The brainstorming has begun.................

When I get into the groove of trying to figure out how to best work something, my mind starts to run through all sorts of scenarios to try to make it work / work best.

Goal: Nice van

Manipulatives:
3 vehicles
don't need any of them (except to get from place to place)

So.....here is what I'm thinking about now.......

First - You know the original plan was to sell the Lincoln and truck and buy a van. I would drive the Neon.

So I'm talking with Tori about it. I go to Taco Bell (brain food) and I think on the way...."Ok. Wait a minute. The only thing I'll ever do in my vehicle is drive the 3.4 miles (7 minutes) to work. Thats it. Everywhere else is in the van. To church in the van / to friends houses in the van / to parents houses in the van / any and everywhere in the van." I had somewhat thought of this before, which is when I gave up my dream of a Chevy Avalanche. I have always driven well over an hour round trip to work, so when you spend that much time in your vehicle, you'd like to like what you are in so much of your day. But, now I won't even be in it long enough for the engine to heat up in the winter. By the time it starts to warm, I'll already be at the school. So it dawned even more so on me tonight. "It doesn't matter what I drive. In that case - why drive a nice Neon which blue books for over 8 k? I don't need to ride 8 grand down the street and back."

So my brainstorm tonight is sell the Lincoln, Neon AND Dakota. I would sell the Lincoln and which ever of the other two, then buy the van, and then sell the third vehicle. (I have to do it like that to avoid having NO vehicle for a period of time.) This way, I could put more money towards the van. For instance - I could sell the Neon for 8k, put like 5 of that towards the van. Then I could put the last 3 towards something for me to drive to work and back. I might not even need 3k. And this is a double whammy great thing, because then I can sell my weak (albeit newer) 4-cylinder go-cart engine of a Dakota, and then buy a 8 cylinder (albeit older - which is fine) beast of a retro-truck. I could get an old one thats easy to fix. It would just be for driving to work, and I could haul something with it if I wanted to since it would have power. (<--Wouldn't that be nice for a change.) Gas is a non-issue (unlike the rest of America). Tori will not be working. I will work a stone's throw away. Church is like 2 miles away. Local friends are less than that. It would only be a factor when we travel, which is not a regular thing. We have a couple aces up our sleeve like that.

It is fun to try to contrive these things.

This may all change tomorrow - but it's fun to think about.