Testimony from Rachel of Intentionally Simple
A few years ago, my husband and I started a car savings account. Our cars were both approaching 10 years old and we wanted to have some money set aside for repairs as well as have enough money saved to pay cash for our next vehicle.
We saved for a few years, and during that time, paid for routine maintenance, repairs and new tires for one of the vehicles out of our car savings fund.
A few months after the birth of our second son, we started talking about purchasing a mini van. We had around $5,000 in savings for a new vehicle and we had the luxury of time to look for a good deal since we didn’t truly need a van at this point.
We decided to put most of our tax return into car savings. The plan was to use the money in car savings (around $8,000) plus the sale of the truck (we were hoping to get around $3,500 for the truck) to pay cash for a new vehicle. We set our budget at $12,000 or less and started researching vans.
We had been researching a few months when my father-in-law told us that a neighbor had a van for sale. The van was a 2004 Nissan Quest with 88,000 miles. It was in wonderful condition and had features like heated leather seats, power sliding doors and lift gate, and a DVD player. The best part about this van, it was well under our budget!
We paid cash for the van without even selling my husband’s truck!
A few weeks later, we sold the truck for $4,500 ($1,000 more than we were hoping, apparently trucks hold their value!) We then put all of the money from the sale of the truck back into the car savings fund so we’re nearly half way to paying cash for our next vehicle.
And, those power sliding doors really are amazing!
Rachel is a wife and mama of two boys. You’ll find her at Intentionally Simple where she blogs about choosing a life of simplicity. Her family lives minimally in a small home and lives debt free.
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I’m glad that you got a good deal on your van. My husband and I didn’t have such luck with our used van. We had bought it from someone we knew who also works on cars and thought we had got a good deal until it started breaking down. We have put so much money in repairs for this van. So my advice is make sure you when buy a used vehicle to get it checked out even if you know the person well that you buy it from.
Great job! I have never saved to pay cash for a vehicle and would love to be able to do that one day. I became unexpectedly pregnant with a third child and there was no way that I’d be able to fit another car seat in my subcompact. I traded my car, which was close to being paid off, and financed a no frills minivan. I am on a tight budget as my husband and I pay down debt and save for the baby. I held firm with the dealer that I would only purchase the van if I could keep payments close to what they were with my subcompact. He insisted that was impossible until I told him I’d pass and surprise, surprise, we suddenly qualified for rebates, my trade in value increased, my intereste rate decreased, I added one year to the payments, and he made it happen. We love it. My husband is still driving his 10 year-old subcompact and we plan to stick with it to the end. We plan to drive the van for as long as it lasts as well.
Best wishes as y’all pay down debt and congrats on baby #3 (that’s the best reason to have to upgrade!) 🙂
Congrats!!!
The “We Paid Cash” series is my absolute favorite on MoneySavingMom!!
It’s a favorite of mine too, I’m always inspired by the stories!
This was inspiring! Thanks for sharing. I paid cash, $5,000, for my last car, which I’m still driving, knock on wood, and I’m hoping it keeps going until I get enough cash saved for another one. I bought a Toyota Corolla, which works for me because I just have one child, and I just love that car. I’m going to look for the same car again just a few years newer.
Congrats on paying cash for your car and for saving for another one! And, I think you’re brilliant for wanting to purchase the same model car when it’s time to replace your current one. I personally don’t like car shopping one bit!
What a great feeling it must be to pay cash for a vehicle! My van is paid off and it’s so nice. Years ago (before we were on the Dave Ramsey train!), we got my husband’s vehicle as a lease. It was a mistake that we regretted soon after. We had to make years of payments and then last month had to buy the lease out with money we didn’t have (creating more debt). We turned around and sold it for $1,000 more than the buyout had been and now are surviving on one vehicle (not easy because we live in the country so can’t take the bus and have 7 kids so can’t catch a ride with anyone else as we wouldn’t fit!) for the past week. We are looking for a vehicle to buy with that $1,000 to tide us over until we can save the cash for a better one.
I am so glad that we are now in the mindset of paying cash and not furthering our debt. It’s nice to read about others out there who are successfully paying cash for a vehicle. Thanks for sharing your story!
So glad y’all found Dave Ramsey. Good luck finding a vehicle to tide you over. We also live in the country and know it would be incredibly difficult as a one car family when you live far out!
We had been saving for a new to us car. My husband has a long commute and he’s tried the bus and train but it took much longer and wasn’t that much of a savings. So he started looking into hybreds. We were able to save $7500. And two weeks ago he found one in Oh. (we are in MN.) for $5000. It was going to cost $500 to ship it. Instead my husband and daughter took a bus. They got a great little father/daughter time and got to see grandpa in Oh. He still saved about $2o0 going himself to get the car. And now we still have extra for any repairs etc. We will be selling our Beattle.
How wonderful that you found a car below your budget! And a hybrid – that will save y’all so much money!
That’s a great story, Rachel! Congrats on a job well done!
Thank you Jamie!
This is so wonderful to hear! We are in the process of saving for a minivan and on a similar track. It can be discouraging when we have to stop our minivan savings for current car repairs, but God totally provides! Thanks for sharing!
I completely understand, we had to pay for several different repairs on both of our older vehicles and purchase new tires for one while saving! But, you’re so right, God does provide.
Congratulations!
We recently purchased a minivan as well and absolutely love it! (And of course have every intention of it lasting us a minimum of 10 years 🙂
I’m sure you know this, but I would definitely recommend that you guys redo your withholdings on your paycheck(s). Receiving a tax refund is “fun”, until you realize that the government was borrowing your money for free. Much wiser to invest that money yourself 🙂
We’re hoping ours lasts several years!! And, we just adjusted our withholdings last month.
Great story! We are in the midst of saving for our next one so this post is very encouraging!
So glad this was encouraging to you! Paying cash for a new (or ‘new to us’) vehicle is such a great feeling.
Great job! We’re saving for replacement vehicles too and it’s great to be inspired by someone that’s done it successfully!
Just keep saving and once you have the money all saved up, take your time and look for an awesome deal! 🙂
Way to go! We are hoping to pay cash for a new to us vehicle at the end of the year.
Thank you Stephanie! Best wishes in reaching your goal this year. It’s an amazing feeling to pay cash for a car!!
I agree. If I ever meet the man that invented power sliding doors, I will kiss him. 🙂
Awesome!
It was probably a women with kids who designed it.
Ha! You may be right!
Unfortunately, the power sliding doors were the first thing to give us problems in our mini van. They’re expensive to have repaired!!!!
Perhaps it depends on the make and model, but our Sienna is 13 years old and we have never had an issue with our power door. It gets a lot of use, I might add! Ok, I am now going to say a quick prayer so that our door continues to work and to avoid jinxing myself!
Yes! They are fabulous!!
I love Rachel’s blog! It is one of the first that I started reading regularly a few years ago, and I love it! 🙂
Thank you for this sweet comment Kayla! 🙂