The Reason You Are Broke...

[sabbath999]

The Reason You Are Broke from MSN

[JennM]

I agree. I even see it with some of our family members. While we arent at the point to pay cash for a new car yet, we did pay cash for dh's 1997 Chevy full size PU. And man, he loves that truck. We did finance my mini van, but stayed within OUR preset budget and didnt get one with all the frills and took out a *shortER* term, (also helped that we got a great interest rate at our CU-3.75%) When its paid off, I hope to get a few extra years out of it before we HAVE to buy something else.

Edited January 11, 2007 by JennM

[Athena53]

Absolutely true. DH and I have one car (he's semi-retired and works at home). He bought it used 4 years ago and it's a boring sedan for which he paid cash. That was before we were married. I had another boring sedan with 205,000 miles on it that we donated to a church mission when we moved from NJ to KS.

 

Our car is not glamorous, but we don't have car payments and our car insurance costs are a joke (as in very small). Sometimes when I read the Auto forum posts and people barely out of bankruptcy are trying to buy new SUVs I'm tempted to post and ask what the he*l they're thinking. But I restrain myself.

[roddysmom]

Wellllll....

 

I'll raise my hand to the "new-car-syndrome".

 

DH and I bought a brand new Kia Sportage last July. It was the first NEW car DH has ever owned (he's 47).

 

It was 27K - with payments of $487/month.

 

I've paid it down now to 20,300 - next payment "due" is in 2 months; and I've dropped the monthly payment to $425 already. The loan is one of those for 64 months - and there's no way in helllllo it's going to be that long! I hope to have it paid off by July 2008.

 

DH and I have always driven used cars, and for the most part, the mileage was always 150K or more before we got rid of the vehicles. In the past 5 years, we put more $$ into our used vehicles in maintenance and repairs that would have paid off 1/3 of the new car!! At least with this Kia, we have the 10yr/100K warranty!

 

We worked so hard for 3 years while are credit ratings were horrible, FICO's - when we were lucky were in the low 500's. The car was the first "gift" that we gave ourselves in over 4 years after struggling and worrying.

 

The payment is affordable for us, and when our land is paid off next September, the 1,000/month I'm paying on that (that's not the normal payment, I'm paying 700 extra/month) will go on the car.

 

I think a lot of the people who buy these larger cars with the large monthly payments are not thinking ahead and planning.

 

KH

[Mr. Roper]

Interesting article.

 

I'm the type of guy to drive a car until it goes. I do regular maintainence religiously and all that stuff.

 

I just don't want a car payment. But, I am a single guy with no kids, so I could care less what I drive.

 

I could see why a couple with two or three kids would want a new minivan though.

[camclearbrook]

I agree.

 

I drive a 97 Plymouth Breeze with no air in Alabama. It gets pretty hot in the summer. It has 181k miles on it but I can squeeze another 2 years out of it.

 

We also have a 98 Honda Accord 2dr.

 

My wife is pregnant again so we are going to get rid of the Honda.

 

We owe @2k on it. We will probably throw a for sale sign in it for $7k. Push comes to shove we will trade it in 3 months and get about $5k.

 

Its nice to not be upside down on a car.

[angeleyeskkhr]

Eh, the "real" reason I'm broke is because fi and I let our spending get outta control....Now I'm reigning that in and putting us back on a budget.

[angeleyeskkhr]

Absolutely true. DH and I have one car (he's semi-retired and works at home). He bought it used 4 years ago and it's a boring sedan for which he paid cash. That was before we were married. I had another boring sedan with 205,000 miles on it that we donated to a church mission when we moved from NJ to KS.

 

Our car is not glamorous, but we don't have car payments and our car insurance costs are a joke (as in very small). Sometimes when I read the Auto forum posts and people barely out of bankruptcy are trying to buy new SUVs I'm tempted to post and ask what the he*l they're thinking. But I restrain myself.

 

 

To be fair, when I get a full-time job, I do want to get a second car...But it'll be used most likely, and I'm sticking with the idea of wagon probably...Or large size sedan. Something with enough trunk space to fit groceries, a stroller, and/or luggage when we travel. Because the KIA I have now has NO TRUNK ROOM WHATSOEVER. And it's annoying that DD's stroller gets STUCK every single time we manage to shove it in there. And from what I saw last time I checked, they were typically cheaper than the SUVs/vans and had better gas mileage.

[JennM]

Interesting article.

 

I'm the type of guy to drive a car until it goes. I do regular maintainence religiously and all that stuff.

