Those curves life throws at you...
It's been just about two years now that I was able to take some gains from the last crypto bull market and eliminate the debt that my wife and I were living with. It was a big moment for us and quite honestly it changed our lives to some degree.
After the last loan was paid off, I made the decision that I would try to never get a loan again. Of course I knew it would be a tall order to say "never", but on paper it all seemed to work out pretty clearly.
I knew in the back of my head that eventually @mrsbozz would need a new vehicle. We purchased her 2014 Buick Lacrosse from a used car dealership in 2016 and it had very low miles on it. The plan was always that one of her nieces would probably get that car when they were old enough to drive and then we would get something different. Again, I had it in my head that our next vehicle would be paid for in cash, no financing, no loan, we would buy it outright.
I've never owned a brand new car in my life and given how quickly the depreciate in the first couple of years, I likely never will. There I go saying "never" again.
What I failed to realize was the fact that the years have been flying by much more quickly than I anticipated. We were down in Ohio visiting family a couple of weekends ago when the subject came up of our car. Believe me, it isn't that I don't know how hold my niece is, but I seriously thought we had more time.
I was thinking something like two to three years to prepare for a new car, then I was quickly reminded that those two or three years are actually closer to one or two. Probably on the long side of one if I am being honest.
Suddenly, I'm in a situation where I need to scramble to figure out how I am going to pay for a new vehicle.
I failed, I totally admit it now.
Once our debt was paid off, I should have been putting money aside in anticipation for this. In fact, I did do that at first, then life and other things started to happen. We had a new found freedom of not living paycheck to paycheck. I started putting more money towards our mortgage and somewhere along the way, I stopped putting money into our savings account like I should have.
No more slacking off!
I've pretty much accepted the fact that I am not going to be able to purchase our next vehicle without some kind of loan. Well, I guess I probably could, but it would totally wipe out all of our savings and emergency money... not a great solution.
Trust me, I know this is a pretty minor curve compared to what a lot of people get thrown at them each day. On a scale of 1 to 10, this definitely rates as a 7 or 8 in terms of "first world problems".
It's frustrating though because I should have known better.
I am better than this, I should have done better than this.
My plan now is to save up as much as I can until we need it for the car. Accept the fact that I am going to have to finance a portion of it and try to get the lowest rate I can when that time comes. Additionally, I am going to make sure we get a loan that doesn't have an early payoff penalty.
That way if the crypto bull run comes back around I can pay off the loan in full after only holding it for a year or so. Better yet, the bull run comes early and none of this even matters. I'm not holding my breath though.
On some level I almost feel like it is harder to live without debt than it is to live with debt.
I think it's easier to be mindful of your finances when you have debt. You are always planning and preparing, tracking, and tapping the breaks on spending when necessary. Take that away, and it is easy to lose track of where you are at.
Maybe it's just me. Like I said, I should have done better. I'm not usually one to make mistakes with my money like this. The good news is, unlike some catastrophe you can't prepare for, this is something I can see coming (although quicker than I realized) and at least prepare for it a little bit.
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