Freed by 50

Back in November I turned in my seldom used leased sedan and bought a much more practical 1987 Chevy pickup. The car was costing me about $400/month between the payment and insurance (I rarely got gas), and the truck cost me $4000 to buy. It’s a 10 month break even and I’ve set up an automatic transfer to put money back into my savings account just like my old car payment.

Since I stopped commuting, I haven’t really paid attention to gas mileage in my cars. I know my 2016 Sonata got reasonable gas mileage, and I know that we normally only filled the tank about once every other month. I know the new pickup, with its big old 350 V8, probably gets terrible gas mileage. What’s worse, it’s meant to use premium gas! This is all terribly un-frugal.

It wasn’t until I was showing off my new truck on Christmas Eve when my cousin inquired about my gas mileage (clearly wanting to shame me for my gas guzzler) that I realized I was still on my first tank of gas. I’ve owned the truck for just shy of two months and the gas gauge is still above half a tank. I haven’t changed my driving habits. I just don’t drive anywhere!

Now some would argue that due to my lack of use I shouldn’t have bought the truck at all. This is a valid argument. My feelings on the matter are that:

1- It’s a vehicle that serves a purpose. I’m very big on this idea. I will use this truck often for the many home improvement and landscaping tasks I normally do, but won’t have to pay to have things delivered anymore.

2- With two young kids at home, we didn’t feel prepared for an emergency situation without a second car. We don’t expect to ever have to put the kids in this truck, but it’s our insurance policy in the event something happens while the other car is out.

3- Once I pay back the initial layout, this car will cost me less than $50/month in gas and insurance.  I can do the majority of the work on the car if anything comes up, so the cost of ownership is extremely low.

4- It’s pretty fun to have!  My wife joked that if anyone called this my mid-life crisis car, then I’m having a pretty shitty mid-life crisis with my $4000 pickup truck.

At this point, I’ve cut my cost of having a second car by 87%.  I now own a vehicle outright instead of a leased car.  The truck is infinitely more useful than a four door sedan.  I’m paying myself $400/month (something I may just keep doing well past the break even date).  And it’s only been one tank of gas!