Some advice, trading in/life

Hey guys, been fielding alot of people's opinions on the matter and figured id ask my buddies here. So basically lately I have been contemplating selling my MX bike and thus also selling/trading in my tacoma for something more fuel efficent like a mazda 6, etc. My roommate much to my surprise decided to get court house married and has orders to follow his new bride accordingly leaving me to pick up the additional $900 in rent until maybe if Im lucky get a roommate. Which made me look at my finances which has also led to some deeper questions. I can afford to live on my own but it would be a cut in my expendable income, would mean less track days if I still have the bike and changing how i buy food, etc, basically back to my bachelor/college days at least until I find a roommate. If I sold my beloved bike and taco I would have a significant more cushion room with gas saved, track/bike maintence, etc. But not sure what I would do in my free time, since I definately love riding, though Im not the best at it. Sometimes I think my bike and truck and mx define who I am and Im not too fond of that either. But I also dont want to be unhappy driving around in something I may not like. Im only getting older, have had two bad accidents on the bike (last year). And seems like there's limited riding (6 months of the year), closest track is an hour and half and 30 dollars a day. Just torn on what the adult side of me thinks and what my heart or desires think. Just figured I'd ask everyone on here. Thanks, Zach

 

get a new roommate

 

Do what you love while you can! Don't look back and have regrets. I would try to keep one, the bike or the truck.

 

Are you on active duty?

 

I hated my Mazda! Traded it in for the Tacoma.

 

^^ Right. Sell the bike, keep the truck. In the long run, an old POS will cost more than your truck.

 

sell everything and buy old POS

 

x2

 

yep.

 

Keep the truck dude! I pay 60 bucks a week to fill my truck up and dang does it hurt. But just when I want to get rid of my truck I remind myself its paid for and I would lose a ton of cash on a trade in.

 

PM sent

 

Get a 06-08 Subaru Forester. Can still go camping or whatever, AWD, a wee bit of gc, haha better than a car . . .

 

FTFY

 

This.

Selling the bike will bail you out for a couple of months.

Replacing the Tacoma with a more efficient vehicle will save you money on gas day to day, but unless you can buy the Mazda for what you owe on the Tacoma... AND you can get trade value for what you owe, it's going to end up costing you money... possibly more than the fuel savings.

Basic Mazda 6 sport is about $21k, gets 25-37
Figure it gets 10mpg better than the Tacoma.
How far do you drive? The less you drive, the less money it will save you.
If you drive 500 miles a week...
500 miles @ 18mpg = 28 gallons = $95 at $3.40
500 miles @ 28mpg = 18 gallons = $61 at $3.40

So if you drive 500 miles a week, it'll save you only $136/month in gas.

Balance that against your payments... you aren't going to trade in the Tacoma and walk out with a Mazda 6 without putting some cash on the table. There's the money from your bike.

I ran your truck through Edmunds, figured 36k, and loaded you up on options. Trade value is around $19.5k... so even on the cheapest Mazda 6 you've got $2k plus title and other fees on top of your trade.
If you owe more than $20k, then you'll need to make up that difference too.

 

Rich nailed it.

 

With no payments on the Tacoma, the maximum you could save per month is the combined cost of your maintenance, registration, insurance, and fuel. Then you would be walking. If you don't have a 50+ mile commute, you probably won't save any meaningful monthly amount by switching cars.

 

Ya, I've gone through selling/pawning things to make it to the end of the month.
In the end, the next month, you're right where you were 30 days ago, but now your account is overdrawn and you don't have anything left to sell.
It sucks when you open the mail and realize that you just sold a $400 guitar for $100 to make a payment on a TV that you sold the month before.

Only sell the bike if you simply don't want it anymore.
If it is something you still enjoy, you'll be kicking yourself for selling it because it'll be 10 years before you replace it (if ever).

Bingo.
I figured 500 miles a week as an extreme (that's about what I do).
250 miles a week only saves $70/mo.
100 miles a week only saves $30/mo.

What I found helps significantly save on both fuel and money in general is to document EVERYTHING.
When you drive somewhere, write down where you went, why you went there, and how many miles it was.
When you buy something, write it down.
Ditch the debit and credit cards. Deal with 100% cash.
Debit cards make it too easy to significantly increase your spending through "impulse" purchases.
Knock off ALL fast food. Fast food is fucking expensive. You can eat the same breakfast sandwich bought from Walmart for 1/4th the price. The microwave is your friend.
Same for buying beer at the bar. $3-$5 for a beer and you're going to give another buck to the bartender.... you can buy a sixxer of a premium craft beer for $10.

But write everything down. It forces you to think before you buy something, and it gives you something to look at on Saturday to see where you might be able to save.

 

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I was mostly thinking of trading in to get something in warranty and to save gas, but of course would owe alot more and be paying all the interest up front again. I finally am at a point with the taco that I owe about 3k less than what its worth. And to be honest I'd never be happy with the mazda, my taco was my forever truck, which is why only the best fluids, do my own maintence, etc.
As far as the bike, I love MX, its the one thing that gurantees to put a smile on my face. I was only considering selling her to put that money back into savings and savings overall by not riding, but as someone else put it life is short, enjoy it.
I save about $600-700 a month from my paycheck, and like I said can cut a little now from what I spend on new things to make up for the extra $900 a month, it just puts me in a close line/space every month I dont really feel 100% with, but again, getting a roommate will eliminate that, but I like to think in worst case scenarios. Rich thanks for the breakdown with the gas and vehicle savings, makes things alot clearer. Still thinking with the bike, had a few offers, but am real hesitant to part way's with my baby.

 

If you're putting away $600/mo, then you've probably got a good amount of savings to carry you a few months as long as you get looking for a new roomie ASAP.
I was out of work for 7 months in 2009 and when I got my current job, we had enough left in savings for one more month on the mortgage.

 

Are there no trails in your area?

I sold my bike at 20, and after 8 years of no riding just got another one. This time around I am sticking to trail riding, hill climbs, etc. No track riding.

I hear what you are saying about the truck being part of your identity. I definitely would not sell the truck. Just find a new roommate.