Comments on: Dealing With The Unexpected: A Lesson in Adaptation http://www.27andfrugal.com/2009/12/24/adaptation/ Just a girl living a cheap, but not boring life Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:44:15 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Allison http://www.27andfrugal.com/2009/12/24/adaptation/comment-page-1/#comment-85 Allison Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:02:54 +0000 http://www.27andfrugal.com/?p=573#comment-85 Yes! My old, paid-off car was totaled last summer when a teenager smashed into it from behind. I'd had about $5500 in savings that I could put toward another car, but because the totaled car was old, insurance didn't cover anywhere near the cost of another car. I tried to look for a used car, but because gas prices were so high (~$4 a gallon in my area) at the time, none as good as the one I lost were available. I was very lucky to stumble upon a new hybrid, which was what I was saving for anyway. Coincidentally, the day after the accident I moved to a much smaller and cheaper apartment, which cut my rent in half. So I suppose I swapped my rent payment for my car payment. I paid a lot more than I needed to on the car every month, and just paid it off, a year and a half after purchasing it! In the meantime, though, I cut out shopping for unnecessary items (clothes, shoes, etc) for several, several-month stretches, which helped me replenish my depleted savings account. I also traveled a lot less than I had in the previous year, and did less expensive things (read books, watch rented movies, play board games, bake) instead of going out all the time. Yes! My old, paid-off car was totaled last summer when a teenager smashed into it from behind. I’d had about $5500 in savings that I could put toward another car, but because the totaled car was old, insurance didn’t cover anywhere near the cost of another car. I tried to look for a used car, but because gas prices were so high (~$4 a gallon in my area) at the time, none as good as the one I lost were available. I was very lucky to stumble upon a new hybrid, which was what I was saving for anyway.

Coincidentally, the day after the accident I moved to a much smaller and cheaper apartment, which cut my rent in half. So I suppose I swapped my rent payment for my car payment. I paid a lot more than I needed to on the car every month, and just paid it off, a year and a half after purchasing it! In the meantime, though, I cut out shopping for unnecessary items (clothes, shoes, etc) for several, several-month stretches, which helped me replenish my depleted savings account. I also traveled a lot less than I had in the previous year, and did less expensive things (read books, watch rented movies, play board games, bake) instead of going out all the time.

]]>