Thou shall not covet that SUV

It was a great weekend, the weather was just lovely up here in Maine. I hit the beach, had the local french fries known as pier fries (hard to describe, but they are delicious) local ice cream and even checked out a local concert at our church (it was a date for the hubby and I even with the girl child is tow). I even worked in a lovely pedicure in time for the weather so I could show off my purty red toes. What more could I want?

I want my friend’s new GMC Envoy, that’s what I want. I have been mostly content with our 12 year old Nissan, after all its cheap on gas (fill-up now that gas prices are down again averages $20), my insurance on it is cheap and more importantly its paid off. Only problem is its a tad rusty and really small, as I was reminded Saturday when I hit an amazing yard sale that had the most lovely chairs (vintage) for less than $20 and an amazing chaise lounger for $20. No way in hell we could get these things home. There is also the problem that when elder boy is home, our car is a tight fit for the 4 of us. So we really could use a larger car, its just that financially its not the greatest of times.

So yesterday, my girl called me and wanted to show me her new ride….Lawd, it was beautiful, its everything I want in a car. Large enough to have fun with yard sales, we could all comfortably fit and enjoy going on a drive, a large vehicle would also mean that I don’t have to wait for the annual pickup for leaves and lawn trash since we would have a vehicle big enough to take our stuff to the transfer station ourselves.

Plus with my pesky agorophobia being in a larger car would probably make me more apt to drive on a regular basis, since I would feel less like I am in a sardine can.

Thing is mathematically that car is costly, as I was asking my girl, to fill her tank up is $40 (um and gas is just a hair over $2 a gallon, gulp…what happens when it goes back to $4 a gallon). I know insurance would be more plus in Maine we have the annual excise tax, thankfully ours is only $100 a year on a 12 year old car???Imagine what it would be on a big newer car? See, these are all the things that the Spousal Unit brought up as I racked my brain trying to figure out how to get that car.

See, the Spousal Unit is more inclined to stick to our original plan of buying a used Volvo in cash late summer early fall and maybe later adding a small older pick-up truck. Both options would no doubt be cheaper than a 2-3 year old SUV and we would own the cars outright, no payments. Only thing is the Nissan just needs to get through the summer and we will be in the home stretch.

I know he is right but dammit, I want that SUV, guess I should remember the Good Book, though shall not covet..in this case I should not covet my girl’s SUV.

8 thoughts on “Thou shall not covet that SUV”

  1. Raised my kids driving an Isuzu Trooper. Loved the ability to throw large items in the back . As they became teenagers, I traded up to a luxury SUV. Became disillusioned after about a year from worrying about scratching the interior and the large car payments.

    Traded in the so called “luxury” for two mid sized sedans, one for me the other for my daughters to share. Monthly payments for both cars were slightly above the single payment for the “luxury”, but I’ve been happy ever since.

    Stick to your plan!

  2. MJ, I needed this. Everything you said resonates with me, its just that pesky human trait of envy gets in the way. Beleive me, I enjoy knowing $20 will fill our tank plus we only fill up every 10 days or so. Right now we spend $50 a month on gas since we don’t travel much.

    I keep thinking if we had that larger nicer car, we would end up driving more. So in the end it could easily cost us $400-500 a month between car payments, gas and insurance compared to the $130 our current car cost. I just got a raise and essentially a new car would take all the raise plus some…bad plan in this economy.

  3. im an economy car person. i don’t like spending money on gas (or car payments) & i like being able to zip around & park anywhere i want. with 2 kids (& i used to have 3 dogs) i considered getting something bigger–after all, comfort & storage are nice–but i can’t do it. i have to live by my beliefs. i just think big cars are a waste of resources & something we can all learn to live without. (sorry if im sounding preachy!)
    right now i don’t even have a car due to my poor little echo being totalled on an icy wisconsin road…& i think im going to learn to live without for now. ive got my bike 🙂
    stay strong!

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