grambles423
Automotive Engineer
Gentlemen (And Ladies),
I'm a thinker. I love thinking. Often times I spark a thought that consumes and I become a little obsessive about it. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't but the journey to find the detail to make the decision is awesome. Call it an enlightenment. But when it comes to personal events things, emotion is a variable we cannot easily "objectify" and things tend to get out of hand. How can you make an objective decision when there is emotion attached? How do you assume the unknown? How do you objectify a multivariate equation?
I'm at a crossroad in life. We (The wife and I) are now looking for a house. We know what we want. We know where we want it. We know how much we can spend. And we are determined to make this happen before next January due to our lease end. What's the point of sinking $1250/mo on rent when it doesn't go anywhere? Pure expense. No equity, no tax benefit......nothing. Just a negative cash flow.
To get a house we're looking at BEST CASE having to put down 5% for the best mortgage available to us (%, monthly payments, loan amount...etc). No problem right? Well, putting my wife through master's school has really vacated and prevented me from my savings. I didn't save MUCH in the last year. Now, with our awesome budget (Thanks to Dave Ramsey) and DINK lifestyle, We are currently saving almost $400/week. However, we are far from an initial payment and that $400/week often goes towards other things as well. So far its mostly been the car, her school loans, and various other bigger expenditures around the house or just daily life stuff. I'm afraid...at this point....we might not have enough for a down payment when we need to unless I totally drain my savings. No Good on my part. I need a safety net. That's just how I roll.
My wife is putting ALL of her savings into paying off her student loan. That will clear that debt in almost 10months.
"So why the HECK are you posting this on the forum Grambles?" I spend a lot of time around here. TOO much on some days. I KNOW the people here and their input is always welcomed. Not that it matters at all if I ever see them. Plus, this is an open forum. Everyone is always welcomed to share their thoughts! :thumbsup:
So let's hammer out some details. Let's brain dump to free up some brain cells for thinking. I have 3 options I'm considering:
1) Sell Car. Buy Old reliable Car. Sell Parts. Net Roughly $6000-$10000 depending on sale.
2) Keep car. Sell certain parts. Net about $3000. Keep saving.
3) Do nothing. Keep saving. Pray for Lottery win.
Option 1
Feels like a great idea. I could buy an older civic (6th gen to 8th gen) for a pretty damn good range. $5000-$9000. If I could sell my GTI (Without Parts $12K. With Most Parts $15K), I could then sell the Bilsteins and Porsche Brakes (Refinish them for more money) and trade for Detroits for Denvers ($200-$300ish) and could net probably around $1800-$2000. Considerable...but selling the car would take time. The process of it all is tedious and could cause some unneeded strain.
Option 2
This is where emotion comes to play. I love my car, but I also know its a material object. But to satisfy my car urges, I could keep it. Down grade to a very skim Stage 2 or a stocklike Stage 1. I know either of these will suffice my craving for power until 2015/2016 when I can look into another vehicle (Honda).
Selling almost ALL my parts could net me anywhere $3000-$5000 give or take. I've already received 5 PMs about my parts so I know there's interest, so maybe there's hope. That would be a hefty dent and saving the rest of the year could make up the eventual investment. But its an unknown quantity.
Another thing to consider is reliability of my current car. Intake Manifold will need to be replaced soon. Chain Tensioner is a time bomb waiting to happen. With a volkswagen.....anything can happen. I have to be ready, but that will eat into our safety net. I feel like I can maintain this beast until 150K but I'm not CONVINCED it will last that long. Who knows..........
Option 3
Who likes change? I sure dont. This would essentially be the same route I was on before even considering this thought. However, now that I have it, I would probably still stay on my "Hell Functional" route and downgrade the wheels which would cost me. I would put all my parts on (Bilsteins and Porsche Brakes) and just go on my merry way of a an awesome fully built Stage 2 vehicle.
..........but.....Is this really the route to consider KNOWING the other two options? KNOWING I could be happy with my GTI yet sell a lot of my parts? :iono: Emotion is key here.
Your input is welcomed. Your questions are welcomed. Vultures are NOT. I hope I conveyed what is really going through my mind well enough.
