wow, car shopping isn't fun.

Today, Saturday, my first Saturday free of work in many many months, was a waste of my time!

The plan was to drive to Dyersburg to look at a car. The car wasn't exactly what I wanted and so we looked at other cars. I found the cutest little Nissan hatchback. It was gunmetal gray, fully loaded, it had this smart key thing that made it possible to get into the car without even taking the key out of my purse, and it even had an iPod input. I was in love...

About an hour later we left the dealership, I came so close to driving a brand new car off the lot, but ended up leaving with tears in my eyes. Unfortunately, even an inexpensive hatchback car is out of your price range if you don't make enough money.

Pretty depressing. You see, I wasn't planning on buying a car any time soon. I was about to drive my little Kia debt free. I was $600 dollars away from freedom when I got hit, sitting still at a red light. Meribeth told me "nobody ever wins in a wreck." I didn't quite understand how true that was until today.

I had finally become sensible about my finances, I said to myself: "I will save up enough money to pay cash for my next car, or at least have a substantial down payment." When your down payment consists of a tiny insurance settlement check, substantial is the last word to come to mind. I guess sometimes plans don't exactly equal reality. I didn't factor a wreck into the plan.

If only I made more money, if only I had saved more money, if only I hadn't gotten hit by another car... I really understand the insurance commercials that say "Life comes at you fast." It does.

And much of the time, it just isn't very fair. Now, back to the drawing board.