I found out today that there is a good chance I will be losing my job soon. I am having trouble sleeping and kicking around some options, so I wanted to get some stories/advice. I have always sold my hobby car to buy a better one. I went from a rusty Chevelle to a sickly Triumph MC to a sweet Nova to a crazy 40 Hudson Truck over 7 years. I really love my Hudson and I thought it would be the truck I got old with. Now I am thinking about selling it to pay off a card and hide the rest to weather un-employment or under-employment. This will be the first time I have sold a car for money to pay for other things besides a car I like better. I am afraid this will put me into ealry hot rod retirement. I have seen a ton of great deals on the HAMB, but I am not sure if I will be able to come back with enough cash at one time. I will probably half-*** it and start out with a $1000 heap and work my way back up. Has anyone else been faced with this, sold it, and come back later? Was it worth it? Has anyone run up more debt, just to hold onto the car and have it work out? Has anyne hung onto a car way too long and regretted it? Thanks in advance for the help.
Hey Gearhead, Ya were lookin' for a job when ya found the one your losing...... Ya didn't buy the Hudson overnight, and your wants, needs and tastes may not be at the same place, that they are now, in the future. The only REAL limitations are those we place on our selves when we start usin' words like I can't. Ya did it before, if ya want it, in the future badly enough, you'll find a way. Good luck,
Don't sell off your truck to pay bills that aren't over due yet.I have in the past and regret it every day.You'll find work.You could pick up a beater and fix it up to make some quick cash,just a thought. Good luck job hunting.
Gearhead,There was a time when there was household money and car money, now it all flows together. There is nothing wrong with moving cars & parts to pay the bills. I've never bought a car I didn't like, and there have been better ones that come along and force the sale of what I have at the time. Life has its ups and downs and there will always be more cars out there. I'm parting with one now to get some college funds for the kids. Don't feel bad, we've all been in the same spot, there are far more "Used to Have" vehicles in my life than 2-3 "Wish I Still Had" vehicles.
Don't sell what you love till the kids are hungry. I have made that mistake over and over. Pray a little, and it all works out.
Sorry Gearhead this might seem like tough love but here goes. Do you realize that to a large extent you are placing your security and happiness in the hands of other people? It is with this mindset that many times employers scare and intimidate in order to manipulate. If you lose your job there will be another. May not be what you want but dammit don't let them win, kick ***! Whatever you do don't sell that Hudson if you don't owe anything on it. Pay off your bills NOW while you're still working starting with the smallest one and work your way up. When unemployment comes you can weather the storm, might not be easy. Could mean serious at***ude adjustment but you'll do it. The most important thing in all of this is the fact that folks like me and you need to make money start working FOR us, instead of US working for money. I'm living proof that it can work. I was locked into a 25 year form of slavery. The constant cycle of working to pay bills never really got ahead of it very far. My wife and I are not frivolous with money so we never had huge credit card debt, but we have had some HUGE medical bills so I know what owing money means. I too, at 43 years of age, got ****canned for some reason. I suspect I was getting a bit long in the tooth and maybe a little opinionated and the company figured lets dump his *** and hire someone else for less AND we won't have someone who might bother us with the painful truth. Viola' I'm out on the streets. First thing my wife says is why are you so happy? I say because for the first time in my life I feel like I'm gonna be the one to chart my own course, and so it goes. What I chose to do involves buying property renovating it and then either selling it or hanging on to it if it will pay for itself. Now don't go saying "yeah but he must have had money to get started therefore he can do it but I can't" HOGWASH! the trick is to educate ourselves to use other people's money. Trump don't dig in his own pocket to build a new hotel so why should we? Whatever you end up doing work it out so that some or all of what you do ends up paying you in the long run not just this friday when the taskmasters hand out paychecks.
Don't wait for the axe to fall. Update your resume'. Go to Kinkos and make a couple of dozen copies and mail, mail, mail. Stop by perspective employers on your way home from work and inquire...daily. Let them know discreetly you'd rather work for them than where you are presently. Get them used to seeing your face and hearing your voice. Become a regular feature. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Keep a positive at***ude always. When asked "How are you today" reply with a "fantastic!" or "the best there is" or "awesome!". Employers like to keep positive people around. Your present employer included. You could find that you will never stand in an unemployment line. Do these things and I predict an increase in income. Good luck and best wishes for the future.
