- what was your funniest/worst/biggest financial blunder?
This happened fifteen years ago, but I'm still kicking myself over it! Selling my almost paid off, three year old ford escort (which was financed at 0% interest), for a crappy, ten year old Jeep Cherokee at double digit interest rates. I lost thousands of dollars.
- what did you find so appealing about (why did it look like the right thing to do)?
I wanted to go on a road trip, and a Jeep Cherokee said road trip much better than a Ford Escort! Sigh. I was 22.
- what made you realise it was a mistake?
The second day I had it, it went over a bump and stalled in the middle of an intersection. With horns blaring on every side I managed to get it started again! Many visits to many mechanics later, it turned out that the crank position sensor had an air gap.
- what did you learn out of it?
That it's better to have a car that's paid off and runs well than something fun and sexy! My husband used to drive our 'impulse purchase' car, a Renault minivan, which we bought when I was pregnant with our third baby. We should have investigated it more closely, and just spent a lot of money first fixing it, then buying another car.
- how have you been using this experience from then on?I now drive a teeny tiny French car (a Nissan Micra), with my three kids squeezed in the back. It's ten years old, but only has 68,000 km on it and runs like a top.
So, and what was worst or funniest financial blunder? Share!
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