Lstansbury
Recycles dryer sheets
Hi! A la' Your Money or Your Life, I've been looking at monthly transportation (car) costs as I get ready for retirement, and am "down arrowing" my current $550 a month. That figure includes gas, repairs and maintenance, insurance on a Honda Insight 2011 plus a monthly slush fund deposit for purchasing a replacement car.
The Insight is a cheap ride, which is great. It has almost 100K miles. Ultra reliable car. It has the hatchback that I wanted, and it's no trouble at all.
There just isn't a lot of satisfaction in the ride. The car is a boring grey, stripped down version that I purchased certified pre-owned with cash for about $12K 6 years ago. It's not very heavy, and it's not very comfortable over the long 8-hour car ride from my house to my Mom's house or anywhere in between, really. In fact, it's only worth about $5K as a trade in now. It hasn't retained much value.
Options now:
Keep the 2011 Insight and drive it into the ground while I stockpile more cash every month for my next car purchase yet to be determined. (I have 10K earmarked, could use another $10K). That will still cost me $2K at some point to replace the batteries. And I will still have the $550 a month in transportation costs for the rest of my life, it seems.
Keep the 2011 Insight for a couple more years and trade it in on a certified pre-owned 2019 Honda Insight that has a lot more comfortable bells and whistles, according to reviews. That will require putting away an extra $300 a month for the next year -- potentially pushing back my retirement date.
I will also be depleting my account by $2K to purchase new batteries to keep the Insight running. Plus, I will still have the $550 a month in car costs for the rest of my life.
Purchase a 1964-1967 Ford Mustang for about $13-15K (that includes air and auto transmission). If I can get one that is good condition, it's a lot more fun to drive, a more comfortable ride, and actually easier to maintain. And these cars are retaining their value. I would still need a sinking fund to keep up tires, oil, etc., and gas would be more expensive. But if I have to pay $550 a month for car transport in general, it seems like I could do it and get a lot more satisfaction out of it.
Thoughts? Ideas? Have a 1964 and a half Mustang for sale LOL
The Insight is a cheap ride, which is great. It has almost 100K miles. Ultra reliable car. It has the hatchback that I wanted, and it's no trouble at all.
There just isn't a lot of satisfaction in the ride. The car is a boring grey, stripped down version that I purchased certified pre-owned with cash for about $12K 6 years ago. It's not very heavy, and it's not very comfortable over the long 8-hour car ride from my house to my Mom's house or anywhere in between, really. In fact, it's only worth about $5K as a trade in now. It hasn't retained much value.
Options now:
Keep the 2011 Insight and drive it into the ground while I stockpile more cash every month for my next car purchase yet to be determined. (I have 10K earmarked, could use another $10K). That will still cost me $2K at some point to replace the batteries. And I will still have the $550 a month in transportation costs for the rest of my life, it seems.
Keep the 2011 Insight for a couple more years and trade it in on a certified pre-owned 2019 Honda Insight that has a lot more comfortable bells and whistles, according to reviews. That will require putting away an extra $300 a month for the next year -- potentially pushing back my retirement date.
I will also be depleting my account by $2K to purchase new batteries to keep the Insight running. Plus, I will still have the $550 a month in car costs for the rest of my life.
Purchase a 1964-1967 Ford Mustang for about $13-15K (that includes air and auto transmission). If I can get one that is good condition, it's a lot more fun to drive, a more comfortable ride, and actually easier to maintain. And these cars are retaining their value. I would still need a sinking fund to keep up tires, oil, etc., and gas would be more expensive. But if I have to pay $550 a month for car transport in general, it seems like I could do it and get a lot more satisfaction out of it.
Thoughts? Ideas? Have a 1964 and a half Mustang for sale LOL