I've come to the conclusion that all my money woes come from cars.
When I was first married, I had no problem keeping in my budget -- and I think it's because we didn't have a car. And I'm not talking about the cost of the car, insurance, gas and repairs. When you don't have a car, you can only buy as many groceries as you can carry. When you have to load up your dirty laundry in a duffel bag and walk for half an hour to get to the laundry-mat, you have no desire to buy more clothes. You can't even get to any place where you can spend your money.
Of course, we have been really lucky in the car department. Our first car was a loaner from my military brother, Spence, while he was stationed in Korea. When he got transfered back to the States, he very nicely let us keep it. FREE CAR! We loved that little car, but eventually we had three kids in car seats and no longer fit in a little two-door Toyota. We passed on his kindness and gave it to a family who desperately needed a car.
Then my sister, Rena, bought a new minivan and gave us her old one. ANOTHER FREE CAR! That was great until it kept dying on us (usually in the middle of an intersection or on train tracks) and no mechanic could figure out how to fix it. We donated that one to the Kidney Foundation.
My other sister, Lorna, then stepped up to the plate and gave us her old minivan. A THIRD FREE CAR! I mean, you can't beat that.
What will I do when this car dies? Well, I've got five more siblings...
4 comments:
If you ever need to sell another car for a buck, let me know. Tribal Headquarters will be needing one . . . .
GEO -- I know. I'm disappointed I didn't jump faster on that other free car that was looking for a home. Recently on Freecycle they were giving away a car, but it's already been taken. I'll keep my eyes and ears open for other cars out there.
I still think of my mom when i see you driving the minivan sometimes! i had many fun memories in that car with friends and driving to school, so make sure you treat that baby good!
BECKS -- yeah, you should see all your neighbors wave at me when I drive it because they think I'm your mother. I'll try to treat it well, but I'm not making any guarantees. I seem to have bad car-karma.
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