Desperation does not have pride and, when you are desperately trying to achieve something financially, dignity is usually dispensed with as you try to stay on the side of the fence where the "haves" people live.
I was definitely on the side of the fence where the "have nots" lived but I had clear goals to change this and saving money was one of these goals. Unfortunately, I needed a car to travel some distance each day for work. Cars are a pain ... they can either cost you a huge amount of money to buy (and then not cost you much money to look after) or they can cost you not much money to buy (but will, instead, cost you a huge amount of money to look after). Whichever way, you can't be economical about it because a car just costs a huge amount of money!
However, I hit on a plan to solve this problem while I gathered the means to scramble over the financial fence. I bought real 'dungers'. So long as it had a recent warrant and at least six months of registration, and was no more than $500, I bought it. In the summer I made sure the windows wound down and in the winter I made sure the heater worked. Simple. When the registration or warrant ran out I would park it at the front gate with an "as is, where is, $550 o.n.o." sign on the front. I sold most of them for $500 and most of them had moved on within four days. I did this for nearly three years – relatively free motoring.
I drove some interesting vehicles during this time. One was a beach buggy. The kids at the school where I was working thought I was 'real cool' ... which I was when it rained!
