So my DH's car probably needs to have new struts and shocks done. It is a 2006 Hyundai Sonota we bought used in 2012. It's been a great commuter car and it has not quite 80k miles. We bought it with 55k miles on it and single owner from a dealership for $10k out the door. When we moved cross country we considered selling it but because we were unsure what situation we might find ourselves in for work/commute we decided to keep the car. We decided that the devil we knew with our car was better than selling the car, and figuring out we needed a second car and rushing to buy another used car which we might not be as sure about. Also we weren't interested in spending another $10k and felt we might not get as reliable a car for say the $5k we could have gotten for it. As it turns out where we rented we got a house in a nice area for a good price because we have the second car. The issue now is do we repair the car and sink money into it when the plan is to dump it in 6 months? Or do we run it into the ground for 6 months and worry about dumping it later? Ugh cars are always like this at the end. The worry of dumping good money after bad.
The plan has always been when my DH gets a job he gets a new car. It will be a leased Subaru Legacy with safety features. Dues to circumstances this is the one of two cars he can drive. And it will be leased also due to circumstances that we will be leasing permanently his cars in the future. We need the safety features constantly updated and when and if the self driving car ever becomes available we will likely be one of the first people to try and lease one.
The card conundrum is that I do holiday cards. I love them and have done them for over a decade. My DH and I did them before kids. We always sent out photo cards and love to get them in return. We're up to around 100 people/cards. I cut my list by saying that people who didn't send me a card will not receive my card this year. Sticking to a list of 100 is a bit tough because I do cards to teachers with their gifts as well and having a large family. Previously I had about 10 of my mom's friends whom I had to send to because she asked and I had extra cards. Very few perhaps 2 ever sent back a card. Well this year I cut them because I needed the extra cards for our own friends. My mom got upset over the fact I cut people. Am I obligated to send cards to these people when they don't send me cards? Am I obligated to send them a gift if they give my mom a gift for my kids?
Finally I'll write about my black friday shopping in another post but I will say I bought a brand new programmable Black and Decker 12 cup coffeemaker for $9.72 from Walmart on Black Friday. The conundrum? I don't know if I should keep it. We have a coffee maker I bought on black friday 2000 also from walmart for probably $5. It survived the move and still works. For the most part we haven't used this particular coffee maker except for guests. DH used to only take 1 single serve senseo to go in his mug to work then drink coffee for free at work. He also only used the single serve on the weekend. I am not a coffee drinker so making a pot used to be a waste. However now that DH's home instead of single serve I'll make 2-4 cups for him to have throughout the day because it's cheaper. So the coffee maker is finally being used. He mentioned he'd like a programmable coffee maker and I grabbed this one on deal. But the truth is we don't really need it. When DH goes back to work he won't be using it as much. If it does give up the ghost maybe we'll be a much nicer fancier model? I'm just torn. Thoughts?
the car, cards, and coffeemaker conundrum
December 1st, 2015 at 05:16 pm
December 1st, 2015 at 05:27 pm 1448990822
December 1st, 2015 at 05:36 pm 1448991369
I would tell your mother she can send cards to her friends with a picture of the kids. No you are NEVER obligated to give a gift to someone who give you one. Really. It's the guilt of giving that gets people stressed out. Do what makes YOU feel good and happy!
December 1st, 2015 at 05:51 pm 1448992297
CCF the only thing I feel bad about the holidays is having to "gift/card" back to people when I hate doing gifts outside of immediate family. I guess i just feel it isn't in the budget and not what I want to do.
December 1st, 2015 at 06:04 pm 1448993084
December 1st, 2015 at 07:40 pm 1448998827
December 1st, 2015 at 09:45 pm 1449006348
What about the car?????
December 1st, 2015 at 11:35 pm 1449012923
December 2nd, 2015 at 01:47 am 1449020852
Cards/gifts? If you don't want to send them/give them you are under no obligation to do so!
December 2nd, 2015 at 06:08 am 1449036510
As for the car yep it's a goner asap. He needs unfortunately the safety features to help with driving. So it's a long term problem for us that we'll be leasing a car for him.
December 2nd, 2015 at 06:35 pm 1449081300
December 2nd, 2015 at 09:55 pm 1449093300
Last winter where we live was the worst. He biked and took public transit and during a snow storm walked over an hour to work. I often drove and picked him up. Also the pedestrians made it hard to drive. And he couldn't use public transit with the dark either. So I also accomodated him when he worked late.
December 15th, 2015 at 04:22 am 1450153368