A New Car!

I feel like we just won the showcase showdown on "The Price is Right"! After several test drives, an in-depth inspection of the vehicle (including underneath), two credit inquiries, one discussion of financing options, a CARFAX report review & a few hours of waiting, we got to drive home in our new ride this afternoon! We are the proud new owners of a 1999 Dodge Durango. It's silver with a tan leather interior & as far as I'm concerned, it may as well be brand new. The only thing missing is the new car smell, but it's 100 times better than the one we tested that smelled like wet dog! It's a good, safe car that feels very sturdy on the road.

It seems like a whole new world of options has opened up now that I have a car at my disposal. When John goes to work, I can go out if I need to get out of the house. This was one of our main problems in Florida. Since I worked so close to home there, we didn't need to have a second car b/c I could walk. But, it made the many weekends that John had to work difficult b/c I felt stuck in the confines of our apartment complex. We were also still paying for our first car for the entire time we were down there, so we couldn't afford a second car payment. Our last payment was made in April (hurray!), which is why we can afford another one now. I hate paying for anything to do with cars (repairs, insurance, GAS), but it seems to be an unavoidable necessity these days. However, our new monthly car payment is MUCH more reasonable than the last one.

I'm very happy that when the time comes (hopefully soon!) for me to go on job interviews, I won't be stuck trying to figure out how many different forms of public transportation I'll have to take in order to get there. We just bought a little bit of freedom & for that, I'm willing to part with the money each month.

Later,
PortlandGirl