Going Down to One Car

I was hoping to avoid this… we already have the two cars already and mine was used pretty minimally, but very necessary when I use it. But now the cost to repair my car is beyond what we are willing to pay to keep it, so off it will be going soon!

It needs a new computer. That’s about a $1200 repair, above and beyond the $500 it took just to get to where we found out it needed that. Pretty frustrating.

Now I have to figure out the best way to get rid of it. It’s a ’93 Saturn, so not all that old when you really think about it. But somehow I don’t think anyone will buy this beast when it needs a new computer right off the bat. Pity because it’s been a rather good car otherwise. Aside from the odometer quitting and the wiper blades occasionally not working, that is.

But the car did good for me for a number of years and now it’s going to be a while before I can replace it. While we can get by on one car for a while, and that will save us some money (which we greatly need right now), in general we do need two cars. My husband often has to drive as a part of his job, so I can’t just drive him to work every day that I need the car. It’s just not that simple.

I’m hoping this will somehow be a good thing, like my dream green car comes out during this time so I have a great car to look forward to when the money is there.

In the meantime, I’m talking with my mother about ways I can share her car. She gets a company car and so uses her personal car very little. We’re about a half hour apart, so just borrowing it is not easy or efficient, unless I’m going to be using it for a while.

This summer is when I will really, really need a car in my opinion. Pretty simple reason – I always enroll my daughter in swimming lessons at least once, preferably twice over the summer. This is not optional to my way of thinking because my inlaws have a pool in their backyard that is not fenced off from the rest of the back yard. They don’t want to put one of those nets or anything over it (arrgh!) because they say they’re always out there. I say it only takes a second.

So I insist on my 4 year old having swimming lessons no matter the inconvenience. My 22 month old we teach swimming on our own in that pool. Not so different from the Mommy and Me style classes that are the only ones within our budget. But I really feel my daughter needs lessons from a teacher to really push things through.

It’s kind of funny to say I need a car so my daughter can learn to swim safely, but I think you can get the logic. I’m not trusting her life to the ability of any grownup to keep watch over her more than I have to. One way or another she will take those lessons!!

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