You may wonder how having 3 vehicles was the right choice for us. So Let me explain.
I drive a small SUV. Nice dependable vehicle, great for hauling around kids in carseats (I’m a nanny) and very nice to have for snowy/icy roads in the winter. The gas mileage isn’t the best, but I feel it’s worth it.
Jason drives a ’99 F150 truck with upwards of 200k miles on it. Having a truck is wonderful. Great for snowy/icy roads, but also for hauling stuff. We use the truck part of that vehicle enough to justify having one.
However, the truck was starting to need some repairs. We thought to just take care of the worst problems and hopefully get a few more years out of it. Then we learn the extent of the truck’s problems and realize that unless we put more into the truck that it is worth, we will very likely be buying another truck within a year.
So Jason did his research and determined the best choice for a new truck (new to us). The problem was, no matter how we looked at it, we would be completely emptying our savings and still have to take out a loan. And after my SUV was paid off a few years ago I had determined that we wouldn’t take out another loan like that.
And here is where having 3 vehicles was the right choice for us:
While scratching our heads and wondering if we could save enough before the truck died, so we wouldn’t need to go into debt, a solution presented itself in the form of a co-worker selling his car. The price was peanuts compared to a truck, and it had low mileage with no big problems.
So why would we buy a 3rd vehicle?
- Jason drives the car to work now, which saves his truck for “trucking” purposes. (He continues to drive the truck once a week to keep it running nice)
- We now drive the car instead of my vehicle when going places together. Thus saving my vehicle.
- The car gets excellent fuel mileage. We save an average of $150 a month in gas now.
- Our insurance didn’t go up any. We dropped our coverage to collision only, because if something happens to one vehicle, we still have the other two.
- We paid cash for the car and still had the bulk of our savings left. Thus leaving us debt free. (other than our mortgage)
- In the end we expect to get at least a couple more years out of the truck, giving us time to save a little bit more. 🙂
At first glance it seems to be a bit extravagant to have 3 vehicles but when looking at the big picture; having 3 vehicles was the right choice for us financially.
The moral of this story is this: If you plan ahead and think outside of the box, going into debt isn’t always your only choice. Usually the answer will come in an unexpected way and you can remain debt free. Isn’t that “the dream”? 🙂
You bet debt free is the “dream”. My husband and I are actively taking steps in the right direction to see that dream come true. Now, if only my husband and I had taken Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University course BEFORE we got married! My husband is SUPER great at math, and I thought that naturally meant being super great at finances. Not so! I’m SUPER great at finances, not so super great at math…go figure! Now, we are both getting super great and using, to it’s fullest, each other’s God given gifts, so that we get super great at finances together! Now, isn’t that just SUPER, lol!
It’s so funny, I had never heard of Dave Ramsey until a couple years after we had been married for several years. Then one day a friend was telling me about this envelope method and I’m cracking up because the way we saved for vacations was by stashing the cash we earned doing sidejobs and our birthday money from family into an envelope!
I don’t agree with everything he says, but there is a lot of good stuff there and he’s helped so many people!
And super great is GREAT 😉 I’m good with finances, neither of us good with math, but we are a good team 🙂
Wow, 3 vehicles.. That’s awesome! 🙂 We have a family of 6 and only one car.. a 4 door Kia Optima. It’s a tight ride but, its not in budget for a bigger one.
I took Financial Peace 8 years ago and learned a ton. The husband on the other hand, did not {take the class}. He is a true free spirit/ spender.. And is not agreeing to a set budget. Yicks! So, the dream of debt free- Is still that- A Dream.
Oh dear! Jason wasn’t all that good with money when we married and had some debt which my savings handled 🙂 We’re good now though, I’m glad we talk things over before we buy and even though he was completely willing to go into debt to buy the truck he wanted, I’m so glad the Lord provided something different for us.
Reading this is almost identical to what the hubby and i have been talking about doing. I read it to my hubby and he laughed and said “sounds like us”.
I drive a small SUV, but my kids are older so no car seats are needed. One of my two kids has moved out so it is just the tree of us. I do need something that can be driven in the snow.
My hubby drives a 95 GMC Sierra, which is the same size as your hubby’s truck. His truck has nearly if not over 200k miles on it. He drives it t o and from back to work (80 miles a day). We drive my car around.
This past week, both our vehicles needed work. This is when we said we need a third to use if one vehicle is in the shop. Not to mention our youngest will be driving in 3 years. Scary thought there. 🙂
*scary thought there* 🙂
yup, sounds like our situation. Jason has a few coworkers that he could get a ride with when one of our vehicles was in the shop which was a blessing, but what we have now is working great for us!
Love this Kendra! We are looking to replace my van that was unexpectedly totaled before Thanksgiving. Praying for a financial miracle since we had not had any extra to save for replacement vehicle. Hubby’s transmission is also going out. We were hoping to eek out 300,000 miles from our ’93 pontiac just to give readers hope that older vehicles can make it with high mileage:) ( dad is a mechanic)
Yup, if you can tinker with vehicles then you are much more likely to get higher miles from them! Praying that you find the right fit for your situation as well 🙂