Last weekend my husband and I bought a car! As I have shared with you recently, I knew we would be in the car market, but I was thinking next year. Buying a car next year would give us the time to save. Plus I was thinking it would be a year when we would need to replace my car, not getting a car for my husband. Ah, as we all know – sometimes life does not go as planned.
My husband commutes to work in the San Francisco bay area and if you are familiar with large city commutes, you know they can be very time consuming. To cut down of the commute time, my husband traded in his car for a motorcycle two years ago. He loved the commute so much more on the motorcycle, and it saved him a lot of time. That is until he was hit by a car! Fortunately, he stayed up, the car received much more damage than his bike, and my husband is fine. However, the desire to commute via motorcycle was a casualty of the accident.
So after a couple of months deliberation, we decided to get an electric car that allows him to drive in the commuter lane. My husband wanted to lease a new car with a 200 mile range, I wanted to spend less. Yes, sometimes we have different spending/saving personalities. Plus, he wants to keep the motorcycle. So after much conversation, looking at the numbers, and talking about our financial goals we came to a mutual decision. We bought a used electric car with enough range to get him comfortably to work and home. Not as fancy as what he was first hoping to lease, but a car that is sporty, fun, and does the job. He is happy, I am happy, and our financial plan has stayed intact.
Compromising on big purchases is not always easy, but for us it was. What really helped us come to an agreement was looking at our short and long-term goals – having a plan in place and knowing our numbers was the basis of our decision. Understanding how this big purchase fit within the overall plan made the choice clear to both of us. How has your financial plan helped you make decisions?
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