Carrie- I would get the calculator out and see what you come up with. I know I have heard Dave talk about this before. His point is you are paying $20,000 for the car to save $200 bucks in gas. Since it take most people a long time to pay off their cars it doesn't come out even. In your dh's situation it could be different since you have a car allowance and he's probably driving more than 70 miles per day. It might work out in your favor then. If you can't tell we are die hard Dave fans in this house :001_smile: Kelly

I think Dave would probably tell you to sell the Prius and get a cheaper car. Even if you sell it for below value you'd probably pay off the remaining balance and the cost of a different vehicle faster with something less expensive. Kelly

I agree he would say no car loans AND no vacation if you aren't debt free with a good emergency fund. Is there any money to put away in savings to save for a new vehicle? Or if you do want to go on vacation could you rent a van? We looked into renting a van for a vacation and it really isn't that bad. Kelly

Someone asked how to fill up the day. I have younger kids still but this can work with older kids just as well. We bake a bunch of cookies, candy, etc... and take them to the Long Term Care unit at the hospital. It is just a nursing home at the hospital. We take them around to the rooms on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and talk with the residents for a bit. After that we head to the Chinese restaurant for lunch or dinner depending on the time of day. We started doing this because I wanted to teach our kids that it was more important to be giving gifts to Jesus not each other during this time. I tell them that by going and spending some time with these sick, older people who don't have visitors and family we are giving gifts of happiness to Jesus. I'm trying to get our schedule worked out so we can go through out the year. You can also take gifts to kids who are in the hospital for Christmas. Their families might not have the money to do it if they are paying a hospital bill. Last year when we were done at the nursing home and finished at the buffet we had the funniest conversation started by my then 4 yr old ds. He was sure God didn't like women because God didn't have a wife :001_smile: Kelly

When I was learning to spell I had a hard time with the word wash. My parents and everyone around me (southern Illinois) said "warsh". I remember seeing the word on a spelling test and finally realizing there was no "r" in wash. I have never said it with an r since but my parents do and it drives me nuts. They also say squarsh instead of squash. Kelly

Hi, I'm new to posting around here but I had to join in. Here are the words I don't like: 1. yada, yada, yada 2. 24/7 3. as it relates to (I listen to a radio talk show and the host says this line all the time.) I know there are more but a lot of them have been use already. Kelly

Hi, I think it really depend on what kind of caterpillar it is. We caught a caterpillar this summer and it took about 3 -4 weeks to come out of its cocoon. I'm not sure what kind of caterpillar it was or what kind of moth. It looked like the run of the mill moth that comes up to our porch light. We have a cecropia caterpillar also. It just went in its cocoon last week and it will stay there until next spring. It has to be put in the garage when the weather cools down and we wait. I'd suggest the website www.whatsthatbug.com and see if you can find a picture of what your caterpillar looked like to see if you can identify the type. Kelly