Current situation: DH driving 130 miles to work on Monday and the same home on Friday in an old car which although reasonable for its age and very reliable is noisy, uncomfortable, lacks safety features and is making the drive very tiring, and making him want to work on it on the weekends (which cuts into family time). He's currently stays in nice hotels on expenses, and brings a bike and kit with him to ride in the week in the local forests.
He's got it into his head he needs a new car. But 3 months ago we were worried about money because he's a contractor and he couldn't find a job...
Options:
- Save/borrow a few grand for a less crap less old car
- Mostly borrow 10-12 grand for the car he really wants
- Mostly borrow even more money and scrap the old car for a brand new one (on much better interest rates)
- Get a serviced appartment instead of a hotel, leave his bike down there and get the train in.
These are organised in ascending order of eco-friendliness, which is a factor given the large number of miles involved.
But I personally feel that if we're going to get a new car than I want one which will fit the lifestyle that we're envisioning for ourselves, so a little commuter is not really an option; we'd need to buy a car which will allow us to pull the caravan we've been dreaming of getting....
What would you do?