A testimony from Amy
In October of 2008, my husband and I discovered we were pregnant. While this baby was not a “surprise” by any stretch of the imagination, we quickly discovered that our world was about to be turned upside down.
The first dilemma was getting from point A to point B with baby. You see, at that time our vehicles were not purchased with a baby in mind. My husband’s car, while very nice, was a four-door Coupe and not the most space-efficient. A car seat + baby + diaper bag would take up most of the back seat.
My car was a “college car.” It was my first car, purchased used when I was in high school. And, five years later, I was still driving it. It was beginning to become unreliable and definitely wasn’t the safest option for our baby. Because of this, my husband and I decided to start saving for an SUV. We started the savings process almost immediately after seeing the positive pregnancy test.
Our goal: pay cash for a safe, used (but still in good condition) SUV all before baby was due in July.
How We Did It
- Cut back on the budget. We cut down on the money we were spending on groceries. I started shopping sales and using coupons. We saved about $80 a month doing this. We also had more date nights “in” rather than expensive dinners out. We rented movies rather than going to the theaters.
- We put all of my husband’s work bonuses into a separate savings account — for the car.
- We spent less on Christmas gifts. I made a lot of gifts and made our own Christmas cards.
- We put our savings each month into the account for the car.
- We applied our tax refund to the car account.
- We sold my car.
- We bought used baby items and put the money we saved into the account for the car.
- We bought used.
- We weren’t picky.
- We were patient. (This was hard for me!)
My husband’s uncle is a car dealer. We talked to him early on in the process and told him what we were looking for. Once we had the money saved up (all $13,000!) we gave him a call and he began the search.
It took him about a month and a half, but he eventually (and before baby arrived!) found the perfect SUV for us. It was a 2008 Saturn Vue in great condition.
The carseat fits great in the backseat and we still have room in the trunk for our dog! We will even have room for an extra carseat come January. 🙂
I love my SUV, mostly because I know how hard we worked to pay cash for it, and how much money we saved in the long run by doing so!
Amy is a stay-at-home mom to a little boy with a little girl on the way. Her husband is a computer programmer who works hard to provide for their family. They are striving to live debt-free and set a good example for their kids of what it means to be good stewards of what God has given them.
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
We had financed an SUV, seats 5 total, when we only had two infants…needless to say we ended up with four kids a few yrs later. We could not afford to trade in or purchase another vehicle. I called some government offices and spoke to someone who was in charge of carseat safty. She said no fines or tickets would be issued for having infant/young children riding in the front (she also said that if you have more people than seatbelts, to use your discretion as to who gets belted). We’ve made do with what we have had avaliable to us. The bigger the kids get the more crowded it is feeling, but I’m happy to say we stuck with it and paid it off the beginning of this yr. We will be paying cash for my husband’s car the end of his lease (jan) and have just bought a house (financed). Our hope is to get a larger vehicle this next summer!
What a wonderful story!!! I’m so proud of you! We are a family of four and all squeeze into a two-door Saturn. It’s quite a tight squeeze since my husband is 6’4. We are also saving for a used mini-van. Not that we can’t continue to fit in our car but I really want to be able to have friends ride with us. It’s always hard to invite kids over and then tell their parents its up to them to drive them here and pick them up. I will definitely go with an 8- passenger mini-van. We should be ready at the end of August 2011 ofrsooner if we really crank up the savings.
We have a 2002 Toyota Sequoia (which my husband uses like a truck-he’s in the construction business), and I drive a 2005 Acura MDX. We have three kids, ages 15,14 and almost nine. The Toyota is our vacation car (we always have lots of luggage and food!). Both SUV’s were purchased with cash and we got great deals on them.
Amy, great job!!! We were in a similar situation this past year when we had a third baby. We didn’t have the cash to upgrade so we crammed all 3 kids (all in carseats!) in the backrow of our highlander.
Then our car died!! We didn’t have the cash saved up to buy another so we bought a mini-van for much less than we normally would. And we had it paid off in 4 months.
I can’t wait to have the feeling that you did by paying for a car in cash. Congrats on the achievement and both of your blessings!
Love reading these stories.
We are currently saving for a new(er) vehicle too. DH’s car is at 170,000 miles (and still going strong) but we know it won’t last forever so funding that particular savings goal is one of our top priorities.
Truly inspiring story!
OMG, you put your dog in the trunk??????
@kelley, by trunk, I’m sure she simply means the back of the SUV where you put cargo. It’s open, unlike like the trunk of a car, which is closed off.
@kelley,
Kelley, that was my first, shocked reaction too. I took a close look at the photo to make sure Amy was just referring to the back portion of the SUV. I’ve never heard that area called a trunk before.
I just love these stories – I hope this series is around for a long time!
