I did something. Well I almost did something. I almost purchased a new car. When I say new, I mean newer than the one I currently own. The reason I almost purchased a car is a reason I feel most people buy new cars when they don’t need them. I could be wrong, but I want to share my story.
The number one reason I wanted a new car was all my friends had new cars. We all recently graduated, and up until that point I had the nicest car. When we graduated everyone upgraded, but me. At this point my car was paid for, so in my mind I could afford a new car. I saw myself looking good driving in my new car as my hair swung in the wind. So I started looking for cars, and finding ways to add it to my budget. I decided that I wanted an all white Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4-door. It was way out of my budget, but a girl could dream right. One day I decided to go test drive the Jeep. I wanted see how it would ride. I had no intentions on purchasing. The dealer was prepared for customers like me. Before I knew it, I had my ID out ready to see what kind of financing I could get. The car I was about to purchase was a Jeep Wrangler, but not the one I wanted. It was all black, two doors, and a few years older than the model I really wanted. Quickly a light bulb went off in my head, and I decided to wait a few days before I did anything drastic. I went home and asked my sister to give me reasons why I should not purchase a new car. She named quite a few. She told me to maximize my Roth IRA contributions, save for a vacation, give her some money (this one was funny). I started to think that I was settling for the car, because I truly didn’t want that car. I was about to buy this car because it was newer than mine and met some of my wants. I decided no new car.
Saying no to that car started a domino effect. I started saying no to many things I didn’t truly want. I decided to use the money I would have been spending on the car for things that added value to my life. I went on a few vacations, paid off debt, and started setting money intentions. To this day I still drive the same car. One day I will upgrade. The reason this time will not be FOMO(fear of missing out), but because its something I truly want.