Happy Anniversary Mollyeilis!!!!

[coastalgirl]

Hope you guys have a wonderful anniversary!!! Any special plans??


Lydia

[mollyeilis]

Thank you.

Well, DH is picking up our new-to-us car today on his way home from work. Since I'm not big on surprises, especially those involving money, I told him that this is likely his one big chance to "surprise" me with a car (although I OK'd the car, I haven't seen it! zoiks!), so I'm hoping it at least puts a TINY bow on the thing.

We're trying to figure out if we should go to dinner with our $25 off a $35 meal coupon, to a restaurant we've never been to, that I got free from activating my Entertainment book card (purchased through SR of course), or if we should just make dinner here and go to the free, outdoor, Zoo showing of Over the Hedge.

It's budget budget budget, all the way!

And of course DS will be with us. Married 4 years and have a 3 year 3 month old kiddo...he's been with us from the honeymoon cruise!

[arob414]

Happy Anniversary! And, have fun whatever you do.

[ItsmeSunnyV]

Yay!! Happy Anniversary!!

[Hedy]

Happy Anniversary!

[bs4free]

Happy Anniverersy , I know your going to your new car, and i dont think it will matter too much at the end of the day if you eat at home or out! you will remember the night, and it will be special for you.

Have a great evening!

[jl8595]

Awwww....happy anniversary Molly!!!

And congrats on the new car!!!!!! How fun!!

[mollyeilis]

Yeah, the new car was a bit of a shock.

We both had some rough times in our 20s, him with a very failed and short marriage that involved a non-working wife racking up 20K in credit card debt while he worked 3 jobs (and then she took all she bought with her when she left), me struggling to open a chiropractic practice with no backing other than my mama....while my credit was still very good I got into a VW lease, but each time it was time to turn in a car, the cost was getting higher and higher b/c of my credit.

So we turned in my 3rd leased car, a Golf, just in June, after MANY discussions about his car, and how his car will be fine...we moved to the downtown area where i can walk to almost everything I need, with sidewalks so I can take DS in the jogging stroller...

And then last week his brakes went out. ON a hill. On his way to work.

Now, fixing the brakes was not a problem. Under $50 and a couple hours at his brother's place with a friend, and they were good to go. But the fact was, his car was falling apart, and in the wedding planning, honeymoon, insta-baby, medical debt, he hasn't had time, energy, or extra $$ to make it nicer.

Right now our credit is pretty much neutral...all the bad stuff has dropped off, but there are too many years of nothing positive (other than lease payments, utilities, and such...no revolving credit, though). So we did NOT have the upper hand when it came to financing! And since the need for the car was a surprise, AND with this big reunion + Disneyland trip looming, there's nothing extra. Zero, zippo, nada, for a down payment (it's amazing how car salesmen do NOT believe you when you say that). AUGH.

His brother mentioned the deal he got at the dealership where brother works, brother hooked us up with a salesguy...turned out the cheaper car we WANTED (subaru forester) couldn't be financed by us b/c it had too many miles on it, but we finagled (actually, we just kept saying "no" to each suggestion, so THEY finagled) our way into a ridiculously boat-ish Grand Marquis. Hope no one out there has one and/or no one is offended, but to go from a Forester-wannabe to what is basically a Crown Victoria, it's just hilarious to me.

The good news is, though, the trunk is VAST, and can carry all of our car camping equipment with room to spare.


And to bring it back towards SR and even to Disney, it means that we're going to drive to CA in luxury, rather than deal with an airplane, and when we get to Disneyland, we'll have about 150 left in Disney giftcards FROM SUNSHINE to play with.

[jl8595]

LOL! Molly, I love your stories! Too funny about the Grand Marquis...but hey, it's what you can afford and you should be proud of that!

(maybe you could have the family reunion in your new car's trunk?? )

Enjoy your new wheels and I hope you and your hubby enjoy the weekend together!

[mollyeilis]

Hi.

What's insane is that this car is 2K, no, 3K MORE expensive than the Subaru. But they just wanted the mileage to be lower, so if in case of a reposession, they can sell it for more. I understand their thinking, but it's just silly from MY point of view.

Kind of like when I went for a business loan for what I needed, and was told to add about 30K more on there and then they'd talk to me. Was asking for too little (they were used to chiros who need xray equipment and such, my little hippie dippie office freaked 'em out).


Sunshine needs a place for journals. budget, saving journals? That way I dont' have to hijack my own threads, and threads made "to" me, to talk.

Actually, what needs to happen today is that I get another 74 cents, or .74 SR credits, so I can cash out TODAY for a Disney GC and a pin at the same time!