Done

I now partially own a 2007 Toyota 4Runner.  It's really a pretty cool car.  I can't wait to own it all 5 years from now.  JM

New Car

My wife and I are going to look at cars tomorrow.  We're going to check out some used Highlanders.  We really like them, but the bad thing about them is that they're not free.  Too bad, because that would work better in our budget.  Hopefully we can get something cheap and nice.  JM

New Car

So I'm starting to look for a new car for us. We won't get anything for several months still, but I like to research stuff to make sure I'm getting the right thing. We want to get a vehicle that can hold 3 car seats and is not a minivan or some massive SUV. There's not a lot out there. So far all I know is that we're going to get a used vehicle, probably a 2003 or 2004, but I still don't even know if it will be an SUV or a car. From looking around a little bit tonight the frontrunner so far is a VW Passat Wagon. They're cheaper than I thought and I saw on some message boards that they can hold 3 car seats in the rear seat. Plus, I think they look cool and I know Eryn likes how they drive. What would be great is if we went out and got one because our neighbor across the street has one and she literally hates us. JM

Car Problems

This morning I woke up to go to the gym. I hopped in my car, turned the key, and listened to the silence that ensued. I hadn't changed the spark plugs in a while, and since that is a cheap electrical fix, I figured I'd try that (the battery is fine and it sounds as if the distributor and starter are fine as well). When I changed out spark plug number two, it was covered in oil. I don't know if that is the main problem or not, but I definitely need to change out my valve cover gasket.
This kind of thing is way beyond me, so I'm going to try to get a guy at church to help me. Hopefully the gasket will fix the problem and my car will be running fine with only a $30 investment. JM

Car Problems

We got our car back from the shop tonight. Total bill was $916.84. Yeah, you read that right. So much stinking money. But at least now I have a shiny new distributor, cap, rotor, spark plug wires, and spark plugs. I can't wait to show them off. The cool thing about it was that I was able to write a check using money from our emergency fund, and we didn't have to go into debt at all over this. JM

The Joys Of Car Ownership

My wife and I are finally starting to feel pretty comfortable financially. We are rapidly paying off debt, we have a nice little emergency fund set up, and we have a balanced and working budget.
Wednesday night while I was out of town, my wife's car died and wouldn't start for her again, leaving her stranded. God worked it out because she was meeting a friend for dinner and the car coasted into the restaurant parking lot. It could have been much worse. She didn't have the kids with her, and she was meeting a friend who was able to give her a ride. She doesn't have a cell phone, so she could have been completely stranded with no way to call for help and with two small kids.
The car is in the shop right now. I just hope it's something simple and cheap. Well, really just cheap. I need to do a better job of maintaining our cars, so thankfully I found this chart that tells you what to do (or have done) and when. JM