Adam Speaks Out

My husband's name is Adam. Adam is just short of six foot, has one green/hazel and one brown eye, and otherwise dark features, with a soft, angelic skin-tone. Consequently, Adam's a hottie with a body. He and I were watching a show on TLC with the hosts of What Not To Wear today when Adam turned to me and said, "That guy has sharp style." I then realized something I never put together before: Adam would look KILLER in J. Crew. So, we started future-when-we're-rich-and-famous wardrobe shopping, which, of course, was just self-inflicted torture. Adam loved various shirts, jackets, and ties, but fell in LOVE with an accessory we mildly overlooked: A school messenger bag. It sounds trivial, but carrying a bulky Swiss Army black backpack or a stylish vintage leather bag can really make the difference in poor-college student fashion making. Here it is:

Adam and I get along just fine. 

RE::

Hey thanks guys for your comments but I forgot to include:

For the next year and a half a reliable form of transportation is like my books--it's a necessity for the nursing program for clinical. I think we're just afraid that say in six months there's major issues (from the crazy harsh winter) and we'll be stuck since we had already determined how much we could get for loans for the school year.

I think we feel like we're in a gamble:

We DO NOT want to get a new car (seriously, save me the hassle) but we're afraid of being high and dry if the unexpected happens.

Would we have other options for the latter? Would you take the chance?

Post Semester Dilemma

Adam and I can be impulsive. We can also be very analytical and consider all of the odds before doing or purchasing anything. We both grew up in very financially smart families. My circumstance was one where my parents never did anything, saw anything, or bought anything. They are what you call life survivors and not livers. Obviously, there should be a happy medium between the two, right? But no, if I wanted to go/do/buy anything, it came out of my pocket. Our home consisted of thrifted or hand-me-down furniture and we haven't owned a new set of plates or silverware since my parent's wedding. Nothing got done unless it was crucial to the construction of the house, in which, the job was only done until it was sound, not cosmetically correct. Needless to say, we never had nice things or things that defined our taste or personality. I hadn't been out of the country until our honeymoon and west of Pittsburgh since going out to school. And that's OK right? There's nothing at all wrong with that. But it causes me to think, "Hm, we have $50, sure! Let's get that new pillow set! Why not? It's so easy to do and it feels SO good to have something new." You'd you think it'd be the opposite huh? You'd think I'd see the value in frugality and not spoiling oneself on brand new items, but, hey, it's easy to do, right? So I (we) need your opinion: Adam's car is on its way out. There's nothing major-ly wrong with it, it's just little things that keep popping up and emptying our change jar. Also, it looks like a total drugged up teenager car, so we get pulled over ALL THE TIME even when we're going the speed limit. We usually get off, but it's seriously frustrating. What we're trying to decide on right now is whether we should live with this car until graduation (Fall 2010), or fix up the small things, sell it, and buy another, more reliable car that will last us for a bunch of years. We're leaning toward the latter, but the only way we could afford car payments (as we're both full-time students) is to take out more school loans and use our Pell Grants. What do you think? Impulsive? Down right stupid? Irresponsible? Sensible? What would you do?