Keep it or sell it? what would you do in my position

lbahrani

Hi All,

Just trying to gather some people's thoughts, It would be really appreciated. Here is what I have asked, firstly, a very close friend of mine: -

AT PRESENT. DEBT = £-13887.07 (O/draft mortgage account) House paid for in full.

Aim to pay off debt by 40th b'day June 2019 (4 years approx)

COST OF DEBT (INTEREST & CAPITAL) = £307.04 P/Month (£1,157.89 Interest alone over 4 years)

INCOME (my fiance) = £910.52 P/month minus £307.04 = £603.48 SAVINGS GENERATED P/month (living off my income) for contingencies and any other expediture over and above what my income may not cover.

Possible Solution. SELL AUDI S3 (14 Plate valued at £25k) Now (heart says no, head says yes) pay off debt and buy something a bit more within my means. So confused i just dont know what to do!!! I love the S3 but the debt, whether it managable or not is causing me some inconsiderable anxiety as does the Audi, its not quite the same when i was a bachelor on my own i have 3 other people to put before myself.

Suggestions would be great Money Savers.

regards

L

Muhren

I think you know what you need to do.

theoretica

What does your fiance think?

[Deleted User]

Sell it - dream cars can be replicated later on, people can't!

FatVonD

Sell, sell, sell!

bennyhill_2

As above - this would appear to be a no brainer. Car won't bring you happiness in the long term, IMHO.

racing_blue

Is this about the car? Suggest look at the car as a monthly expense.

Depreciation (25% per year = 2% per month = £500 per month)
Cost of finance (interest) ???
Fuel
Tax
Insurance
Servicing

Are you happy with that expenditure? If yes keep. If no get rid and maybe get something more frugal.

I would say you are in a good place though. You have a fully paid off house, a nice car, and presumably a whole lot of human capital as you are 36 years old. You can live off one income. This means you can save your fiance's income, minus debt repayments (do I have that right?). You made the decision about the car when you bought it. What drove that decision? Has anything changed?

racing_blue

(As a point of reference, our annual all-in spend on 2 cars is less than that Audi's depreciation)

racing_blue

One more thing: what does a car mean to you?

To me, it is an appliance. Like a vacuum cleaner, a lawnmower, or a washing machine. Its job is to get me plus X people plus X stuff from A to B. Safely, reliably and in an affordable manner.

Once I made that link, decisions came easily.

dobbollah

sell.........i wish my situation was as straight forward as yours.

racing_blue

dobbollah wrote: »

sell.........i wish my situation was as straight forward as yours.

Not sure. He must have had a reason for buying it. He can afford it, although in doing so is forfeiting the opportunity to build investment capital. I think we need to hear more about his motivation.

The fact this is posted in debt-free wannabe forum makes me think sell though.