Comments on: Keep Laughing… The Car is Paid Off!

By: MB

MB — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:20:28 +0000

Oops forgot to say… I now have a 2004 Ford Escape SUV and it’s finally paid off after five years. It’s a great feeling and I don’t know how I did it.

By: MB

MB — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:15:24 +0000

My first car was a new 1970 Volkswagen Bug at $75 per month for 3 yrs. Drove the first day with 2 sisters and a brother to downtown Philly on the expressway with the emergency breaks on. Fist time driving a stick. Also, I was driving with a friend at night, in a light snow to work and I was driving too fast for the conditions and the car didn’t flip but did a 360. My friend was laughing after it happened but I was mortified. I learned early how to slow down in bad weather

By: Charles Galvin

Charles Galvin — Wed, 04 May 2011 18:32:24 +0000

My first car was a ’76 Impala as well!! Loved that car! (http://cmgalvin.com/chiquita1.jpg)

I am several cars past that now. Unfortunately, the most recent appears to be on it’s last leg. Orlando does not currently have a sustainable public transit system. According to the routes it would take 2 hours to get to my office.

I also do not trust biking many of those routes. The route is only 20 miles which wouldn’t be too bad. However, most of these are heavy traffic routes. I also do not have an accessible shower in my office.

I’m now debating whether it will be worth getting an auto loan for a reasonable vehicle. All that I am finding is that different sites recommend whether you get the better rate through the bank or from the dealer themselves. I have an estimate to what I could reasonably pay a month, roughly $150. I am also seeing some suggestions that new cars get better interest rates, but I don’t want to eat the depreciation. Any suggestions for proceeding?

By: Deborah McP

Deborah McP — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:10:24 +0000

After my first experience of trying to hang onto a car (bought for work) while living the student life, I’ve always considered them temporary utilities and an avoidable expense. That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a great-driving vehicle, though. When I last needed to buy a car (back in 2004), I kept in mind that I’d be doing alot of Canadian winter driving on major highways, and opted for a used, relatively cheap, fantastically heavy, powerful car … that I sold soon after the project period ended. Ah, the 1989 BMW 535i was an amazing drive. Stick. Heated seats. Responsive! In fact, if you don’t mind me going on a bit… when you’re rounding corners, it FEELS as though the car was BUILT around you and your backbone is the center of your little centrifugal universe. The 50:50 front to back weight distribution is apparently what produces this effect. Glorious. And potentially addictive. Not enough to sway me from my frugal path, but I do cherish that memory.

I think we should all enjoy some of the most wonderful aspects of vehicles and other modern technologies, but treat them less as necessities, and more as useful tools. Sometimes you need a car and sometimes you don’t.

By the way, I actually sold the car for more than I paid, one year after. Probably pure luck and the fine detailing job.

By: Canadian

Canadian — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:38:54 +0000

I am 31 years old and have never owned a car. I have chosen to live in a city (not the town I grew up in) with great public transportation. I also picked an apartment in a walkable neighbourhood where I can accomplish my regular errands on foot. I also bike a lot during the warmer 6 months of the year. I am very pleased that I am able to do this because I have saved so much money and also had less of a negative impact upon the earth, but it isn’t just luck, it’s because of the choices I have made.

By: Weekly Mashup, April 26th | My Life ROI, Getting the Best Return On Life

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:01:21 +0000

[...] Man vs Debt has a great idea. He posts an article that corresponds to the Personal Finance Hour topic run by Bargaineering and Get Rich Slowly. This week he wrote a post on his history of car ownership [...]

By: jonatsgonats

jonatsgonats — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:59:27 +0000

Nice comparison! I really got inspired by your post. We get to learn about ourselves through the things that we do even with our cars. Funny stuff yet very useful. jonatsgonats’s last blog post..Susan Boyle Inspirational Voice

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:31:38 +0000

We’re currently living overseas in Japan, and just this past weekend bought ourselves a minivan for $500. Granted, we also had to buy insurance, pay road taxes and do some work on it (which we had done CHEAP – basically just parts and a case of Red Bull) and we’ll have to pay for its every-2-year inspection this week, but after that’s all said and done, we’ll have spent about $1300 CASH for a car that won’t need anything (hopefully) other than oil changes and gas for the next year. Our other car we also bought with cash for $3500, and we’re replacing the $1000 clunker we bought when we first got here.

We’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years – bought cars that were too big in size and payment and even leased a minivan for our family of 4 – but never again will we purchase a vehicle with financing. If we can’t afford something nice in cash, we’ll settle with something cheaper until we can.

By: MB

MB — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:59:23 +0000

Oh yeah, and my last 3 cars have been Nissans. Of course, my Dad does work for them.

MB’s last blog post..Shopping Consignment Sales

By: MB

MB — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:57:46 +0000

I have never had a car payment and never will. I used to drive a total clunker truck to work, surrounded by all these young professionals in their hot cars. But, I was in HR, so I knew what they were all making and how much their car payments probably were and they were more than likely saving nothing. My clunker truck never bothered me once. It was paid for and it drove like a charm. It just wasn't pretty. When the transmission finally died, we sold it to a mechanic, so no guilt there either. Win win. We didn't have a car for the first 18 months that we lived in Brisbane. Then, after that we only had one car that we drove on the weekends or to the grocery. We took public transport to work every day. I don't know what the public transport is like in Cairns, but the buses are pretty good in QLD, I'm sure it won't be too hard. I really miss not having good public transport. When we first moved back to the US from Australia, I wondered why I seemed to have such little time for reading. Then, I realized that I used to read on the bus/train/water ferry all the time. I don't have that luxury here with needing to drive everywhere. MB’s last blog post..Shopping Consignment Sales