 

I just don't want a car payment. But, I am a single guy with no kids, so I could care less what I drive.

 

I could see why a couple with two or three kids would want a new minivan though.

 

This was the only reason we bought new. Because dh felt I should have something reliable to be driving around with, with the kids. (We have 3) We just have a Dodge Caravan Sport (2003), that was "technically" used. We bought the 2003 IN 2003, but someone had owned it and traded it in already with 5000 miles on it for something NICER. LOL.

 

While I would have loved the Honda Odyssey, or the Toyota Sienna, it just wasnt in our budget.

 

Dh is great at working on cars and can do just about anything himself, so we are lucky in that respect, and hope to keep our vehicles for awhile longer..

[righteousbabe]

Interesting article.

 

I'm the type of guy to drive a car until it goes. I do regular maintainence religiously and all that stuff.

 

I just don't want a car payment. But, I am a single guy with no kids, so I could care less what I drive.

 

I could see why a couple with two or three kids would want a new minivan though.

 

 

Same here. We drive a 1993 Honda Civic. Paid $1500 cash for it. We share it (2 adult household) too, and take the bus if one of us needs it and the other needs it simultaneously.

 

Um, the car is NOT why we're broke. LOL.

 

Try under-educated, limited skills, under-employed, and too many kids!

[InsultComicDog]

I think for many people, it's the car, as the article says. I've never owned a new car. And frankly I probably never will. Because even if I wanted to spend $30K or 50K on a car, I'd still get a used car, just a much nicer one.

 

We've always heard that once a new car is off the lot, it goes down about 20%... that always got to me. Let someone else eat that cost. I look for something about 3 years old, that I will want to drive for the next 6 years.

[prudent]

Overspending on vehicles is a big problem for a lot of people. When I tell people I pay cash for a car they can't believe it.

 

"How can you afford that?"

"I saved the money ahead of time."

"You saved enough to pay for a car?"

"Yes, by keeping the one I had for seven years AFTER it was paid for, and I'll probably keep this one for 8 years or longer."

 

No one should think you have to have car payments forever. People just assume that's the way it is. I want and need a reliable car, but it doesn't have to be new and it doesn't have to cost a lot.

 

Our last two purchases were a year-old sedan with 18k miles for 50% less than a new one, and a two-year-old Jeep with 28k miles for 60% less than a new one.

 

Some people want new cars and can easily afford them - and that's great for them. For many others, though, they are wasting tens of thousands of dollars buying a new car and they can't really afford that kind of hit. They think they can by stretching the loan out to 60 or 72 months, and never realize how much of a financial killer that is.

 

Don't ever be a "payment buyer". If you can only afford $300 a month for a car payment, and you tell the dealer that, I can guarantee he will find a way to sell you a new $50,000 car with a $300 payment. That's how people get into trouble - they think if the deal gives them the monthly payment they want, then they can afford it. Not true.

[shop_free]

I too have seen this phenomenon. People I know have $500 plus on each payment on their vehicles…HELLO.

The wife have to have a luxury sedan and the husband has a nice SUV..Expedition etc…(NEW)

We currently have a 1997 Corrolla that was bought used and we paid it off a couple years ago and almost a year ago we bought a 2000 minivan.

It has leather seats..etc but we only paid $5900 for it.

And hope to pay that off sometime by the end of this year..

Too many people think that their car is an investment..poor things

[Lemonade]

Don't ever be a "payment buyer". If you can only afford $300 a month for a car payment, and you tell the dealer that, I can guarantee he will find a way to sell you a new $50,000 car with a $300 payment.

Yup, that's increasingly common, and is one of the ways new car dealers advertise now. In fact, if you read some of the newspaper ads, they don't even tell you the full value of the vehicle, they just tell you the "low" payment. That's also why car loans have morphed from 3 or 4 year loans to 5 or 6 year loans. eek. I can't imagine driving a car for 6 years and still owing money on it.

 

Our vehicles were paid for in cash, and we've already started putting away our own "monthly car payment" in a high-yield savings account for the next ones.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Lemonade

[Athena53]

Here's another article along the same lines.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/magazines/...sion=2007011210

 

The writer claims you can end up $400K richer by buying cheaper cars ($180,000), sending your kid to a state university ($164K) and spending $1,000/year less on vacations ($122K).

