My family is struggling… My beautiful wife and our three children are having to suffer because of a string of horrible luck. It started when we decided to sell our vehicles to get out from under payments. It seemed like an amazing idea. Not only were they going to pay off both of our cars but we would have $10,000 to get another vehicle with no payments. So we took the leap, we lined up another vehicle for a steal and sold our cars, and that’s when the dark cloud formed. After spending $5000 on our “new” car a 2010 Volvo, we had to spend another $1000 getting components (tires, catalytic converters, wheel studs, lug nuts) just to get it tagged and inspected. But afterwards everything was going smooth, we put back the remaining cash and lived with a sense of pride that two of our major debts were no longer a concern. Fast forward two weeks and we get news our land lord had passed away and the inheritor of the house we had lived it for 3 years had no intention of renewing or lease that was set to expire in 2 months. We were given a 90 day vacate notice and began searching for another place in our budget to move our family of 5. At this point we are alittle stressed but all is well we have a decent little savings and I work full-time getting paid quite well. But finding another residence with enough rooms and is with in our budget of $1200 a month is proving difficult. Like a miracle a week before our deadline to move out we find a life line. A house for rent well below our budget. There must be a catch, there were three.
1st catch, The owner needs renter to help maintain the properties yard and the surrounding 5 acres of land. No problem I have a good riding mower and a family that loves to garden.
2nd catch, The owner doesn’t have a handyman and repairs to her properties can take time since she has to find contractors to do most of the work. Not a problem I am very handy and have construction experience. I offer to be her handyman 2 of the 3 days I’m off in exchange for her rolling utilities into the rent payment and we agree on an amount.
3rd catch, was a surprise. The “house” “trailer” that were were expecting to move into didn’t have power on our move in date. An issue with the power company ment the power would be out for a few days and for the meantime we stayed in a hotel.
The three days we had to pay for a hotel plus extra rental fee for the U-Haul we needed to rent to a decent chunk for our savings. But we are still managing and still have a little left. Then our cloud darkens. The car we had purchased and invested so much money into breaks down. Turns out it’s the ecm one might be available in 6 months and with the core charge cost nearly a thousand dollars.
What to do, we bite the bullet and decide to take the little savings we have left and pay down on a newer car from a used car dealership. We find a nice 2018 Escape that is at an amazing price this looks like an amazing break. We start the paperwork to purchase the vehicle and get to drive it over the weekend while waiting for the bank to process the paperwork on Monday. Sunday this lucky break turns into a three week long nightmare. The “new-new” car breaks down dumping fuel from the injectors. First thing Monday morning we contact the car lot and let them know what has happened. They promise us they will make it right and schedule a time for a tow truck to come pick up the vehicle.
The tow truck doesn’t arrive on the scheduled day and instead shows up a day later. A week passes and we haven’t heard a work from the car lot but the bank has called twice to finish the paperwork. I explain what has happened and they agree to postpone the paperwork until the situation is resolved. Another week passes and still no word from the car lot. I call them, to be told that I need to call their service department, which I do promptly. The service department proceeds to tell me they were not given any information of the vehicle and were unaware it was pending sale. They then promised to make it a priority. The third week passes the bank has called me every other day for updates and I gave them what little information I had asking that they contact the car lot. I then call the service department to ask for an update to be told they have yet to begin trying to diagnose the vehicle and had it in their que. At this point I am angry and disappointed. My family has been without a vehicle for three more weeks and I was given a run around. I call the bank explain everything that I was told and they agree it would be best to not complete the purchase from this dealer.
I ask for information on getting my down payment back and the bank informed me that would have to be handled with the dealership since they never sent the down payment to the bank. As soon a I possibly could, I contacted the dealership to put an end to this debacle to be told, they couldn’t cut me a check untill the endo of the month and it would be mailed.
So here my family and I sit, our second moth without transportation. Relying on family friends and ride shares to get everywhere. Spending the majority of what I make each week is gas and ride share fees. All to be able to keep my job so we don’t go all the way broke.
I feel I have failed my family. The weight of all the blame feels as if it’s resting across my shoulders. My head filled with if onlys.
“If only I had worked harder.”
“If only I had saved more.”
“If only I realized sooner.”
All of this leads me to swallow my pride and beg, better yet plead with people, kind hearted strangers, to help my family we’re I failed. Help us get a car we desperately need. Help us catch up to our savings goals so that we can escape from this rut a string of bad luck pushed us into.
https://paypal.me/gchance87?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US
Paypal.me/gchance87