I love my car but sometimes when I think of the added expenses of owning a car, I cringe. As I type this post, I am standing at the train station on my way to pick up my car from the repair shop. I feel like a parent about to go get a child out of jail. I only have to post bond for said child. In this case, I have to pay $600 to set my car-free. It is about $300 more than I had budgeted when I first took it to the shop for routine maintenance of changing my brakes and oil. Anyway, I have no choice but to pay the money to get my car.

One of the reasons I moved to the Boston area was because it had a robust public transportation system. The MBTA is relatively easy to use and has a good spread. In that sense, I am lucky because I know in most parts of America, a car is not a luxury but a necessity because of bad or non-existent public transportation. I really did not need a car when I first moved to the city. I could hop on and off buses and trains.

A few years in this city though and I yearned for more. So I got a car. My car has allowed me to do things that I never imagined. For one, I was able to change jobs to one that required driving from one city to another to visit clients. In this aspect, my car has been asset. However, sometimes, I get frustrated with the added cost of owning a car.

It starts with the monthly car payment and included random costs like car wash and tolls. The thrice-weekly visits to the gas station. I have even turned buying gas into a game. I am always looking to see what gas prices are everywhere I go. Even though gas is cheap at some places, I don’t like buying gas anywhere. I am always afraid of ruining my engine so I have my trusted places to buy gas. I tend to like buying gas from BJ Gas or Speedway. Both places are cheap and reliable.

Now that I have bought my car for myself, I feel like there are things that I have learned. I am already dreaming of upgrading my car and how to make a better purchase decision. I’ll definitely start with going to more than one dealer to look at cars.  I bought the first car that I road tested because I just fell in love with it.

I might complain about my car but it is my baby. I love that Toyota Scion xB because I bought it and it made me feel all grown up.