Passing the Bucks.

The solution to debt is obviously more debt. Early this month it became apparent that I would not be able to keep up with my current debt load without incurring interest. My delivery work has slowed a bit but really the problem is the amount I owe is too high. I burned through 80% of my savings trying to keep up but the debt has been persistent. 

I have a few options at my disposal. I have the Interest Free Loan Idea and the Return Loan Idea which have worked fine up until now. I could have decided to take some money out of my IRA. I have regretted doing this in the past and consider it a final resort.  I could also ask members of my family for a small loan. They wouldn't mind but I'd like to save that type of favor for a crisis, not an inconvenience. This debt feels more like an annoyance. 

Luckily for me during all the crazy events of 2020 I have been able to maintain a stable credit score. I'm hovering around 729. I check my score once a week on Nerd Wallet. www.nerdwallet.com. They list different credit card offers that you can qualify for based on your current credit score. I opened a section called 0% APR balance transfer cards. 

There are different types of transfer cards. Make sure you read the fine print. I signed up for a card from Citi Bank. The offer was a no fee card. If you transfer a balance, there will be no interest charged for the first 18 months. The cost is a 3% transfer fee. I qualified for a $3,600 credit limit after I was approved for the card. 

I transferred $3,000 from a couple of cards I have at Chase Bank. The total cost of doing this was $90. So for that $90 I have a year and a half to repay this debt. What they don't make obvious is that if you do not pay the full amount in the period, they charge you for all the interest for the entire year and a half at a rate of 20%. Gulp.

I essentially converted my short term high interest debt into long term no interest debt (minus fee). I will have to pay at a minimum $172 a month to service this debt.  

Why would the bank do this? Interest rates are at all time lows. They want the $90. Statistically a certain number of people will default on this and be forced to pay the huge pile of back interest which is also free money for the bank assuming they get paid some day. 

This is a reasonable solution to my debt problem in the mid term. I need to start looking into the future and ask myself: Why am I having these debt problems? This debt can be tied directly to my delivery job. 100% of the money I owe currently is from massive car repairs. Now that the car is fixed I can pay for the repair, by further breaking my car. 

My initial plan to address this negative cycle was to auto deposit $50 a week into a savings account for repairs. Turns out that amount is not enough. 

I enjoy my delivery job. I like the flexibility, the freedom and the autonomy. The problem is I can't just be sending all my pay to the auto repair shop. 

 I was also recently popped by the IRS for "Irregularities in my income" which is also a problem tied directly to my work as a delivery driver. I'll be able to sort that problem out by it wouldn't exist if I had a more traditional income. 

I have to face facts. It's time to find a different source of income. These problems are going to continue as long as I continue as a delivery driver. There must be some job out there that has all the freedom, flexibility and autonomy I want but doesn't slowly grind my car into dust. I just need to use my imagination. It would be challenging to spend less money. I need to begin making more. 

Free Parking Map.

I despise paying for parking. Most people feel the same. I grew up in a small town were free parking was everywhere. Here in Austin it is easy to find free parking, until you venture downtown. I avoid going downtown when I can because of the parking cost. It feels like wasting money. 

The problem is, I have started purusing stand up comedy. Many of the comedy open mics are downtown. It is too far to reasonably walk from my tiny studio apartment. The bus could take me there but that is not free either and too time consuming. Obviously at the level of complete amateur comedian these shows do not pay. I have been going to 6-8 open mics a week. I usually buy one or two over priced drinks. If between parking and drinking I spend $20 per show that's between $120-$160 a week spent on my comedy habit. Too much. 

To cut costs in the drinking department I have begun to pregame a bit before each show. The problem with this is I have to drive my car to the show. Instead of drinking 2 beers and then driving to a venue I pour a tall boy into a thermos which I place in the trunk of my Kia Soul. When I arrive at the venue I do a quick discrete chug.

I have identified a few places to park for free just by driving around. There was a free strip of parking over by the grave yard on east 7th but the city just put up meters. Dastardly. There is a free strip of parking up by a church on east 4th street and another on east 10th.

Another complication is the neighborhoods around the downtown area don't want industrious individuals like myself parking in front of their houses. There are required resident parking stickers for certain areas. You can find a spot in a non-resident area a short walk from downtown.

It would be nice if someone created an unofficial free parking map for the area around downtown Austin. After doing a search I could find no such list. I have decided to make one using google maps. That way when a new open mic springs up in the future I will have a lead on a free parking space. 

How will I gather the data? I know of a few places I can mark on the map already. I have the data for where and when the open mics are so I put that on the map as blue dots. Then I marked the free parking spots I already know in green. Now I can map out distance and walking time between them.

 

It will take a lot of leg work to identify more viable free parking spots. I cannot think of an easy way to gather this data except to explore the area on foot. When I identify a free parking space I will make a note to add it to the map. I wouldn't want to walk more than 20 minutes because of time concerns. I can use the data points I have already created to see if new spots are worth adding to the database. 

The ideal time to locate a new parking space would be after a show. I can take a different way back and see if there are any free spots on the way. Then I will not feel rushed or be so focused on trying to remember my comedy material.

When a new open mic springs up I can add it to the list too. Then see which parking spots are the closest.

Link to the unofficial free parking map:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1WIY7GOWOHCP-VRmHXkKcRHPE0wwpdrV5&usp=sharing

Happy future free parking to you!