Tho’ you can probably get a car for a lot less than the original debt, the things cost way too much, considering that most of us can’t get by without one. I set money aside in savings to replace mine, but over the years so many expenses have nibbled away at it and the cost of cars has gone up so much that my savings won’t buy anything other than an old junker. Wish we had decent, speedy public transportation!

Also, our car is on its last legs (we share one car) and we’ll probably end up with a car payment sooner rather than later (for the first time in our lives).

All this to say, when you do pay off that SL, I would suggest that you set part of that money aside for other things. You probably have at least some “deferred maintenance”, as they say. There will ALWAYS be things that come up.

Hope it’s downhill all the way now!

As somebody once said to me, “Life is what happens when you’re paying off debt.”

I know you want to be debt-free, and I admire that, and aspire to it myself. I’ve been following you for a while. But sometimes, carp happens. Sometimes, opportunity calls.

All this to say, I thought you were being rather hard on yourself in your last post. If you do need a new car, or a major home repair before you pay this off, that doesn’t make you less responsible. The important thing is that you’re in a MUCH better position than you were before, and a better steward of your family’s money. But if reasonable, intelligent debt happens (and I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that it’s inevitable in this society), I hope you won’t beat yourselves up over it.