“Making Do” (but without the payment)

Deciding which car to replace my 2001 diesel vw bug with was difficult —I loved that car.

I mean, it was a really cute car, got fabulous gas mileage at 40 to 45 mpg, and made all the little kids smile when they saw it. But like that old saying of all good things must come to an end, the kids and their friends become to big for the back seat. We also realized that it just didn’t work for the farm life we lived as it had been purchased during a short stint of subdivision living after a job change.

So, though it had been paid off for a while, we made the hard decision to sell it.

And though it was sold over a year ago, we pushed the choice of what to replace it with to the back of our minds. Or maybe I should say we became wracked with replacement indecision along with payment phobia. Because really,when you think about it, how many decent cars are out there for under say…12,000? Decent being the operative word here since I didn’t want to buy something barely bigger than what I had sold but with a gas engine that got only 20 to 22 miles to the gallon and still couldn’t pull a trailer or carry livestock in it. Also, as gas becomes more and more expensive and we hear stories of it possibly running out….why would I want to buy a $35,000 vehicle? And don’t even think about new and under $10,000 – you would just be whistling Dixie!

At first it was easy to live with our indecisiveness because I had our small cab truck to drive. Long since paid off, we had bought it new in 1995 and had used it as a back up vehicle for many years after it was paid off. Most often it sat unused in our driveway as a spare vehicle for an occasional trip to the dump. And even though it still didn’t fit all of us at the same time, since it only carries two adults comfortably, it did have the bed to put things in, could pull a trailer and could carry livestock. Three very important things for a homestead. As I said, living without my own personal vehicle really wasn’t that big of a deal….at first. I mean I really like the truck. If one ignores the rust in the bed, dings in the body and the stains on the upholstery, it is a great little vehicle with comfortable seats (a BIG plus since I have a slight back issue) and gets great gas mileage comparatively. I was never embarrassed driving it even when getting out of it at the mall at the same time as the lady in the Mercedes next to me. Why? Because it was paid off of course. And if for some reason I was the least bit self conscious that day, I would just imagine that maybe, just maybe, she was in debt to her eyeballs and I was the “millionaire next door” living the frugal life —just like the Thomas J. Stanley book. As we all know—we shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover!

However at one point in our lives, we had decided to give the truck to our son for his first vehicle, telling him that when he received his drivers license it would be his to drive.

So when the big day arrived, and he past his test, we went to dinner to celebrate and then handed the keys to him with one condition: That we could still use it occasionally to take large bulk trash to the dump. And with that one gesture—plus a great meal of Thai food—I became officially a totally car-less person who would have to find her own ride and eventually her own vehicle. To my son’s credit he has many times offered me the truck saying he wouldn’t mind catching a ride home from school so I could use it, but I felt that a promise was a promise so I rarely took him up on those offers.

For a while I “made do” walking or ride sharing with neighbors or waiting for my husband to get home. Ride sharing was actually nice because even though I was “making do” it put me in contact with people I actually enjoy and might not have interacted with that day if not for catching a ride with them. But after a while it really came home to me that it is not easy being a 4 driver family. Each person had their own agenda, job(s), and responsibilities, while living to far from what little public transport that is available and often very far from where we need to go—the closest college is 45 minutes away — all the while only having 3 vehicles. Personally my first choice would be public transit—I love it. However, one can’t just conjure up buses and trains very easily in my neck of the woods, disregarding the inconvenience of livestock feed and public transit. So, as you can imagine, purchasing my own personal vehicle was the only solution to the problem.

As I said, for a while I “made do”, but this past weekend I finally got a new set of wheels. Yep, wheels. I say it that way because pretty much that’s the only truly new thing on the whole car. The only thing that doesn’t need a bit of work. The only thing that I do not like about the car.

Though to be honest…it does run. Pretty well at that and with as good of gas mileage as most newer cars. And to be honest again, though I could say I am “making do” I would be a liar to say that because I am actually thrilled to the toe nails over my “new” car: A 1964 Ford Falcon 4 door sedan. Now I have to admit—I would have been floating on clouds if I could have gotten something from the 50’s with fins on the fenders but….I’ll “make do” with this one from the 60’s. And though my new baby needs a bit of work done to it as all older vehicles do, I will be able to drive it just as soon as I go down and get it titled. I may not be able to roll the window up without help…but I can drive it.

So, going back to the title of my article of Making Do. It could be said by some that disdain the homesteading/frugal life that I am “making do” with this car —but I don’t see it that way. Especially if it is taken into consideration that I like and want different things than most other people—just like most homesteaders. I personally have never felt that living this type of lifestyle has ever caused me to “make do”. I understand that financially we haven’t always been able to afford everything, but to say we live this or that way just until we can work our way up to societies idea of not “making do” never occurred to me. Nor do I feel it’s at all true. “Making do” always sounds as if you are giving up something and settling for less — whether less nice or of less quality. As if I might be settling for this car instead of the Mercedes that most people aspire to own. As if instead of using human ingenuity (ie: my brain) to solve a problem I just “make do” until I can save enough money to afford someone else’s more common or more expensive idea. (You know all those great and wonderful ideas built of plastic).

If I did ever say that I was “making do” with this car though, I would also be able to say that my family did not have to give up, or sacrifice in anyway, for me to own it. Secret aspirations to some socially acceptable idea of a grander vehicle are not running around in my mind though—nor am I settling for less than what I wanted or hoped for. I look at my purchase as exactly how I want (and try) to live my life. I am recycling, something I strongly believe in. I am reducing by not purchasing new. I will support businesses, maybe even local, because I will have to purchase replacement parts or have work done that I or my husband are unable to do. I will learn some new skills (about motors) AND I am being a wise spender of my money and not competing with someone’s idea of what the Jones should own.

In the end I will put more money into my car, but I can do it over time, without paying interest, and I will have a great vehicle for way under any of the cheaper, but new cars, I could have purchased. Albeit, no show car — but a worthy car. A quality car that should last many more years.

Yes, I could have chosen some slightly newer, but still used, makes and models—but really — I like the “older” look.

And best of all it holds more than two adults AND can pull a smaller trailer of hay or a few livestock.

It also gets as good of gas mileage as many of the newer cars currently on the road.

It’s one that I used my brain to come up with as an alternative to the standard, nee common, idea of buying new as the only way to go.

It’s one that’s going to be COOL when it’s done (and I’m thinking aqua blue).