Since Zane and I have been married, it is fair to say, we have constantly struggled with finances. Making ends meet has always been a challenge for us. There are a lot of things and people in our past, prior to when we got married, who have played a factor in our misfortunes. I'm not completely blaming them, because I know our own choices haven't always been the greatest and/or smartest. However, we are working on changing that.
The past couple of months, we have been evaluating EVERYTHING. We made a list of everything we own. Then, we divided that list into things that were necessary to live or to get by, things that were for pleasure, and things that we didn't absolutely need. Over the past 4 months, we have sold a great deal of things in the "pleasure" list and the "didn't absolutely need" list. To name a few, we got rid of our Satellite TV, extra couch & love seat, treadmill, and a camper.
We started with small, simple items. As we got used to getting rid of some of these items, we realized it wasn't hard at all, because a lot of the items, we didn't use very often. There is no sense in having them, when we hardly use them. It seemed pointless to us. Once we got rid of all the little things, we looked at the BIG things. The things that were costing us the most each month. Our cars. My car, a 2003 Nissan Maxima, which I LOVED. It's been the best car ever. We have had it for 4 years and only had to replace the alternator, just a couple weeks ago. It got 40 miles to the gallon, seriously! Zane's red truck, a 2003 Ford Ranger. His baby! He LOVED this truck. And Zane's white truck, a 1994 GMC Sierra 1500 extended cab. Believe it or not, the GMC got better gas mileage than the little Ranger. And the GMC is completely paid for. It is ours! And, it just sits. It does need a couple things done on it, but it works.
Yesterday, we sunk. We got rid of the Nissan Maxima and the Ford Ranger. We eliminated over $21,000 in debt getting rid of those two vehicles. Oh, don't worry, I am not carless. We found a GREAT deal on a 1999 Dodge Durango. It only has 139,000 miles on it. It's 4 years older than my car, which had almost 120,000 on it. The mileage was definitely a huge factor in our deal. The Durango has been taken care of. It's in excellent condition. It's the loaded version, leather seats, rear climate control, 4-wheel drive, 3rd row seating...its a great car. Has a V8, a bigger engine than Zane's GMC has! Yes, I do feel special. :)
Getting rid of the Maxima and the Ranger were both extremely hard. I felt so bad for Zane, because he LOVED his Ranger so much. But, at the end of the day, we realize this is helping us out in a way, where we won't be living paycheck to paycheck. Where we will be able to go out and do fun things, like take our kids to the zoo, the aquarium, go swimming more. We also learned a very valuable lesson, life isn't about having the best of the best. As long as we have each other, talk things through, and rationalize, everything will be okay. And, if we rely on Heavenly Father to guide us in doing what's right, and not be afraid to ask him for help, everything will turn out according to His plan.
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