Weekend Assignment #283: Major Purchase

Karen wants to know what big purchases we may have made recently. Well, we've made two, so it's an easy one for me this week.

Weekend Assignment: #282: What was your most recent major purchase, that is, of a durable good worth $400 or more? (Yes, cars and houses count.) Was it something you researched and agonized over for weeks and months, or did you go through the whole buying process in an hour or a day?

First, about two months ago we bought a new car. Jenn's car was getting old and getting to a point where, even though it was paid for, we were spending about the same amount of money on repairs as we would a car payment. So, we decided it was time to replace hers and get something a little more reliable and save some money on repair costs.

It didn't take too long to find a car we wanted, though we did change the vehicle type after our first round of searching. We starting off looking for a crossover/SUV, but after looking at a few we decided to replace Jenn's small sedan with a mid-size sedan. It made more sense. I'm not a big fan of SUVs myself and Jenn doesn't like to drive the station wagon we have, so I don't see her enjoy driving a bigger car.

We ended up on a Toyota Camry. It was cheaper than the SUVs and has heated seats, so we're all happy.

The other big purchase just came the other day. We got a sectional couch for the living room. We are in the process of doing some changes in the way things are set up in the house and this seemed to be a good time to change the couches out. We ended up taking out the dinning room table and China cabinet and turned that area into an office. The computer is here now, we've moved in one of the love seats from the living room and now we have the new sectional in the living room. Now he have four reclining seats. How could we not be happy? We got them on sale and don't have to pay for them until next year, which is nice.

Extra Credit: Are you generally an impulse buyer, or do you prefer to take lots of time to consider your options?

I wouldn't say I'm an impulse buyer. I do check things out a little bit and think about what I want to get for a while. We did move pretty fast on the couches though.

Goodbye, old friend

Well, the old car is gone. It wasn't supposed to be this quick, but we left her at the dealership, gave her a hug and took our new car home last night.

What was supposed to happen, was Jenn and I go to the dealership last night, check out the car that came in, sign some of the papers to get some of that done, then come back today or tomorrow and pick it up. Somehow we ended up being there until after 10pm and came home with the new car. I didn't even have the title for the old car with me. I need to find that to bring it in. I'm pretty sure I know where it is. Maybe.

So, now we have a new car with the new car smell and no dings. Yet. See, that is the part I hate about a new car. Now we have to watch where we park, make sure we have room to open the doors, and enough room for the loser next to us to open his door without smacking it into our car. There is nothing worse than the first ding on new car. It always comes too soon. Am I right?

Anyway, before we traded the old car in I was able to witness this:

This is the first car we have owned that broke the 100,000 mile barrier. Every other car has bit the dust just before that mark. I found it fitting that it happened on the day we sold it. Don't you?

Okay, I need to go to work.

Halfway to 80

I turned 40 a short time ago, as you may recall, but today we are going to a party for a couple of friends tonight. They decided to have a "halfway to 80" party to celebrate turning 40 a different way. Not a bad idea. Maybe it will make me feel a little less old for a short time.

I probably would have felt younger if I put a deposit down on a Corvette rather than a Camry today. Of course, I'd need a bit more money. Anyone want to lend me some? And a trailer to attach to the back to put the kids in?

Have a great Saturday!

More fun tidbits from the neighborhood

I know you want to hear more, and I have nothing else to talk about right now.

Tonight when I was walking Quincy we went past this car that was, quite literally, full of junk. It wasn't clothes, or anything like that, it looked like papers mostly; files, plain paper, envelopes, you name it. There was only room for a driver, and a skinny one at that. I wanted to take a picture but I only had my cell phone with me. With the darkness, the picture would not have turned out anyway.

Now, those of you who have kids now what a messy car looks like. Sure, you say you aren't going to let your kids eat anything in the car, and the works for a while. Then, one day, you are running late for work and let them have something in the car on the way to school or day care. Just this one time. Yeah, that's what you say the next several times too. Before you know it, you car is full of Cheerios, crackers and Cheese-Its. But, no matter how many crumbs, toys, or stuffed animals are in your car, know one thing: You car is cleaner than this car.

But still, clean it out when you get a chance. Please. For the kids.

Update: I fixed the format of the post. It was a little hard to read. Sorry about that.