Here’s the short version: We took out a $10,000 personal line of credit to buy a vending business last year. Since then we had paid it down to $7,000. (We could have paid it off sooner, but instead of making principle payments as we had originally planned, we went out to eat … a lot.) It showed up as a credit card on my credit reports and every month Bank of America (BofA) would send me checks that I could write to deposit more funds into my checking account from this line of credit.

Well, before we left Brooklyn CM was running ragged trying to find a buyer for the business. I think the ever-increasing gas prices made people wary of what was otherwise a very good deal. We didn’t blog about it because it didn’t seem central to the point of the blog.

So on the last day before we left, we got a buyer and we sold the vending route for exactly $7000. Well we had decided to pay back $5000, keep $2000 for backup, and transfer another $2000 when we got to Hawaii because everything is so expensive. $4000 in debt didn’t seem too horrible considering this was going to be the trip of a lifetime.

Fast forward to yesterday — I called BofA to make a transfer into my checking account and my request was DENIED. They said my debt/income ratio was too high. I was flabbergasted because not only had I not gotten any new credit since last year, but I had paid all of my credit cards off! Besides, since when is your credit reviewed every time you try to charge something? What would have happened had I tried to deposit one of those checks they keep sending me?

I asked how long was it going to be before I could access the money and they sales associate told me 4-6 months!!! What good is a line of credit that you can’t use for 4-6 months?!? CM & I made a quick decision to just close the account. That way I can get the full $10k off of my credit report.

By the way, we also thought that making such a huge payment on the principle would lower our monthly payments — WRONG!! I found out yesterday that our high payments are staying the same, my giant payment only shortened the amount of payments I have to make.

(If this is my short version, I’d hate to see the long version…) So, now CM and I are in Hawaii with only $1200 left in cash. If we were hanging out at the beach, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but before we left Brooklyn CM let me know how excited he was to see the volcano. (He doesn’t get excited about a lot of things.) The trip to see the volcano is going to cost $900. I, the CFO (Chief Financial Officer), came up with a budget to still go see the volcano and only charge $500 or so on a regular credit card.

CM is dead set against it. This other card has twice of the interest rate of BofA’s. We didn’t speak much last night, just a series of glares back and forth.

Culture Sidebar: In Hawaii a mean look is called “stink eye”. An example sentence: CM gave me stink eye all night because I wanted to use a credit card to pay for our trip.

Arguments/disagreements about money can really spoil a vacation. It’s 6:30 am here, and I’m watching the sun rise over the ocean and trying to get back into the spirit, but I’m torn. We might not make it back to Hawaii again, so why not stretch to see the volcano? Even if it does mean 1 or 2 unwise financial decisions?

Daily Wisdom: Don’t go on a trip until you have all of the money for it in the bank. Otherwise, you’re asking for it.

What would you do? Give up and just hang out at the beach for 4 more days or would you throw caution to the wind and go see an active volcano??

Diesel is a good example because everyone talks about how diesel is so expensive compared to gas. For me, it is very different. Coming from NYC I am used to paying $4.30 for cheap gas; so to pay $4.70 for diesel (which has been the average down south) is not that bad considering the added fuel economy. Our RV gets 17mpg compared to the 8mpg RVs with regular gas. The only reason I don’t feel it is because of what I am used to.

Bugs are another good example. I never realized how loud they are. Rats, roaches, and ants (which are common to New York) don’t make much noise. Down here there are bugs at night that are really loud. I am not sure if it is locust, crickets, or some unknown, but they are loud. There is plenty of noise in the city, from trains, cars, and pedestrians, but I am used to all that and I don’t pay them much attention. Loud bugs I am not so used to and I notice them much more than I probably should. I am sure over time I will get used to them as well.

So what does this mean to me? Well I wonder how many things I or other people put up with just because they are used to it; some good, some bad. There are so many paths that could be taken in life. How many are taken not because of free will, but are taken because of complacency, or just being used to it?

On a lighter note, all is great and we leave the grandparents tomorrow on our world wind adventure tour. No real plans on where we are stopping first, but I am very excited and can’t wait. I hope this is a great experience for us and our children.

-Mark Twain

The reading made me realize that I do not need most of those clothes and I do not need most of my “stuff”. As I complete my transition from apartment living to RV living I will keep this article in mind. If you have 7 minutes, you should read the manifesto here.

Daily Wisdom: It doesn’t matter who else can “see” who you are. What matters is that you know. ~Rob Walker

If you have the time, let me know what you think about the piece.

Before we left the house I had printed out a Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) checklist. I had read so many blogs and forum posts about people having serious problems with their RVs because they didn’t go over it good enough before they drove it off the lot. When we get there I told the dealer I wanted to go over this PDI checklist starting with the exterior. However, once he started showing us the ins and outs I kind of chickened out. The dealer seemed so nice that I just didn’t want to take up too much of his time. To make matters worse, the kids were running in and out of the RV, so I had to wrangle them while CM learned how to work all of the buttons. Two hours later I’m driving the RV home and I discover a chip in the windshield the size of a nickel. And sure enough, my list had a checkbox for the windows.

I would like to say that the hairiest part of the morning was paying the dealer. As you all know, our loan only covered about 60% of the RV cost. The rest was savings, cash, and credit. Well, my bank is in Hawaii and there’s a 6 hour time difference. I called them the night before to let them know that I would be making a very large purchase using my debit card. They assured me that it would be fine as long I had enough money in my account to cover the bill. WRONG!!

He ran my card twice and it was immediately declined both times! Luckily, I had my checkbook with me and the dealer was kind enough to accept a personal check instead. If I hadn’t have grabbed my checkbook as a backup we would have had to wait five hours for the bank to open and have this resolved. Even though I’ve been with this bank since I was 14, I’m closing my accounts. That being said, here’s todays lesson:

Daily Wisdom: When planning large debit/credit purchases, call your bank beforehand to make sure they don’t have a daily limit on charges. Also bring your checkbook as a “Plan B”.

Wisdom of the Day: “In life, be flexible.”