a narrow tightrope, to be sure!
But the one thing in my favor is... I no longer have crazy, aging Dad around to keep throwing monkey wrenches into my best laid plans!
The past four years with him have been a roller coaster of one crisis after another, constantly derailing my attempts to keep us financially stable!
I have already been walking a tight rope for the same span of time, that we're talking about me doing again! But going forward... it should be a hell of a lot easier to keep my balance!
--<>--
So... all things considered... I do have to take this loan.
However, I will sleep on it, and I will also call PNC to see if I can negotiate the terms a bit.
I seem to have enough power to do that, given that Pittsburg HQ called me personally four hours after I applied!
If I could get the monthly payment to a straight $700.00 per month, that would be marvelous!
We'll see, but either way... at least I'm talking about this, and not talking about how I was turned down for the loan, right?
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
We heard songbirds back there, before it started to sprinkle, and I saw a bright red cardinal just off in the neighbor's tree.
We made it out there by 11:10 though! A few minutes earlier than yesterday, so the backslide has been brought into check.
I finally applied for the big personal loan from PNC just a minute ago. I applied for the whole 35K, to be paid off in 60 months, or 5 years.
I said it was for home improvement, rather than debt consolidation.
It gave me an application number and said I'll be contacted in two business days... which means Monday.
Now we wait.
All this time I've been so sure I'd get this loan, I didn't stop to think about what would happen if I didn't. Now I get to dread that scenario the whole weekend!
Bad day for my feet. It was a struggle!
BUT...
Three hours into my shift, my phone rang. It was a call from Pennsylvania? Didn't recognize the number, but Android said it was legit... not spam.
Okay, so... the P, in PNC stands for Pittsburg! This was a 412 area code so... downtown Pittsburg! This was a call from PNC national headquarters!
The woman on the phone said they could not give me the full $35,000.00, BUT...
They could give me $34,900.00!
She just wanted to call, to let me know they were sending me an email with the offer and the terms! Well, how nice of her!
I picture some guys looking at the application and at first being like, "Whoa, little janitor man! Hahah! Cool you're jets there! You'll never get the whole 35K! that's only for people with credit scores above [checks my credit score] Oh my god, Susan, call headquarters!"
And headquarters was like, "We'll handle this!... who does he think he is? He's getting 34.9K and not a penny more! Also, Janice... call him immediately, and... let him know he needn't set foot in a branch bank. He can do it all online! That'll show this janitor who's boss!"
So... I have looked at the terms.
The interest rate is 24.24%... which is pretty high, but it's not the worst.
The monthly payment would be $780.60... and that's a LOT higher than I imagined.
However, I did the math, and over the past three months, I've paid, to the car payment, full coverage insurance, and my three credit cards... around $820.00 a month.
So, if I paid the car and cards off, and went to liability insurance... I'd pretty much break even every month!
In other words, I'd be exactly as strapped as I am right now.
BUT... I'd own my car... I'd be able to take care of the horrible tree problems, and update the old fuse box to a breaker panel with circuits to spare, and I'd have a cushion of cash in savings to pull from instead of using the credit cards.
Those are all pros, but having the trees gone and a breaker box installed are HUGE stumbling blocks out of my way forever!
And the cushion will buy me desperately needed time...
As things stand, I really CAN'T pay all the bills for April!
I'm only making $14.50 per hour, and even full time, that's not enough to cover the mortgage and the other bills... and still eat.
So that right there, kinda forces my hand to take this loan... so that I can keep BMO off my ass in April... and in May, June, July...
I've said before, this loan buys me two years, but... let's be cautious and assume it only buys me one year.
One year before I'm left paying that $780.00 payment for four more... on top of the mortgage for four more, without any cushion.
What that means, is I have one year to increase my income.
A raise ain't gonna do it, unless I get lucky and the union renegotiates for a big cost of living adjustment... which I can't count on.
But I could advance from custodial work into maintenance... which would get me a few extra bucks an hour.
Another avenue, is to get somebody else living here to help out with the bills.
And the third avenue is to start doing side jobs on the weekends.
But none of those things are mutually exclusive. I could do all three simultaneously.
The point is, it's possible to hack together a plan... in one year... to increase my income enough that 2024 is sustainable and tolerable.
And it goes like that, through 25, 26, 27, and 28.
But if I can make it to 2029... I suddenly have a TON of extra money, because both the mortgage and this home improvement loan get paid off.
That's a loooong walk, on a narrow tightrope, to be sure!
But the one thing in my favor is... I no longer have crazy, aging Dad around to keep throwing monkey wrenches into my best laid plans!
The past four years with him have been a roller coaster of one crisis after another, constantly derailing my attempts to keep us financially stable!
I have already been walking a tight rope for the same span of time, that we're talking about me doing again! But going forward... it should be a hell of a lot easier to keep my balance!
So... all things considered... I do have to take this loan.
However, I will sleep on it, and I will also call PNC to see if I can negotiate the terms a bit.
I seem to have enough power to do that, given that Pittsburg HQ called me personally four hours after I applied!
If I could get the monthly payment to a straight $700.00 per month, that would be marvelous!
We'll see, but either way... at least I'm talking about this, and not talking about how I was turned down for the loan, right?
°¦}
