by Ashley
This was the question I thought to myself after my husband called me Sunday afternoon to let me know his truck had just stopped working. He’d been able to make it to an auto shop right off the highway and was told the likely issue would be about a $2,000 repair.
I had to laugh, if only to keep from crying.
Husband immediately starts talking about buying a newer (used) truck by taking out a loan.
My reaction is, “Absolutely Not!! More debt is not the solution!!!!”
I tell him to start googling and/or craigslisting used trucks while he’s waiting for the mechanics to look at his truck.
I start looking at my bank account, trying to figure out how much we can swing and what monies can be moved around.
Imagine my relief when husband calls about 20 minutes later and the first words out of his mouth are, “Good news!!!!”
There was still some type of problem, but fixing the problem (including parts and labor) only ended up costing $350. It’s still a lot, particularly in light of everything else we’re currently facing. But it’s a far cry from $2,000 and we don’t have to worry about replacing the truck just yet.
What a wake-up call to get all our finances in order, though! First the house debacle and now this! If we were debt-free weathering these types of storms would be so much easier!
It’s also a little concerning that the initial knee-jerk reaction for how to solve the problem was to take on more debt. How brain washed are we, as a culture, to think that’s the answer???
Ugh! No more!
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
Boy when it rains, it pours. Glad it isn’t so bad after all.
What helped us (at least a bit) long ago, when we were in a similar situation, was to learn to fix things ourselves, rather than throwing money at a problem. Now with modern cars there usually isn’t a lot you can fix yourselves, but I for instance have become quit good at repairing electronics. A blue-ray player, several PCs, a digital piano, a dishwasher and several TVs are examples of things I have saved from being scrapped by repairing them myself. It not only saves money but it makes you feel great as well. And that helps during those times when being frugal seems difficult.
Hey, I’m giving this a go with repairing my own iPhone screen. I’m pretty nervous about it (watched a few Youtube videos and looks pretty tough). Wish me luck!! : )
This hit home…..after years of being in debt, hubby and I determined to get out – read Dave Ramsey, made a budget, blah, blah, blah…..but the biggest thing we had to change was our mindset “if we run out of money for Christmas/car repair/vacations we’ll just put it on VISA. Once that no longer became an option we got creative – emergency fund, sold stuff, better savings, etc – it really is a mindset!
And at first, it was a bit scary to think that we could handle emergencies without using our credit card, but after we tackled a few and were successful we got more confident and creative.
So, my point is, that once you change that mindset and put credit completely out of your financial toolbox you will be amazed at what you can accomplish without it!
“it was a bit scary to think we could handle emergencies without using our credit card” <<
About 5 years ago I was in a terrible financial position – debt up to my ears – and car issues that kept popping up. As financially idiotic as I was, buying a new car never crossed my mind as I was quite aware how much I could NOT afford one. Fixing my old car instead of replacing it was probably the sole smart decision I made during my financial “black” period. Getting a loan for several thousand dollars instead of finding a way to pay a few hundred dollars seems a wee bit drastic.