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Hey guys, I’ve been stressing about my snap on credit account. I currently owe 3600$ ( counting the interest its 4500). My minimum payment is 22$ a week, but I always pay 45-50$ a week.
I have been working for the past year and this was all stuff I needed (mostly hand tools, a techwrench, some cordless impacts and a blue point cart. I only get what I need and I don’t always get stuff off of the truck either.
I am just stressing because 4500$ seems like a high balance to me. Is there any way to stop stressing about it? I feel secure in my job and I always try to pay double on my account but I just can’t shake it…
How do you guys deal with it?
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I personally haven’t broken $750. But, I always justify it as this: If I don’t have the tools I can’t do the work. If I can’t do the work I can’t get paid. If I can’t get paid everything needed for life isn’t there and if it is not there I can not live. So ergo my tools = my life.
Don’t bash it cause we all justify it in some way shape or form.
4500 isn’t really all that much. It takes about 30 grand to fill a box, so it sounds like you have been pretty careful. I wouldn’t stress if I were you
I have the same balance roughly as you 79bolvo. I justify my balance by getting what I “need” not what I want. I got tools to help me prepare for my next level. So going from lube tech to C-tech for example. Tools make you money. If you don’t have the tools for a job, to our can lose that ticket. Even if you have the knowledge.
To be very honest if you are stressing about that much, maybe you shouldn’t be in this field. Like some have said already. Its 30k to fill a box. I know a handful of master techs with easily 100k invested in tools.
I have about 10-12k in tools atm and I am not even 1/3 of the way to where I need to be tool wise (In the Diesel field you need 1-2 sizes bigger of everything so we normally end game are looking at 60k in tools). I take my time and research the crap out of things and for some things I buy tool truck brands and for others that barely get used I buy the brand the tool truck normally rebrands. Unless I know something is significantly better in quality then I will buy that brand over the tool truck brand it isn’t as rare as you may think either. Regardless hand tools need to be of a quality to last you a lifetime if you plan to do this for any length of time greater then 3-5yrs.
$4500 is a drop in the bucket and with it being Snap-On because of the elitism that comes with that brand resell-ability will always be there and majority of the time roughly 85-90% of the time its going to be a good quality tool. If you are buying hand tools and some pneumatic tools there really isn’t a problem dropping that much money. Just keep up your payments and do not be afraid to do your research before you buy. If you have the Oh look Shiny problem get on the truck pay and get back off. Hell if you can pay without getting on the truck its probably better. Also pace yourself with buying the tools. If you can borrow them without someone getting pissed then do it. Also another thing I did is wrote down all the tools I NEED not want, but actually NEED to do my day to day normal jobs and bought them. Make sure you are not buying beyond what you work on till you have what you need to do your regular work.
I would have to agree. Sit down and figure out what you need BEFORE going in the truck. Pick it up, pay your weekly bill, and dont’ browse.
I do have a list of stuff I need. At the price of snap on I don’t impulse buy either. I love what I do and love working on cars. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else… I guess I just have to get used to the idea of tools put food on the table and tools aren’t free lol.
So the wrench you buy today will be still yours in 20 years, and probably still usable. Think of this as a good thing, say compared to somebody in tech who has to throw all their stuff out and start over every few years. The nicer tools make any repair job easier — saving your knuckles with top tier tools is important. One cheap tool could send you to the hospital accruing bills much of larger amounts than yours and my tools combined.
I remember my 1st big tool purchase…I was still in school and working at a tire shop making shit for a paycheck but got myself on that snap on credit..6300 bucks on a 3 year loan…but at the end of it all its a necessary investment in this business and once you see it start paying for itself you kinda stop stressing off it so much…at least that how it worked for me
As I’ve said many times before, no matter how much pressure is on me, I will never open a revolving credit line of any form. If I need something from the truck or otherwise, the money is in hand or the bank. I wouldn’t stress $4,500 but I also wouldn’t make the minimum payment. If it were me, I’d set aside $100 bucks a week just to get it paid off. Debt of any kind is bad, but revolving credit is especially bad. Installment is the way to go if you absolutely have to borrow.
I used to be like you Chevyman21 and quite honestly I miss not being in debt. Once I get out of it I am probably never going to go into it again other then for a house.
Sometimes I joke with my wife about having to spend tool money on the house payment. I don’t have an account with Snap-on, or any tool truck, otherwise I might end up debtors prison after going on a tool bonanza extrodinaire…Me in a tool truck is like an alcoholic in a bar, I avoid for my own well being.
[quote=”MDK22″ post=132697]I used to be like you Chevyman21 and quite honestly I miss not being in debt. Once I get out of it I am probably never going to go into it again other then for a house.[/quote] I’m ultra conservative with money. I realize, you gotta spend money to make money in some cases but there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way to do it. Let’s take how I acquired tools as the most basic example, I got a Craftsman set to start out(and my dad gave me some of his old tools) and as I moved along, I acquired more and more as needed(either from trucks or direct and getting deals on ebay when possible.) The key? Always had the money in hand. Opening a credit line for a full set of SO to start out made no sense to me even when I had the school discount(long before school I already had that full set of Craftsman hand tools, my dads Imperial Eastman stuff, etc). Except for what my dad had given me, everything else was on my own dime as I have been working since I was a teenager(thats also how I was able to afford an 08 silverado brand new). My philosophy of save now, spend only when you need it has served me well. Frivolous spending is something I don’t agree with, and that includes taking out massive credit balances for what you can’t afford. Start small, work your way up.
[quote=”andrewbutton442″ post=132699]Sometimes I joke with my wife about having to spend tool money on the house payment. I don’t have an account with Snap-on, or any tool truck, otherwise I might end up debtors prison after going on a tool bonanza extrodinaire…Me in a tool truck is like an alcoholic in a bar, I avoid for my own well being.[/quote] Ha, ya self discipline is key. The brand new shiny tools on the truck can be quite tempting, but you gotta tell yourself no.
I drive my tool truck guys crazy cause i don’t buy much most of the time. Come on the truck look around etc.Then all of a sudden I will give them a list and they look at me like ok and then immediately try to sell me everything under the world lol. Atm I am locked in at 300 a month for tool payments simply so I can get back to 0 soon. I also had to buy a lot of tools I had been borrowing since the tech got moved to a diff shop.
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