A testimony by Kate from San Diego Deals and Steals
In 2011, we completed our second adoption process – this time completely debt free! One of the ways we did this was by praying my husband’s 99 Camry (with over 250,000 miles and a cracked radiator) would last just a bit longer.
Since we were fundraising for our adoption, we didn’t want to spend any extra on anything unless we absolutely had to. However, as soon as we completed our adoption, our next financial move was to save for a slight upgrade to his car.
We put the money we had been putting in our “adoption fund” into the “newish car fund”. Here are some of the ways we saved:
- working odd jobs
- continuing to cut back our grocery budget and cooking at home from scratch
- enjoying free entertainment – playing at the park, renting free movies, street fairs, etc.
- the little bit of money I made from my blog
- random, unexpected commission checks (hubby is a freelance artist and writer – his commission check was more than we anticipated this year so we got to our goal six months early!)
It all added up and we saved just over $6,000 without touching our emergency fund!
Our goal was to spend less than $6000 and not include the money we would make from our old car sale. We found a 2004 VW Passat with a little over 100,000 miles (that may seem like an old car to some – but it was dreamy for us!) and purchased it for just under $5,500.
Thank goodness he holds none of his self-worth in what he drives! We have lots of friends with much nicer cars, but he doesn’t care. He says, “Ours is paid for!” (Love him for that).
His new car also gets better gas mileage so he will save about $1 each day on his 40+ mile commute. That is going to help as we continue to work on our Baby Steps. We also sold our car (with full disclosure) for $1,700 the very low blue book value – but we wanted to be honest with our sale.
I know many people would have thought nothing of financing a $20,000 car with that $6,000 down. Instead, we just bought a less expensive car and put the money leftover (the extra $500 from our car savings and the $1,700 from the sale of his old car) into our Emergency Fund savings in the bank.
Kate lives in San Diego CA with her husband Harry, and kids, Josie (homemade), Silas (handpicked from Russia), and Charlotte (handpicked domestically). She is passionate about adoption and having fun in San Diego frugally. You can see more at San Diego Deals and Steals where she blogs about both.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
I’m still driving a 1999 Honda Civic that I bought in 2003. It had 53,000 miles on it then and I just broke 200k last week. I plan on driving it until it’s beyond resurrection. Then I’m buying a “newish” car again. I will never again buy a new car, and will do whatever it takes to avoid a car payment!
Very inspiring! I’m an adoptive parent too so I know how much you needed for that! What good values you are teaching your kids, too!
Cars are SO expensive, and I think it’s great that you were able to get something that works without going into debt. My husband and I have financed cars in the past and then worked to pay off the loan balance quickly, but we want to pay cash for the next vehicle. The loans are such a drag.
Shouldn’t ha be he?
Thanks for catching that typo!
great job! my dad was a sr. vp for a fortune 500 company when i was growing up – he drove a 1981 ford escort well into the ’90’s. when his employees would encourage him to buy a new luxury car, he would always say, “i’ve got no one to impress but me.” when the escort finally died, he bought a used buick that he still drives. i always hear him in my head saying, “it’s just a car. it’s purpose is only to transport you safely from place to place.”
your self-worth has nothing to do with what you drive or own – by your own example, good lessons you are passing onto your children-that’s impressive!
When my 2008 Chevrolet Aveo (wouldn’t recommend at all!) was totalled in an accident and insurance gave us just enough to pay off what we owed, I knew it was time to pay cold hard cash for a vehicle, no more loans! We had $6,000 saved and shocked around until we found a replacement- a 1998 Subaru Outback with 84k miles (AWD for New England winters!) for under $5,000. So happy to have a reliable car that is all mine!
I love driving an older car (1998). It has been such a blessing to keep us out of debt and able to save. Some people are proud of their new cars, but I am proud to be debt free with an older car!
I get so inspired by these posts! We don’t buy used (very bad experiences) but thrift shop, clip coupons and any other way to save. We have 2 paid off cars, a 98 Dodge Stratus and a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan, and a 2010 truck almost paid off. We take good care of the cars so they last us for many, many years!
My last three vehicles have been bought with cash – albeit from tax refunds instead of saved for, but still…. all paid for and I’m still debt free! Nobody owns them but me! The latest iss a 10 year old Ford Taurus with only 80K miles, for only $2650. It has massive hail dents but who cares?
I drove a ”96 jetta for years with hail dents… I called it my ‘golf ball’ car… and stated that the hail just gave me better gas milage! (not true… but I always find something fun to say about my older cars!) The insurance company let me buy it back from them (I already owned it then… and I had bought it off the lot years before)… It was totaled a few months ago… with 240K miles on it! We now have 2 VW Cabrio’s and a X-terra in the drive way.. all are paid for.
