I just read the thread about whether to accelerate truck payments or not, and it's inspired to me finally ask the question I've been pondering. I need to know if we have a solid plan.
[This seems like an awful lot of detail, but you never know what information people will need to flesh out an opinion.]
The relevant points:
1. We have a 2009 Prius ($4.2K loan, 6%, $404/mo, 48mpg, 128K miles), a 2009 mini-van ($11K loan, 5.5%, $399/mo, 22mpg, 80K miles), and a small 1990 Dodge pick-up (bartered, ~16mpg, odometer broken). The truck isn't in great shape, but can be made fairly reliable for about $1k. We've previously used it for fixing up our 1830s house and get firewood.
2. We have three kids, two dogs, and a hobby that requires cargo space. We're in a musical group that travels 20 weekends a year (mileage, about 3.5k, which we write off as in-service to a non-profit), and I play a large instrument. It won't fit in the Prius, so we take the van on these trips.
3. I work at home and have the kids after school. Until a month ago, my husband drove about 45K miles per year for our business. He now works at home four days a week. On that fifth day, he'll occasionally have to take the van, because of the distances involved, and I'll have to do some juggling to get all the kids to/from school and whatnot (two of them are too young to stay at home alone). Over the last two weeks, we've only used two cars at the same time on those days when DH has gone into the office. If he's home, we only use one car. I'll often run errands on foot during the day (the P.O. and both of our banks are on my jogging route).
4. We hope to move in 1.5 years to be closer to my aging parents, but it's more expensive there (from the Southeast to the Northeast) and are trying to tidy up our finances as much as possible, as quickly as possible. After the move, he'll work at home every day.
5. Within a year, our oldest will be driving his own car (a Mustang oh-so-thoughtfully provided by hubby's ex-wife without consulting us, even though he lives here full-time).
6. In case it's relevant: We bring in $80K. Our current mortgage balance is $60K. The only other debt we have is a business loan which will be discharged December of next year, bringing our income up to $100K. We live a pretty frugal life with the exception of 1) the musical group, which is a pretty expensive hobby, and 2) these car payments.
Our current plan is to fix up the truck a bit, sell the Prius, and apply any proceeds to the van. My husband will drive the truck most of the time, but if he needs to drive more than an hour or so, he'll take the van and the kids and I will muddle through with the truck.
It's giving me a little heartburn because it seems counterproductive to sell a high-mileage vehicle and then use a low-mileage truck, especially one that's not super reliable and that doesn't fit the whole family if needed. We'd have both the Prius and van paid off before we move no matter whether we sell the Prius or not, but we would have much more money saved if we do. We think it's the right thing to do, but are having trouble pulling the trigger.
Thanks for any input you might have.
