No Car Payments

5 years ago my mom and I went to the car dealership and I got a car. It was a 2001 Honda Civic and I loved it. My first car was a hand-me-down from my mom, a red 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix. It was huge, guzzled oil and had to be serviced many times in the 2 years I had it (including a new transmission...ouch). So, when I test drove my little Honda I immediately knew it was the car for me. It was compact (at that time I was living in street-parking hell), zippy, comfortable and, most importantly, affordable. I put down a decent chunk and financed the rest over 5 years. My payments were low, less than $200 a month. Last week I made my last payment and yesterday in the mail I received my notice of lien clearance from Honda and the DMV. It's such an accomplished feeling and a huge sense of relief! I own my car. As much as I would love to drive a new shiny car, and I'm constantly going back and forth over it, I am very sentimental about my car. We've been together through so much! We've driven down to Florida and lived there for awhile, lived in NJ and drove on the turnpike almost every weekend to see my parents, driven to many different states on road trips, lived in Brooklyn with me and commuted back and forth for three hours a day, got hit by an overzealous ambulance with no lights or sirens on and taken me to and from many good memories. I love MY car!

That said, Infiniti G35's and G37's are really pretty and a girl can daydream a little, right?