To buy or not to buy ... that is the question.

Francisco (my husband) and I have nursed our ailing cars long enough. Last fall, we decided that we would donate our cars to the Salvation Army as they were ready to go. First, his Taurus went. We decided to buy another car, American-made, a Ford Fusion. It's a lovely car and we like it very much.

Then, in January, we donated my Lincoln Town Car.

When the driver came to pick up both the cars, I felt sad at letting them go. They had become a part of my life and had been good cars. As I said good-bye to my car, I knew that it was going to a better place: the Salvation Army fixes them up before auctioning them off. And we had reached a point where we were just not willing to invest any more $$ into making my car run.

So this left us with one car.

Since I work from home, this really isn't a problem for me. We have created our lives to be able to manage living as a one-car family. This means that one day a week, I drive Francisco to work and then use the car for running whatever errands I want to run, and we do grocery shopping together on weekends, and do any other errands, as well. It works pretty well.

Still, it does cramp my style, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Since last fall, we have been asking the question "Should we buy another car or wait?" So far, we have decided to wait and manage with one car. Nonetheless, during this time, Francisco asked me what kind of car I would want if I were to get another one. I told him a Mercedes. He said the repair on them is too much. I agree - at least for right now. Then he asked me what kind of AMERICAN car I would want. I knew immediately: a Chrysler Seabring convertible (we do live in Southern Florida, after all).

No hurries.

Until today.

There is a Chrysler Seabring convertible (with leather seats, thank you very much) at the same dealer we bought our Fusion from. We like this dealer, and feel good about our experience with them. And the Seabring has just been reduced a couple thousand dollars to a price point that we are very tempted (less than $8K). It's a 2006, and has 32K miles. We can get a CarFax report on its history, and probably a very low interest rate.

This means I will have freedom again.

Well, at least in one way. It also means I will have a commitment to a car payment, which would likely be relatively low. It also means I will be able to go to make presentations about my work which I need to do in order to be able to bring more money in.

Jeez ... which came first: the chicken or the egg?

So, here's my plan. I'm going to go see the car today (today is the day I have our car so I can do this!), and maybe test drive it. If I like it, I will then call Francisco and we'll very seriously talk about getting it. (Hmmm ... I'm not crazy about the color (totally a woman thing - lol): it looks like a navy blue, at least from the picture on the website. (Why couldn't it be a lovely ocean blue?))

Well, I'll go see it in person and see if I like it. Then I think I'll know the answer to the question: to buy or not to buy?