We have lousy carma

We made it six years. We've really tried to avoid this, but it's inevitable. Six years of marriage, and all the juggling, hand-wringing, and long discussions to work things out, and we can't avoid it any longer.

We're getting a car payment.

John totalled our car on the way to work day after Christmas. The roads were bad; he took his usual exit off the freeway and the car in front of him fishtailed, then stopped. He'd left a lot of distance between them but it wasn't enough considering she just stopped suddenly. We actually had the body shop do an estimate on the repairs. $7,998 - and he stressed that that was by no means final, since there was a lot of damage and he couldn't see parts of the engine clearly. Definitely a total loss.

I tried to convince John to go car-free for a while. I thought it would be an interesting social experiment, not to mention that it would save us over $400 a month (including a car payment, gas, insurance, maintenance, registration, etc.) I tried to bribe him with a new camera; no go. I don't know that I could really go without a car for 6-9 months - it would be really inconvenient - but it would have been interesting to try. I suppose I could just see how long I can go without driving, but I'm not really motivated to inconvenience myself without the reward of saving money.

So.

We bought a car today. It should be a good car, and I think we got a fair deal. The loan has a low interest rate. I HATE knowing that I am paying interest on something that is depreciating in value, but I like having a stereo and power locks that work.

And since we're fairly convinced that our other car was cursed, it's just as well that it's gone.

Right? Right.

Comments

Erin G. said…
I hate our car payment too. And I went 18 months without driving and loved getting behind a wheel again. What kind of car did you get??? We've been looking at car prices and it's definitely a good time to buy.
Ariana said…
Bummer about your car! But I would have a complex too with all the issues you've had. Toyota has 0% financing going on right now....and if we had nothing better to do (hahaha) I would love to buy a new car. But right now I am loving our little cars and no car payments (just paid off the second one a few months ago). Just washed the crap off mine today, and it looks pretty decent! :)
Kimberly said…
I don't think it was bad "carma," as much as it was your car telling you it was it's time to go, after hinting for a while.

I assume John's okay?? I hate car accidents even more than car payments. Sorry that happened, but hopefully this one is trouble-free for a long time.
Amy said…
That's too bad. Monthly payments are the worst. Such is the life of a grown up.

I started with the fruit. I've made an orange (that is so adorable, I will post pictures soon), and the pattern also includes an apple, banana and watermelon. They're all sectioned, but can be pieced together to form a whole fruit. I also want to do the vegetables and maybe some cute breakfasty things, like pancakes and eggs. Have you started anything? I would love to know what works for you. Are you going to hand stitch them? I don't have a sewing machine, and I kind of love the hand stitched look. Let me know!

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