A testimony from Kelly
Our family is expecting our third child this Fall. With that exciting addition, we have also come to need a larger vehicle. I’ve had my previous car since college (almost ten years) and it was time for the minivan.
My husband, Jesse, was able to work a side contract job on top of his full-time job for several months this year. Because of this, we were able to save much of the money he earned “on the side” to put toward our minivan savings goal.
Once we were ready to buy, we scanned Craigslist almost daily, looking for a good deal on a new-to-us minivan.
We were thrilled when we found one within our budget that had lower mileage, plenty of room, was clean, with only one previous owner! It was very strange walking out of the bank with a whole envelope of cash, but it felt wonderful to pay cash for our new-to-us minivan!
Kelly is a wife and stay at home mom to two busy children, a four-year old girl and two-year old boy, with another baby boy on the way. Her blog, Fru-Gal.org, is focused on frugal living for the grace of giving. As a missionary/pastor’s wife, she strives to live a frugal lifestyle so that her family is able to pay the bills, but also so that they can live in greater generosity toward people in need.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
We did the same thing – bought a “new to us” minivan last year before the arrival of our second child. Reasonably low mileage and one previous owner. We got it through Carmax. They fixed a number of things during the first 30 days (even little things) and then we had a major service covered under a Honda extended recall…it’s practically a brand new van at no additional charge! My husband and I had been saving for a new car several years before we even had a need — and before any children were ever in the picture. It was a long time financial goal of mine to pay cash for a car. So awesome! He’s driving the minivan. My 12 year old Honda Civic is still going strong, but we’re starting to save again for when the day comes that it’s time to get another “new” car.
Good for you! I love seeing these stories!
We are saving for a very small motor home at the moment. I am always saving for something. It is amazing how fast little bits of money add up!
Whoo hoo! I love reading these cash stories!
Congratulations! That looks a lot like my 2005 Caravan. My mechanic says they often see them lasting more than 200K miles so it sounds like you made a great purchase!
I was reading this article – which was super! – and I clicked the link to fru-gal.org. As I started looking through the site, I realized that the author was a friend from college! Kelly, thank you so much for sharing – and congratulations on your soon-to-arrive new addition 🙂 <3
How fun! What a small world!
Joanna, what’s your last name? You can e-mail me at kelly@fru-gal.org. How funny! And thank you, we’re excited for our baby boy to get here!
Congrats on your new mini-van. It is so wonderful to hear inspriring stories like yours and it gives me hope that I too can do something similar in that nature