I recently got back from a business trip overseas. While i was there I discovered MMM and this forum. I had been looking into and reading a lot of things about simplifying our expenses and saving more and this just kicked me in the butt to get started. For the most part, DW seems to be onboard. We took our first major step two days ago when we traded our 03 BMW in for a 12 Corolla. The BMW was DW's and she loved how the car drove and looked. She also knew how much I hated working on it and how bad the MPGs really were (about 20 around town). It was also getting too small for our two daughters as it was only a 2 door coupe. The new vehicle is fairly apartan for today's standards but comes with a lot of features the older car didn't, it is great on gas and should not need much maintenance.
The downside to the deal is that we took on a loan payment (hold the face-punch, let me continue) for the time being. DW hasn't had any loans in her name in a while so we figured that it could be good to go ahead and take a loan out while we worked on selling our other vehicle - an 06 Pilot. Once we sell that, all the money from that will payoff the Corolla and should leave a grand or two to put toward a beater for me to drive to work. The loan has no origination of early pay-off fees. I 'might' incurr a hundred or so in interest depening on how long we sit on the Pilot.
Once all of this is settled, I am going to pay off the remaining balance on my motorcycle and sell it out-right.
Basically we will have gone from a car/SUV/moto family to a two car family. Mine will not have collision or comprehensive insurance either. Both vehicles will get at least 10 MPG better than our older vehicles and we will lose the payment on the motorcycle.
Looking at potentially $350 per month savings not counting gas savings or the excess maintenance costs of the BMW (almost 3k in the two and a half years we've owned it!!!).