An idea. Resilient, highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to iradicate. An idea that is fully formed, fully understood. That sticks, right in there somewhere. - Leonardo DiCaprio "Inception"
I'm a thinker. I love thinking. Often times I spark a thought that consumes and I become a little obsessive about it. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't but the journey to find the detail to make the decision is awesome. Call it an enlightenment. But when it comes to personal events things, emotion is a variable we cannot easily "objectify" and things tend to get out of hand. How can you make an objective decision when there is emotion attached? How do you assume the unknown? How do you objectify a multivariate equation?
I'm at a crossroad in life. We (The wife and I) are now looking for a house. We know what we want. We know where we want it. We know how much we can spend. And we are determined to make this happen before next January due to our lease end. What's the point of sinking $1250/mo on rent when it doesn't go anywhere? Pure expense. No equity, no tax benefit......nothing. Just a negative cash flow.
To get a house we're looking at BEST CASE having to put down 5% for the best mortgage available to us (%, monthly payments, loan amount...etc). No problem right? Well, putting my wife through master's school has really vacated and prevented me from my savings. I didn't save MUCH in the last year. Now, with our awesome budget (Thanks to Dave Ramsey) and DINK lifestyle, We are currently saving almost $400/week. However, we are far from an initial payment and that $400/week often goes towards other things as well. So far its mostly been the car, her school loans, and various other bigger expenditures around the house or just daily life stuff. I'm afraid...at this point....we might not have enough for a down payment when we need to unless I totally drain my savings. No Good on my part. I need a safety net. That's just how I roll.
My wife is putting ALL of her savings into paying off her student loan. That will clear that debt in almost 10months.
"So why the HECK are you posting this on the forum Grambles?" I spend a lot of time around here. TOO much on some days. I KNOW the people here and their input is always welcomed. Not that it matters at all if I ever see them. Plus, this is an open forum. Everyone is always welcomed to share their thoughts! :thumbsup:
So let's hammer out some details. Let's brain dump to free up some brain cells for thinking. I have 3 options I'm considering:
1) Sell Car. Buy Old reliable Car. Sell Parts. Net Roughly $6000-$10000 depending on sale.
2) Keep car. Sell certain parts. Net about $3000. Keep saving.
3) Do nothing. Keep saving. Pray for Lottery win.
Option 1
Feels like a great idea. I could buy an older civic (6th gen to 8th gen) for a pretty damn good range. $5000-$9000. If I could sell my GTI (Without Parts $12K. With Most Parts $15K), I could then sell the Bilsteins and Porsche Brakes (Refinish them for more money) and trade for Detroits for Denvers ($200-$300ish) and could net probably around $1800-$2000. Considerable...but selling the car would take time. The process of it all is tedious and could cause some unneeded strain.
Option 2
This is where emotion comes to play. I love my car, but I also know its a material object. But to satisfy my car urges, I could keep it. Down grade to a very skim Stage 2 or a stocklike Stage 1. I know either of these will suffice my craving for power until 2015/2016 when I can look into another vehicle (Honda).
Selling almost ALL my parts could net me anywhere $3000-$5000 give or take. I've already received 5 PMs about my parts so I know there's interest, so maybe there's hope. That would be a hefty dent and saving the rest of the year could make up the eventual investment. But its an unknown quantity.
Another thing to consider is reliability of my current car. Intake Manifold will need to be replaced soon. Chain Tensioner is a time bomb waiting to happen. With a volkswagen.....anything can happen. I have to be ready, but that will eat into our safety net. I feel like I can maintain this beast until 150K but I'm not CONVINCED it will last that long. Who knows..........
Option 3
Who likes change? I sure dont. This would essentially be the same route I was on before even considering this thought. However, now that I have it, I would probably still stay on my "Hell Functional" route and downgrade the wheels which would cost me. I would put all my parts on (Bilsteins and Porsche Brakes) and just go on my merry way of a an awesome fully built Stage 2 vehicle.
..........but.....Is this really the route to consider KNOWING the other two options? KNOWING I could be happy with my GTI yet sell a lot of my parts? :iono: Emotion is key here.
Your input is welcomed. Your questions are welcomed. Vultures are NOT. I hope I conveyed what is really going through my mind well enough.