So I found this forum based on a search. I've read some MMM stuff over the years, but I just joined.
I'll just throw all my details out here.. I'm 38, married with 6 kids. Income is just under $100,000. I currently have about $10,000 in savings, renting a house, and have two car loans, as well as about $3,000 in credit card debt. Sadly, I'm not sure where my money goes. That's probably a good first step, tracking that because as I tell my wife frequently, I make too much money to be this broke.
Credit cards are paid off every month, so I don't carry balances. I'm wondering if I should pay my car off from the savings, or continue to pay on it, or just trade it in on something newer. It is a 2008 Chevy Impala. 70k miles on it, looks decent, runs mostly ok. I have had to spend about $4,000 in repairs the past six months. Steering rack, front suspension parts, transmission issue needed to have some solenoid replaced... I'm at the point now where I am slightly concerned with its reliability and longevity. I owe about $6200 on it. I could take $6200 from savings and pay it off immediately. I could also trade it in for about $5000 and buy a 2-3 year old Toyota Camry or something similar as a commuter. We have a big vehicle that my wife drives as the family mover. It's new, and its leased. I'm discovering thats not a good situation, but I'm kinda stuck in it for the next couple of years. My car is basically just used to get me to and from work. I have a 40 mile commute, all highway except for the 1.5 mile drive from home to the on-ramp. Because of that, I want something comfortable, and with good gas mileage. I've considered the Camry plan, or even a used Chevy Volt. I can charge it at work for free, and could charge it at home, too. I would like something I can keep for 7-10 years and then either pass it to the kids as they start driving, or get rid of it.