Thursday, April 10, 2008

Dilemmas- Decisions- Debt-free car shopping.

How much do we spend-- basic replacement of the car we lost for just a few grand- although that car was 12 years old already. Do we upgrade for a newer car with less mileage and more fuel efficiency? And take a bigger chunk out of our funds?
How many bells and whistles do we need? Does it need to be a four door? How many dents and dings are acceptable before a car just looks too hoopty? How much do we haggle?


Oh, we are so not going down the road of car payments because our mortgage is enough of a debt. But, I am beginning to understand why it would be a lot easier just to pick out a new one and have a monthly payment.

My husband is a born researcher and hand wringer. I am much more impulsive. "Hey, this looks ok, it's cheap enough, let's buy it and get on with our lives." Between the two of us I don't know what we'll end up with.

The only thing I do know is the house is a mess of toys and anything else that they can reach and pull down. Dinner is planned and prepped (wheat noodles with broccoli in a Thai peanut sauce) and those hairy sweet potatoes finally got made into a pie for dessert.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

We just went through this too. We ended up buying in the $8000 range, which is where we found we could get something reliable and safe (to our comfort level, anyway!) without going into too much debt. We'll end up with about a $2000 loan by the time it's all said and done.

Rachel said...

I know how you feel. I don't even want to think about all the time we have spent trying to find something on eBay, Craigslist or other online sites. We, too, are not adding a car payment to the mix so it has to be within our resources, but we are wondering how much to drain our emergency fund (how nice and new of a vehicle to get). May God give you great insight and direction in yor search and purchase!

The Frugal Shrink said...

I have been there too many times. :( I hate being car-less, and shopping for cars, etc.

I know you will find a great deal on a good car.

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