Every time I've sold ANYTHING that I really did not want to sell, I've forever regretted it. You sell it, spend the money, and you are forever trying to replace it! This old iron is not getting any more plentiful and the market is telling us that. Hang on to what you have, tighten your belt, find a way to iron out financial matters, you'll thank yourself later.
I think it is pretty great that I asked for car selling stories and got advice instead. A lot of that was written out of frustration and fear at 2 am. My *********** boss still hasn't told me anything. I found out from some coworkers. I have a resume together and am getting on it. It sounds like a unanimous don't sell.
Instead of focusing on whether or not to sell your car....change your focus to selling yourself.... self marketing and promotion, talking, networking...is the key.... tok
You know sometimes I have thought it would be nice to get fired or layed off. I could draw unemployment, look for a job, work on projects, and work for cash under the table and probably make better money. Be a nice little bit of R&R to maybe. Oh well, just food for thought. I agree with everyone. If you love that Hudson then do anything you can to keep it. You will be kicking yourself in the *** for the rest of your life if you sell it.
What do you do for a living? Ask around on here, ya never know, someone may be looking for your job skill.
If you get terminated then rehired somewhere else with no changes what happens then. Say you sell the Hudson, what next? Is some ladder climbing pinhead gonna force you to sell your next car after they fire you again? The best thing about this advice is it's free. Take it or leave it.
I sold my shovelhead in 95 knowing there was a good chance I may never afford another one. In a couple months all the money was gone, the bike was gone. Would I do it again? Probably would, because I used a good chunk of the money to pay off my land and get out from under those payments. There are cars I've sold that I wish I could have back now. Maybe 3 or 4 out of a couple hundred. There will always be more cars but I think you are jumping the gun a little.
Don't sell the car. It's only a short term band-aid solution to your situation. The $dough$ will be gone in no time flat, you'll have found other employ and then have to start all over with your hobby. My rule has been to keep the hobby separate from running the household. Being recently retired, I do use hobby money to fund my own personal expensies, but not the house. I get enough $dough$ from parts sales and side jobs (cash) so I don't have to go to the "GREEN MACHINE" and tap into the household funds. I've been jambed up with unexpected bills (significant) but always found a way to find the $dough$ to bail myself out without selling a car. Did I ever wait too late to sell a car? Yes!!! During the late 80's/early 90's I held on to a few Muscle Cars too long. The prices took a noise dive and I eventually sold what I had for close to what I had in them. Read this as no return on my investment. I could have made a killing if I had sold at the height of the boom. After another 10-15 years, prices on this stuff are back up again. I took the muscle car $dough$ and bought pre-war Fords. Prices here have done nothing but continue to climb at a steady rate. I couldn't afford to own what I have now if I hadn't bought back then. It's now part of my retirement program .
Gearhead, I've sold 'em and come back more than once, but I'm a slow learner. If the rod is paid for then its not a liability, sell something else. You could always sell your driver, pay off the bills and use the extra to turn the hudson into a driver. Or you could just get off you **** and find another job. Or both. Its not like you're the CEO of some big corporation, right? Of course this is just opinion on my part. A couple of years ago I went from makeing a good living to Social Security(not by choice). I sold my late model driver and finished up and old Galaxie I had, paid some bills and went on with life. I didn't have to sell any project material other than what I have sold to finance other projects. I don't just up and buy new carbs or what have you any more but I'm getting by just fine.
I do like the idea of shifting my worries onto something that costs me money to keep, rather than the Hudson. I probably would be jumping the gun to sell before my last paycheck. Thanks for all the help, I hate not knowing more than anything else, because it leads to scheming like this.
dont sell the truck... I know some who have sold thier cars to pay bills and never recovered from it. They still dont have anything...and that ****s. If you have any hint that its possible to happen, put your resumes out now...get your ducks in a row so if it does happen, you can bail to your next venture in life. oh, and prayer works too; HE can provide!
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