We did it... sold our nicer car!

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

Owning two cars was ridiculous for us. My husband teaches at a boarding school and I work from home! We only drive to the grocery store and if it's raining, the YMCA. (I could personally walk in the rain... but I don't have a rain cover for my stroller.)

But we kept two for a long time because we (mostly my husband, whose main car it was) didn't think of selling the "good" car, the '07 CRV. And the '99 Accord is cheap to own--hardly costs anything to insure, low taxes, no major mechanical problems, etc.--so there was no point in selling that one. But we finally took the plunge and sold the CRV! We still owed a bunch of money on it, but we also had a lot of equity, so we get to wipe out both the car debt and my student loan debt in one fell swoop! I'm really proud of Mr FP for giving up "his" car and not giving in to "tiny detail syndrome." (The Accord has no MP3 hookup! You have to actually put the key in the lock to open the doors! Oh, the horror!)

When the Accord wears out, we'll probably get a hatchback, but a small one (maybe a Fit)--and hopefully that's several years away. And it won't be financed.

[iwasjustwondering]

Good job, FP family.

[lifejoy]

Way to go! Two loans gone, must feel good!!

[gooki]

Great news.

[NinetyFour]

Nice move!!

[Ozstache]

We sold our nicer car just before I ERed as I could see no reason to have two cars and a motorcycle between the two of us when my transportation needs would become minimal. We actually put both cars up for sale at the same time with the intent of selling whichever one we got an offer on first.

Interestingly, my wife said she was OK with either car going, but when I told her the nicer car was being sold she announced her disappointment that it had to be that car. 3 months later and she is mostly good with it now, except when she sees one of our old car on the road and she craves it. The car we are left with (1.6 litre diesel Ford Fiesta) is only 3 years old, is very frugal to run and is a breeze to park, so I am confident we have made the right decision. It is certainly saving us a lot on the transportation front and it is doing everything we need of it.

[jamaicaspanish]

Great win.
If you really want an MP3, you can self-install a unit from Crutchfield in less than an hour for under a hundred bucks.
If you really want it.

[greenmimama]

Very nice, that sounds like a great situation!

[hybrid]

I'm so jealous this <----------- red meeple is a deep green. Good for you! We're still working on that not-so-low-hanging fruit.

[Exflyboy]

Great job.. One less car and the loans gone.. Thats an awesome trade off.

Frank

[SJS]

There ya go!  Seriously - if you have a dependable car to get you safely from point A to point B, that's what matters.  Good gas mileage is great, too.  I had a Honda Accord manual 5-speed - 2004 - for 15 years!  I LOVED that car!  Took good care of it.  Finally gave it to a friend who needed a car (and I also was taking the young nieces/nephews around town as I was babysitting them and was getting a bit nervous of possibly having car issues with the age of the car).  I bought a 2009 Camry, which I don't love as much, but do like it.  I'll drive it into the ground - - only 5 years old now, plan to have it at least another 10 years!  The money you save on keeping & maintaining your car after it's paid off is ENORMOUS!!!  And your insurance rates should go down as the car ages. 

With gas prices at $3.50/gallon - jeez, I look at some of the young couples driving around in HUGE, gas-guzzling SUVs and wonder how much money those huge vehicles are costing them!  (and usually there's only one person in them - maybe 2 - but WHY do you need a huge SUV for 2 people??).    I'll never understand that. 

[halfmutt]

Good move!  Two loans knocked off, now THAT is badassidy!

[spoonman]

Wow, this is badass alright.  Two antimustachian behemoths killed in one fell swoop!

We got rid of one of our cars a few months ago, we haven't looked back at all.  I think you will do just fine with one car.

Congrats again and keep up the badassity!

[MrCash]

Awesome!  It can be tough to let go, but definitely worth it!