Tweet
It's turning out to be a very spendy month for us, which doesn't happen often. All choice, not necessity. Thought I'd share how one decision can lead to another and how even for a cautious spender, I let my guard down when I got excited about the plan.
It started with us renting a campervan in Montana in July. DH and I spent a week off grid camping, enjoying nature and each others company with no cell service. Got us talking about how we might like to have our own camping setup. Because I'm a researcher, I've spent the last couple months weighing the pros and cons of a drivable vs towable, features, lengths, towing capacities, and costs. Since we ran into an issue in Glacier National Park where our 25' van was too long to drive through the park due to the sharp turns through the mountains, plus the obstacle of maintenance on another driving vehicle, we ultimately decided a towable we could put down was the way we wanted to go. As we started to look at what those options looked like, we decided we had some non-negotiables, such as my 6'1 DH needed to be able to stand up inside and also lay in the bed without his feet hanging off the end lol. This meant we were going to need something bigger than what could be towed with our current Jeep and we'd need a truck.
After we'd decided we'd need a truck, but before we started shopping, our brother-in-law called to say he was selling his truck - he owns his own business, wanted to upgrade his commuter truck, and was willing to sell it at whatever the dealer stated the trade in value was. As soon as he told us he'd let it go for $8k, half the KBB value, it was a no brainer.
Next it occurred to me that even if we picked a shorter RV, it was going to be a tight fit in our driveway and our drive was old, cracking and unlevel. If we were going to avoid paying storage fees, we'd need to have the pad that runs along the side of the garage redone... and if we were going to do that, we might as well extend it so the RV would fit more comfortably and we could get another vehicle in front of it to clear up congestion in front of the garage. No one likes playing the car shuffle when you're trying to get out the door in the morning. So I had that quoted ($5,900) and the guy recommended that we do the main drive while we were at it so they could run the rebar across the whole area and make it more durable. The price to do in front of the garage was another $6,800 if we did it separately but he'd cut a deal if we did it at once. Made some adjustments to the layout and length and negotiated him down to $10k cash to do the whole thing.
At this point, even though I have the cash, I'm panicking a little because I don't like spending money or when my cash reserves drop that much so I start looking at where I can pull from. I had a pile of company stock that was awarded to me as RSUs, half of which had vested, that I'd just been sitting on because I didn't know what to do with it. Sold 70 shares at a 25% gain from when they were awarded to the tune of $6k and elected to have the next batch that vests Nov. 1 cashed out which will be another $4k. Company bought me a new driveway!
Still shopping around for the perfect RV. I started out with a budget of $20k thinking we wanted something relatively new and to buy from a dealer so we could get the benefit of the crash course in RV ownership they provide, but after extensive searching and the mounting costs, we're going to see an older model of one I like on Saturday from a private party seller. It's listed at $12,500 and if we decide to move forward we're going to hire an independent inspector to give it a onceover and teach us all the things we need to know about it. The inspector will cost around $700 but feels well worth it.
Lastly, we've been getting along fine as a 3 driver, 2 vehicle household since DH sold his personal car last year. He has a work truck and most of the time for nights and weekends, he and I do fine sharing while DD has her own vehicle since she splits time between our house and her dads. To further offset the spending, once we get the RV home, we'll look at selling the jeep which should bring in around $8k, fully offsetting the cost of the truck purchase.
All in all spending approximately $31k, offset by $18k in stocks and property for a net deficit of $13,200. Overall biggest takeaway=I'm kind of proud of myself for loosening the purse strings a bit making an investment in something we'll enjoy and get good use out of + it's nice to see how the decades of saving and diligent smart spending has enabled us to make this kind of decision without losing sleep over it or taking on monthly payments.
Phew that was longer than I thought it would be. What bigger non-essential purchases have you all made with little hesitation once you felt comfortable your retirement and necessities were on track?
It started with us renting a campervan in Montana in July. DH and I spent a week off grid camping, enjoying nature and each others company with no cell service. Got us talking about how we might like to have our own camping setup. Because I'm a researcher, I've spent the last couple months weighing the pros and cons of a drivable vs towable, features, lengths, towing capacities, and costs. Since we ran into an issue in Glacier National Park where our 25' van was too long to drive through the park due to the sharp turns through the mountains, plus the obstacle of maintenance on another driving vehicle, we ultimately decided a towable we could put down was the way we wanted to go. As we started to look at what those options looked like, we decided we had some non-negotiables, such as my 6'1 DH needed to be able to stand up inside and also lay in the bed without his feet hanging off the end lol. This meant we were going to need something bigger than what could be towed with our current Jeep and we'd need a truck.
After we'd decided we'd need a truck, but before we started shopping, our brother-in-law called to say he was selling his truck - he owns his own business, wanted to upgrade his commuter truck, and was willing to sell it at whatever the dealer stated the trade in value was. As soon as he told us he'd let it go for $8k, half the KBB value, it was a no brainer.
Next it occurred to me that even if we picked a shorter RV, it was going to be a tight fit in our driveway and our drive was old, cracking and unlevel. If we were going to avoid paying storage fees, we'd need to have the pad that runs along the side of the garage redone... and if we were going to do that, we might as well extend it so the RV would fit more comfortably and we could get another vehicle in front of it to clear up congestion in front of the garage. No one likes playing the car shuffle when you're trying to get out the door in the morning. So I had that quoted ($5,900) and the guy recommended that we do the main drive while we were at it so they could run the rebar across the whole area and make it more durable. The price to do in front of the garage was another $6,800 if we did it separately but he'd cut a deal if we did it at once. Made some adjustments to the layout and length and negotiated him down to $10k cash to do the whole thing.
At this point, even though I have the cash, I'm panicking a little because I don't like spending money or when my cash reserves drop that much so I start looking at where I can pull from. I had a pile of company stock that was awarded to me as RSUs, half of which had vested, that I'd just been sitting on because I didn't know what to do with it. Sold 70 shares at a 25% gain from when they were awarded to the tune of $6k and elected to have the next batch that vests Nov. 1 cashed out which will be another $4k. Company bought me a new driveway!
Still shopping around for the perfect RV. I started out with a budget of $20k thinking we wanted something relatively new and to buy from a dealer so we could get the benefit of the crash course in RV ownership they provide, but after extensive searching and the mounting costs, we're going to see an older model of one I like on Saturday from a private party seller. It's listed at $12,500 and if we decide to move forward we're going to hire an independent inspector to give it a onceover and teach us all the things we need to know about it. The inspector will cost around $700 but feels well worth it.
Lastly, we've been getting along fine as a 3 driver, 2 vehicle household since DH sold his personal car last year. He has a work truck and most of the time for nights and weekends, he and I do fine sharing while DD has her own vehicle since she splits time between our house and her dads. To further offset the spending, once we get the RV home, we'll look at selling the jeep which should bring in around $8k, fully offsetting the cost of the truck purchase.
All in all spending approximately $31k, offset by $18k in stocks and property for a net deficit of $13,200. Overall biggest takeaway=I'm kind of proud of myself for loosening the purse strings a bit making an investment in something we'll enjoy and get good use out of + it's nice to see how the decades of saving and diligent smart spending has enabled us to make this kind of decision without losing sleep over it or taking on monthly payments.
Phew that was longer than I thought it would be. What bigger non-essential purchases have you all made with little hesitation once you felt comfortable your retirement and necessities were on track?
Comment