In high school I drove a couple cars that were paid by other family members. In 2007 I was driving an Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer, and it was a gas guzzler and it wouldn't pass inspection and needed thousands of dollars to pass.
My College student brain thought it would be a great I idea to get a newer car that uses less fuel. So I bought a BMW 328i, and I financed it. My car payment was around $370 for 4 years, and my insurance was $80, so all total it was $450/month. With gas your over $500 a month.
This is in 2008, and I quickly realized I hated having to pay $500 a month for a car. It felt like a boat anchor was attached to me. It was like I had this burden I had to carry around.
I hated having to give all my money over to this car payment, when I could have spent it on things I enjoy. Like eating out, or going to the mall, or taking a vacation.
I got rid of the car in 2008 and bought a $1,300 car in cash, and a year later replaced it with a Chevy I paid cash for.
I drove that Chevy until 2016 when I totaled it, and then bought a Chrysler in cash.
I realized having cars that were outdated, and didn't make me look rich, or didn't impress anyone made my life far better because I didn't have the burden of a $500- $700/month car payment.
Submitted November 21, 2023 at 10:45PM by Shark_in_the_room https://ift.tt/t3BJ8Vb