 

I plead guilty to sinning on the last two- DS is about to graduate from a private college with small classes, where the professors pride themselves on being accessible to students. Given his ADD issues, we were pretty sure he'd get lost at a state university. I come from a family of 5 kids and all of us went to state universities, though, and we all did fine. And European vacations are my husband's and my one splurge. Funny related story- when I was 25, I made my first trip to Europe. I was driving a 1973 Hornet (this was 1977) and it was a POS. My co-workers joked that I must be rich. I wasn't- but my car payments were undoubtedly cheaper than theirs.

 

The writer of the article calculates the car savings by looking at the difference between a new, loaded Acura and a new, stripped-down Acord ($9K). Calculate the difference between a new SUV and a 2-year old sedan and we're talking much bigger bucks, especially when you factor in differences in gas, insurance and interest on the loans if you borrow to buy it.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Athena53

[angeleyeskkhr]

Here's another article along the same lines.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/magazines/...sion=2007011210

 

The writer claims you can end up $400K richer by buying cheaper cars ($180,000), sending your kid to a state university ($164K) and spending $1,000/year less on vacations ($122K).

 

I plead guilty to sinning on the last two- DS is about to graduate from a private college with small classes, where the professors pride themselves on being accessible to students. Given his ADD issues, we were pretty sure he'd get lost at a state university. I come from a family of 5 kids and all of us went to state universities, though, and we all did fine. And European vacations are my husband's and my one splurge. Funny related story- when I was 25, I made my first trip to Europe. I was driving a 1973 Hornet (this was 1977) and it was a POS. My co-workers joked that I must be rich. I wasn't- but my car payments were undoubtedly cheaper than theirs.

 

The writer of the article calculates the car savings by looking at the difference between a new, loaded Acura and a new, stripped-down Acord ($9K). Calculate the difference between a new SUV and a 2-year old sedan and we're talking much bigger bucks, especially when you factor in differences in gas, insurance and interest on the loans if you borrow to buy it.

 

 

My parents' saved on me going to college at all.

 

They help me out when needed but the only COLLEGE expense they paid was $800 my sophomore year of college. I had the money to pay for it too, but my parents told me to keep that money for miscellaneous expenses. I think I might have ended up paying $500 from it or so but I don't remember.

 

But I really don't like asking my parents for a lot. They did pay for the transmission in my car and bought my car (pay car note and insurance) but I already feel guilty as sin about that and want to take over the payments as soon as I'm financially able to do so. My parents' signed Parent-Plus loans for my older brother's college education and that was a disaster I didn't want to put them in the same situation. Then, after I started school they ended up supporting my older brother a lot of the time (helping pay rent, etc)...So I just dealt with what I could. Now I just don't think it's right to ask for help when I have a fiance and daughter--I figure I should be adult enough to figure out how to solve problems. Besides, now they pay my younger bro's tuition and books, and since he lost his job (long story but he's looking for a new one) his rent and food and gas and all that too.

 

I try my hardest not to be a burden..They got enough to worry about.

 

As for vacations we don't really get VACATION vacations...We do visit family...When we visit mine, it's about $40-60 in gas round trip. When we visit fi's parents it depends--once they paid both tickets (DD was free), once we split the cost of the tickets, and stayed with them. This year we will be going on a "vacation" with them to Chicago to visit their family there. They're gonna pay for the hotel and we are paying for our tickets (I was just informed we will also have to pay for our food, entertainment, etc which isn't a big deal except we were originally told they'd pay for everything except the flight...Again not a big deal and I do appreciate the fact that they gave us enough advanced warning for us to save up for it.)

[saulsx]

Sometimes when I read the Auto forum posts and people barely out of bankruptcy are trying to buy new SUVs I'm tempted to post and ask what the he*l they're thinking. But I restrain myself.

 

Totally agree. I have a friend that just went through BK last year and he's already digging himself back into that hole. He just bought a new SUV when he had a perfectly good car that was paid off and could've possibly lasted him another year or 2.

 

 

eek. I can't imagine driving a car for 6 years and still owing money on it.

 

Totally agree again. My wife bought a new car in 2001 and we still have a year to pay on it. I would much rather pay 2 or 3 grand for a car that I could get several years out of and have it over with.

[swm8675309]

Absolutely true. DH and I have one car (he's semi-retired and works at home). He bought it used 4 years ago and it's a boring sedan for which he paid cash. That was before we were married. I had another boring sedan with 205,000 miles on it that we donated to a church mission when we moved from NJ to KS.

 

Our car is not glamorous, but we don't have car payments and our car insurance costs are a joke (as in very small). Sometimes when I read the Auto forum posts and people barely out of bankruptcy are trying to buy new SUVs I'm tempted to post and ask what the he*l they're thinking. But I restrain myself.

