Author Topic: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)  (Read 7970 times)

kochevnik

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« on: June 01, 2015, 06:39:14 PM »
First time poster - admire MMM quite a bit.

In spite of the fact I own two PU's (one brand new) I'm not here for any advice. My current family of four actually spends about the same as MMM's famly of 3 on a yearly basis - under 30k total - (and we rent not own) - and the best part is I don't think we are particularly deprived or super frugal in any area.

I know the whole clown car (truck) thing is a big deal here - but there are more than a few situations where a PU works just fine ( or in our case, two :)  )  IMO there are really three main issues that people get into trouble with in regards to vehicles - first, they go for status instead of value, second, they finance a depreciating asset, and third, they simply drive too much.  Owning a small car does not make you a frugal person - I've owned lots of vehicles over my life and while it is true that small cars can be slightly less expensive than bigger ones, in the end most vehicle expenses result simply from owning a vehicle period. For example, insurance for my small car ran about $25 to $30 a month for liability only - that does not change much if you buy a bigger vehicle or a PU.  It also does not cost more to pay for repairs - in fact some of the smaller cars can cost MORE for repairs. Maintenance is not much different either - an oil change is an oil change, tires might be a bit more. About the only place you actually save would be on the initial purchase price and for gas. Except that my brand new PU truck now gets between 22 and 24 mpg (V6 with 8 speed trans) and while a few small cars get 40 mpg or better, far more do not. 

My family of 4 moves on average once a year. This year we are in WA, last year in TX, before that in OR, etc etc. I work contract work so we move where the work is. This involves packing everything we own into a vehicle (usually with a trailer) and going. We have this pretty much down to a science - our OR to TX move took us 72 hours to pack and go.

So we move and generally choose an apartment no further than about 10 mins from the new job. This is usually about 2 to 5 miles commute.   Kids are homeschooled (of course) for a lot of different reasons :)  Wife does not work (handles all the homeschool, finances, household stuff).  We go shopping on the weekends for grocery type stuff, 95 percent of the rest we order online - example : just got 7 pairs of eyeglasses last week - total cost $75 delivered to our door (Zenni). My wife is a master deal finder. It's her hobby. She finds all kinds of free and cheap stuff online.

The bottom line is we put about 6k miles a year on our pickup - including the 1k to 2k yearly moves we make.  In the past we have had used cars, and while they have their plusses, lately I think they are not quite the deal they once were.  Our last 'car' cost us over $8000 in repairs (obviously in hindsight it should have been dumped, but it only had 60k on the odometer and if it could have been fixed could have easily lasted another 10 years at the 6k yearly driving we do.

The dumped car led to a used pickup - another 60k miler.  And it shortly developed issues as well, altho these I fixed myself.  But finally it occurred to me that I ought to consider new.  Reason being - we only drive 6k a year now. When I retire, that will drop to probably one third or half that number. Insurance, including full coverage on the new truck and liability on the old truck runs $340 for 6 months (1k deductible).  The truck cost 35k (cash) out the door - gets 22+ mpg, and should run to 100k + miles without anything other than oil changes (knock on wood :) ) the new trucks have sealed transmissions so no maint on them.  100k miles for us is probably 25 to 30 years of driving.  That works out to a little more than 1k per year or about $100 a month.  The old truck is a nice backup if anything goes wrong.  I expect to give it to one of my kids in 8 to 10 years still with about 80k still on it.

Granted there is the opportunity cost of not investing that 35k - but I don't really have MMM's faith in the System maintaining itself as long as he thinks it will.  Good on anyone who does, but all investments place your principal at risk, and I'm well past the age where I can sit back and watch it grow anyways - I'll pile up cash and useful tools and take my chances with what is coming down the pike :)

If you want to have financially secure life, the best thing to do, IMO is to secure those things that cost the most by paying them off - i.e. debt is the biggest enemy. In many parts of the country you can buy a house in a small town for well under 50k - buy a new car (cash) with the idea of keeping it until you or it dies - these are two of the best moves you can make IMO.

Anyways - blah blah blah - fun to be here and to read everyone's experiences. 
 



« Last Edit: June 01, 2015, 06:45:52 PM by kochevnik »

Syonyk

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4610
    • Syonyk's Project Blog
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #1 on: June 01, 2015, 06:43:23 PM »
Welcome!

