Hello everyone,
I've been reading MMM for a few months now, and have made small changes in mine and my wife's life, but I think it might be time for some of the bigger ones that make a real difference. My wife and I both work, and both commute to work. She drives ~40mi a day and I drive 24. I've wanted to buy a bike for commuting/errands, but I've hesitated because of where our money is currently focused. You see, we were dumb when we went to college (graduated 2011 and 2012 - Master's for the wife), and as a result have a combined $94,000 in debt. Thankfully, we both got science degrees and now bring home $60,000 a year. Being frugal, we are living off of my take-home pay, and committing all of my wife's take-home pay +$400 of mine to our loans, and I'm proud that we're able to do that. We are renting and have no consumer debt (cash-back credit card is paid at the end of each month).
With all of that background out of the way, here's my dilemma. Our cars are a P.O.S. My wife's 2005 Taurus has 148,000mi on it and had $600 maintenance done on it in the last year. I've been driving my 1997 Ford Explorer since high school, and it now has 238,800 miles on it. It's had some expensive maintenance done on it in the past year, and is currently in need of a new catalytic converter ($500). That last bit of maintenance is going the be the straw that breaks the camel's back (did I say that right?). In expressing my anger to my wife over Google chat (b/c that's how we Millennials roll), she suggested selling my car, buying me a bike and moving to an apartment complex 3mi from my work. If there were ever a Mustachian solution, that would be it. That would come at a cost of $800 to break the lease though, along with the increased rent. I would still need to fix my car before I sell it though, and I would be giving up some nice greenway access (running's my hobby) just down the sidewalk from our current home.
The solution is probably really plain, but I just need some unbiased advice to help me off my scaredy-pants behind.