Car Shopping Adventures

I have a car that is 13 to 14 years old.  It is starting to have some issues here and there so I am thinking about replacing it.  Since I have kept my car for so long, I plan to buy a brand new car, again (I can hear the gasps from the personal finance community, but I don't care.)

I was hoping to take advantage of some of the year end deals, but nothing is interesting to me.  I have researched and researched and I cannot find a car that I WANT to buy.  I have test driven an Acura MDX, a Honda Pilot and a Volvo XC60.  I am thinking about  test driving a mazda CX9.  Everything is expensive and nothing appeals to me. Also, why are cars so expensive?

The Honda Pilot looks like a van now. It's weird. I did like the Honda Passport, but no Passports were on the lot.  The MDX is pretty expensive with no real added features.  I can get a fully loaded Honda for the same price without paying for the Acura name.  The XC60 is expensive and I can get the standard features in another car for less money.  Volvo also has not done well in reliability ratings, but does extremely well in safety testing.  However, I want a car that does both!  I plan to keep this new car for at least 10 years.


I love my Toyota, but I hate the Toyota dealership in my town.  That makes me not want to buy a toyota and give money to a company that is pretty awful over all  (including scratching cars while doing service work and lying about it, charging for work not actually done, leaving the oil change light on rather than resetting it, stating that they did free things that they did not actually do, e.g, topping off liquids, performing shoddy work like brake work and not properly tightening things so that brake fluid leaked and ruined a wheel, etc.).

I would like a mid size SUV which will hold all of my boxes, binders, carts, etc when I travel for trials, depositions and hearings.  I would like all of the safety features (lane keeping assist, collision mitigation, etc.) and AWD (only for the extra traction for driving in the rain while tired).  I want all of these features because if and only if things go according to plan, I will drive this vehicle for 10 to 15 years. I want to buy a decent car that I wont regret buying after 5 years.

Car shopping sucks.  I may give up and try again in 6 months.

Holiday Bonus!

I got a Holiday bonus check at work yesterday!!! I was totally shocked and so excited!!  I plan to write a super nice thank card to both of the partners and send it out today. I think this is the largest bonus I have ever received, I grossed almost $5,200 and I am taking home almost $4,000 ($3900 and some change).

I plan to give some to my mom and sister, put some in my car replacement fund, put some into my retirement fund, give some to charity and finish replacing the EF used to purchase the new HVAC.

I am incredibly thankful for the bonus and I want to pay it forward!

I missed November (Face Palm) and Debt Free Bloggers!

Where did November go?  I kept trying to get online and post, but time kept eluding me.  End result? There were absolutely no posts for November. 

Anyways, it is Winter now and it has been pretty chilly in Florida (in the 30s).  I don't have time for a long post because my time management skills suck.  I just wanted to update that I will make my charitable donations goal for the year!  My goal is $400 and I am at $383 for the year.  I will make a donation to a Christmas charity and be done for the year.  Next year that goal will go up to $500. 

I have been reading blogs, but have not been able to comment.  Everyone PLEASE congratulate Double Debt Single Woman for paying off her debt!! She is debt free!!!!   Also, please congratulate Lucy at A Dime At A Time as she is debt free as well!!  Congratulations to both of these hardworking women! (You can find the links to these blogs in my blog list to the right).