Accepting The Bailout For The Van
I received a ton of good comments on my last post about my bailout option. They were loaded with valuable input. I am constantly thankful for how nice it is to have such a knowledgeable and sharing group to ask these kind of questions to.
And then totally ignore their advice 😛
That’s right folks, we took the bailout.
From the comments most people were worried about how taking such a gift would affect my relationship with my mother, understandably so. But it was my wife who ended up having the final say in the matter.
She made a very compelling argument on why we should take it.
- It would eliminate our van payment – which was the whole point of selling the van.
- She likes using a “nicer” vehicle for her business.
- We didn’t want to sell it in the first place.
The main point of her train of thought was the part of using the van for her business (wedding photography). She frequently transports the bride and others members of the wedding party in our van, and she likes having a nice vehicle to do this in. ( As superficial as that may sound, remember that Andre Agassi was talking about photography when he said “Image is everything”)
I think under different circumstances we would’ve made a different choice.
For example, not having a full-time job during a severe economic downturn made it difficult to turn down such an offer. Add on top of that a rather hectic schedule and I don’t really have the time to try to deal with this right now. I barely have time to write these posts, much less buy & sell a vehicle.
On the flip-side, if I wasn’t going back to school when we decided to sell the van I don’t think this offer would’ve even be made. I’m pretty sure this is my mother’s not-so-veiled attempt to help me pay for school. I think this because she offered to loan me about this same amount when I said I was going back to school, but I turned her down and took out a conventional student loan instead.
I’m pretty sure she came up with this cockamamie story about my Grandma & my Dad because she knew I’d be too stubborn and turn her down otherwise. And you know what?
I’m fine with that.
I totally understand where the comments were coming from when they said I should stick to my guns, turn down the offer and sell the van. I was there myself a couple of weeks ago. But then life throws you a curveball and all of a sudden your plans have a way of changing.
I’ve been involved with The Happy Rock for less than four months now. And there’s no way that I could’ve predicted that in that time, that I’d lose my job, go back to school, and receive a generous gift.
All I know is that we are committed to a journey that will help us get out of debt so we don’t have to worry about this kind of stuff in the future. Instead we’ll only have to worry about the important issues in life, such as how to get out of Thanksgiving Dinner with the in-laws.
Until next time,
-DD
Financing College by Selling the Van
My Get Out Of Debt Success Story – $70,000 In Four Years
Having not read any previous comments about this choice, and speaking as a mom (albeit of a 6 year old), good on you for allowing your mom to give you this gift.
As I said in my comment on the original post, accepting the bailout isn’t the issue.
The van and the debt is a symptom. It is awesome that you both were able to get to the point where you realized that selling the van was the right decision and you both were willing to go there.
Once one of the symptoms is gone it becomes harder to fix the problem, because working off the symptom changes your behavior. The goal is to change your behavior and your relationship to money and stuff, so make sure you have a plan to really address the problem in light of the loving gift.
Also, if you have the money, would you snowball the money and apply it to your debt another way? Would that be possible?
I’m glad that a decision has been made. When I made my previous opinion known, I had forgotten to take into account the need a a somewhat roomy nice looking vehicle for the photography business. That, in itself, is very important to your finances as far as building a reputation and enhancing Mrs. DD’s business. Hope you can rest a little easier now and can find a way to focus on other debt (and school) now. 🙂
i sincerely hope that this was the right choice for your family. i am a cynical soul sometimes and my advice to stick to your guns and not take the money comes from that fact. in reality it is very hard to turn down such a generous offer, and like THR says, as long as you guys have changed your behaviour in regards to money, then this is just helping you along. also, you know your relationship with your mother better than any of us do. good luck.
Good for you on getting the bailout. I didn’t wanna say originally as to not skew your thinking, but any help is good help, and kudo’s to your mom for stepping up. Do good in school, that’s what most parents want for their kids, that’s what I want for mine, and mine wanted for me, if only I had listened to them more when I was younger.
Good work my friend – you guys made a decision and stuck to it 🙂 I love how you thanked everyone for their advice, and then ignored it too! haha..but it’s not like you really “ignored” it anyways, it was all a part of the figuring out process.
And off topic, how long does it take your wife to turn around wedding pics? We have been waiting for ours going on 5 months now, and the photographer has stopped all communication for a week now…needless to say, we’re starting “other methods” of forcing him to deliver.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment!
@Alison- We’ll see how you feel on this subject in 25 years 🙂
@ THR – Yeah, hopefully our behavior won’t revert back to our old ways. As for using this money for our snowball…I thought about it, but then realized that we are paying a higher interest rate on the van anyway, so it probably makes more sense to pay it off first.
@celticbuffy – I have to admit I overlooked that aspect too in my initial decision to sell it.
@dave – I’m normally a cynic too, but currently I’m a poor one 🙂
@stocks – I sure hope any help is good help.
@Budgets are Sexy – She “tries” to get the images ready for viewing/purchasing within 2 weeks of the wedding. Then the initial album design will follow sometime after that (week or two). Bumps in the road sometimes happen which causes a delay, but she always keeps the couple in the loop.
5 Months is a really long time, you should be PO’d at him. But in our few years in this biz, we’ve heard a lot of stories like yours.
Good luck!
wasn’t it a bit tongue-in-cheek when Andre Agassi was saying, “Image is everythingâ€, and he had that crazy looking mullet?
anyways, glad to see a bailout package for someone not on wall street.
DD, I’m glad you made a decision you can stick by! I wish you the best.