 

Maybe you shouldn't restrain yourself.

 

Having a car is pretty much a neccessity today, but buying a new car is a luxury, pure and simple.

 

To get a reliable car with a warranty, you don't need to spend 25K on a new SUV. You can buy any number of certified used cars for a fraction of the price with warranty.

 

For example, I bought my 2003 PT Cruiser in 2/2006 for $8500. It is a fun car, reliable and it had 54K miles on it. The certified warranty on it is good 8 years/80K. (80K will be the limit with the number of miles I drive).

 

In a few years, it will no longer be a cool car, but it will be paid for and I will drive it until it dies.

 

When you figure out how much the car will cost me per year, that really makes the cost of ownership pretty reasonable.

 

In one sentence: buying a new car is an awful financial move.

[JennM]

Here's another article along the same lines.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/magazines/...sion=2007011210

 

The writer claims you can end up $400K richer by buying cheaper cars ($180,000), sending your kid to a state university ($164K) and spending $1,000/year less on vacations ($122K).

 

I plead guilty to sinning on the last two- DS is about to graduate from a private college with small classes, where the professors pride themselves on being accessible to students. Given his ADD issues, we were pretty sure he'd get lost at a state university. I come from a family of 5 kids and all of us went to state universities, though, and we all did fine. And European vacations are my husband's and my one splurge. Funny related story- when I was 25, I made my first trip to Europe. I was driving a 1973 Hornet (this was 1977) and it was a POS. My co-workers joked that I must be rich. I wasn't- but my car payments were undoubtedly cheaper than theirs.

 

The writer of the article calculates the car savings by looking at the difference between a new, loaded Acura and a new, stripped-down Acord ($9K). Calculate the difference between a new SUV and a 2-year old sedan and we're talking much bigger bucks, especially when you factor in differences in gas, insurance and interest on the loans if you borrow to buy it.

 

 

My parents' saved on me going to college at all.

 

They help me out when needed but the only COLLEGE expense they paid was $800 my sophomore year of college. I had the money to pay for it too, but my parents told me to keep that money for miscellaneous expenses. I think I might have ended up paying $500 from it or so but I don't remember.

 

But I really don't like asking my parents for a lot. They did pay for the transmission in my car and bought my car (pay car note and insurance) but I already feel guilty as sin about that and want to take over the payments as soon as I'm financially able to do so. My parents' signed Parent-Plus loans for my older brother's college education and that was a disaster I didn't want to put them in the same situation. Then, after I started school they ended up supporting my older brother a lot of the time (helping pay rent, etc)...So I just dealt with what I could. Now I just don't think it's right to ask for help when I have a fiance and daughter--I figure I should be adult enough to figure out how to solve problems. Besides, now they pay my younger bro's tuition and books, and since he lost his job (long story but he's looking for a new one) his rent and food and gas and all that too.

 

I try my hardest not to be a burden..They got enough to worry about.

 

As for vacations we don't really get VACATION vacations...We do visit family...When we visit mine, it's about $40-60 in gas round trip. When we visit fi's parents it depends--once they paid both tickets (DD was free), once we split the cost of the tickets, and stayed with them. This year we will be going on a "vacation" with them to Chicago to visit their family there. They're gonna pay for the hotel and we are paying for our tickets (I was just informed we will also have to pay for our food, entertainment, etc which isn't a big deal except we were originally told they'd pay for everything except the flight...Again not a big deal and I do appreciate the fact that they gave us enough advanced warning for us to save up for it.)

 

We dont take "vacations" either. And this June we're driving to Colorado to visit my family (first time in almost 3 yrs that I will have been back HOME) We'll stay at my mom's and drive vs. fly.

 

We did say that hopefully in a year or two we would take the kids to Disney World for the first time though!

[angeleyeskkhr]

Here's another article along the same lines.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/magazines/...sion=2007011210

 

The writer claims you can end up $400K richer by buying cheaper cars ($180,000), sending your kid to a state university ($164K) and spending $1,000/year less on vacations ($122K).

 

I plead guilty to sinning on the last two- DS is about to graduate from a private college with small classes, where the professors pride themselves on being accessible to students. Given his ADD issues, we were pretty sure he'd get lost at a state university. I come from a family of 5 kids and all of us went to state universities, though, and we all did fine. And European vacations are my husband's and my one splurge. Funny related story- when I was 25, I made my first trip to Europe. I was driving a 1973 Hornet (this was 1977) and it was a POS. My co-workers joked that I must be rich. I wasn't- but my car payments were undoubtedly cheaper than theirs.

