Hi There,
As of about a week ago, my wife and I (we are 28 yrs/o )became adherents to the wise words of the 'stash, acolytes of the frugal lifestyle, and, most importantly, quick adopters of the real, practical steps a couple could take on the daily to advance their financial health. All of this has been phenomenal. However, at the risk of being a "complainy pants," there is a dark side to all of this: I discovered the website about 3 weeks too late:
I am prone to worry and I constantly analyze any and all purchases I make (Do we REALLY need to eat today?). I also strive for constant optimization, attempt to use my own brain and handy-skills whenever possible, and am a true believer in hard work over convenience: I was a mini-mustachian before I even knew it! But all of this came to a halt recently- My beautiful, intelligent, and savvy wife and I fell pray to extreme consumerism and purchased... a 2013 F-150 (I can feel the shame and discomfort as I type this- and I will spare you the not-so-great reasons that this purchase was made, due to the fact that we now understand they were/ are all hogwash. I am an asshat). THAT'S when I found the blog. Oh, the inner turmoil that has hit me in the days since!
BUT, I am starting to see my way out of the haze of self-disappointment as I realize that we have learned a valuable lesson and that we can only attempt to make more well-informed decisions from this point on. The question is: What is the next step? Do we attempt to sell the brand new truck, take the loss, pay off the debt, and chalk this up to a giant mistake? OR do we keep the truck, pay off the debt, and use the truck until it dies? A different move altogether?
The Deets: We owe less than the truck is worth ($29K owed vs. a value of $32K), we have an APR of 0.75%, and we expect to pay it off in 1.7 years.
Thank you for any of your time and I look forward to seeing what you have to say!