I recently wrote a column about how my husband’s 1992 Toyota Camry is on its last legs. The photo posted with the story cracks me up because the shot was intended to show how the key is stuck in the ignition. But instead it just highlights how we’re total slobs. Thank god you can’t whiff the indescribable-but-I’ll-try motor oil/grease/hot Goldfish crackers smell too!

To recap. The car has a lot of problems, but it still runs. And it does not qualify for Cash for Clunkers. And its trade-in or charitable value is laughable.

I thought writing the column would help me to retire the household topic of whether we should buy a car now (answer: No) .  But all of this cash for clunker talk makes me envious.

Part of me wants to join the new car party. I know it’s expensive. I know my car can run longer. I know I can buy used. But buying a new car would help the economy. There are good deals out there. And frankly, we can afford it if we want to, Cash for Clunkers or not. It’s all a matter of priorities.

Our 2003 Ford Windstar with 93,000 miles on it does qualify for the program. The $3,500 government dough plus a $1,500 cash rebate and a discount I get because my father used to work for Ford would equal a pretty good deal on the Ford Flex, the grocery getter I think we’d buy to haul around the three kids and the pop-up camper. I’m all for fuel efficiency, but  you try fitting three car seats in a Focus.

So I played around on the Ford web site and got a quote. Picked up the phone to call Mr. Kablog. His response? “$20,000 is $20,000.”

How true.

Yes, it’s a good time to buy a car. But cars are expensive, even if you qualify for the rebates and incentives.

In the next weeks as Cash for Clunkers is in the news, I’ll try to think of Jason each time I have the urge to head to the dealer’s lot. He sent me the following email:

My clunker is a 1999 Grand Caravan. It has 140,000 miles on it. The value is $2,000 because it is in poor condition – lots of body rust. The Caravan is list at 18 MPG so I would qualify for the $4,500 cash for clunkers incentive.

Originally I wanted use the cash for clunkers to get a small high MPG car. However after much consideration I decided not to.

The Caravan should last another two years (another 15,000 to 20,000 miles). Based on the current economic situation and uncertain job market I decided to wait until the car dies and tow it to the junk yard.

Readers, any of you planning on taking advantage of CARS? If so, what made you pull the trigger? Any trouble finding a vehicle?

If you are considering a new car, check out this tip sheet from Americans Well-Informed on Auto Retailing Economics.

I’ll keep you posted on my car-waffling. As you know, it’s often the behavioral/psychological aspects of finance that trip us up. And my heart might just overrule my head on this one.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I’m going to take the opportunity on this green-themed holiday to share a couple of green-themed surveys. I mean “going green” as in being good stewards of the earth, not “going green” as in drinking green beer.

The first is about how many trees are saved by switching from paper checks to direct deposit.  According to the PayitGreen Alliance:

If you are paid twice a month and used direct deposit instead of paper checks, you would single-handedly:
- Save one pound of paper.
- Eliminate the release of four gallons of wastewater.
- Eliminate the release of one pound of greenhouse gases (equivalent to: not driving four miles and half a square food of forest preserved for 10 years).
- Save a business $176.55.

(more…)

My Dad is retired from Ford and I think auto industry babies are from one of two camps: Car lovers or car users.

I’m a car user. I’ve never picked out a car in my life. The two cars I’ve owned began as lease cars and I purchased the gently used vehicles through my father’s connections at work. Sure there are other cars I like better, but my philosophy about cars is “if it gets me from here to there (and now that I have kids, can transport all of the people and stuff I need to), that’s all I need.”

Needless to say, I can’t stomach the idea of spending more than $20,000 on a vehicle. But for many folks, that new car smell and the feeling of driving a new car off the lot is a powerful aphrodisiac. At least it was before the recession.

Now, Edmunds.com is seeing that more and more people are buying used. Approximately 511,000 used cars sold in the past three months would have been new car sales in a more normal economy, according to new data.

“Projecting ahead, this could represent a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of more than two million vehicles, which equates to more than 15 percent of total new car sales. In manufacturing terms, that amounts to about two assembly plants’ new car production,” said Edmunds.com.

If you were to buy a car right now, would you go used? Or would you head to a desperate dealer in search of a bargain?

There are a lot of low interest rates and rebate deals out there. Plus the new stimulus encourages new car buying by allowing buyers of new cars and trucks worth up to $49,500 to deduct sales or excise tax even if the buyer takes the standard deduction.

Minnesota imposes a 6.5 percent sales tax for car purchases.

President Barack Obama just signed the stimulus package, including a teensy, weensy, mini, itty-bitty windfall for average folks.

Last year’s stimulus rebates obviously didn’t turn the economy around. So for round two, the delivery method is changing from a lump sum to a little bit dished out in every paycheck. The government is making this work by withholding less tax from our paychecks.

I’m not sure exactly how it would work for Americans who don’t work or are out of work, but will share more details as they come.

CPA Todd Koch doesn’t qualify for the “windfall,” which he said amounts to about $13 per week. But he’s still curious about what readers are going to do with their extra $13 per week you’ll see in your paycheck starting in June.

“Will they spend it on Big Macs or make monthly payments on a new washer or will they pay down their credit card? Or will they just not notice and change nothing?”

My guess is that I’ll be in the camp of “change nothing.” I might notice, but it’s such a small amount I can’t imagine that I would go out and spend more money because of it. I’m not getting a raise this year and take some unpaid maternity leave, so if anything, the extra money will help to make up any shortfalls.

I guess we could institute family pizza Fridays or get a Netflix subscription. But knowing my family, the stimulus will expire by the time we pull the trigger.

What would you do with an extra $13 a week? And do you think this will stimulate the economy?

To spend or to save, that is the question. At least it’s the one that’s on my mind, oh, about all the time, lately.

On one shoulder sits the spender, wanting to go out and take advantage of good deals and do my part to stimulate the economy. The saver perches on the other shoulder, reminding me that as someone who saved through the past decade, buying a home I can afford and waiting until I could afford a flat screen TV instead of charging it, why should I change my prudent ways now?

So which one is the angel or the devil in this recession? That’s a trick question, argues David Leonhardt of the NYT.

The topic of his column? Stimulate the economy while improving your “future self’s” financial circumstances by buying items that will save money down the road.

Example: A programmable thermostat that costs $50, but will save on energy bills. Our household did this a few years ago and we have seen our bills go down because we set it so the heat goes down when at work and asleep.

Example: A $55 Costco membership that you can make up in mere months depending on your buying habits. But be careful, you can stimulate the economy much more than you might want if you’re easily tempted.

Example: A seltzer maker for those addicted to San Pellegrino. This is a tempting one for me.

Here are a few examples I could think of that Leonhardt didn’t mention. Share your own spend to save pairings below:

Buy stocks. Heaven knows the market can use an infusion of cash. Find a couple of stocks you like and invest. Hopefully, over the decades, your small purchase will grow.

Invest in education. A class that would improve a skill and increase your workplace worth down the road would stimulate the economy now and improve your financial circumstances in the future.

Get yourself a bike. Commit to riding to work and driving less and you’ll save money on gas.