Yesterday I told you the story of Kid2 demolishing Kid1’s car.
Side note: I will give props to Kid1. When she learned of the annihilation of her very first and only car – her first question was, “Is Maya okay?”
On the ominous night of the car crash, I employed a local tow truck to drag the lifeless Mazda3 out of the ditch. The owner of John’s Garage, Jack, was kind enough to house the car for me until the body shop opened on Monday.
Jack then sent pictures of the mangled car over to the body shop on Monday morning. The estimate was between $4,000 and $7,000 to resuscitate the vehicle.
I paid $4,700 for the 2008 Mazda back in the summer of ‘16.
The abacus in the Fortress of Solitude (my home office) told me to not invest up to $7k repairing a now forever “wrecked” car.
“Now what?”
“Call a salvage yard and see what they’ll give ya.”
“Is a salvage yard a fancy name for junkyard?”
“Yeah.” Jack’s deadpan commentary.
First call, “We’ll give ya two-fifty.”
“I’m sorry, did you cut out? Did you say two hundred and fifty dollars?”
“Yep.”
“I just spent $650 on brand new tires three months ago!”
“We’re not buying the tires.”
Second call. “The going rate’s one-eighty.”
Third call. “We no longer buy wrecked cars.”
“But your ad says, We Buy Wrecked Cars.”
Fourth call. No answer. Left message. No call back.
Two-fifty it is!
And I know what you’re thinking, how much did the insurance company give ya?
Nothing.
We only had liability on the car. And yes, I ran the numbers on the abacus – I still came out ahead between the increased expense of “full” coverage and the check the insurance company would’ve cut me for a “totaled” car.
Sad but true. A perfectly good car, worth thousands and thousand of dollars (to me) one day… was in reality only worth $250 the next.
Now, this dilemma would be an actual financial problem if I didn’t have any money. Luckily (the smarter I work the luckier I get) for me, I do have a couple stacks available to solve the problem.
Which reminds me of the greatest Undeniable Truth of All-Time about money.
A truth even the “Money can’t Buy Happiness” pundits cannot argue with.
A truth so formidable that the, “Money is the root of all evil” naysayers – shudder at, when these words penetrate their guarded ear holes.
An explanation of “money” that will literally (yes, I do know the definition of literally)…
Change your “feelings” about money forever.
An explanation that you can find by Joining the Good Life Inner Circle membership right now.
Take a look (click on the highlighted links!) at what WILL evolve into the World’s Greatest Real Estate Agent Membership of All-Time.
Enjoy the rest of your day. Join the Good Life. I’ll see you on the other side.
Bart “Abacus” Vickrey
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