Amy, congratulations on paying for cash, the new baby and the newer baby 🙂
I love these stories and good for you! I don’t know why people are so snobbish against mini-vans though. They are usually way cheaper (used) than an SUV and get much better gas mileage. Also a lot eaiser to get kids in and out of.
@Jan, No kidding! So what if I look like a mom….I AM, and proud of it! And I look at all those expensive SUVs with their expensive gas mileage and expensive insurance and think, “What are THEY thinking?” I have a completely different perspective!
We just purchased a car with cash and definitly when it gets “down” to it we said “hey we are paying cash here and 500.00 dollars is 500.00 dollars” Think of all of the coupons I had to cut and deals I had to get to save that much money to pay cash for a car! That is motivation enough to speak up about the price! We ended up getting the price we wanted for a wonderful new “used” car for my hubby. Don’t be afraid to walk away and come back later. The car will still be there tomorrow!
This is perfect timing for me. My car is 12 years old; my husband’s is 13. I want to pay cash for the next car and really should be saving for 2 cars. The knowledge that you saved for a car in less than a year gives me hope that we can do it as well. I don’t have as joyful a deadline. We’ll just keep driving these cars until they can’t reasonably be repaired anymore.
Wow, that’s so wonderful that you were able to accomplish such a big goal in a fairly short time! Doesn’t it feel great?! 🙂
But just so that others know, you can get along quite fine with a small car. We started our marriage with a Ford Escort – a two-door, on top of being small! That car survived child #1 (who very often needed me to ride in the back with him) and eventually #1 and #2 at the same time just fine. We even managed to carry one of the old-style *large* playpens on overnight trips.
We have a mini-van now, but our kids are 12 and 15. It’s also good for the times we need to carry large goods for the house, since we had to give up DH’s station wagon earlier this year. It’s great for carrying things or making long trips, but to be honest I miss the gas mileage from our smaller cars.
@Melanie, We had a Honda Civic Hatchback (2-door) when baby #3 was born. Our oldest had turned three two days prior! I wrestled those seats in there, got them strapped in like cement, and we made it work for four months, until tax time bought us another car. Now those three seats are in the back of a bigger car, but when that youngest outgrows the weight limits for rear-facing (he’s now 20 mo. old) I don’t think it will work, so hopefully this next tax season has a “new” minivan in store for us!
@Allison V., I’m with you on cramming three kids in the backseat of a small vehicle. #3 is due in March, and while it’s possible we could afford a “new” used minivan by then, we’re wondering if we need to right away. Which carseats did you use for your first vehicle when you had three kids ages three and under?
@Jenni @ Life from the Roof, The Sunshine Radian will fit three across most all vehicles. I have the Radian 80 three across in my Yukon but a friend has them three across her Civic. It can be done. The seats are expensive, but much cheaper than buying a new car.
@Jenni @ Life from the Roof, I had a Graco ComfortSport, a Graco CarGo, and a Graco Snugride base in the center. I put the two bigger seats in first on the sides, adjusting the safety clips on the seat belts until they were in super tight, then I wedged myself against the opposite side of the car and pushed the seat with my legs (the only part of me strong enough) against the wall of the car. Then I had room to put the base in the middle. It was a lot of work! We had to scoot both front seats up a lot when the infant seat was in there, which made it hard for my longer-legged husband to drive/push the clutch. Even my knees were in the dash. It probably wasn’t the safest, since the seats were crammed right against each other, but at the time it was our only option. I tried later to fit all three after the baby outgrew the infant seat and was in a Cosco Scenera, but no go. I would NOT recommend doing it this way, if you have the means for a bigger vehicle I’m sure it would be much safer! We only did that because we had NO money whatsoever at the time.
@Jenni @ Life from the Roof,
While I agree with Brenda that the Sunshine Radians are cheaper than a new car, I looked into them and it was still more than I wanted to pay for car seats (esp since I’d be buying 3 instead of just 1). What we went with was a Ride Safer Travel Vest — they’re designed mainly for travel/carpool, but can be used (somewhat inconveniently) for an everyday car seat. We only go “out” a couple of times per week, so this worked well for us to get 3 kiddos into our PT Cruiser. We’re due to upgrade vehicles now, though, as #4 is due in 3 months.
@Melanie,
We’re doing fine with a four-door car, too, with two babies and a sweet, big dog.
We’ ll to get a bigger vehicle someday…..and are so grateful for what we have now!
Deeeeeeee–lighted for Amy and her family that they got such wonderful results from all their hard work!!
Thanks for such an inspiring series, too!!
@Melanie,
Glad to see responses from others who know you CAN get by just fine with carseats and a small car. We had a Honda Civic when I had my first and I was just sure we needed an SUV but decided to wait until after our son was born and shop around. Turns out, there was absolutely no need. Everything fit just fine.
