Comments on: Regrets, I have a few…should I sell the car?

By: A New Twist to Selling the Van - A Bailout Plan | The Happy Rock

A New Twist to Selling the Van - A Bailout Plan | The Happy Rock — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:24:41 +0000

[...] the van story. You long time readers can skip ahead, but if you want to catch up here is the first part, and here is the second [...]

By: Total Money Makeover - The Snowball Starts | The Happy Rock

Total Money Makeover - The Snowball Starts | The Happy Rock — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:10:34 +0000

[...] she was telling me that maybe you all weren’t that crazy for bringing up the idea that we sell our van. She now sees the mistake we made when we bought it in such a haphazard manner. She’s still [...]

By: Carnival of Personal Finance #163 - “Quotable Quotes”

Carnival of Personal Finance #163 - “Quotable Quotes” — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:39:23 +0000

[...] Happy Rock is thinking about selling the car to accelerate debt reduction [Editor's note: go for it! what have you got lose? [...]

By: Community In Action - Get In Touch With Your Why | The Happy Rock

Community In Action - Get In Touch With Your Why | The Happy Rock — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 02:22:57 +0000

[...] path to financial maturity by getting rid of his new truck. Especially relevant, because DD is considering selling his car to aid his debt [...]

By: Thecpa

Thecpa — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:22:09 +0000

DD
When I read your Nitty Gritty post my first thought was the car must go. Sell it, pay off the loan and buy another van for about half the cost for cash. That would free up $330 monthly for other expenses/debt reduction. 37 months can be a long time.

However, if your wife is not 100% on board with the idea, then it should not happen.

Have you asked her why she doesn’t want to sell the van? Is it because she is concerned for the children’s safety and comfort? Is it because she likes to have the van parked in the driveway as a symbol that you are financially successful? Is there some other reason?

In my mind the answers to the above questions will decide if you keep the van or convince her that it really needs to go along with the debt.

That’s my 2 cents worth. I’ve enjoyed reading your posts. Thanks.

By: hank freid

hank freid — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:08:01 +0000

I think you have a nice idea to sell the vehical. Very nice post. Thanks

By: John (Debt Defier)

John (Debt Defier) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:53:42 +0000

Thanks again for all the great comments. You guys are the best!!!

@nick – Those are all great things to keep in mind if we decide to sell the van.

@tehnyit – Good point about the final selling price.

@Pete – Thanks for the tip, it sounds interesting. I’ll be checking that out very soon.

@Drew – if we choose to sell we’d probably stick with a van, just a cheaper one.

@Sue – Yeah, that was my initial thought as well. And I now my wife would agree with you

@Jacquelin – Thank you for commenting, it was very inspirational. Hopefully you get to keep living the dream. And with good discipline, I don’t see why you won’t.

By: Jacquelin

Jacquelin — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:49:39 +0000

Maybe instead of looking for a way to get rid of this mini-van debt, look for a way to cut other things out to have a bit more money to pay it off?? (snow-ball effect)
When my husband and I were in a simular situation (I’m the one with the 4 kids), this is what I did:
I set out all our bills in front of me. I started with the most expensive one and thought, “O.K., how can I make this one smaller?” then I did the same with the next one. This is what I came up with: Mortgage: at the time, I could not make it smaller. Next biggest: auto gas-so I drove less. I have consulidated all my trips to town(20 miles to a larger one). I make menues out for the whole month. We run out of milk and frest fruit mostly, so my husband picks it up on the way home from his first job. Next came propane for heat, so my husband and I are using our “stimulus check from the gov’t” to purchase a woodburning furnace for the winter. that will save us money on propane. I have now gone from filling up my gas tank once a week (at about $70) to once every 2 weeks. With the extra savings we are now able to make extra house payments. that’s just one way that we’ve saved money. Maybe you guys could do something like that and put extra money toward your van payment?
Yes, this has taken a lot of disciplin but we’re still on my husbands dream farm (raising our own food) and I’m still able to stay at home and raise our children.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:47:46 +0000

I would stick with the current van and pay down the debt more quickly with extra payments. My car loan on a 2005 would be complete in 2010 but we made extra payments so we could move on with life.
Good luck.

By: "Solution Drew"

"Solution Drew" — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:00:19 +0000

Yep, ditch the van for something more economical. Little, less fuel consuming cars are getting more expensive though because of the demand due to fuel price hikes.

It’s going to end up being Car Repayments VS Fuel Costs.