#23/365 (Offerings)

"On the day you were born, you began to die, Do not waste a single moment more!"
- Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche


Title: Rembrandt Tulips
Flick User Dragan*

Mini Cooper stuff

Well - here's the scoop friends.

The transmission needs replaced in my Mini Cooper.

The cost? $3700.

I still owe, as of this morning, $6325 on the car loan.

The car bluebooks for $7775.

and here's the truth - I'm very attached to the car - and have never enjoyed owning a car more than my Cooper. I did all the math and all the different "what if I sold it" scenarios - and well - none of them come out better for me in the long run than keeping it. I mean - if I sold the car (taking a bath financially doing so - selling a car that needs a new transmission) - I'd have to go get a new or used car - and who knows what nightmares THAT might present. I'm in that "go with the devil you know vs. the devil you don't" sorta place.

I thought of all sorts of options including borrowing from my retirement to make the repairs as I only have about 1/2 the amount required in my "emergency fund."

I think my only option at this point - is to bring the car home from the mechanic - and park it in the garage until I can afford the repairs. (it'd take three or four months to save up the money for the repairs without living like a college student on ramen noodles)

I don't want to get myself farther in debt by taking out a conventional loan - and I don't want to borrow from my retirement either. The only debut I'm carrying right now is the car loan - and I actually like it that way. (I have a teensy credit card which I leave a small balance on so as to not totally wreck my credit rating)

Three or four months of slight inconvenience is better than taking steps backward financially in the long term in order to move the car forward in the shorter term. I can keep my emergency fund for a true "emergency" -- and make the repairs this spring sometime.

I'm not very happy about it - but this seems (to me) like the most responsible response financially and to not have to throw away other simultaneous goals (vacation club money, savings, etc.) in the process.