So, I did a thing the day before Thanksgiving. Let me explain.
November has always been a special month. I’ve always loved Thanksgiving and it’s also my mom’s birthday month. With 2020 being what it is, I’ve had lots of time this year to reflect during this extended quarantine. I’ve been thinking a lot about my mom this month and it’s been emotional, as always. It’s been 17 years since she died from cancer, and yet the wound still feels so fresh. Just typing this made my heart sink. But, it also made me really count my blessings. I’m so grateful for all that she taught me and all of the memories I have of us. And, it got me thinking. I’ve been talking about scaling down on things and focusing more on experiences. That was one of my new year’s resolutions.
On the surface, it seems like I haven’t had many experiences this year thanks to this quarantine. However, as I thought about it, spending less time being away at work and all this time at home has actually given me that quality time with my family just like I committed to at the beginning of the year. And, we’ve been able to focus on not spending and we were able to pay off the debt we accumulated while I was unemployed for most of the year last year. Also, I now have enough vacation accrued after being at my new job for just over a year now. So, we’ll be able to actually go somewhere when all of this is over.
As you can see, I have a lot to be grateful for – I have a job, time with my family, and even a new furry family member, Arlo. But, I still had something looming over me. Every month when I pay our bills, I am reminded of the extravagant life I developed during my time on the west side while working in Century City. I am reminded by the two massive Tesla car payments we have. It’s nice to have one nice thing but we really didn’t need two. With the cars now being out of warranty and the onset of high service and potential repair costs for those falcon doors, I decided it was time to say good-bye to Stitch and time to make a new, more reasonably priced friend. So, I said a fond farewell to my beautiful Stitch.
And hello to Eeyore! Eeyore is a 2020 Kia Niro EV. He’s also an all electric vehicle with about the same amount of range as Stitch for less than half the cost. Not to mention the money I will save on insurance, registration, and repairs. He’s gorgeous, much smaller and easier to drive, and he saving us so much money that I can use that extra money to save for the kids’ college educations and more fun family experiences. I am so happy and feel so much better about this decision. Even though I loved Stitch, I always regretted buying him because of the cost. I loved my Kia Soul EV, “Toothless’, that I had prior to him but gave in to the expensive vehicle because I really needed the range when I was communicating to the west side. Now that there are more choices available and I’m not commuting as much, I was able make a better choice for my family.
Say hello to Eeyore…
