Car Crazy
Neither M. nor I make a ton of money. Nursing gives me a living wage, but it's not spectacular. M. works part time which is wonderful for our lifestyle and future family, but we've traded income for that. We live in Seattle, which is EXPENSIVE. And to top it all off, we exhausted what little savings we had when I went back to school, then on medical bills while TTC.
This leaves little reserves.
We have a paid for car. It's a crap-ass Dodge Neon that has been a somewhat loyal companion for the last 7.5 years. It's had it's moments. Except for having four doors, it is a TERRIBLE family car.
I think we could manage for a bit with the crap-ass Neon except...EXCEPT...we have our beautiful Zooper stroller that is SO FREAKIN' big that we can't fit it in the trunk.
We need a new car.
We could take on a car payment. I wouldn't stretch us too thin, but we need to prioritize that money for the baby and materinity leave. At the same time, I'm tired of the Neon. I want it to go away. It's SO tempting just to see if the budget could handle a car payment and DO IT.
The classic Catch-22 appears.
We're going to try to limp along with the Neon. And maybe the stroller will become a neighborhood stroller until we can get a different car. Or maybe we'll sell it and find a different stroller. Either way, it's making us crazy.
posted by Sacha @ 9:11 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
I hear ya. We have a 2001 Echo which is actually great for space and I'm sure the trunk could fit just about any stroller. It would be okay for a city car but we have 1 large Golden Retriever and a small shih-poo which means, we're kind of tight for space if we wanted to take the dogs and baby somewhere. And forget camping! So we're in need of another car. Our other car is an oldsmobile or something and it's a '91 I think. It is in excellent condition but we are going to keep the newer Echo (which has NEVER had any issues at all *happy sigh*) and get an SUV/minivan. We're thinking the Honda Odyssey. We'd love to go hybrid but it's too expensive.
Here's the thing, we don't want to take on a car payment when I'm going to go on mat leave for 10 months and Angele for 2 months. We can survive on 1 salary but we have a mortgage, pets, baby, bills and consolidated loan to pay. We don't want to add a car payment to that so we'll probably wait. I figure we can get by with our 2 cars for now and then get rid of the old car and buy our minivan when I head back to work.
I wish things are cheaper sometimes. Money sucks.
Good luck with your car shopping/issues!!! I'm sure it'll all work itself out!
have you checked out what carmax would give you (if there is one close to you)? We sold our car to them when Gus's Mommy was PG b/c we needed something other than a 2 door 'sports coupe.' It took about 2 hrs on a weekend to get the quote... It might give you at least some idea of your options....
I say put the stroller in there and tie the trunk closed! There's gotta be a way.
I don't suppose you could find a government auction to buy a better care for cheap? In the meantime, every month that you don't buy a new car, you save that much in monthly payments. Maybe in the interim you could research a new/new to you car, how to get a better price, Consumer Reports, etc., and then catch a better sale towards the end of the year when they sell out that model year?
If you want an unsolicited opinion... I say buy the car now! The first few years are not as expensive as we're all led to believe. That would give you a start, and by the time more child related costs start piling up around 4-5 years old (for example, my daughter is in Montesorri and I swear every week there is a new expense) your money situation may be a lot more comfortable...kwim?
Now...let me say I am jealous of your awesome stroller :P
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