Comments on: Help a Reader: “I Made a Really Awful Decision.”

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:25:24 +0000

Wowwww you are certainly blessed! So glad you’re nice and healthy still – my word. Always a pleasure hearing from you my dear, have a great weekend! :)

By: Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:35:29 +0000

So of all the crazy ways to get out of my car payment I chose….

… hitting a semi-truck on the expressway. Way to be dramatic, huh?

Long story short: a semi truck’s trailer swung into my lane, when I veered to miss it my car spun out of control, hit the truck a few times, and spun down a hill. Somehow I made it out a-ok, praise the Lord.

Thankfully the insurance company paid my loan off IN FULL (thank you God!!) & now I’m back at square 0 looking for a new (used!) much more economical car.

God is good! Thank you all for your advice.

By: nonegiven

nonegiven — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:19:20 +0000

It occured to me if the grandparents have an older paid off car, would they be willing to trade titles and take over the payments?

By: Natalie @ Mango

Natalie @ Mango — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:18:59 +0000

J. Money, just saw this post and decided I simply have to share a video with you guys. Everyone makes regretful decisions with their money sometimes, be it a car you can’t afford, a purse worth more than that car, a bad investment… but the point is, we can learn from them, and hopefully one day even laugh about them.So at Mango we made this video: Money Confessions of 2011!!!!! (dun, dun, dun…) What money confessions do YOU have from 2011? http://www.mangomoney.com/blog/mango-money/money-confessions-of-2011

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:56:18 +0000

My advice, and this is only the advice I’m giving because she’s so young and presumably will be on better financial standing in a couple of years, is to ask for help. It will suck, but if going to your parents or grandparents and asking for some monetary help is an option, I would do it. Maybe one of them can loan you the money to pay off the car, or pay off enough of it to lower your monthly payment, and then you can agree to start paying them back (with interest!) in a year or two, when you’re in a better position. It’ll take a bit of the heat off.

I know it’s not the best advice, but this reader is young enough and seems to really understand that she made a mistake, so there’s no sense in continuing to punish herself. It may not be possible to get a second job or a better paying job (since we don’t have details of her industry), and trading in the car for a cheaper one probably doesn’t make good financial sense, since she’ll be taking the loss. I’d say, just suck it up, admit you made a mistake, and ask for some help. Everyone should be allowed a bail-out once in their lives. :)

By: Kathy

Kathy — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:53:13 +0000

Since I work in the insurance industry…here’s a few tips/ideas.

In lieu of selling the car (since you need it to commute), try talking to your insurance company about your premium. There could possibly be discounts that are not being given; ie; multi car, multi line, etc. Also look into possibly increasing your deductible(s). However, do not increase them to where you are not comfortable if you were to have a claim and would need to pay said deductible.
If you are insured at the same company that your grandparents are, then a multi-car discount should apply.
If not, check into getting Renters Insurance because the multi-line discount savings might be much more than the cost of the auto insurance alone.

Good luck to you & let us all know what you decide to do.

Kathy

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:32:18 +0000

YES!! AGREED! I once worked at a car auction of totaled cars (as in, cars that were all kinds of smashed up and nasty) and my job was to wash and clean out as much as I could of each car. Even though they were totaled. Why? Because they found out they got about 20-25% MORE at auction when it as cleaner. Pretty crazy stuff, and I happily did it for $25 a car ;)

By: LJ

LJ — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:35:06 +0000

Just a quick note, when you go to sell the car, take a few hours beforehand and wash it, empty the inside out ENTIRELY, and vaccum carpets, wash windows, etc. I have learned over the years that dealers/people are much more interested (just like with houses) in a clean, “i can see this as my car/i can turn this car over” type situation, rather than a dirty messy car. Hope this helps!

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:25:09 +0000

You guys are awesome!!! Thank you, again, for spending so much time and effort sharing your advice!! SO HELPFUL!!!

(And if you hadn’t seen it, our reader friend left more details above in comment #34 – “Girl with the car.” As you can see, she’s very appreciative!)

By: nichelle

nichelle — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:44:09 +0000

I’m sort of surprised no one mentioned this…I’m sure your parents, or grandparents have car insurance so why not try to be put on their policy it should be cheaper. It is for me at least. If you are a full time student, with financial aid getting a second job may not be an option….I take sixteeen credit hours, work 12 hours a week and that is just stressful sometimes….twelve is the max I can get with my job. However, summer is soon around the corner…and some summer jobs pay a bunch of money. I plan on working at cedar point. You can make close to six thousand over the summer. Living on premises is one fifty a month, plus your food. You can walk to work so you wouldn’t even need your car, thus saving on gas! I would suggest looking for a higher paying summer job six thousand over two and a half three months is more thank your making right now, expenses are cut too. There are plenty of summer jobs like this out there you just have to look. Also if your collehe has a student money management service check them out they may be able to help you