After church we had decided to go see the Ty and the Extreme Makeover house in Middleton. As we sat in church and thought about it being his only day off in a long time - I realized he would probably rather go to the new Harley Davidson store. When I asked him which he would rather do, he laughed ...and we wound up at the HD store.
This man rode a motercycle when I met him and wants to again. All these years, I would never let him. I am now finally at the point and as I have told him, a man should be able to pick the way he is going to go ( just kidding). We did a little more than just look. Before you know it, we had filled out a credit ap and they were finance shopping.
For those of you like me, who didn't understand that a motorcycle is considered a luxury item, it has a higher interest rate than most everything else - 13.99% and after you add all the doo dads that you need to protect this bike, you could make a house payment. An hour and 1/2 later, we are sitting in the sales manager's office going over options. My first option was to point out that you could get a home equity loan for half the interest. The sales manager said that was a great option but having a HD loan would improve our credit score. We sat and listened to all he had to say but I knew the final choice would be DH. I had already explained to him that he would have to delay his retirement to pay for said bike and have to find a way to come with $1000 to cover tax, license, windshield and helmet but I still knew he would have to make the final decision.
He still had to visit his dad so we told them we needed a few minutes to think it over and headed out the door. He had already made his decision but needed time for his brain to catch up to his heart. He just couldn't do it. Not to us or our finances or to his retirement. We talked more about it after his visit and he said, I can have anything I want if I am willing to pay for it. For him, the cost today, was too high.
He will have a motorcycle again someday. Probably not a new one but something that he will like. We all have those same decisions to make everyday. We all have to stare at that financial sheet and decide if we can afford the payments to whatever It is for us. I am still glad I gave up my Ty day. A friend and I had planned on going tomorrow but I have a sick little boy and I wouldn't give up trying to get him well for all the Extreme Makeovers in the world. We can all have whatever we want, if we are willing to pay for it. You just have to decide what you can afford...
