A few months back I was out with my mom and happened to look down at the odometer on our 2005 Honda Odyssey.  It read 99,967 miles.  I knew that it would not take much longer and I’d hit that milestone of 100,000 miles.
A few days later, when driving my kids to church, I looked down and saw it. Â I watched it flip over to the 100,000 mile mark! Since were were on a back road with little to no traffic at all, I pulled over and took a second to take a photo.
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As I started driving again, I felt a sense of pride. Â I knew it took me nearly 11 years to finally reach that many miles.
I know that it may seem crazy that I didn’t hit that many miles sooner than I did.  However, I really don’t drive that many place.  I run around locally, but being that I work from home, I really have little need to drive.  My kids take the bus too and from school.  The grocery store is about 1 1/2 miles from my house.  I just really don’t go anywhere (and love it that way).
I started thinking about it and realized that I’d never owned a car long enough to put that many miles on it.  In the past, I changed vehicles all of the time – resulting in my always having a car payment. Â
When I was younger, I thought I had to have the nicest car. I thought people would judge me by that. I really thought it was important.  However, as I have gotten older, I’ve also gained wisdom.
The truth is – who cares?  If others are going to judge me by the car I drive, they are not really friends.  They are competitors. I don’t want to live a life of competition. I just want to be happy.
What makes me happy is not having financial burdens. Â I like knowing that we can cover our bills comfortably and have a nice savings account set up in the case of an emergency.
What makes me happy is my family. Â They are the reason I get up every day.
What makes me happy are my true friends.  They don’t judge me by the vehicle I drive.
I will be honest and say that I’ve had the itch for a new vehicle for some time. I know it will come one day.  But, only when it is really a need (or when we are ready to pay for it 100% in cash – no loan here). Here is the one I’ve had my eye on for some time:
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Like I said, my van works great.  The reason I don’t get rid of my van is that I don’t need to.  It runs as well as it did the day we drove it off of the car lot.  It is paid for (many times over).
We pay for regular maintenance and have only had to make larger repairs twice — in 11 years!  We have had to replace tires a couple of times.  But, honestly, we do not have to spend much on our vehicle.  It is a great van.
A new vehicle for us is a want and not a need. Â And to be honest, right now, it is not really that big of a want either. Â We are content with our nearly 12 year old van.
The van doesn’t bring us happiness…the things that matter do.
Heidi says
Congratulations!!!! We, too, have vehicles that are 100% paid for & both almost have 200,000 miles on them. We LOVE having reliable vehicles & NO car payment!!!
Tracie says
Good for you!! There is nothing like NO car payment!!!
Julia says
So glad to see other people say these things! Three vehicles paid for, one with 300,000 miles, one with 200,000 miles, and one with 65,000. Mine is the low one, 8 years old, and I hate it, but I can’t justify getting rid of it as it runs well and is paid off with low mileage yet.
I never did like it. It was purchased because it was practical. I think I’m going to get it painted when I get some “extra” money!!
Tracie says
That is actually what we’ve talked about doing too! Maybe a new color, fix some of the scratches and detail the interior. Much less expensive than getting a new vehicle.
It is so great to see other people think like we do too!!