Fast forward to my being pregnant with #2. Again, I was convinced we would need a larger vehicle. My daughter is 6 months old now and I see no immediate need for that SUV or van I was so sure I needed two years ago. Perhaps when I have #3 in the future we will, but who knows? I’ve been wrong twice now already! Our van fund is fully funded but right now it’s sitting untouched, accruing interest while I also save money every month on the lower insurance costs between a Civic and minivan!
@Melanie, Another ditto. We had two kids in car seats in our little four-door Saturn. It was the addition of a third kid that made the switch to a minivan necessary (you could NOT fit 3 cars seats in the back!).
And now with 4 kids, a small car is definitely not a possibility for me! lol
@Melanie,
We are currently driving a small 4-door car and manage to fit three carseats in the back- yes it can be done! Everyone we know who is in the same position as us (3 small children) has upgraded to a minivan or SUV by this point, but we haven’t felt the need to do so simply because everything fits just fine! We take lots of family trips, and just pack light so everything will fit in the small trunk. It would be great to have a bigger vehicle with lots of cargo space, and someday soon we hope to be able to buy one. But its not a priority right now, and there are other financial goals we would like to finish first. Besides, we’re enjoying the good gas mileage and low insurance rate!
@Melanie, It’s certainly possible – we can fit two carseats in the back of our Focus easily…. as long as no one over 5′ needs to sit in the front seat.
It’s a trade-off; we ended up getting a bigger car because we’re bigger people and wanted to keep our children rear-facing as long as possible.
We bought a large crossover vehicle for similar reasons when our oldest was outgrowing her infant carseat (who knew that the bigger carseats took up so much room when they have to be rear-facing?)
It was the first time in our lives we weren’t in a hurry to buy a new-t0-us car (or needing to finance it), and that gave us SO MUCH freedom to shop around and pay the price we wanted for the features we wanted. We ended up getting it from a used-car dealership that does high-turnaround and very little dickering on price (even when you’re paying cash) because they already set the prices low to get cars off the lot quickly.
Well done, Amy! We are all about being debt free. It’s so great and encouraging to hear other people doing it.
All these “Paid Cash” stories are so inspirational! We are on a plan to become debt free and I am hoping and planning to pay cash for our next vehicle. Thanks for all the wonderful stories!
My DH and I plan on buying a used car, and paying cash, at a dealership next week. I’m wondering, in other people’s experience, how the dealerships respond to people paying cash? Do they not give you as good a deal, since they aren’t making money through you financing the purchase? Are they argumentative when you say you don’t want to finance? I’m a little worried about how they’ll respond.
@Sarah, They are really just surprised. And definately ask for a discount because you are paying cash. We had our ancient minivan’s transmission go out on a trip to see family about 5 years ago and were able to pay cash from our car savings account for a replacement. The dealer did give us a good deal because we were writing a check for our purchase and offered us huge discounts on practically everything on the lot that fit our needs. We came home with the Suburban that we had planned to buy one day.
@Lana, Wow, I sure hope we can get a nice discount. Thanks!
@Sarah,
We tried getting a discount for paying all cash at three different dealerships, and it was a no go (well, nothing more than what they normally slash off the sticker price). One car salesman told us that they actually make more money from people financing?
@Crystal L., That was what I thought. Most people probably finance THROUGH their dealership (i.e.- “Ford Motor Credit”), and cash takes away that opportunity for them to make more money.
We had the same experience paying cash as we did financing. Neither seemed superior to the other…
Great story! Truly inspiring!
I just have to say I have really enjoyed all of the I Paid Cash stories over the last couple of weeks. They are truly inspiring to me, and hopefully I can put lots of these things into practice as well.
Aww! Good story 🙂
And smart move to buy a big vehicle!
There are 4 in our family and our Aztec seats 5 – it’s problematic when we want to drive people places so we’re starting to think about getting a bigger vehicle in the near-ish future!
@Jessica Lynette,
We have an Aztek too, (with 2 kids) and I can’t imagine fitting another little one into this SUV. I couldn’t agree more that adding another person is problematic.
We we will be making the switch to a mini-van as soon as our savings allows! 🙂 Are you planning on a mini-van or a larger SUV?
After we had our kids we switched from a 2-person truck and 4-person SUV to vehicles that each seat 6. I am amazed at how often we’d like to take more people in our car. If I had to do it over again, I would buy an 8-seater for this wonderful season of life.
@Jennifer Overy,
Haha – love that you have an Aztec too. We LOVE ours and don’t want to let it go, but it really isn’t practical for serving others with it when we can’t fit anyone extra in it!
Did you know it was rated one of the ugliest cars in America a couple years ago?!? 🙂
We haven’t decided what larger vehicle we will get 🙂