3 Cheers...for used cars & savings accounts!

We had a seriously huge car repair this week...and while it was hard to part with that large sum of money (isn't it always?), being able to pull it out of the emergency savings account made it much easier.

I work part-time at our local school with the After School Program. I have a position through AmeriCorps, which means that I receive a very small "living stipend" each month. Because we have committed to living only on my husband's income (since we plan on me staying home full-time with our future children), we put all of my earnings into a savings account. I also put my earnings from substitute teaching and all of the money I receive from taking surveys into our savings account.

It really wasn't even stressful when the car problems happened because we knew we had the money to cover the necessary repairs. Our older car (a 2000 Buick!) was the one which needed major repairs, but we are hoping that by doing it, we can get a few more years out of it.

The car was gifted to me three and a half years ago and had always been kept in immaculate condition (by my grandpa!). In fact, when I received it, it was seven years old but had only 32,000 miles on it! The car still runs amazingly well and has not any serious problems until now. It has never bothered me in the least to drive a "grandma's car" (especially because it was my grandma's car!) and it is wonderful to have a paid-for, reliable car.

Three cheers for used cars - and for emergency savings accounts!