In Other News

Our apartment got so chilly today that I decided I needed to warm myself with a hoodie. We're hoping not to have to turn our heat back on since we stopped using it several weeks back.

In other news, my 2001 Mazda Tribute started having all sorts of problems--one of them being a huge oil leak that saturated the entire bottom of the car and caused lots of smoking. Then the service center diagnosed tons of other {expensive} problems that would basically equate Matt and I putting more money in to repairing my car than it's worth. So, this past weekend, we traded it in. I won't lie...I was a little sad. I really loved that car.

 And here's my new {used!} car--this Saturn Vue!

I must confess that I am most excited about the color. Green is my favorite and I fell in love with the particular shade of green on this car. Plus, it compliments my red hair quite nicely!

The downside to all of this was, of course, the unforeseen cost of replacing one of our cars. The Mazda Tribute was paid off years ago and I had mentioned that as of last year, Matt and I were able to become completely debt-free. Thankfully, as avid Dave Ramsey followers, Matt and I have a "Three to Six Months Emergency Fund" which is where families save up for the event of a job loss, thus having enough savings on hand to sustain the family's necessities {food, clothing, shelter, etc.} for a three to six month period.

Out of that fund, we were able to pay up-front for my new car. {Although I should mention as a side note that, according to Dave Ramsey's planning, we should have a car fund that has enough money in it to cover replacing vehicles. We have a car-repair fund, but not a replacement fund. Better start on that!} The big blessing is that we didn't have to go back into debt for this car. However, we now have to make monthly payments back to ourselves in order to replenish our Three to Six Months Emergency Fund.

If you're not familiar with Dave Ramsey and his family financial planning, I urge you to check him out and learn from him. Matt and I have learned so much and Dave has equipped us with endless amounts of smart financial knowledge, which in turn is helping us towards financial stability for {God-willing} the rest of our lives.