TRYING TO BUY A MUCH NEEDED NEW CAR

 Here's another kind of organizing.  We need to buy a new car.  Our old car has a problem that develops with this model car and we want to get rid of it before it is too late.  We keep looking at what is available.  Problem is that cars have changed too much for us since we bought our current car and we want to avoid as much as we can of the changes – such as – we would really like a REAL KEY to the car.  

Husband has it down to one particular car and we keep hemming and hawing over it.  In addition to not being comfortable with the new cars and the changes in them (our most current car was purchased in early 2013 and the car world has, apparently changed since then) we also have financial limitations on the purchase.  In the past when we were both working this was not a problem – as matter of fact we customarily paid for our new cars in full when we purchased them – did not take out a loan.  But with our current car and this new car (and our RV) a loan has been needed for convenience of not needing to get out of other assets the money to pay for the car as it would result in income taxes being due on the money taken from same.   (Not wealthy, just very prudent at socking away savings from our incomes over the decades before spending was done.)   

We had figured that between our trade in (based on values husband saw online) and what we could manage to take out of the bank we would owe about half of the cost of the car.  

Since when this model year is over there will be no more key – we went today to a dealer who had the car we wanted.  We had a test drive – well husband did, I just rode along with him and the salesman.  He liked how it drove – I was a bit concerned that hood sat too high for him, but he said it did not.  So we moved along to the messy part – negotiating for the car.  

Actually same was rather simple – Dealer employee “This is the cost.”  Husband “Okay, how much can you lower that price  - it is the full price.”  Dealer employee “That is the price – we are  “only” charging the MSRP  not charging you more than it – charging over same has apparently become the norm (well, it is a suggested retail price from the manufacturer I guess).  “Discussion” went on.  He can't give us anything lower in price  - and the US$1000 plus in extras we don't can't be removed from the car/price.  Oh, and our current car which husband had looked up the value of – is only worth half according to them.  Price now too high for us.   I should explain that we have not technically had “a car” in several decades as we have had what are considered “light trucks”.  

The manager came over and would not give us anything at all.  We DID not buy the car and will be checking out some of the other local dealers to see what their story is.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
One can plan all one wants – but that does not mean that when one needs to buy something – it will be anything like it was in the past or that the process today will make ANY sense at all.  I wonder if we were paying all cash it would be less expensive and an easier process.  

JULY 4TH - REMINDS ME OF THE ORGANIZING IT TOOK TO RUN A HOUSEHOLD - ALMOST 250 YEARS AGO

 While this post circles around an American colonial event of 1776, it is also a general post. I do hope everyone related to same had a good July 4^{th .}

As 18^th century reenactors the holiday has a second meaning for my husband and myself. When one spends part of their time “living” in a different time period that time period and participating in events related to it, it take on additional meaning.

Communication being what it was in 1776 the Declaration of Independence most people had no idea that the Declaration had been signed for a week or maybe more. Could you imagine something that momentous today not being instantly available – in great detail – to everyone within minutes today? And it took weeks for England to know about it – even longer for other countries.

Most things took longer then. A housewife and anyone helping her cook (including enslaved people, free servants, and family members) would be awake as early as possible to start cooking – possibly before dawn depending on the time of year. In a most cases the kitchen was a separate building. A fire – in all seasons – as it would need to be started so the wood could burn down to charcoal for use. If the housewife was good at what she did the breakfast would be leftovers from the day before. It was common to cook a meal for “dinner” (at about the time we have lunch). Leftovers from dinner would be eaten for supper that evening. And if the housewife had planned correctly – the food still leftover would be reheated and served for breakfast the following morning. Leftover food could not be stored for anywhere near the time we do so today as it would go bad without refrigeration – depending on location winter would help some with keeping food cold in season. Of course there was no running water so someone was carrying water for cooking and washing – people and things.

A good deal of the food was raised by the individual families – animals for meat, planting in the spring, fishing in nearby water – again it all had to planned out in advance how much would be needed, such as how much wheat would the family need to last until next year's wheat was ready to harvest? What if something happened to the crops and they were lost or bad? How much bread to bake at a time so it would last long enough – but none would go bad? We have been thorough periods in the 20^th/21st centuries where we had to go food shopping every day as we had not been planning out what we need for food as the easy and constant availability of same spoiled us. It was much easier for me before husband retired/quit his job a decade or two ago as I could plan my list and plan my time to get shopping done once a week, with an extra run on Friday to fill in if needed – before the weekend and husband was around all day. Since Covid we have been back to figuring out how much food to buy to go out and food shopping the least number of times – and shopping list matching the aisles the items are in to be able to find things as quickly as possible. We tried to keep the food shopping to every 2 months in 2020 – storage of the food a major organizing job on its own. (We are edging back to food shopping much more often as fill in shopping these days.)

When my husband was still working he thought what I did if a bad storm – snow or rain - was mentioned on the news – I would make sure we had a week's food in the house – especially food that did not need to be refrigerated and also food that did not need to be cooked - and all our prescriptions were up to date so we had enough medications for a week or so at the least. I would fill the gas tank in my car. I would do the laundry – even if early – so I knew we would have clean clothing, towels, bedding, etc. Since he has been home all the time and even more so since Covid, he understands what I was doing all along.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Survival in earlier times depended on the family – especially the wife – planning what foods would be needed when, as well as how to keep the food safely edible and not running out of food. In cold weather the husband and sons would have to make sure there was enough wood to burn for heat and for cooking.

At the start of Covid a bit of all this need for planning came back. As the need for the planning has been disappearing again (though even now, many times food shelves are still partially empty in the supermarket and they are out of foods we planned to buy) we are losing the idea of planning ahead to make sure we are ready for the next emergency – and there will ALWAYS be a next emergency.

Are you planning ahead so that when the next emergency comes – you and your family are prepared? (I am not talking about going to the extent that so called “preppers” do – just that you have food in the house for a short period of time to get started if something happens.)