A friend was asking how I deal with will power issues to save money. I was telling her:

The difference is, you may actually go to Amazon and spend money (like I’d likely normally would), and this time I won’t, as everything to me now represents an option on the Mustang I can or cannot have depending on my will power.

For example, by cutting way back on eating at the cafeteria, I can save $60 a month equaling a total of about $360. Getting Remote start on the car is $345 plus interest, so eating more cashews for lunch means not having to go out in the snow to pre-warm the car in the morning.

I also delete certain emails without looking at them to save money!

I also printed up an Excel sheet for logging every stinking penny I spend for everything, with columns for categories of purchases. I total it up monthly and look to do better than the previous month. The very first month almost doesn’t count as I spent $478 for a special music software offer (saved $180), but no more of those. But I can compare everything else on the list. In about 2 weeks I’ll have a fairly good idea how I’m doing, and will have a firm expectation of what I can really save monthly in about 6 weeks.

My goal is to have $3600 saved up by the end of January. Out of that, $680 will be for Concord registration. So it would really be only $2900 plus my trade in, which would probably be about $5500, possibly a thousand more.

I started saving about 5 weeks ago and so far I have $587. So that puts my on track to have $2935 up by mid January. I think I can do better than that at $750 a month, which would be $3750.

Also, by mid December I will no longer have to pay my Buick payment and Newegg payment, so together those represent $376 a month. Any months beyond that I can save that amount, too.

My salesman is gonna let me know when the cutoff is for factory ordering a car. We think about February give or take a month. The further out we can go, the better off I am.

Really weird how most 2013 Ford cars come out about now and Mustangs are a half year earlier.

What is an electronic rust killer?

You place two anodes near the A pillars on a car in the engine bay, near the firewall and windshield. Very long vehicles like big pickup trucks near the rear of the bed, two more. They are attached by wires to a control unit that’s mounted near the battery. The system puts a negative charge over the surface of the entire vehicle forcing positive electrons (I think, can’t remember) off the surface of the car. In reality some may scavenge to tiny nooks and crannies under the vehicle, but at least that’s where metal is very thick on the frame.

The end result is the surface of the car has rusting that’s severely retarded. It’s like the time frame for rust slows down by a factor of 20 or maybe 50! I know for a fact it works. My brother Eric had it on a pickup truck as well. We bought some of the very last ones about 15 or so years ago. The company went out of business because they got sued by someone who claimed it didn’t work. Ours most certainly did!

All over the Internet you see people (erstwhile authorities and scientists) saying this cannot work. But done right, it does work and my brother and I have both had them and know what a difference they made.

So I want to keep mine forever. I didn’t bother installing it on the last two cars, but the Mustang will have it once I figure out the right dielectric pads to use.

I find myself thinking of the best sealants to use on the paint and wheels. It seems to me traditional organic wax is out of the question, as I’m seeing statements about how once sun and heat hit the wax, it softens and then attracts dirt easier. Apparently the best thing is a hard synthetic that still goes on easy. I’m also wondering if I can get away with one sealant for both body and wheels, or if I need something more radical to protect the black paint and machined parts of the wheel.

 My brother says:

 The registration is definitely where you will get slammed.

I sez:

I did some research. In my town it’s $18 per $1000 of valuation, so I’d pay $680 the first year. Then the next year it goes to $15 per thousand and so on until it gets down to $3 per thousand and stays there. It doesn’t exactly go down $3 every year, but close to it. Then you add on the State fees for the license which of course are the same every year.

Vanity plates, if I remember right, are $40 plus the extra little fees we all pay. I went to their website where you can check what’s taken. I got inspired before this by starting a list of license names. I started with 60 names! While on the site I got inspired again and came up with a grand total of 160! Believe or not, I only had to reject 16 of my names as they’re already taken! The list is so big I doubt I’ll have more inspiration to come up with more. Out of the 140 or so left over, probably 10% are quite good and another 15% are okay.

I downloaded the PDF form for submitting names. It has space for 8 names in order of preference, so if someone bags a name since you were last on the site, they go to the next name on the list.

The color of this 2013 Mustang is Deep Impact Blue and it has 420 hp, so you can guess some of the names, like DEEPBLU and 420HP. It was surprising to me how many names weren’t taken. Probably because this isn’t California.

Others I have that no one’s using:

SINCE64 (I borrowed that one from a pic on Ford’s website)
GREAT13
2013BLU
5LITER
FASTONE
QUIKONE
420LUST
BLULUST
HOTBLUE
NOTDULL
CLEAN13
PONY13
CHUCK13
QUIKBLU
WOW420
BLULQQK
FASTBLU
V8LUST
HOTPONY
MEAN13
TASTY
302CUIN
BLAZNV8
BORN2GO
PUNCHY
BLUEFLY
CREAMER
MY+FUN
BLUFUSE
WHATA13
HOTLOAD
FAST4ME
155MPH
BLAZN13
SMOKING
WOWEE
WOWEEEE
ROKNBLU
SCREAMR
YOWZAH
BLOFUSE
ENUF4ME
TEASER
NOKIDDN
COOLBLU
4MYSOUL
VERYBLU
NOTLAME
RELIEF
CRE8T
BOOT-IT
IAMGONE
-SOUND-
TUFENUF
IAMGONE
4MYMIND
BLUSOUL
EXCLAIM
NOTBAD
LICENCE
ZOWEEEE
CRAZED

I might as well have put all of them here, but you get the idea. Altogether out of the whole bunch I kinda like about 5 or 10. I thought of some others but they would’ve been more appropriate if I had a Shelby!

The engine is known as the Coyote engine, but someone already bagged that.

I’m all done with studio gear with the exception of maybe down the road in a year or so:

One microphone (not too likely but possible, about $500-700). I don’t actually need it.

Upgrading the already very excellent converters in the RME interface to state of the art for $750 (maybe within 2 years)

Within 3 years a 12 string bass guitar.

I have all the other acoustic, electric and bass guitars I want. Any other axes would be 5 years out.

After a year, about 200 a year for music software during Xmas time during specials, except for this coming Xmas while I’m super pinching pennies.

Technically I’m insane for wanting the Mustang. However it’s a once in a lifetime chance for something special, and I know for a fact that I’d kick myself in the ass forever if I don’t at least try to get it. Plus it gets rid of my jones for a 1968 442 as it’s a much better car with 90 more hp and better everything except for personal nostalgia.

If something too difficult happens during the wheeling and dealing for terms and whatever I have up for a down payment or trade in, then I can drop the price $6000 by getting a stripped Mustang, but still with the shiftable automatic.

By the way, if I didn’t already say it, I would get the wheels you saw as part of the car package. I would then get the standard plain Jane wheels for winter with likely Bridgestone Blizzaks, though there are maybe two other winter tires under consideration. There are no studded or even studdable tires from any brand available for that car, which is disappointing, but I can live with that.

Ironically I found this not long after sending the last email. It really shows the car very well, and ironically even has the optional wheels I want:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmdZkXWe1bQ

That car was not altered as far as power is concerned, the one I’m getting will do all that. They might’ve altered the suspension so it wouldn’t get trashed so much so they could shoot more scenes. But unlike most movies or TV shows, I can tell you they didn’t have to boost the engine. That’s 420 hp!