help me convince dh that we shoul sell my car

[yukookoo]

you may remember my previous post about what we should do about our car debt...

We have a 37,000$ volvo that we still owe 30,000 on after a year of 700$ a month payments

to cut down our budget i want to sell the car and take out a private loan for whatever we owe. It will be between 5 - 10,000

Then I will not have a car until we save up enough to buy one with cash. This will save the payment, insurance registration, gas for at least a few months

I am a sahm and it will be tough but we can walk and I will be just fine. I am actually really excited about it!

Dh says its like throwing away 5 - 10,000$ and we are not hurting that much financially that we need to sell it Yet he complains daily about working so hard and the stress of bringing home a check to cover bills

I think he is in denial about our situation.

[lmonter]

Yikes. I can't even fathom a $37K car. Even if hubby were bringing home $150K/year I doubt we'd buy a car that expensive because, well, we're just plain cheap.

If you truly can go without a vehicle for a while, I'd say drop that sucker. Just make sure you're absolutely positive - I know around here with our weather and lack of sidewalks and people that can't drive in snow that walking everywhere could be pretty life-threatening on a daily basis during the fall/winter. Heck, you might even come across an old beater-type car like a mid-90's Corolla or something for $2K-$3K to replace the Volvo.

Do you guys have a written down spending plan/budget showing where all your money's going every month? Sit down and crunch numbers together - that may help show him where you're coming from. I know Dave Ramsey's not all that fond of large car payments... like if you're spending more than 25% of your income on vehicles or something, that's not so good. But don't quote me on that, it's getting late.

[stephaloo]

We did it. Although we sold the Jetta and came out a cuople hundred ahead.

The girls and I walk everywhere but we are near grocery store and the library and two parks.

It was a pain in the butt in the winter and we got cabin fever but it was worth it.

Good luck!

[TiredX2]

So, what are DH's objections to selling the car?

The one you listed is that it is like "throwing" away 5-10K.

Can you figure how much you would need to pay on that personal loan and compare them to what you pay for the car now? Ask DH if he is getting "$___ of enjoyment" out of the car.

You mention:

Then I will not have a car until we save up enough to buy one with cash. This will save the payment, insurance registration, gas for at least a few months

I don't understand that. Do you plan on buying a new car "in a few months"? or what did that mean. Are you committed to being w/out a car for two years. Why did you get this car in the first place? Are the issues that led you to it no longer relevant? Because if you end up taking out a personal loan, paying it off in 18 months and then end up with a "worse" car you still owe like $15K on, I could see the concern that it is just not worth it.

[dillonandmarasmom]

How much do you drive it? Sounds to me like you're throwing away $700+ a month on a car. Especially if you are willing to walk!
If you do buy again, DO NOT buy new. Never a good investment. Buy a used vehicle of similar quality if you want. But, definitely buy used. You lose soooo much buying new then selling with so much left that you owe, kwim?
We sold a "way too expensive" truck a few years back and were very lucky to actually sell it for more than we owed. But, that is not the norm. So, it may take time to get what you want when selling, but I would sell, sell, sell!!

[yukookoo]

well dh's argument is that we can afford the car and we cant afford to sell it and take a loss. Its a bad business move. he thinks we should pay it off (that will take 4 years at the most) and drive it till it dies.

We are not THAT poor in his opinion.

We make it, he makes about 2,000 more than what we NEED to pay bills eat and pay gas. But that money never seems to go in savings or paying off debt like i want it to. It goes to things like car mainte cnance, baby necessities (car seat, high chair, even craigslist is still money) travel (he has to take a trip out of state to care for his grandparents for example)

Its just always pay check to pay check

so is it better to sell or make the payment and keep it forever?

[CityChic]

Can you compromise? Maybe keep the car, drive less and put extra money toward each payment so the car is paid off faster?

[dillonandmarasmom]

For saving, you really have to do that before anything else each month. Most finance experts will say, "Pay yourself first," and that really is the only way to keep it up successfully. If you know you have $2k each month, have a specific amount automatically deposited into a high yield account of some kind. As your savings grow, unbelievably, so may your monthly "extra money." I know that makes no sense, but it works. Somehow it works. It's as if seeing yourself with a growing "extra" account enables you to be more stingey(sp?) (or careful) with your money each month.

I do agree that you would take a loss if you sold an expensive car, especially right now. But, would the loss eventually be regained by saving the car payment?? Possibly, if you put that payment, the insurance, and the gas money into savings.

[lmonter]

Face your demons and do a spending plan. Seriously. I know it's scary and frightening to see the totals of what goes where, but it's something you've just gotta do.

We budget a certain amount monthly for home repair and furniture replacement and clothing and car maintenance and life insurance premiums and all sorts of funky not-always-monthly expenses. What we don't use that month in those certain categories gets transferred over to a secondary checking account where we save up over the months. So when our life insurance is due in January, I just write the check from the secondary account and don't worry. Used to be that when we just got our car insurance bill I'd be freaking out about where the money was coming from and all that. Now? Not so much. It's *very* nice.

And I can tell hubby or whoever beyond a shadow of a doubt whether we can do something or not money-wise (he has me do the number crunching, he would forget for months to balance the checkbooks). I *know* what we're spending and where, and how much we have budgeted and saved for other stuff, and whether a season pass to a local amusement park is doable (nope, not this year, maybe next year).