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I had forgotten to change my timing belt...or maybe neglected to do so, for the last 120,000 miles. I am supposed to do it every 60,000. Oops.

Well, the day after Jennifer and I figured out we are pregnant, my timing belt broke. The remedy? A new engine. There is nothing you can do at that point, the engine is ruined. I thought changing the timing belt was expensive ($800) but it's nothing compared to an engine ($3600).

The dealer almost had me talked into a new car ($14,000). I'm glad Jennifer talked me out of it because she was fired for being pregnant by her boss three days later. Is that illegal? Yes, but it's only covered under federal law for businesses with over 15 employees. There may be some state or local ordinances she violated, and if so, I'm going to get a lawyer and nail this lady to the wall, but depending what state you live in, if you own a small business, discriminate all you want! This lady has kids too, you'd think she'd be a bit more considerate.

Anyway, the dealer had me believing that a new car was the way to go. His argument was "don't put $3,500 into a car that's worth $1000.00." In thinking about the situation I realized that the real waste of money is a new car. I mean, just from an up front cost, it's either $3500.00 for a new engine or $19,108.28 for the new vehicle (with interest). That's right, I'd be paying about $5108.28 in interest alone.

I looked up the value of my car, a 2001 Hyundai Accent, and at most it's worth about $2000. So let's consider it's worth about half of that. I pretty much burned $2600.00 on putting the new engine in. But what is the alternative? Let's estimate that the new car will be worth half the sticker price when it's paid off, or $7000.00. I think that's a liberal estimate. So after everything is said and done, I would have thrown away $12,108.28.

Yes, the car would have a warranty and it would be a nicer car for sure, but I can live with what I have. Besides, I'm not about to pay $12,108.28 for air conditioning and a warranty...and that's if I'm lucky.