Wednesday, July 20, 2011

My Next Car...

Is going to be a Mini Cooper - I'm 90% certain of this. This past weekend, my Uncle finally pulled the trigger and bought a new car. He traded in his 11 year old Focus - a car that is literally falling apart now and would certainly fail its MOT and just in time as well because in a couple of weeks he would have to renew the tax which is what he has been continuously doing for the last couple of months.
He went for a Renault Megane in the end although he had his eyes set on a Mazda 5 (?) for a long time. Whilst I was waiting for my Uncle Geoff to barter with the salesmen I asked someone there about how they put a value on the car you trade-in. I was most interested in whether the mileage of the car comes into play or whether it's just down to the age and model of the car. Turns out (for at least this dealership) that mileage does come into play which is great because my 10 year old Fiesta has not done 60,000 miles and that's even with me greatly increasing the mileage since I've had it.

I had pretty much mapped out to get at least 3 years out of my Fiesta and while I haven't even been driving for 2 years, I've already started looking ahead. I got chatting with my good friend Wilson about what future car I would want. I did reply that I wasn't sure, haven't given it much thought but I've always liked the new Minis. In fact, The most recent (and successful) lessons I took in a Mini One and then later a Mini Clubman (the Minivan one). Of course, if money were no object, then I would probably go for something a little more expensive, but a decent second hand Mini could well be in my price range, and it would totally be a car I would be happy to own. I have a tiny concern that Minis can be considered "chick cars" but if I go for the sporty model I can win back some Man points...

The guy at the Renault dealership did mention that the amount of time left before the car's next MOT will affect how much they offer. If the car needs to be MOT'ed then they're going to want the owner to MOT the car first, or knock that off the offer price. So bearing that in mind, October is the anniversary of my car's MOT so I should probably look for a new car around August time next year. The intention is to start putting some money away right now and then when it rolls round next year, I can put down a healthy deposit.

Of course, I have this year's insurance, MOT and tax disc to pay for in the month of October, so I'm starting to cut back on the spending now so I can afford all of that - the pay raise following this year's annual review will certainly help! (more about that in a future post). One they're out of the way, I'll start saving for the Mini - I would love to have one that has a checked or Union Jack on the roof but will happily have anything within reason. My crazy theory is the colour of my Fiesta seems to attract birds and even when I don't park directly under trees I still arrive at the car daily to find new birdcrap. To this end, I will be avoiding the colour red where possible, probably go for a blue, or maybe racing green.
The insurance may be higher for the Mini - ideally I'd like to get a Mini Cooper S which generally has a 1.6 litre engine versus the 1.25 I drive now. From my next car I really want the better acceleration and less of the body roll which the Fiesta is very guilty of - attacking roundabouts can be scary. Yeah, so the insurance may go up but then, I would have 3 years no claims under my belt (touch wood) and I will be past the age of 25 (I already am lol) so hopefully it won't be too bad. I'm hoping that the insurance for the Fiesta this year won't be too bad. It was Approx £950 the first year, £750 the second year - If I can get sub £600 then that would be great.

What I'm planning to do is sit down and do some proper budgeting, have a look at what I'm spending now and see what I can put aside - it's far enough out I feel that with some proper planning I should be able to afford the Mini of my dreams...

Here's looking forward to a new car...



Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Man's Best Friend

My Mum has recently been on the lookout to buy a dog. Our dear Jacob passed away early this year and now she is looking for new companionship - something I can completely understand.
Because my Mum works awkward, generally long hours it''s not very sensible for her to get a puppy - she simply isn't about to train it properly. So that means she is looking at older dogs and rescue homes seem to be the way to go. I've been going along with her, my birthday gift to her is to help with the purchase (I like to protect my investments hehe, which translates to telling my Mum not to get a "yappy" Yorkshire Terrier-type dog.


Saturday, July 02, 2011

Fine + 2 pints

A song by the pretty awesome Minus the Bear, and right now, after having a few beers (umbrella term for any kind of alcohol) it seems fitting for the post.
It's weird but I get some small enjoyment from drinking alone, getting merry, watching some shows and laughing in my own company.
I find it strange that I feel more like myself, even in my own company, after a couple of beers, hence the post title, but I feel it's true.
I've always held the opinion that drink doesn't truly change you as a person, your inhibitions will drop, your reactions will slow but you're still essentially the same person that you were at the start of the night, with all the same wants, needs and drives.
I will admit that I've driven home with probably too much alcohol in my system - an illegal amount, but guess what, I never crashed and I never got close to crashing because I am a careful driver, I don't tailgate and I like to think that my anticipation is very good, I'm always scanning the road ahead, slowing in time and like my driving instructor said to me, making the task of driving as easy as possible.