I share your slight pessimism about the future and the usefulness of useful things.

surfhb

  • Guest
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2015, 07:11:43 PM »
Well, coming from someone who drives a PU with around 512K miles I don't share your same views.     What costs 8K?    It sounds like you were ripped off

Also, you might as well invest.   If the system were to fall apart, we're all screwed.    We've been through countless financial crises, cultural changes, 2 world wars and were even on the cusp of complete nuclear annihilation....yet were still here and the market has always paid off just fine over the long term.   

One more thing.....dont watch TV news.   Its nonfactual and just plain depressing  :)


kochevnik

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2015, 07:28:29 PM »
Lots of different ways to live - that's why we seldom share each other's views, because my path is not your path, and vice versa.

I don't own a TV :)  the internet is far more useful and up-to-date.  the 8k was the total loss I took - purchase price + new engine - eventual selling price.  The only person who screwed me were the Ford engineers who put PLASTIC intake manifolds on top of their engines.  The rest was pretty much inevitable altho I did not understand that at the time.

If the system does fall apart, the ones who are screwed the worst are the ones who believed in it the most.  There are plenty of ways to divorce yourself from wide swaths of the System - counter-culturists have been doing it for centuries now - with varying degrees of success.  It is much the same as the MMM philosophy - you can believe what everyone else does, or you can think (and do) what works best for YOU.  The choice is there, very few will even consider it.

It has been pointed out that myers Briggs types INTJ's are far more represented here than in the regular population - I have seen that same topic pop up on almost ALL of the boards I regularly inhabit, and they have found the same anomaly. INTJ's make up one to two percent of the 'regular' population, yet 30 to 40% of boards like this. In large part because INTJs (and their sibling's the INTP) are willing to EXPERIMENT with what most people accept without question. Certainly MMM's lifestyle/philosophy is a Grand example of this.

Likewise I belong to a number of INTJ infested :) forums where people are getting out of debt and hunkering down to prepare for bad times to come.  Pumping investment dollars into a clearly faltering system does not make a lot of sense for them. I happen to share their views.

Just a different path to consider.


 

« Last Edit: June 01, 2015, 07:35:59 PM by kochevnik »

Retired To Win

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1493
  • Age: 76
  • Location: Virginia
  • making the most of my time and my money
    • Retired To Win
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2015, 09:03:17 PM »
I own a pickup too.  But it's a 1996 Dodge Dakota that I acquired when it was 6 years old.  It's got over 142,000 miles on it and it's always been very reliable.  I just calculated a couple of days ago that, over the past 3 years, my total annual repair and maintenance cost for that truck has been less than $350 a year average.  And I outsource all its scheduled maintenance.  So based on my experience I think I'll be way ahead by owning an older vehicle bought for cash and properly maintained, even if some time in the future some major system in the vehicle needs replacement.

GodlessCommie

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 969
  • Location: NoVA
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2015, 09:43:57 PM »
Кочевник.... That's a pretty descriptive name for a guy always on the move :)

Nothing should be taken as gospel. If pickup trucks work for you, they work for you, nothing wrong with that. You live a not so common lifestyle - so quite obviously it needs uncommon means to live it.

As for people preparing for the worst... Humanity went through plenty of violent unrest, and I cannot think of a case where God, gold, and guns would be a winning strategy. When S really HTF, you either stick with a winning side, or you are screwed regardless.

kochevnik

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #6 on: June 01, 2015, 10:04:55 PM »

Godless - yeah 50+ years, 50+ locations - been a great run.  I even lived in Russia for a while, thus picking up the kochevnik.

I'm probably only 50% mustachian as I believe a lot in the get out of debt, live frugally part. But I heartily disagree with the idea
of spending the best years of your youth toiling away in corp slavery.  Your twenties are the time for trying everything you can think of - many things are just impossible or creepy to do when you are older.  I didn't spend any of my twenties sitting in a cubicle and walked into my 30's broke and I consider it one of the best decisions I ever made.

Ricky

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 842
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2015, 10:14:13 PM »
Ok you had me up until the point where you mentioned paying cash for a $35k truck. And then you justified it by speaking of the low number of miles it will see. Logic, anyone? Realistically, that truck is going to last 200k+ miles, over 60 years in your case, in which you will never ever wear it out. In other words, huge waste of money regardless of whether you need a pickup or not.

I agree whole heartedly with surfhb. If the system did crash (not going to happen, and if it does, I'll mail you a bad check for $10k) then there are a lot worse things to worry about than money. I'd sooner die than own an armory and tons of useless "precious" metal. To each his own, but I've never once bought into or understood the doomsday mentality. This site is about focusing on things you can control, not things you can't. And I think much the same is true for life in general.

vern

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 592
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2015, 10:43:11 PM »
"I own two pickup trucks"


surfhb

  • Guest
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2015, 11:31:52 PM »

Godless - yeah 50+ years, 50+ locations - been a great run.  I even lived in Russia for a while, thus picking up the kochevnik.