 

The writer of the article calculates the car savings by looking at the difference between a new, loaded Acura and a new, stripped-down Acord ($9K). Calculate the difference between a new SUV and a 2-year old sedan and we're talking much bigger bucks, especially when you factor in differences in gas, insurance and interest on the loans if you borrow to buy it.

 

 

My parents' saved on me going to college at all.

 

They help me out when needed but the only COLLEGE expense they paid was $800 my sophomore year of college. I had the money to pay for it too, but my parents told me to keep that money for miscellaneous expenses. I think I might have ended up paying $500 from it or so but I don't remember.

 

But I really don't like asking my parents for a lot. They did pay for the transmission in my car and bought my car (pay car note and insurance) but I already feel guilty as sin about that and want to take over the payments as soon as I'm financially able to do so. My parents' signed Parent-Plus loans for my older brother's college education and that was a disaster I didn't want to put them in the same situation. Then, after I started school they ended up supporting my older brother a lot of the time (helping pay rent, etc)...So I just dealt with what I could. Now I just don't think it's right to ask for help when I have a fiance and daughter--I figure I should be adult enough to figure out how to solve problems. Besides, now they pay my younger bro's tuition and books, and since he lost his job (long story but he's looking for a new one) his rent and food and gas and all that too.

 

I try my hardest not to be a burden..They got enough to worry about.

 

As for vacations we don't really get VACATION vacations...We do visit family...When we visit mine, it's about $40-60 in gas round trip. When we visit fi's parents it depends--once they paid both tickets (DD was free), once we split the cost of the tickets, and stayed with them. This year we will be going on a "vacation" with them to Chicago to visit their family there. They're gonna pay for the hotel and we are paying for our tickets (I was just informed we will also have to pay for our food, entertainment, etc which isn't a big deal except we were originally told they'd pay for everything except the flight...Again not a big deal and I do appreciate the fact that they gave us enough advanced warning for us to save up for it.)

 

We dont take "vacations" either. And this June we're driving to Colorado to visit my family (first time in almost 3 yrs that I will have been back HOME) We'll stay at my mom's and drive vs. fly.

 

We did say that hopefully in a year or two we would take the kids to Disney World for the first time though!

 

I seriously thought about driving up to Chicago...But we live in Austin, and I know for a fact that driving to Kansas takes me 13 hours (well, to a certain city there), stopping only for gas and potty breaks. I can't imagine driving to Chicago (How much longer would that take) with a two year old!

 

It seems like keeping our sanity may just be worth the extra dollars (plus our trunk space is next to nothing. )

[El Chiste]

[duplicate post]

Edited January 13, 2007 by El Chiste

[El Chiste]

Wellllll....

 

I'll raise my hand to the "new-car-syndrome".

 

DH and I bought a brand new Kia Sportage last July. It was the first NEW car DH has ever owned (he's 47).

 

It was 27K - with payments of $487/month.

 

I've paid it down now to 20,300 - next payment "due" is in 2 months; and I've dropped the monthly payment to $425 already. The loan is one of those for 64 months - and there's no way in helllllo it's going to be that long! I hope to have it paid off by July 2008.

 

DH and I have always driven used cars, and for the most part, the mileage was always 150K or more before we got rid of the vehicles. In the past 5 years, we put more $$ into our used vehicles in maintenance and repairs that would have paid off 1/3 of the new car!! At least with this Kia, we have the 10yr/100K warranty!

 

We worked so hard for 3 years while are credit ratings were horrible, FICO's - when we were lucky were in the low 500's. The car was the first "gift" that we gave ourselves in over 4 years after struggling and worrying.

 

The payment is affordable for us, and when our land is paid off next September, the 1,000/month I'm paying on that (that's not the normal payment, I'm paying 700 extra/month) will go on the car.

 

I think a lot of the people who buy these larger cars with the large monthly payments are not thinking ahead and planning.

 

KH

 

Out of curiosity, how did you drop your payments down to $425/month? The only logical way of that happening is if you refinanced the vehicle. I have a feeling you are paying extra on the loan the extra amount is being applied towards future payments. Once that reserve dries up, you're going to be very surprised that the payment never actually changed.

 

Your payment will never change unless you refi or pay off the car. It's in the contract. Trust me, I work in the auto loan world for a well known bank and this is the biggest misconception out there.

 

Please call customer service of your auto loan finance co. and ask them what your REGULAR payment is and if you had additional money added towards future payments.