I am super lucky, in that my DH can, and, does all the work the cars need. He orders the parts on line, trolls in junkyards, and gets the bits and pieces from folks who have a totaled car and are selling parts to others. So far, we spend less than 1000 a year on all three cars, for insurance, parts, and maintenance. Not a bad deal! (1 is a 1997, a 2000 & a 2001… all are over 100k miles… and parts do break) works great for us!
random question, do a lot of cars on the mainland have a lot of hail dents? I’m from a place that does not have hail. And have been interested in buying a car. We dont have a garage, so what do people normally do when there is hail to protect their car? also, where do you find a good deal on a car? So far, I’ve been on craigslist and they seem to not have any “reliable” car for under 5,000.
Thanks!
My husband and I just purchased a 2000 Volkswagen Golf a few weeks ago! We were married at the end of November of 2011, and in lieu of gifts, many of our guests gave us checks or cash. We spent the cash on a new dryer and we fixed a few things on my husband’s Corolla, but we knew that we would have to replace his car soon – every time we made repairs, something else would go wrong.
We set up an online savings account with HSBC (it has a higher interest rate) and I deposited all the checks from our wedding. When I filed our state and federal tax returns, I had the refunds direct deposit into this account as well. Once the refunds cleared, we had $6,000 to work with. We did not purchase a car right away – even though we had enough money to buy a nice, used car from an individual seller, we still waited until just the right deal came along.
A few weeks ago, someone in my area posted a 2000 VW Golf for $4,000. I was at work, and I emailed the Craig’s List add to my husband. He replied on his lunch break, and said he would check out the car listing when he came home. That night, the seller had deleted the post – the car had been sold. My husband was pretty upset – he really wanted a Volkswagen.
I kept looking for cars the following morning. Since I work in a customer service position that requires the use of computers, I can easily have Craig’s List minimized in the background 😉 I must have refreshed the page at just the right moment – because the 2000 VW Golf was re-listed! The seller stated that he had received a bad personal check and was re-listing the car… for $3,500!
We met up with the seller the following morning, and the car was just what we were looking for – reliable, clean, aesthetically pleasing, great gas mileage, no rust. We offered him $3,400 in cash. After taxes and registration fee, we still have apx $2,300 left in our savings account!
Great story and wise thinking too. To take your cash and gifts received at wedding and use them for useable items. What a great start financially you have.
yay! thanks so much for sharing our story! I must say – the first year was by far the hardest for us as far as living true to our ‘baby steps’ – now it is ALMOST easy – it takes discipline – but we were shocked to find we had a pay cut last year (my husband and I both freelance on the side) – we made almost 10% LESS than the year before but oddly enough we feel like we have more money – we really dont – we just dont have a lot of bills (other than our mortgage) – just every day stuff and i am diligent w coupons and we just make it work. It is not easy – but it gets easier and I truly feel like walking thru the baby steps is a blessing. Thanks so much for sharing our little victory – we are blessed!
I love your story, and I love that you were featured this week, since I just started researching for a move to San Diego at the end of the year. I’m so happy to find your blog! 🙂
oh yay! glad you found our little blog! we add fun free stuff to our calendar all the time! welcome – you’ll love it here!
I just have to say that I am so inspired by these post. I am so trying to get myself financially out of debt and it is so hard especially since Im a single mother. While I no longer have credit cards Im drowning in unwanted debt and I want to purchase a home. Its just so hard….And I have a shopping problem. Thank you guys for posting because I am taking note of all of the suggestions and ideas.
Hello from North County! We’re looking into selling my husband’s truck that has been registered non-op for almost two years now because it’s too expensive to drive (like 13 mpg). This is inspiring!
Way to go! Thanks for sharing your story. There is nothing like having a car that is paid for. Once you have lived that way for awhile, nothing makes you want to go back to a car payment. Adoption is a much better way to spend money!
We are happily driving a 1998 Dodge Ram pickup with 230,000 miles on it. We paid cash for it in 1999. The pick up has some issues, but we are praying that it gets us another year before we have to replace it. And when we do replace it, we will pay cash for our next vehicle.
I enjoyed reading your article. I agree with you that we should try to drive the lowest priced car possible. We also try to do this as well. Have a paid for vehicle is a blessing.
I’m still happily driving a 1996 Ford Escort that is in good shape that we paid $1900.00 in cash for over 4 years ago. I try and take good care of it I hope I get a few more good years out of it!
Impressive! My second car was a 1987 Escort. When I turned it in to buy a new Subaru Outback (my major car-buying mistake) it had 170,000 miles on it.. the auto dealer said that was unheard of for a “disposable car” like the escort. Shows where his perspective was. I bet you’re well beyond 170k in miles on your 96.