Sticker Shock -- Trucks and College

Paul is thinking of getting a truck. That will make him an extra macho kind of guy, which doesn't make him entirely happy because he liked being a comfortable macho kind of guy in his comfortable car. He's tired of hearing me whine about pulling the horse trailer with a truck old enough for antique license plates, so he asked me to go look at trucks because he didn't have time.

I just bought a car last March, so I didn't think I'd have sticker shock. Was I in for a surprise! A diesel truck sounded like an economical option, since trucks get such dismal gas mileage, but there's nothing economical about a diesel truck for $57,000. And it didn't get much better mileage than the gasoline model. How can this be?

So I started looking for a used one. Saintly Brother advised, "You have to understand. You have to get a new diesel truck because the guys who buy diesel trucks love them more than their wives, so if you find a used diesel truck, it's a lemon." Saintly Brother is all about buying good used, but he has strong feelings about diesels and can recognize the same thing in others.

That was helpful. So I've quit looking, which doesn't solve any problem other than I thought I was avoiding sticker shock and my pulse and blood pressure have returned to normal.

Then I went to church last Sunday, a place you'd think you wouldn't have to worry about sticker shock. It was Youth Sunday, and one of the young ladies talked about the cost of college (worse than trucks). Sticker shock again -- but this time, it's very personal and scary. Because while I don't have to have a truck, I have to send my daughter to college.

Sure, we've been saving for it. But I think we were saving for the other colleges. The imaginary ones. The ones that cost what our colleges cost, way back yonder when you could get gasoline for 36 cents and an acre of land for $40 and nobody had ever even heard of AIDS.

This lovely young lady (I'm back at church now) talked about how much colleges cost -- and how she didn't have that kind of money. I wonder if any of us really have that kind of money. (Yes, I know, I should have married a doctor, or perhaps Paul should have married a doctor, or somebody should have done something with a doctor but we didn't.) And I was very relieved to hear that this promising young lady found a college that is giving her almost a full ride. Megabucks and well deserved, too.

Lily's smart and a good student when inspired, so maybe it's a possibility. There are college grants out there, so I suppose it's time we started looking. The link above will take you to a site where you can get free information and research about college scholarships and grants.

Now, if only we could find a scholarship to fund a truck purchase....

Comments

[Anwyn]

I went to Butler, a private university that has an excellent scholarship program. I got a half-tuition scholarship on academics and another quarter on my audition for my music degree program.

That was 15 years ago ... but they just conducted a huge capital campaign to build some of these funds back up and make more, and they're always building new stuff on campus so I don't think they're running out of money. Butler is a smallish liberal-arts/music/pharmacy school in Indianapolis. Just FYI.

Lily will probably get plenty of help wherever she wants to go. :)

Not that you won't have sticker shock anyway.

[Angry]

Fortunately most of our universities are obliged to have a major portion of their enrolments as non-fee paying places, but it still costs a fortune. Number 2 & 3 sons went to Uni and numbers 1, 4 and 5 haven’t bothered to go down the Uni path. My number 1 daughter, (but number 6 child) is in her final year at high school and is planning on going to Uni. Number 7 is just 12 years old so there's still plenty of time for him to decide.

Even without them all going to Uni it has cost us a pretty penny... I think it would have been cheaper for me to raise and educate a fleet of diesel trucks. And they'd probably show more gratitude for what we as parents do for them too.