That’s right, just 46 months into a 60 month loan, I paid off my car. Not too shabby, says I.
It was a toss-up between buying some stocks (with who knows what going on the Market today), letting the money sit in my account (at ~4.2%) or paying off the car (at 7.99%). Not really a toss-up, actually, just a realization that I could actually pay the thing off. I know all about NPV and FV and frankly, I’d rather spend the $3053 today and have my car paid off allowing me to channel the $400/month somewhere else than take that money and do something else. I like being able to say “Why yes, I do own my car. TYVM”
Go me!
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God DAMMIT! All that above happened yesterday, but I never got around to posting it. This is what happened today:
I’ve been driving the exact same route to work every morning for the last six months but this is a first. The exit from highway to the road leading to the airport guard house where I park turns said road into three lane street. Continuing directly around the exit and forward will shoot you along the new lane with no interruption to ongoing traffic whatsoever. No need to stop. No need to slow down.
This morning, as I’m exiting the highway, taking the exit at the post 45 mph, there is some stupid fuckstick completely stopped at the end of the exit. Due to construction and trees (and the fact that no one ever stops or slows there) I didn’t/couldn’t see this jackass until I was right on top of him.
Using one of the benefits of my sports car, I speedily, and in a controlled manner, swerve around this slack-jawed yokel only to find a broken-down car in the breakdown lane, too! WTF?!
So now I’m forced to lock up the brakes (no ABS, regrettably). I stop, literally, abreast of this guy and he doesn’t even notice!.
He is still looking over his shoulder at oncoming traffic, waiting for an opening, oblivious to the completely open lane in front of him, the accident that nearly smoked his and my cars and the exiting traffic filling up behind him.
Fuming, I take a breath and consider that maybe he is über-cautious and is trying to make sure that no one will make any sudden moves into his lane when he pulls out. I immediately discard that based on months of evidence to the contrary and the very visible evidence to the contrary occurring in front of him at that time.
Still pissed, I consider that maybe this guy really likes to have the road to himself when he tries to change lanes and that he is maybe intent on getting all the way over to the left lane ASAP rather than making his way across over the ¼ - ½ mile stretch before the traffic light.
Eventually pulling forward, still having never looked around to notice a car suddenly even with him on his right, the fucker continues on down the exit-lane and turns right, the option that had been openly available to him for at least the 25-30 seconds I was next to his car.
There I was, just 16 hours after I had paid my car off, seeing every cartoon and every show where the guys car gets totaled and he sits there saying either that he only had one payment left or that he had just paid it off and I’m thinking, “Well, damn, there must be something to that!”
Luckily, though, knock on wood, that was not the case.
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This started of as just MPSIMS, but now I guess I’m wondering if any of y’all have ever had that Curse of the Paid-Off Car strike?
