Everyone -- thanks so much for the helpful input.
I'm feeling a bit more optimistic now, partly because of the fact that I realized our education debts might not be quite as much as I originally thought. If we could chunk out 1k/month on them (assuming our other debts are paid off) we could pay them off in about 5 years. This, of course, assumes that we can find reasonable-income jobs (which is not what we have now).
However, I still have to disagree with most of you concerning selling the car! I promise you I completely understand your reasoning so far. In theory I agree with you. But I still find it extremely unlikely that I would be able to a) convince someone to take over payments on the car, and b) save up enough $ in the next 20 or so months to buy a new (used) car without financing it. (The only way that could change is if we were to move somewhere foreign, as Dmy suggests, and didn't need a car.)
Here are some specifics. We pay about $200/month for the car, and that's at 5.5% APR. Not bad for a car loan. Actually, that $200 includes insurance. Registration is $50, plus MAYBE $20/month in gas. We are very careful about parking it and have never gotten a ticket. Total = $2,690/year including interest on the loan. So about $225/mo. If we saved that every month for 20 months we'd have $4,483, call it $5,000 at the moment we move (which doesn't take into account the time/effort needed to sell the car/find a new one) -- enough for a junker worth at least $2,000 less than our current vehicle. Then, it would probably cost several grand to fix a leaking head gasket or other major problem within a year or two. Then, because it's so cheap, it has wicked high mileage and after not too long we're out of a car again, only used it a few years, and the car is exponentially more of a money-sucker because it was a p.o.s. and didn't last.
Our car is in great shape and has had no mechanical issues. We owe <$4k on it.
(Granted, I COULD get extremely lucky like Zamboni and find someone willing to sell a nice Prius for $4K. But how likely is that?)
All that to say, I do like hearing everyone's arguments so feel free to keep telling me I'm an idiot. Maybe one of you will get through.
I do intend to pay off the loan ASAP: Like, as soon as our 4k in savings (which is in CDs) matures. Then I'll be kicking the shit out of my school loans until those are dead, too.
Thanks for helping justify the MA degree, Cassie.
I have thought about publishing on Amazon but when you do that, you often give up the ability to have it traditionally published and make more $ on it than you ever did on Amazon. A novel is like 4 years of work so it's a trade-off and a gamble with little to gain, statistically speaking. For now I'll just cash in on the joy of writing :)
I think the above is a factor that MMM is constantly harping on but it seems like is sometimes missing from the forums -- the joy factor. You can't quantify, for example, how "worth it" it is to do something that either a) saves you from hating the world/your city/your life just a little bit or b) actually brings you genuine happiness, even at a monetary cost. (not talking about my car necessarily).