Why I drive a Prius and Other Begrudgingly Smart Financial Choices

I haven’t had a car payment for almost five years and it has been awesome…except for the fact that my 2006 Honda CRV was getting a bit boorish to drive and I really wasn’t a fan of the armrest.  Those are pretty silly reasons to buy a new car, and every time I went car shopping, I came back to the same realization that I loved money more than I loved a new car.  Then in mid-August a teenager not paying attention slammed into the back of my CRV as I was waiting on someone making a left turn.  The car didn’t really have much damage, but the bill for repair was approaching the value of the car and it was declared totaled and I got an $8,000 check.

I like to take my time making big financial choices, so I was a bit disappointed that I had less than a week to decide on a car.  I had three options as I saw it:

1. Buy a similar vehicle to the one I had and stay on the savings plan to purchase a newer car in the next few years
2. Spring a few extra thousand dollars and get a slightly nicer used car
3. Put the $8,000 towards a new car and take on a car payment

After spending a weekend with every used car salesman in a 20 mile radius, I ended up settling on option #1 and purchased a Prius with similar mileage and a similar year to the car I was already driving, except now I have more than doubled my gas mileage and will probably only fill up the tank once a month (I’ve spent $14 on gas since mid September).

So now my household has a Prius and a Minivan.  I’ve thought about putting a Ranger bumper sticker on my Prius, then supplementing that with a “my other car is a minivan” sticker, because that’s just the kind of guy I am.

Look, it’s not sexy, and not a “fun” car to drive, but it’s comfortable and it gets me to work every day.  It’s a reliable vehicle and it protects me financially, and as I have told you in the past, strong finances also protect your marriage.  So by making this choice, some of you “manly-men” might make fun of me, but the most important relationship in my life is protected, so insult away bitches.

Other Frustratingly Smart Choices

I recently took a promotion within my company, moved my family back to North Carolina, and drove 45 minutes one way for nearly a year because I had a rental property that I couldn’t sell.  I know many of you have gone through this same pain in the ass problem.  We moved my big ass five person family into a small 3 bedroom 1600 square foot house for months because it was the smart financial choice.  When we finally sold it, we upgraded some, but stayed well below 20% of my salary in the new home and cut my drive to 20 minutes.  We could have afforded much more house, but we both know this isn’t our final living place, and our ability to save money is more important.  It also gives us greater financial flexibility.

I only learned these lessons because I made the mistakes before.  Less than a decade ago I was living in a house far more expensive than I needed to be and I had a $500 a month car payment.  We lived almost paycheck to paycheck, and whenever I got an overtime check, we would spend that too.  It wasn’t until I had to take a pay cut that all our bad habits cost us.  We argued, she cried, the stress was terrible, and I had to get rid of my beautiful truck and buy the minivan then drive the CRV.

We made, and still make, sacrifices financially, but we don’t have any debt.  We stay on a strict budget that fits our needs that includes entertainment, and going out, and new clothes for everyone regularly.  We take vacations, and now we never feel like we don’t have money, and folks let me tell you that feeling is so much greater than the new car smell or a great big house you don’t know how you’re going to pay for.  Those things aren’t going to bring you joy like being able to buy your kids the present they’ve been wanting without batting an eye. We’ve also become much more generous givers able to donate significantly to charity.

Being debt free means to have complete ownership of all the money you earn, and sadly very few people have EVER felt that.

Imagine not owing anyone.  Imagine not having to pay credit cards, student loans, car loans, etc.  Imagine getting a check and not being a slave to anyone else.  I strongly recommend Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, you can scroll down and find a class near you.  In Proverbs it says “the borrower is slave to the lender”, becoming debt free is releasing your own shackles.

Having debt is like a constant weight that you have to carry around hanging off every single paycheck.  No matter how hard you work, or what promotion you take, it never feels like enough.  We live in a culture that thrives on materialism where status is given by your belongings…but it’s all fake.  Some things are worth more than a fancy car or a really big house, and being financially secure is one of them.

Set yourself free!

-LJF

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