My 2-bedroom house is on a corner lot across the road from nothing but a babbling brook and woods.
It has newer double paned vinyl windows, vinyl siding with new steps and rails on both porches.
The property is surrounded by a cyclone fence with three gates.
Outside the fence, It has off-street parking for 6 vehicles.
It came with an ultra-high-efficiency gas furnace.
My latest gas bill (for March) was $29.
I bought it @ forclosure 6 years ago for $7100 total
including inspections and closing fees.
I put in some plumbing, a water heater, a funace gas switch and a bathroom floor for around $1200 total.
I even went so far as to check the local real estate taxes before I bought it.
I pay just over $300/yr. for township and county real estate, per capita, school and fire service.
That's due to our area's exemption.
My '04 'Stang (cost me $3400 three years ago) got hit while parked this past summer.
I got a check for $2200+ from the hit-and-run guy's insurance and fixed it myself for $27 in materials.
So, I figure that the car ended up costing me less than $1200.
The Elio? Maybe the auto transmission (or whatever it's going to be called)
I'm also considering cruise control but will wait to see the price.
I'll install an aftermarket rear camera system myself.
Along with some marker/turn/stop lights on the outriggers.
One thing is a definite... An inexpensive heads up display on smoked plexiglass.
What's the point of a great looking bargain if it's no longer a bargain?
Like I said, I'm interested in cutting the cord because I mostly watch Netflix anyway.
So what, and who, do all of you cord-cutters pay for high-speed internet?
(I sure hope the thread police don't discover this flagrant example of thread drift.)
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I am really enjoying this sidetracked topic and am amazed at these ideas. But saving money and thinking outside the box are probably very common interests of Elio owners. Elioamazed, you're amazing! Especially your home purchase price and utilities/taxes/maintenance savings. My home cost was 50 times what you paid but I think i would be more happy in your setup.
I cut the cable cord about 10 years ago and just rent a redbox movie a couple of times a month. (just think watching tv is generally a waste of time) We pay $45/month for internet. I used to use tracfone cell service but am just changing to RingPlus which is free (you have to listen to ads while waiting for the person you call to answer the phone). I have always bought salvage title cars (current car is a corolla with 15k miles with purchase price of 7k). We don't waste a dime on interest since we cash flow everything - including house. Thanks for the great ideas!