My wonderful Jeep Grand Cherokee!!!

Oh!!!! She was so wonderful! The POWER! And she was the limited edition so she had ALL of the amenities!!!

Well, I tried to get a loan off of her value. Declined.

Tried again. Declined.


My fiance said he would co-sign (he has IMPECABLE credit). Declined. (well, we could have gotten a teeny tiny loan on her but that wasn't worth the hassle!)

ARG!!!!

So, we went a different route. And I'm going to let you in on some "secrets" too, while I'm at it!!

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One of my newer jobs (started in March) is a 50+ mile round trip, stuck in traffic, drive three times a week. 

My Jeep got HORRIBLE gas mileage - between 12-15 mpg in that situation, so we searched for cars with great gas mileage. Of course, the hybrids come up on top, but we don't have "room to spare" in our financial life and the whole issue with the battery dying and whether it happens in or out of warranty - that kept us away from hybrids at this point.

Then, there was not only MPG but price and value. Plus, the GIANT 90 pound dog which needs to fit in the car.

So, we decided on the Honda Fit. 28 city, 35 highway. Pretty good! And Honda's have a great reputation.

My fiance is a BIG fan of used vehicles, so we looked at 'slightly used' Fits (they haven't been out too long so they can only be "slightly" used.). We were SHOCKED to find them at virtually the same price as new ones!!! (So, they really hold their values!)

We shopped around for the best trade in value on the Jeep. We DEFINITELY could have done better if we sold her ourselves, but I'm not confident in her status and didn't want to have someone coming back to me saying she needed work done (She is great, runs great, but I haven't had her on regular maintenance because I can't afford to, so I'm just not sure if there is something looming that I'm unaware of...), plus, I never actually got the title when the loan was paid in full (NOTE TO YOU!!! If you have a car that is paid in full, GO THROUGH THE HASSLE to get the lien holder off of the title!! It is SUCH a pain in the ass and they NEVER have your same sense of urgency when you need it! They say it could take up to 6 weeks!!!!). 

Moral of the story, we bought a brand new, downgraded in luxury but WAYYYYY upgraded in gas mileage, Honda Fit.

The other TIP I'm going to give is that they are giving me the cash outright on the Jeep. We financed the full value of the new car at new car rates (we were able to get 1.99%!!). When we get the new title, we will take the money from the sale of the Jeep and pay off a credit card that is at 26.99% and another that is at 19.99% and then put some aside. We will be WAY ahead of ourselves! Plus, have some spare cash and a little breathing room on our credit cards.

We aren't going to be out of debt by any stretch of the imagination - we'll actually be MORE in debt - but the debt is at SUCH a low interest rate that in the long run, we will be better off. And, again, it's that "breathing room". Yes, we'll probably fill up those cc's again with trips we need to make this summer, but at least we'll be able to make them!

It's been a while....

OH! I have so much to share with you!!! (no, I didn't win the lottery! Everything is not really 'good' news by anyone's measure, but it's news, none-the-less).

So, I quit one of my jobs. If you recall, I had 5. Along with running my own retail business, I worked part time at 4 other endeavors. Yeah.... That couldn't keep going! I'm 42! SHEESH!!

BUT, the "one to go" BEGGED me to stay on periodically. So, while I say that "I quit", I didn't really. I'll help him out with his work next Tuesday afternoon and continue to do that once or twice a month.


But it was nice to have a break for even just those two afternoons a week!!!


Ok. More to come. I have a TON to tell you but I have SUCH limited time! {sigh}