I am planning my first major purchase after bankruptcy. It is a toy purchase, as it were, but a major one anyways.
I am planning to purchase a motorhome.
We had a travel trailer when we filed, along with a 2500 Yukon XL to haul it around with. Both were purchased brand new, and there was over $80K tied up in those units together. They both are gone now, along with $1150.00 in payments.
We hadn't been on a trip for a year prior to our bankruptcy. Our last big trip was to Niagara falls, and we loved it! We have gone to Washington DC as well, and to many other places. However, as the state of finances continued to plummet, the trailer did not get used as much (at all.) Soon, it became a monument to poor financial decisions made, or perhaps a monument to broken dreams. It became difficult to look at it in my driveway. Last year, they hauled it away, really to no great loss at the time.
We went to plan a vacation this summer. It would be our first in two years. We went away to a neighboring state, where we have gone in the past. With a large family, there is only so much that you can do for accommodations. Plus, our family has grown again, as we have our 12 year old niece now living with us who will soon be adopted. So, with 4 kids, options are limited. We did find a two bedroom hotel suite for $225.00 per night. We went and stayed two nights. My wife had commented that if we still had the travel trailer, we would have been able to go for the whole weekend, and paid less than that in campground fees. Plus, we would like to go back to Washington, Niagara falls, and some of those other places so that our newest family member can experience it with us as well.
So, I have decided to purchase a motor home. We are going with a motor home because of the comfort of traveling with the kids.
Now, since our new plan is to not borrow money for anything, we will have to save up and pay cash. I figure with some intensity, we can possibly be saved up and ready for purchase in the spring. Also, due to prices and such, our new plan to pay cash pretty much excludes purchasing anything that is new (You want to talk about a purchase price that is inflated due to the ability to get credit!) So, we are looking at 10 - 15 year old motorhomes. There are many of those out there that are very gently used, and should fulfill our purposes quite nicely. I have set a budget of around $17,000. For this much money, I can find a higher end gas powered motorhome that is in the age frame that I mentioned above. And, I am not talking about something that looks like what cousin Eddy drove in "Christmas Vacation." To most people, these motorhomes look new, or at least pretty close to it.
I can already imagine the feeling that will come from going to make this purchase, when we find the one that we want, with a stack of $100 bills. Yes, I think that I am going to pay in $100 bills (or maybe even some fifties and twenties as well!) just for the effect, and the satisfaction.
I know that we had a lot of fun with our trailer, but I know that it was also stressful thinking about the sheer amount of money that I had invested in that rig! Now, I am hoping that I will be able to travel and enjoy a rig that is paid for! I will bet that my pride in ownership will far exceed anyone's pride that they have in a brand new 6 figure unit that they are making payments on! What is worse, is that you can finance most new RVs for fifteen years, or even twenty years if the unit costs over $75,000! Talk about negative equity!
So, anyone else make any purchases post bankruptcy like mine that they are even more proud of than before?
I am planning to purchase a motorhome.
We had a travel trailer when we filed, along with a 2500 Yukon XL to haul it around with. Both were purchased brand new, and there was over $80K tied up in those units together. They both are gone now, along with $1150.00 in payments.
We hadn't been on a trip for a year prior to our bankruptcy. Our last big trip was to Niagara falls, and we loved it! We have gone to Washington DC as well, and to many other places. However, as the state of finances continued to plummet, the trailer did not get used as much (at all.) Soon, it became a monument to poor financial decisions made, or perhaps a monument to broken dreams. It became difficult to look at it in my driveway. Last year, they hauled it away, really to no great loss at the time.
We went to plan a vacation this summer. It would be our first in two years. We went away to a neighboring state, where we have gone in the past. With a large family, there is only so much that you can do for accommodations. Plus, our family has grown again, as we have our 12 year old niece now living with us who will soon be adopted. So, with 4 kids, options are limited. We did find a two bedroom hotel suite for $225.00 per night. We went and stayed two nights. My wife had commented that if we still had the travel trailer, we would have been able to go for the whole weekend, and paid less than that in campground fees. Plus, we would like to go back to Washington, Niagara falls, and some of those other places so that our newest family member can experience it with us as well.
So, I have decided to purchase a motor home. We are going with a motor home because of the comfort of traveling with the kids.
Now, since our new plan is to not borrow money for anything, we will have to save up and pay cash. I figure with some intensity, we can possibly be saved up and ready for purchase in the spring. Also, due to prices and such, our new plan to pay cash pretty much excludes purchasing anything that is new (You want to talk about a purchase price that is inflated due to the ability to get credit!) So, we are looking at 10 - 15 year old motorhomes. There are many of those out there that are very gently used, and should fulfill our purposes quite nicely. I have set a budget of around $17,000. For this much money, I can find a higher end gas powered motorhome that is in the age frame that I mentioned above. And, I am not talking about something that looks like what cousin Eddy drove in "Christmas Vacation." To most people, these motorhomes look new, or at least pretty close to it.
I can already imagine the feeling that will come from going to make this purchase, when we find the one that we want, with a stack of $100 bills. Yes, I think that I am going to pay in $100 bills (or maybe even some fifties and twenties as well!) just for the effect, and the satisfaction.
I know that we had a lot of fun with our trailer, but I know that it was also stressful thinking about the sheer amount of money that I had invested in that rig! Now, I am hoping that I will be able to travel and enjoy a rig that is paid for! I will bet that my pride in ownership will far exceed anyone's pride that they have in a brand new 6 figure unit that they are making payments on! What is worse, is that you can finance most new RVs for fifteen years, or even twenty years if the unit costs over $75,000! Talk about negative equity!
So, anyone else make any purchases post bankruptcy like mine that they are even more proud of than before?
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