My Big Money Mistake

On a perfectly harmless day in the winter of 2003/4, I woke up to the sound of silence and everyday smells. There was nothing special about this morning. I had no plans, and honestly, I would've been perfectly content laying there in my bed without movement or purpose.

And then there was a knock on my door. I remember rushing to get showered because my roommates were going to go out and look at cars. One of them wanted to check out a Subaru WRX. He wanted to "check it out", not buy it. (I was silly enough to not know the difference)

So we drove out to the dealerships and eventually ended up on a stretch of road that had dozens of them. I made the mistake of asking for a Toyota detour. My friends obliged and 15 minutes later, I was cruising down the highway in a new Camry actually thinking about buying one. :-) My roommates were impressed with the smoothness and the acceleration (6 cylinder) and even the calmness the salesman displayed as I edged into 90+ territory. (There was no noise.)

I went back into the dealership and wanted to chat but I didn't really want to buy the car yet. I just wanted some information. I wasn't actually looking for a car after all! Then the manager came over and he tried to sell it hard. I was turned off almost immediately and I left with the intention of never returning to this evil dealership again.

And I didn't, I went to another dealership approximately 2 weeks later and promptly purchased a fully hooked up V6 SE Camry. After a dizzying array of taxes and fees and add-ons that I can't even recall being told about, I drove off the lot with the biggest grin on my face and a debt that would've sent me to a private school for a whole year!

The thing is, I did get a deal. (TMV) But at what cost? My former car was doing just fine. Sure it wasn't sexy. It had 195K miles on it! But it was still running. (It still is.)

So now I have to pay $755.15 a month instead. No maintenance. But quite a payment huh?

0% financing for 3 years.

If I had known better, if I knew what I know now, I would've kept every penny. I would've moved home and with the money I would've saved doing these 2 things (not buying a new car, not renting when I can stay at home), I would be able to move into Acton today. Maybe yesterday. But I can't because I have to pay off a 28K dollar car loan and I have to pay 15K of rent instead. :-(

Moral: Don't wake up and rush into something without caution. A harmless trip designed for someone else can very easily affect something completely unrelated. Like your housing ambition 2 years into the future. :-)

But the truth is, as many of the money bloggers will gladly admit, being punished for doing these silly things is the best most reliable way of learning how not to do it again. So yes, this was my big mistake. But I'm kind of glad I made it. Otherwise I might still be waiting to do something equally (or more) appalling. Like maybe buy a McMansion?