Inner Tantrum

Fidget and I have been talking about buying a third vehicle. We were thinking of an older, smaller truck/SUV. Something we can drop the tailgate on and throw in a few bags of leaves and grass to take to the burn site. Or haul small furniture in. We were talking about spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $1000-1500. So we're not looking for something real pretty, right? Well...We live in Minnesota, land of the expensive 4X4. We can't find anything in our price range that runs. Yes, we are being a touch finicky, but as neither one of us is any type of mechanic, we decided that one of the criteria should be that it runs. The closest we've come to our goal is a 1990 Blazer...It runs, but the clutch doesn't disengage. After ending that call, we amended the "must run" criteria to..."must run without someone having to manually pull clutch back out or put their feet through the floorboards to stop the vehicle."

"My" car is a 1999 Chrysler 300M. I like my car okay...But it's not a truck. I've driven a truck for the last several years, and I miss it. But for a car--My Chrysler is nice. Fidget had a job where she was driving between 300 and 500 miles per week, so "her" car is a 2003 Ford Focus. She prefers to drive my car. Sigh.

The biggest problem here is this: I am anal-retentive about the cleanliness of my car. It's okay to splash in a puddle on the highway...But don't even THINK about making a mess IN the car. Fidget has a tendency to "forget" to clean up the car she's just driven. If she's had a soda, the can will be there 2 weeks later. This makes me crazy. So...I was thinking. (Those of you who know me are already grinning...)

I bought Fidget's car outright, as in it's paid for. I still owe a little on my car. So I find this 1997 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition--with only 73000 miles on it. A lady who works at a local bank drove it, and she and her husband bought it new. It is in mint condition. And it can be mine...er OURS...for the Focus and about $1000. And I think..."Perfect. Fidget can have my car (since she likes it better anyway) and I can drive the Explorer."

Enter Fidget into the equation. A little background...Fidget is very smart in many ways...but she can't handle money, has no budgeting skills. So the money decisions are generally left in my court. I need to be accountable for my actions, and so I consult her about my new fantabulous idea. And Fidget...who never thinks ahead about anything says, "So, how much are tax, title and license going be? How much will our insurance change?" WHAT??!! So I explain about the insurance, and how it will most likely stay about the same. I tell her I don't know exactly how much the other will be but I give her a ballpark. She wants us to think about it.

WAAAAAAAA! Enter my inner tantrum. I've solved the problem, spent no more than we had budgeted...And even given her my car (with leather seats and butt warmers no less).

Sigh...back to the drawing board...