We Got The Van!
It is Sunday around here in the Flerbian household, and I have been a bit slower today. I adamantly refused to school lessons. I half-heartedly did some laundry. I even more half-heartedly washed load twelve of the diapers that I have spent most of the past few days washing--no, I don't know why. They never seem to take this long! I think we just have so many now that I can let them go for a few days longer than normal, but when I do so they overflow all the pails and into makeshift bags. Funny thing is (and what encourages me to be so lazy in the first place) we still have clean diapers on the shelf! I am flabbergasted. Lazy, but flabbergasted.
If you have been following the recent events, perhaps you are on the edge of your seat wondering if we have vehicle or not anymore. Conversely, you might not give a damn either--but here is the verdict: WE GOT THE LOAN!!! We are now the proud (quite) partial owners of the 2004 Ford Freestar van I spoke of last.
The dealers, in their desperation to sell their overstock, spent days going to different banks in the area, trying to secure a substantial loan for a couple of jaded parents who have equally substantial student loan debt and only one income. I called and growled at every person I could get my hands on at the dealership, wondering what the hell was taking so long, causing them to wish they were getting calls from my husband instead, who might have actually said something nice like "how are you today" or "nice weather we are having" before tearing into them for being so bloody slow.
I nearly lost my shit when it was nearing the day we had to give back the rental, and we now had squandered all our time on this vehicle. Fate smiled upon us on this one, for in the end, they had to give us a shorter term loan, which bumped the payment quote up above the agreed upon deal. The dealers reduced the price of the vehicle slightly to compensate, saving us over a thousand dollars and reducing our monthly payments, even with the extended warranty. I am sure I am now famous as The Bitch You Want To Just Go Away While We Schmooze The Husband as well. (I could hear them sigh in relief when I walked out the door)
Enough of that, however......we have a vehicle, in our possession, that can seat all of us! I am a tad disappointed in the interior space of the van compared to our Eurovan we used to have, but who cares? It is such a relief to drive something that isn't falling apart at the seams, that can go on the highway without my nerves twitching, that has less than 100,000 miles on it!
We may be even more in debt than I really wanted to be right now, but by golly.....but if we can manage to raise a family of seven on a single salary of less than 21,000$ a year, and still live well, always trying to pay off more and more debt (our credit cards were all paid off this year with tax $$) what will it be like when we have two incomes? Or even one income over 30,000$? I like how we live for many reasons--we don't spend tons of money on crap we don't need, and we always able to "make it," so to speak. I really fail to understand how people who make over 50,000$ a year (or more!!!) cannot seem to make ends meet, complaining about having to scrimp and save so they can blow tons of cash on clothing made in sweatshops just so they can buy it new. I used to think there was something wrong with us, that we were just so far out of consumerism that we had forgot how to spend money.
The more I think about it, there is really something wrong with the rest of the world. Food is left behind on plates in expensive restaurants while children starve in shanty towns. Clothes are replaced to suit the fashion of each season, while others cannot afford to clothe their entire families. It is just madness! What do people do when they win lotteries..become philanthropists? Most people just buy more crap.
If I ever become like that, I hope someone has the good sense to tell me so. I don't ever want to be a consumer, heading off to the dumb ole shopping malls and overpriced eaterys.
Right now, I am just so very grateful that we secured the loan. Having a working van that we can all go places as a family in means more right now than I can say without getting quite verklemt.
If you have been following the recent events, perhaps you are on the edge of your seat wondering if we have vehicle or not anymore. Conversely, you might not give a damn either--but here is the verdict: WE GOT THE LOAN!!! We are now the proud (quite) partial owners of the 2004 Ford Freestar van I spoke of last.
The dealers, in their desperation to sell their overstock, spent days going to different banks in the area, trying to secure a substantial loan for a couple of jaded parents who have equally substantial student loan debt and only one income. I called and growled at every person I could get my hands on at the dealership, wondering what the hell was taking so long, causing them to wish they were getting calls from my husband instead, who might have actually said something nice like "how are you today" or "nice weather we are having" before tearing into them for being so bloody slow.
I nearly lost my shit when it was nearing the day we had to give back the rental, and we now had squandered all our time on this vehicle. Fate smiled upon us on this one, for in the end, they had to give us a shorter term loan, which bumped the payment quote up above the agreed upon deal. The dealers reduced the price of the vehicle slightly to compensate, saving us over a thousand dollars and reducing our monthly payments, even with the extended warranty. I am sure I am now famous as The Bitch You Want To Just Go Away While We Schmooze The Husband as well. (I could hear them sigh in relief when I walked out the door)
Enough of that, however......we have a vehicle, in our possession, that can seat all of us! I am a tad disappointed in the interior space of the van compared to our Eurovan we used to have, but who cares? It is such a relief to drive something that isn't falling apart at the seams, that can go on the highway without my nerves twitching, that has less than 100,000 miles on it!
We may be even more in debt than I really wanted to be right now, but by golly.....but if we can manage to raise a family of seven on a single salary of less than 21,000$ a year, and still live well, always trying to pay off more and more debt (our credit cards were all paid off this year with tax $$) what will it be like when we have two incomes? Or even one income over 30,000$? I like how we live for many reasons--we don't spend tons of money on crap we don't need, and we always able to "make it," so to speak. I really fail to understand how people who make over 50,000$ a year (or more!!!) cannot seem to make ends meet, complaining about having to scrimp and save so they can blow tons of cash on clothing made in sweatshops just so they can buy it new. I used to think there was something wrong with us, that we were just so far out of consumerism that we had forgot how to spend money.
The more I think about it, there is really something wrong with the rest of the world. Food is left behind on plates in expensive restaurants while children starve in shanty towns. Clothes are replaced to suit the fashion of each season, while others cannot afford to clothe their entire families. It is just madness! What do people do when they win lotteries..become philanthropists? Most people just buy more crap.
If I ever become like that, I hope someone has the good sense to tell me so. I don't ever want to be a consumer, heading off to the dumb ole shopping malls and overpriced eaterys.
Right now, I am just so very grateful that we secured the loan. Having a working van that we can all go places as a family in means more right now than I can say without getting quite verklemt.
posted by jadebabylon at 11:18 PM
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