There's a sucker born everyday...

...good thing today's wasn't me. It almost was. Really, Clint and I almost did something foolish, but we didn't. We went to the car dealership to get a part and decided to go look at cars. I could probably end the story right there and you would know the rest. I will, however, continue.

A few years ago we had a perfect Ford Expedition that we loved. It was roomy and wonderful. When gas prices hit $5/gallon, we decided "wonderful" was no longer the appropriate adjective. It was killing us, sucking our bank account dry, costing us a fortune, and basically non-economical. We made the decision to trade it in for a crossover vehicle to save on gas. We bought a new car and it saved us a ton on gas. Mission accomplished. However, I don't really like my car. It's fine, but my kids fight when they sit that close, and we can't take extra people with us, so I have been rallying to get another Expedition for a year. It's silly, but it's true.

Today, there were 4 Expeditions on the lot. Our requirements were 1) Back-Up Sensors, 2)Entertainment System and 3) Leather Seats. None of the 4 on the lot had all three requirements, so we thanked our salesman and headed off. As we were walking to the car, he saw one glorious new arrival at the back of the lot. He said, "I haven't seen that one yet, but it looks like it has the back-up sensors, come with me and let's go check it out." We did. It hadn't been detailed yet, but it was perfect. 4 years old and 38,000 miles. We didn't want to spend a bunch of money because we knew we'd be selling it in a few years when we move overseas, so we went inside the office. After 2 hours of haggling, we realized we were in a sales office about to buy a car when all we went for was a part. I wanted to cry a little because, I really want a new car. The salesman was offering us a low payment, more than our trade-in was worth, and a great price on the new car. Adding 5 more years of car payments just didn't seem all that glorious. We had to steal our keys back from the car appraiser to get out of there, but we managed to do so.

So here we are, no new car, no new car payment. We're feeling ok about that...but I still really want that car, even though I don't need it.