Cars

My car is nearly ten years old now and beginning to cost us money, despite the relatively low mileage. I love my car - its the first one I ever bought just for me, brand new and my own choice, based on taste, not on need. In the years before that our cars were always about the kids.

In our first years of marriage we went through a parade of old cars. One we paid $200 for, one $400 - we bought what we could find for a cheap price and they would last us a couple years and then die a natural death. It was a huge deal when, after over ten years of marriage and four kids, we were able to buy our first brand new car, which was a stripped-down Chevy Astro van. There were no electric windows or seats and I think air conditioning was about the only luxury. That van owed us nothing when we were done with it - in fact, we drove it for ten years and then gave it to our daughter who drove it back and forth to college for a couple years.

After that we bought a Ford mini-van, which we had for another ten years. By that time the youngest was in college and when it came time for a new car I was thrilled to order a PT Cruiser, which I have loved all these years.

But its time for another car now and we're looking, not at new ones, but once again we're buying a used car - this time from a dealership. And I have to say we've kept our cars for so long that I am a bit behind the times and find the numbers shocking. I know we have to have a dependable car and I know we must buy one soon before this one begins to break down, but spending half as much on a used car as we did on our house boggles my mind.

That new bike I got for my birthday is looking better and better to me...