What to do?

[OldCracker29]

Good luck selling your truck. Fuel prices are ridiculous.

 

[Boilerup15]

Maybe I should clear this up a bit because I feel I am getting a lot of the same responses. I do not want to sell my truck, but financially I have to. I have a payment of $250.00 every month plus about $180.00 more in just gas just for my vehicle. Add the wife's vehicle, her gas, 3 student loan payments, house payment and utilities and our paychecks are shot. We don't make a bunch of money. I make about $23-24K a year depending on overtime, and the wife isn't much better. So you can just about imagine how quickly our money goes. We don't struggle, but we are trying to live within our means. My truck was bought before I ever met my wife, and now the toys need to go for awhile and think financially and smart about what is best for my family. It kills me to have to sell the truck, but if I can get a car payment for $130.00 and gas for a month to about $100.00 I will be saving some money.

 

[Bigredmariner]

You're doing the right thing Jon, good luck with the sale.

 

[buckshot85]

if gas gets to 5 bucks a gallon everyone will be fWONked. end of story. i'd keep the truck. the gas prices are killing me as well getting 13mpg but idc it's worth it to me. but i think your making the best bet

 

[Darkanion]

Maybe I should clear this up a bit because I feel I am getting a lot of the same responses. I do not want to sell my truck, but financially I have to. I have a payment of $250.00 every month plus about $180.00 more in just gas just for my vehicle. Add the wife's vehicle, her gas, 3 student loan payments, house payment and utilities and our paychecks are shot. We don't make a bunch of money. I make about $23-24K a year depending on overtime, and the wife isn't much better. So you can just about imagine how quickly our money goes. We don't struggle, but we are trying to live within our means. My truck was bought before I ever met my wife, and now the toys need to go for awhile and think financially and smart about what is best for my family. It kills me to have to sell the truck, but if I can get a car payment for $130.00 and gas for a month to about $100.00 I will be saving some money.

I stand by what I said before.. Sell the truck, apply a big chunk of that money towards paying off the Liberty early, and get something cheap & fuel efficient (at least for a while) to save you some money.. If you need the truck (for work, etc), that's one thing.. But, if you just want the truck and could get by with something else, I think it makes more sense to put your family and finances first and get something else.. at least in the near-term..

 

[Texas Jim]

Jon...according to you figures...your plan would save you about 200 per month or 50 bucks a week.

I don't see how you are going to get another vehicle for a 130 a month payment.

"BUT"...that Malibu isn't going to be any cheaper as far as payments go.
If anything...it is going to be about the same if financed for 4 years or even more if financed for 3 years.
A MORE expensive payment and even with better mileage...that would put you right back in the same position that you are in now...
Except you wouldn't have the truck.

If you really need to cut costs...maybe you need to get rid of both the truck "AND" the Jeep and get a couple of older vehicles that you can just pay cash for to actually cut payments.

Then later...when you are in better shape financially...you can get better vehicles again.
Since you feel that you need to save 50 a month ... that's only about a buck fifty a day.
Do you stop at Starbucks or the 7-11 and buy soft drinks or coffee?

How often do you go out to eat??? Even if is only McD's??
Do you buy video games?
Do you have any extra "PAY" movie channel's on the TV?
How often do you buy a new pair of jeans or a new shirt...just because you want them...not because you really "NEED" them?
One or more of the student loans can possibly be put on "HARDSHIP DEFERRAL" for a while.

Get one of those little cheap, shirt pocket sized, spiral notebooks and for the next 30 days...every time you spend "EVEN ONE PENNY" write it down.
"THAT" can be an eye opening experience...

"I KNOW" BTDT...

There should be other ways to cut your expenses without changing vehicles.

Your truck payment is only 250 a month...
Personally I just don't see any way that selling the truck and getting another payment is going to help you enough to make it worthwhile.

Just my opinion...

 

[Nick The Great]

By my calcs, a 5 year loan @5% with $130 per month will get you a $6900 loan. A 4 year loan is $5600 and a 3 year loan is $4300.

And if you get $15k on your truck, and you owe 10k, you've got another $5000 to deal with.

So you're looking somewhere in the neighborhood of $10k car. You could probably get a halfway decent car for that.

 

[Boilerup15]

By my calcs, a 5 year loan @5% with $130 per month will get you a $6900 loan. A 4 year loan is $5600 and a 3 year loan is $4300.

And if you get $15k on your truck, and you owe 10k, you've got another $5000 to deal with.

So you're looking somewhere in the neighborhood of $10k car. You could probably get a halfway decent car for that.

Those were my figures also, I think I could possibly even get more than 5K to put down on a vehicle. I'm looking at cars withing the 10-13K range. Which would put me at a loan of 5-7K after my down payment from the left over money from selling my truck. Which would be about a 100 bucks or more cheaper payment than what I have now. I know 100 bucks isn't a lot, but that's 1200.00 a year that could be used somewhere else. Just yesterday I found an 07' Pontiac Grand Prix, fully loaded with 34k miles for 12,900.00. You know the dealer will go down some, and with that low of miles, I would have a good car for a long period of time to drive and only have a 130.00 payment roughly.

 

[Boilerup15]

Jon...according to you figures...your plan would save you about 200 per month or 50 bucks a week.

I don't see how you are going to get another vehicle for a 130 a month payment.

"BUT"...that Malibu isn't going to be any cheaper as far as payments go.
If anything...it is going to be about the same if financed for 4 years or even more if financed for 3 years.
A MORE expensive payment and even with better mileage...that would put you right back in the same position that you are in now...
Except you wouldn't have the truck.

If you really need to cut costs...maybe you need to get rid of both the truck "AND" the Jeep and get a couple of older vehicles that you can just pay cash for to actually cut payments.

Then later...when you are in better shape financially...you can get better vehicles again.
Since you feel that you need to save 50 a month ... that's only about a buck fifty a day.
Do you stop at Starbucks or the 7-11 and buy soft drinks or coffee?

How often do you go out to eat??? Even if is only McD's??
Do you buy video games?
Do you have any extra "PAY" movie channel's on the TV?
How often do you buy a new pair of jeans or a new shirt...just because you want them...not because you really "NEED" them?
One or more of the student loans can possibly be put on "HARDSHIP DEFERRAL" for a while.

Get one of those little cheap, shirt pocket sized, spiral notebooks and for the next 30 days...every time you spend "EVEN ONE PENNY" write it down.
"THAT" can be an eye opening experience...

"I KNOW" BTDT...

There should be other ways to cut your expenses without changing vehicles.

Your truck payment is only 250 a month...
Personally I just don't see any way that selling the truck and getting another payment is going to help you enough to make it worthwhile.

Just my opinion...

I actually have done that, and it is scary . I have gotten better about taking my lunch to work instead of eating out and really cut back on the extra's. I have noticed a savings already, and that is why I'm looking into a car, because I'm looking to save more.

 

[UnLiMiTeD]

Well goodluck on your search, just dont go too old or cheap or your savings per month will go into repairs. So whichever year and model your looking into, do some hard research into their reliability and common issues because they all have them.

Goodluck