I'm probably only 50% mustachian as I believe a lot in the get out of debt, live frugally part. But I heartily disagree with the idea
of spending the best years of your youth toiling away in corp slavery.  Your twenties are the time for trying everything you can think of - many things are just impossible or creepy to do when you are older.  I didn't spend any of my twenties sitting in a cubicle and walked into my 30's broke and I consider it one of the best decisions I ever made.

Your 20s are hardly anyone's prime years.  LOL     Whats wrong with working your ass off in your 20s and never having to work again from your 30s on?    Thats what this site is about. :)

waffle

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 286
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2015, 08:34:59 AM »
I'm going to guess that you are driving the Ram 1500 crew cab or maybe quad cab with the Pentestar V6 in the Big Horn trim? I had the Ecodiesel for a while and loved it. Ram makes some great trucks now. I'd love to still have my Ecodiesel, but my situation changed so we needed to become a two car family, so I sold it off and got two cars for about half of what I sold it for. So far so good, but I do really miss that truck.

use2betrix

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2492
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2019, 09:59:47 AM »
Sounds like Oil & Gas contract work? I知 living in a similar lifestyle. Around 8 states and over a dozen cities in the last 9-10 years..

2Birds1Stone

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7915
  • Age: 1
  • Location: Earth
  • K Thnx Bye
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #12 on: September 21, 2019, 05:18:45 PM »
Sounds like Oil & Gas contract work? I知 living in a similar lifestyle. Around 8 states and over a dozen cities in the last 9-10 years..

Ya dug up a 4+ year old thread for that? OP is probably divorced and living out of his truck by now.

Awesomeness

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 180
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #13 on: September 21, 2019, 05:32:21 PM »
Sounds like Oil & Gas contract work? I知 living in a similar lifestyle. Around 8 states and over a dozen cities in the last 9-10 years..

Ya dug up a 4+ year old thread for that? OP is probably divorced and living out of his truck by now.

Funny. At least it痴 only got 24k miles on it.  Barely broken in.

Glenstache

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3493
  • Age: 94
  • Location: Upper left corner
  • FI(lean) working on the "RE"
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2019, 12:09:26 PM »
I sold my 2002 pickup truck last week. I was getting 18.5 mpg. I replaced it with a car that will get 34mpg and get me to all the same places I need to go (including substantial rough terrain). I had to spend an additional few thousand to get to that point. I will never recoup those dollars lost in gas savings. Ever. The reason was to reduce carbon emissions. I have the means to do that without sacrificing much of my future, so I deemed it worth it, even if I have to work an extra couple of months. It's not always just about the Benajmins.

Davnasty

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2793
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #15 on: September 23, 2019, 01:24:07 PM »
Sounds like Oil & Gas contract work? I知 living in a similar lifestyle. Around 8 states and over a dozen cities in the last 9-10 years..

Ya dug up a 4+ year old thread for that? OP is probably divorced and living out of his truck by now.

Haaaa! "Get two birds stoned at once" is what I think every time I see your screen name.

A four year old zombie thread seems like as good a place as any to point that out.

use2betrix

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2492
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #16 on: September 23, 2019, 02:29:15 PM »
Sounds like Oil & Gas contract work? I知 living in a similar lifestyle. Around 8 states and over a dozen cities in the last 9-10 years..

Ya dug up a 4+ year old thread for that? OP is probably divorced and living out of his truck by now.

@2Birds1Stone     I see what happened here...

I must致e accidentally clicked on an old page number up top instead of something else on accident. I saw this, and replied without noticing the dates.

I always wondered how these old thread revivals happen, now I know one way. Search function is probably a culprit for many

Syonyk

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4610
    • Syonyk's Project Blog
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #17 on: September 23, 2019, 05:20:36 PM »
Or some spammer bumps an old thread, people reply, and the spammer post is removed.

I still own my large pickup.  It still rolls very few miles, though it now dominates property fuel consumption.

Morning Glory

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4865
  • Location: The Garden Path
Re: I Own Two Pickup Trucks :)
« Reply #18 on: September 23, 2019, 05:34:08 PM »
I have 2 pickup trucks, but their combined age is over 80 years!!!! Only one of them works, and it's the older of the two. I ask DH a couple times per year if we can get rid of the other one, but don't want to nag too much. It's been in the same spot for 6 years, rusting in peace.