Totaled

Well thats that. My beloved Kymco Agility was totaled in the accident. I might be able to recoup a little money from it by selling it for parts, but it is essentially gone. This will make meeting my Networth Goals pretty hard as my scooter was my only real asset that I counted.
This is one of those times where I am really, really rolling with the punches. Now, in all fairness if I had kept driving my Pontiac Grand Am, I would have needed to spend about $4500 in the last 19 months on travel expenses, of which a huge portion of that would have been insurance. I paid about $2750 or so for my scooter in the same period of time, lowering my travel expenses from $237 to $145 a month. Of course, the longer I had the scooter, the lower that average would have been.
So for the time that I had it, it was worth it and it did pay for itself. I just expected to get a lot more use out of it than I did. I am also still paying off the loan for it, which just hurts. But I have recovered from harder things than this.
My friend Bret is working on whether a spare car of his can be repaired for me so that I will have something to drive for the next few months.
A word of advice.... if you ride a scooter and you aren't required to get insurance, get it anyway, so at least your bike will be paid for if something happens to it. I would hate for anyone else to go through what I've been through in this last week.

Why I Won't Buy a Hybrid.... Yet

There was a really fantastic article on Yahoo! today by Noah Buhayar and Bryan Palmintier outlining the savings gained by Hybrid cars now that gas is over $4 a gallon. 

Ever since I got rid of my car and bought a scooter, I have been fine with us being a one car family. Our old Volkswagen Golf is on it's last legs and if we were to buy a car, a Hybrid would definitely be at the top of the list because of the efficiency. There are a few reasons why I am a little reluctant to take the plunge, though. 

One of the arguments for Hybrids is the tax credit that comes with it. Back in 2005 an energy act was passed which gave purchasers substantial tax credits for buying a Hybrid car. However, these were only valid for the first 60,000 cars sold by each manufacturer. The highest performing Hybrid right now is the Toyota Prius. All the tax credits for this car are gone. If you looking for a tax credit, you are left with Hybrids from General Motors and Nissan.

Hybrid cars are not appearing on the market as used cars frequently, and when they do the resale value for these cars is very high. This isn't entirely surprising, as it makes sense that people would choose to keep these cars and that they would hold their value, but as the cost of a new Hybrid is normally around $20,000 it is likely that purchasing one would involve taking out an interest bearing loan. 

Now the math for my family. We drive, on average, no more than 15 miles in a day. That is our maximum. Add in a couple of road trips a year that might tack on an extra 400 miles makes our mileage total about 5,875 miles per year. This is much less than the national average, which is over 12,000 miles per year. 

Our current car gets approximately 26mpg according to the internet, and the Toyota Prius gets an average of 46mpg. 

Golf - 226 gallons of gas a year

Prius - 128 gallons of gas per year. 

Thats a saving of 98 gallons. At an average of $4 a gallon, we would save $392 per year.

If we took out a loan for a $23,000 car at 7% interest, we would be paying over $1,000 in interest per year. Unless we bought the car with cash, then for my family we would be paying more in interest on a new car than we would be saving in gas. If we started driving a lot more, it would be a more viable option, but as we both work within five miles of our job this is unlikely. 

It's important to really crunch the numbers for your family before making the decision to buy any new car and particularly a Hybrid. They are great cars and I am hoping that their new sales price will drop significantly over time. I'm a "Green" person and I like the idea of being more fuel efficient, but I am also a financially analytical person. I have a scooter that has much better fuel efficiency than a car, as does my husband. So for now, we'll drive our car less, our scooters more, and wait for the prices to drop.  

Scooter Gang

It's heartwarming to see so many scooters on the road these days. I love mine very much. I've actually posted about it before.

One of the lovely guys at my job just bought a 125cc Kymco and another guy I work with is seriously considering it. I can't help but feel a touch of pride that I hopped on the bandwagon so early, and that they've sought my opinion to a certain degree.

Honestly, right now, I don't understand people who live in town and don't investigate getting one, especially when it could fit into their lifestyle easily. People tell me how much it is costing them to fill up their cars up, and I feel so sorry for them, but at the same time I usually try and bring up my scooter in the hope that they will consider getting one. 

I know that my finances would be even more devastated if I hadn't made the decision to sell my car and buy a 50cc Kymco Agility. I would probably be spending $150 a month on insurance and then over $100 a month on gas and maintenance. 

As it happens, I spend about $8 a month. 

I'm very concerned about rising gas prices. As a scooter owner, I know it doesn't seem like it would affect me, but the price of gas trickles down into other areas like food, which I have started to notice. The price of gas has a definite effect on people choosing to spend money on their entertainment, such as theatre. I worry that my theatre will lack sales as people try and conserve money. I know that right now, I wouldn't be able to afford. I certainly hope that I am in the minority and that people choose to continue to support the arts. I'm hoping that I am worrying over nothing. 

Extra Money Made Yesterday:

$34.40 - Etsy

$23.10 - Sold Clothes

$7 - Surveys

Total - $64.50

Total Minimum Left Needed for June - $127 Extra