It's Paid For

My car's title arrived from the finance company.  When I purchased it, the Toyota Finance gave me a preferred customer deal, 39 months, interest rate just a few percent.  Each month they debited about $460 from my checking account, sending me a notice that they did that.  I never kept track of the number of remaining payments until the final two.  Now the car is mine.

It's been a reliable car.  26K miles at purchase, the title says, about 30K added to that while under lien.  One collision in a parking lot, covered by insurance, not jeopardizing anything beyond the exterior metal.  No big repairs.  Replaced tires at a reasonably anticipated mileage.  One windshield repair.  

The car enabled two road trips to places I've not been previously:  Mammoth Cave when it still had the temporary dealer plates. More recently, the car completed a longer multiday drive to Tennessee and back. Most of the mileage came locally.

Starting next month, those monthly deductions, totaling about $5K each year of post-tax money, will no longer take place.  I didn't miss the money as it got debited each month, probably not likely to reallocate it to a different expenditure now that it stays in my checking account.  It is silent money in both directions.  Yet I can now anticipate another significant spendable resource.  Some travel, maybe.  And not necessarily by the car that I now own outright. My car creates mobility, even freedom.  So does an accumulation of what is best assigned as discretionary money.  Get ahead money.  Enjoy myself money.

     

    

Cashless

Plan toh visit Hershey Park later this week.  Got tickets for entry and for parking.  They sent a note on their site that the park has gone Cashless.  It works out well for me.  I need only take my drivers license, as they may require ID for entry, my Visa Card, and a $10 bill just in case, all in a plastic snack bag, then into a secure pocket or perhaps my waterproof cell phone protector while I admire the coasters my age no longer permits me to ride, or spash around in the waterpark.  I rarely buy anything there, as the food prices exceed what I am willing to pay, though I have gotten trinkets from the gift shop which make unique Hanukkah gifts.  Wallet and cash purse stay locked in the car.

I purchase very little with cash, mostly coffee or a pastry at the Farmer's Market or a soda.  And some tips to the luggage drivers of airport shuttles or hotel housekeeping staff.  But mostly it is much easier to track expenses with a card.  Even donations have shifted from check in the mail to a card authorization on the non-profit's website.  Slot machines no longer take quarters.  Listening to the quarters drop when one or more cherries appear on the screen might have been the best thrill of gaming.  It's gone.  

There are probably still people who carry a wad of bills in a money clip, hoping to impress.  I have an Eagles money clip with a few bills for an emergency, a few dollars wedged between the back of my cell phone and its protective case, and a few dollars for a toll should my GPS malfunction.  But I kinda agree with Hershey Park.  The cards and electronic monitoring of funds are better.