Essay 4
Micah Kebschull Essay 4Without My Dream Car
Just recently, I found out my dad was going to get a beautiful new Toyota Rav4. But I was distressed over the matter because he had this beautiful, green, 2002 Toyota Camry. It had 98,000 miles on it that were mostly from traveling long distances. He was named the Hulk and he purred quieter than a kitten. The Hulk was my dream car. I wanted to buy this beauty from my dad, but with a bit of fatherly counseling he talked me out of it and came up with a new plan.
The first point my dad brought across to my attention was a car would put me in debt. To start off, as a supervisor at my job, I do not get paid enough. I am paid twice a month, work at least one hundred hours each month and only make about $650 on average. My loan for the car would be a little over two hundred dollars each month. It may even seem like it would be no problem after another two hundred dollars for my phone bill, school loan, and gas. Okay! That would leave me with two hundred dollars. I was so sure that I could do it. Then I was reminded that there was the wonderful aspect to owning a car and that was paying car insurance, which would leave me with about a hundred dollars. That did not leave me with much. My dad reminded me that I will probably get an apartment in the next few years and that all my bills would be very unaffordable. That would go against my plan of not being to far in to debt.
Secondly, Jeanetta “The Berretta” can save me some money. My dad told me “We are basically handing you two hundred dollars each month.” He had a good point. My car, Jeanetta, is a decent car after a couple thousand dollars in repairs in the past five years. Gratefully, I didn’t pay for the repairs. With this car I am saving the two hundred dollars and I am staying on my parents insurance. I have not paid one time for the insurance on my car. She is definitely a piece of crap; but, she gets the job done and doesn’t cost me much.
My bad spending habits are a big problem. My dad knows that I love to spend money. I have made at least 21,000 dollars in the past three years and I have managed to spend all but five hundred. I know that I can save if I really want to but not for a long time. I know I can pay for my responsibilities now. I do not know if I can dish out over five hundred dollars every month with my bad job and habits. In a couple of days I would have to train myself to not spend money on other people and useless crap that I will use once. We could just say that I am an impulse buyer.
Now, out of my father’s wisdom, I am paying him two hundred a month to put into an account that is off limits for me. This gives me a chance to get use to the payments and save up for a car. He thinks I should buy a cheap Subaru but I’m not torturing myself for a few years just to get a vehicle that won’t last me an ultra-long time By that time I think I deserve my “Dream Car” or better.