Just discovered MMM this weekend and realize I need to get rid of my financed SUV and buy something less expensive and more practical. The problem, as I see it, is that I don't currently have the cash to buy a less expensive car. The best option I can think of is to save up the cash by cutting expenses in other areas until I have enough to buy with cash. But even if I spend as little as $2,000 I would need to save for 6 months to a year. And I worry that a car that cheap would be likely to need expensive repairs soon after. Or if I save up the cash for 2-3 years to get a more reliable car, my current car will be paid off by then anyway, so is it better just to keep it? (I'm sure that's not the right solution, just thinking out loud here.)
What suggestions do you all have for me on how to transition to the less expensive car?
In case it makes a difference in your suggestions, my current car is a 2010 Toyota 4Runner that I still owe $13,000 on, at 3.69% APR, and would be paid off in 3 years if I kept it that long. I live in a rural area at the top of a very steep mountain road that gets heavy snow and ice in the winter, and I drive 86 miles round trip to work and home each day. So the 4WD seems very handy, although I know MMM has written about front wheel drive with good snow tires being almost as good.
Any suggestions are much appreciated.
***Edit: Additional Info:
I don't want to move closer to work (over 40 miles away) because I'm a divorced father with a young child who lives with me half the week so I need to be close to her and her school.
That said, I could sell my house up on the mountain and move down into the valley closer to our town. Then I wouldn't need the 4WD. However my house is very affordable and I have decent equity in it (I believe). Bought it last year for $189,000 and my real estate agent said she could sell it right now for $215,000. So it seems like a good investment to hold on to, but tell me if I'm looking at it wrong.
Also, if it matters, in about 7 years (when my child graduates from high school) I'm going to sell the house and move from the East Coast back home to the West Coast. So my thought has been to hold onto the house until then to build up as much equity in it as possible.