Because of His crown, we can have ours.

“Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

James 1:12

8.14.2011

Put your big girl panties on a deal with it!

A little over 4 years ago, I went to a dealership and got a loan for my first car: a 2006 VW Jetta.  It was love at first sight...sighhhhh.  I was elated to be 21, a full-time student, part-time teacher, and able to get a loan without a cosigner! That felt good.

At the same time I bought my car, Sean got one too.  A few weeks before the big purchase he had been in a horrible car accident that not only cost him his vehicle, but nearly his life.  He had just graduated VMI and was moving down here to Norfolk to start his career in Wealth Management.  We figured that we'd get married the following May and until then, save up and continue to pay for our own bills, loans, etc.  God had different plans.

A month after our big purchases, we found out we were having William.  Two months after that, we got married and moved into our first apartment.  Five months after that, William was born and I stopped working.  In a year's time my husband and I had graduated college, got married, had a baby, and lost my income.  Times were tough.

(Insert Postpartum Depression here)



For the past three years we've continued to make payments on each of our vehicles in addition to trying to "move up the economic ladder", but paying over $700 a month in car loans isn't easy for "newlyweds" on one income (plus we added another sweet baby to the mix).  Where does that put us?


(Insert tough decision here)

Last weekend we sold my car.  At first I was devastated.  To me, that car was a symbol of my first adult decision, and to sell it two years shy of having the loan paid off, was a failure.  At least that's what I thought at first.  However, I prayed harder than hard that my eyes would be opened, and that I would be OK with this decision.  The very next day I had the realization that I was afraid of the unknown (shocker, I know).  What was I going to drive? How was Sean going to get to work? Would would people think?

Suddenly, none of that mattered.  I knew that we were going to be taken care of, and we have been.  Today Sean bought a truck from the nicest guy with the profit we made off my Jetta.  He seemed very kind and trustworthy, and put more money into the vehicle than he even paid for it.  This will be Sean's A to B vehicle for the next year (for the three mile drive to and from work), and I will drive his Explorer.  This time next year his Explorer will be paid off and we will have no car payments.  Since we know we want more children, at that point we'll look into getting a mini van.

Buying my first car felt good.  Knowing that we could no longer afford it, and acting in a true adult manner, well, that feels great.


3 comments:

  1. good for you guys!

    We've always driven used-paid-for cars. Sometimes it's hard when everyone else is driving around brand new things, but it feels great every month not to have that payment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I suspect you have heard of Dave Ramsey. PJ and I are following his advice as hard as it is sometimes. We are in a much better financial position (though not where we want to be) than ever before. Hang in there and good luck!

    ReplyDelete