We finally did it. After two years of saving hard, lots of research and deliberation, asking around, 6 months of shopping, budgeting considerations, and a heaping dose of patience, we bought this momma a new (to us) vehicle.
(THANKS HUBBY!!!)
Having learned to drive at the ripe old age of 15 in a full-sized van, I have to admit that sitting behind the wheel of something mammoth again just feels right.
I can get over the fact that the paint is a dark green (I wanted white or silver or something less contrasting with dust). Note, the dirt in the above pictures...because it rained today.
After all, it is loaded with more features than we even dared to hope for, or will ever use.
And we got it for a steal.
We want to fill it with a couple more of these cuties.
:-)
One of my favorite things? The automatic folds-into-the-floor third row split bench. Love love love.
And, yes, we do carry a potty chair with us at all times. :-)
Lessons learned so far from our car buying experience:
1. It really does pay off to be patient and wait for the right deal.
2. Like Dave Ramsey says, it is extremely difficult to part with a large chunk of cash. The benefit is that you will be more careful and slow to make a purchase. The down side is that, once a wise purchase is made, you might second-guess yourself 100 times, and it may take you a few days to recover from the trauma of parting that with that much dough.
We bought it on Saturday. Though we had planned for it on paper, the reality of choosing to drive a gas hog hit me on Sunday. Second-guessing lasted well into Monday. Then My Stud talked me down. I fell in love with it on Tuesday when I loaded it down with the supplies to make 25 apple pies for our MOPS craft that morning.
I haven't looked back since that moment of transportation bliss.
5 comments:
Sweet new ride, Mama! Paying cash always makes me giddy, not sure why. I guess the prospect of having zero car payments?? We bought a new (to us) Suburban before Sprig was born, and it's been awesome. Though I must say, I'm totally jealous of your seat that folds in thirds. That would be too handy! And yeah, we carry a potty chair around with us, too. ;)
So, next time you fill up and cringe, just think, there's someone in Oklahoma doing the same thing, but we keep on drivin' anyway. :P
How fun! Your new car looks great! We are just starting the saving process to eventually get ourselves a new (to us) car. I'm sure it's a wonderful feeling to be able to pay in cash!
Congratulations!!! So great, I am excited for you guys! I can't wait to see the future little ones you fill it up with ;)
So awesome you paid cash, I am inspired! Mike and I hope to do that with our next car!
Any tips on saving up that much moolah?
That is awesome!!!! We have a super cab pickup, and would love to have a 4-door. Especially with another baby on the way. However, the pickup will be paid off this summer, and we don't want another payment. Not that we have even been able to find anything with a payment we can even afford. Used pickups are outrageous! So I don't know what we'll do.. I guess we'll just have to be packed close together for awhile, and pray that Tadpole doesn't poke out Baby Sissy's eyes!! ;) It would be so awesome to pay for something in cash. Maybe one day we'll be able too. I have heard of people who continue to make a 'payment' even after paying off a vehicle. And after doing that a few years, you eventually have enough. That may be what we try and do.
*End of longest comment eva!*
LeAnna, we seriously contemplated the Suburban...but it was a little more $$$. Glad I'm not alone in the world of gas guzzling. ;-)
Sarah, you can totally do it! It will be worth it.
Emily, we just pretended that we had a monthly car payment. Now that I think back, it really took us closer to 2 yrs to save up. I'll post a link about our strategy in a bit.
Jennifer, I bet that Tadpole does better than you think! Our girls ride right next to each other and keep one another well entertained. :-) You'll just have to lay out the ground rules from the start. Trucks are awesome. You can get by fine in one for awhile yet I bet.
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