New Car Vs. Used Car: Why We Will Buy Used

Much of the decision of whether or not to purchase a second vehicle after our 1999 Nissan truck died is based on the cost of the second vehicle. We are one month into being a one-vehicle household with decent results. Our optimum commute is waking up at 6:00 a.m., leaving the house at 6:30, dropping [...]

Our Household’s Two-Car vs. One-Car Debate

Two weeks ago our 1999 Nissan truck died. The head gasket blew just 1.5 years after we purchased it for $3500 cash when my other used car finally called it quits after six successful years (boy I miss my 1997 Chevy Cavalier). While I never liked the truck, it was a huge disappointment that it [...]

Insurance Information from the Inside

I hate purchasing insurance. I don’t know if it’s the result of hearing so many insurance fraud stories on the news or years of insurance reps trying to instill the promise of future disasters in my head, but I always have the sneaking suspicion that I am getting taken for a ride behind the guise [...]

Vehicle Situation Update and Lesson Learned

I must admit…I am driving around scared. Each time I come out of my car to go into a store, restaurant, work, or home, I wonder if I am going to be spotted by a Frugal Confessions reader. Why am I so scared? It’s because of what I am driving. Yours truly now drives a [...]

Choices for When Something Goes Wrong

Please Note: This was written on Wednesday of last week. As I type this article, I look down at my left hand and notice a shiny diamond wrapped around a greasy finger with dirt lodged under its nail. The dirt is from my car. This morning I woke up at 6:00 a.m., got out of [...]

222,835 Miles and Rolling

I have always had the sneaking suspicion that after sinking a significant amount of my savings account into my 1997 Chevy Cavalier, it will abandon me at some critical moment. And this suspicion has served me well in deterring costly car repairs thus far, though I think that luck and a clean track record has [...]