Saving For A Car
July 30, 2008 – 6:11 am
Are any of you saving for a car? My wife and I just started a car savings fund within our budget this year, and I’m hoping that we can underspend in the “car repairs” category as well. I have a wonderfully-short 5.5 mile commute each day, and I drive a 1990 Honda accord. No, that’s not a typo. It really is a 1990 Honda accord. And it doesn’t have air conditioning. And I live in Texas. I bet you can understand how I snagged a frugal rather than high maintenance wife. 
The fact is I love my Honda Accord, but in general I hate cars. I don’t like driving, and the thought of shopping for a new car makes me want to freak out. I’ve only bought two cars in my life (for me). Both were Honda Accords and both were purchased from my dad. I also bought a Ford Focus for my wife right before we were married, but I bought it used through a person from my church.
Anyway, back to the point…if there is one. So we’re saving for a car, and it’s not a ton of money each year so we’ll be looking for a used car to be sure. I’ve been praying that my Honda would last another few years (or ten), and God has greatly blessed me in this area thus far.
Since I’m obviously not a car person I may just buy a newer/different car for my wife so she can tote the yet to arrive kid(s) around. The Focus would work for that, but it might not be as comfortable or as safe as a different car.
I’ve never really saved for a major purchase though, except for my house. It’s a bit of an odd feeling. We’ve been working on digging ourselves out of debt, but that’s not really a savings fund per se. We’ve also saved an emergency fund, but that’s money for an unknown purpose.
Once we’ve saved enough to buy a quality used car what happens when my car is still running? Will my wife and I start looking at even more expensive cars because we have the cash to buy them or will we take that excess savings and put it to use on one of our other goals? I guess I’ll let you know when we reach that point!
And how should I make the fix versus sell decision for my Honda? Right now I’m thinking that any expense over $1,000 per year is too much, but that’s just my first thought.
I think that’s enough rambling for the day. If you were paying to read this post I’d probably need to offer a refund for today.
Image Credit: cgoulao
If You Liked This Post Then Please Check These Out...
|
1 Trackback(s)