You Have Got to Be Kidding!

  • Posted by
  • February 11, 2009

No Gravatar

You Have Got to Be Kidding!

Speaking of ‘shooting’: every time I read a post from this guy, I’m glad that he decided to shoot for – and hit! – a spot in the Final 7 …

I only have one question (for now): how does a dirty ol’ pickup truck haul ITSELF off to the dump?! 😛

_____________________________

I’m going to shoot a lot of blanks here, but you asked, so here goes:

My Vehicles?

(1). 1981 Ford Ranger F-100 Pick Up purchased in 1983 .. What did I pay for it?  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING.  I’ve had it for 25 years, I don’t have a clue what I paid for it.  I have replaced the engine, transmission and everything else except the body.  I have approximately 85,000 on this engine.  My son learned to drive in this truck and for him it was a “chic magnet”.  My Daughter was afraid of it. “Respectfully” this truck has rust older than some of the 7m7y community:)  As close as I can figure,  if I could get $1,000 for it I’d be arrested for theft.  Did I pay cash? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING.  The good news is, it’s totally paid for:)

(2). My wife has a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix which we purchased in 2004 for approximately $12,000…. Cash?… YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING.  The pay off of the loan is $3,179.95 (I have refinanced it once) and the estimated value is about $4,000.

Why Do I need a “TRUCK” because I have a house and yard… My personal opinion is that everyone who purchases a home should have a pickup to haul “stuff” off to the dump.

Why do I need the “CAR” …. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING…My wife works nights and buses don’t run at night and a taxi would be more expensive than buying gas for the car. Topeka’s population is only 126,000 and from one side of town to the other is less than 10 miles.

Why don’t I take public transportation or ride a bike?  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING. You Younger guys can if you want, I’ll be glad to be your designated driver.

What/when/how is my next planned vehicle purchase and how do I plan to pay for it? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING.  I don’t plan on purchasing another car unless I just have to or until I reach the goal of my 7m7y journey and then I’ll pay cash. THAT WOULD BE WAY COOL.

While I understand the purpose of the exercise my journey over the last 61 years has taken me from Missouri, to Oklahoma, to New Mexico, back to Oklahoma and finally Kansas.

You guys can have all your little fu fu cars that go real fast but I’m keeping my truck:) 🙂

[AJC: Does ‘fu’ here mean what I think it means (??!!) or is it meant to be pronounced, in this context, “foo foo”? ;)]

Be Sociable, Share!

Information and Links

Join the fray by commenting, tracking what others have to say, or linking to it from your blog.

Information
February 11th, 2009
No Responses
Feeds and Links
Comment Feed
From This Author
Del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Categories and Tags
rich
starting out
Uncategorized
, , ,

Other Posts

Write a Comment

Take a moment to comment and tell us what you think. Some basic HTML is allowed for formatting.

You must be logged in to post a comment. Click here to login.

Reader Comments

Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Lee
Posted on:
February 11, 2009 at 10:19 am

My attempt to be smart backfired. By Fo Fo I guess I really did mean FOO FOO especially since Fo Fo means (??!!) My intent was to refere to the previously mentioned cars as some what like the little drinks with those cute little umbrellas and whipped cream kind of “nonsense way too pretty cars” that serve no purpose but to demonstrate to the rest of the world that you have wealth. Sorry I guess it’s kind of redneck thing even though I do not consider myself a redneck.

And finally in the future some of my wealth will be spend maintaining the “ol pick up truck” so that it will “never” need to be hauled off to the dump:)

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Jeff
Posted on:
February 11, 2009 at 11:06 am

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!! I think you meant Fru Fru. 🙂

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING…the same car for 25 years? Wow! That’s longer than some people remain dedicated to their spouse. I’m impressed.

Great post Lee, thanks for the Kansas perspective which I appreciate greatly.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Josh
Posted on:
February 11, 2009 at 12:07 pm

Lee, great post.

I’ve heard before that if you own a house, you should probably get a pickup. I actually almost bought one instead of the audi. There great, you can drive on the beach in Long Island with them and camp out. Or drop a plow on the front and plow peoples driveways for some extra cash.

And the old pickups are the best, lots of charm.

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Lee
Posted on:
February 11, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Josh – you almost bought what instead of the audi, a house or a pickup? 🙂 🙂

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Josh
Posted on:
February 11, 2009 at 2:58 pm

lol, a pickup truck.

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Debbie
Posted on:
February 11, 2009 at 8:02 pm

Love it, Lee! I can’t believe that old pickup only has 85,000 miles on it after all those years.

And here I thought I was doing great with a ’97 Chevy Cavalier with over 140,000 miles on it! (I did just give that to a friend a couple months ago when I finally had to get a larger car to hold the family – but the thing is still running fine!)

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Lee
Posted on:
February 11, 2009 at 8:34 pm

Debbie the 85,000 miles is on the 2nd engine I blew the first one

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Adrian
Posted on:
February 12, 2009 at 6:13 am

@ Debbie – Nice to see you back … people have been asking after you 🙂

@ Lee – I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you that the ‘problem’ isn’t with the pickup truck … kind of like having one foot in a bucket of hot water and the other in a bucket of cold water, but ‘on average’ feeling just fine 🙂

In other words, you still have too much of your Net Worth tied up in your vehicles and you probably got there by paying way too much (in terms of finance payments over the years).

It seems like lesson learned though? No more cars for you!?

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
Diane
Posted on:
February 12, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Well, I for one, loved your post, Lee!!!

Your sense of humor finally came through and I think FOO FOO is perfect for describing those fast cars that don’t have anywhere to drive so fast.

My fiance has an old truck, but he also has an SUV that he won’t allow the dog in! So, as a native NY’er (tho from just outside the limits technically), I have to laugh and remember the ads that sell MUD for those folks who drive SUVs and want to keep them “purty.” I’d have one and have worn it out if they got as good a gas mileage as my Honda Odyssey, but couldn’t see doing it.

Course, there are some places to drive fast in the world – any in Australia, Adrian??? Otherwise, it’s just for looking purty in when ya go out to eat, right? (Or to a ball game of sorts)…impressing the valets (wink)!

My post is coming but I like your ending with – no plans to replace it til you make some more money – that’s about how it is with me; no frou-frou until I make the money for it, and then cash deals, negotiated hard. And most of my buys have historically been 5 year old vehicles with 65,000 miles on it. You’ll see in my post that the vehicle I have now was bought new with cash and has 215,000 miles on it now (9 years later).

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
Diane
Posted on:
February 12, 2009 at 12:37 pm

* correction, my fiance is the NY’er

Comment Number:
11
Written by:
Mark
Posted on:
February 13, 2009 at 4:11 pm

@Lee – This reminds me of Sam Walton who drove an old truck too 🙂 Our vehicles do not define how rich we are. In my home country, I’ve heard of millionaires who ride bicycles.

Comment Number:
12
Written by:
Car or curse? 7 case studies … « How to Make 7 Million in 7 Yearsâ„¢
Posted on:
February 24, 2009 at 3:01 am

[…] Lee sure knows how to run a truck into the ground! Take a look at his attitude towards financing vehicles and how long you should hold on to your truck for … […]

Comment Number:
13
Written by:
Steve
Posted on:
April 7, 2009 at 7:20 pm

Had a half ton pick up with a 1 ton suspension for many years,. loved it. only problem was you had to pile it with snow in winter to get any traction. no weight in back makes driving them a bit difficult in snow