Savvy Budget

WHEW! - Diverted A Big Expense

My dad and his helper came over to pick up my dearly departed "Crimson Ride" ( see Bama / University of Alabama, also play on " Crimson Tide"). The helper who I have previously referred to as dumbass is now elevated to hero. He replaced a few vital parts and whala! the Crimson Ride is on the road again. Yep, my sweet little baby is still running. I hope she stays that way for at least another 5 years.

In honor of her resurection, I believe I will spring for the needed tuneup. If she is going to be loyal enought to pull through the least I can do is give her what she needs and deserves. The plus side is that it should increase her MPG and I will be able to drive her more for work and pile the mileage on her not the cute sports car.

The cute sports car ( little red chili pepper) will not be getting her cosmetic surgery any time soon. ( man, I hate that part- I hate driving an ugly car when I don't have to.) She has maybe 5 years left and I hate to put 1/3 of her value into cosmetics. Any other time I would, simply because I value an attractive car- Not as vain as this sounds, BUT people do judge you by what you drive.

I will be taking the insurance check and investing that in a tune-up for the utilitarian vehicle. If the investment pays off, I will have even better gas mileage than before the recent vandalism of the car. It used to get 34.6 mpg. Cute car gets 30-31 mpg.

With utilitarian vehicle getting better mpg I can park cute car. I would save by putting all the heavy miles on the utility vehicle and get better gas mileage to boot.

I would then have more money left over from my mileage check to A) pay toward stupid debt, B) increase the replacement fund for my vehicles, C) have funds to cover the cosmetic repairs and finally D) The cute car would last longer with fewer miles on it- the subsequent cosmetic repairs would also extend how long I am willing to drive the car.

posted by Casper @ 12:25 PM