 

Trust me.

[JennM]

/snipped

I seriously thought about driving up to Chicago...But we live in Austin, and I know for a fact that driving to Kansas takes me 13 hours (well, to a certain city there), stopping only for gas and potty breaks. I can't imagine driving to Chicago (How much longer would that take) with a two year old!

 

It seems like keeping our sanity may just be worth the extra dollars (plus our trunk space is next to nothing. )

 

 

Oh I agree. I'd rather fly and get the torture over with. I equal it to ripping off a bandaid fast, vs. peeling it off slow and prolonging the pain.

 

But buying plane tickets for 3 kids, plus dh and I.....it's pricey!! So we take the slow and painful journey of driving for approx. 16 hrs-20 hrs. Actually though, in all fairness, now that the kids are a little older, its not as bad. We can find more to amuse them than when they were littler. We're thinking of getting an inexpensive portable DVD player to take along this time!

[angeleyeskkhr]

/snipped

I seriously thought about driving up to Chicago...But we live in Austin, and I know for a fact that driving to Kansas takes me 13 hours (well, to a certain city there), stopping only for gas and potty breaks. I can't imagine driving to Chicago (How much longer would that take) with a two year old!

 

It seems like keeping our sanity may just be worth the extra dollars (plus our trunk space is next to nothing. )

 

 

Oh I agree. I'd rather fly and get the torture over with. I equal it to ripping off a bandaid fast, vs. peeling it off slow and prolonging the pain.

 

But buying plane tickets for 3 kids, plus dh and I.....it's pricey!! So we take the slow and painful journey of driving for approx. 16 hrs-20 hrs. Actually though, in all fairness, now that the kids are a little older, its not as bad. We can find more to amuse them than when they were littler. We're thinking of getting an inexpensive portable DVD player to take along this time!

 

 

The dvd player in the car is a great idea, IMHO!

 

How old are your kids? Books, handheld games, etc can all help with older kids.

 

DD's just over 2 and the dvd player is a life saver for short trips to my parents' house(4-4.5 hours) but typically she also is starting to come undone by the time we get there.

 

Yeah, when DD is older and can handle it, I wouldn't mind taking the car, but with how she is now...It's difficult, she can't stay sitting for long periods of time--has to be on the go--and with all the diaper changes added in.

 

At least she has no problem sleeping ni the car though! lol that's always why we time our trips to my parents' at night (but typically she still wakes up for a while). We aren't as fortunate in the timing of leaving their house to come home though--always in the day.

[JennM]

/snipped

I seriously thought about driving up to Chicago...But we live in Austin, and I know for a fact that driving to Kansas takes me 13 hours (well, to a certain city there), stopping only for gas and potty breaks. I can't imagine driving to Chicago (How much longer would that take) with a two year old!

 

It seems like keeping our sanity may just be worth the extra dollars (plus our trunk space is next to nothing. )

 

 

Oh I agree. I'd rather fly and get the torture over with. I equal it to ripping off a bandaid fast, vs. peeling it off slow and prolonging the pain.

 

But buying plane tickets for 3 kids, plus dh and I.....it's pricey!! So we take the slow and painful journey of driving for approx. 16 hrs-20 hrs. Actually though, in all fairness, now that the kids are a little older, its not as bad. We can find more to amuse them than when they were littler. We're thinking of getting an inexpensive portable DVD player to take along this time!

 

 

The dvd player in the car is a great idea, IMHO!

 

How old are your kids? Books, handheld games, etc can all help with older kids.

 

DD's just over 2 and the dvd player is a life saver for short trips to my parents' house(4-4.5 hours) but typically she also is starting to come undone by the time we get there.

 

Yeah, when DD is older and can handle it, I wouldn't mind taking the car, but with how she is now...It's difficult, she can't stay sitting for long periods of time--has to be on the go--and with all the diaper changes added in.

 

At least she has no problem sleeping ni the car though! lol that's always why we time our trips to my parents' at night (but typically she still wakes up for a while). We aren't as fortunate in the timing of leaving their house to come home though--always in the day.

 

 

15 yr old ds

6 yr old ds

4 1/2 yr old dd

 

Oldest will probably listen to his iPod for the better part of the time, sleep the rest. You know teenagers.

 

Younger ones each have the Leapfrog Leapsters, and add in a portable DVD player and we should be good.

 

We've actually made the drive quite a number of times and found that if we can do alot of driving at night when they are sleeping it makes it easier on everyone!