If you’ve been reading all the personal finance sites on the Internet you know that it’s important to sweat the small stuff when it comes to keeping your spending in check but it’s REALLY critical to sweat the big stuff.
We’ve been doing a great job of keeping our expenses low (saving 52% of our income now) by watching what we spend our money on and “reality checking” each other when we do think we should spend some money on a “want”. If I had a nickel for every time I have just about talked myself in to a new laptop or some other expensive electronics gadget, I’d be able to offer my own stimulus package to the U.S.. Well, just when I thought I had everything under control, today I found myself looking at cars. Yes, I was surfing Craigslist for 2006 or 2007 Honda Accords. Let me explain my thought process:
Pros:
Our current Honda is a 2000 Accord with almost 100K miles on it
We are taking a road trip this summer and a nice newer reliable car would be great
We are starting to see more issues with our current Honda (check engine light has come on in the past, etc)
We have officially broken our record by having this car for over 8 years
I love the smell of a new car
Good used cars are relatively inexpensive as compared to “pre-economic crisis” prices
We can pay cash
Cons:
We just put a timing belt and water pump on the Honda
It’s starting and stopping like it’s supposed to
It would be nice to keep the cash in the bank to a) yield a little interest and b) have a larger emergency fund
We are putting a new roof on our house shortly
In the big scheme of things, money in the bank is probably better than equity in a car
So, how close did I come? I had scheduled an appointment with a woman to see her 2007 Honda Accord with only 8000 miles on it. After sitting at home waiting for my wife to arrive from work, I thought long and hard about whether we should go look at it. I know myself and if I had gone, I would have probably reinforced that I was doing the right thing, regardless of whether it was the right thing to do or not. Once you get the new car smell in your nostrils, it’s pretty much game over.
I’m happy to report that I came to my senses. I called the woman back and told her that we had changed our mind and would not be coming to see the car. As I was sitting here feeling like I’d just talked myself off a ledge, my wife came home and said, “Oh honey, I forgot to tell you. The check engine light came on in the car again.” Be strong. Be strong………