Yesterday morning I woke up VERY excited thinking that we were going to sell my car and buy a new (to us) larger vehicle this coming weekend. The last car I bought for myself was nearly 15 years ago, and the car I’m driving now is an inherited Ford Fusion that Charlie bought brand new 7 years ago. It’s AWD, has great gas mileage, and is great in the mountains, but as the kids get older we have realized that we really want more space, both for space for running errands & traveling and for space when we have out-of-state guests and/or friends of the kids who will be riding with us as the kids grow up.
Long story short, I was up at 3am with a fussy, sick kid again (Harvey) before frantically cleaning out the car from 7-9am so we could head to the town 30 minutes away to show it to some potential buyers who found us through our Craig’s List ad. The entire way there I was feeling conflicted. I wanted to start the year fresh with everything from a new attitude about food & exercise to a new vehicle. However, it’s not a great time for us financially to add a new loan payment to our lives. Then again, is there ever a good time to add another bill?
At any rate, I was 75% hoping for a smooth sale & a new car for me. I was 25% thinking it would be okay if it didn’t work out. After a 30 minute test drive and 60 more minutes of them debating while we grocery shopped with the kids, the other (super nice) couple decided they couldn’t pull the trigger and they didn’t buy the car.
Honestly? I was relieved.
As much as I wanted a newer, bigger vehicle, a fresh attitude & outlook on life doesn’t need to be accompanied by a loan payment.
The new goal? Save up enough over the next year to pay for the new vehicle we want outright with no loans whatsoever.
Dave Ramsey FTW! 🙂