I guess the richer you are, the more you pay for fuel. I heard that the cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns. Then again, the hybrids use less but they cost way more than they should.

But cars can be good for money, regardless of whether they’re old or new, Chevies or Lexuses. That’s because if you’re like me, once in a while you need more cash. It can be for an emergency, or an opportunity, like to buy something on sale. I use my five year old Honda for car title loans all the time. I used to go to a car pawn place, but now it’s easier than ever on the Internet.  I use Montgomery Car Title Loans, the best place I’ve found for convenience and time and rates. It takes about fifteen minutes max to fill out the form, then you get approved in less than an hour, then you get your money as early as the next day. It’s perfect.

I believe in it so much, I tell all my friends – it doesn’t matter where you live, they are in Prattville, Millbrook, Wetumpka, Hope Hull, Elmore – and they’ve all found it to be a good back up for cash crunch times.

I had to give it straight to my wife: I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.

We moved out to North Aurora from the city to get a little more fresh air, and to be closer to our jobs out here. The idea was more quality time together, less commuting, having a garden, the whole thing. And that worked pretty well for two years.

Then my company moved downtown, while her job ended. With two kids and a new big fat mortgage, this was a shaky proposition. She said in the spring that we could turn the whole back yard into a small vegetable farm, which the kids didn’t like too much because the idea of corn growing around the pool just didn’t seem right. Her argument was we’d be eating off the land and saving money. I asked where we’d keep the cattle since I like my beef.

Just around the time she found a new job (no time to garden, thank god) we were up against a wall on the mortgage and other expenses. It really was a matter of timing – we knew we’d have money in a month, but by letting some payments go then it would kill our credit rating and negate our ability to refi the mortgage.

So I went online and looked for car title loan companies. What I found was North Aurora Title Loans, a car title loans firm that works online only, no scary stores on Western Avenue in Chicago. And they were fast — the money came in a day, in time to keep the bills paid.

We’re both working and putting food – MEAT – on the table again. Whew.

By the way North Aurora is near Mooseheart, Batavia, Montgomery, South Park, and Oswego.

Lessons in marriage learned recently: The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to forget it once.

We got married in early July (1992). Her birthday is in late June. And I tend to mentally lump the two together, sometimes trying to get in one present for both of them. But the trick there is to hit the first event (her birthday), which then covers you on the second. It’s the 25th, but I was thinking the 28th for some reason. So once I figured out the slow burn taking place in our home, I knew I had to make amends.

Ever the penitent husband, I offered to go to the Kane County Flea Market with her the next week. She usually goes with her mother and sister from Batavia. I figured, “how much could this cost?” What I discovered is, PLENTY. Just because I had the pick-up with us, she decides this big honking chest was “perfect” for our living room. But for a mere $1000 we have become the proud owners of this fine piece of old furniture.

Which led to a little cash crunch for the past few months. My solution: go to Aurora Car Title Loans, for a short-term loan against my truck. It was a great fix: done entirely online, a car title loan is easy and fast. I had the money in a day.

A well-timed box of chocolates could have averted this whole thing.

By the way Aurora is near Montgomery, South Park, Naperville, Bolingbrook, and Wheaton.