Firstly my car, drove it out of the garage on Thursday only for it to break down again.....yep it truly did.........dh nearly ran into the back of me. However at that point we had already decided to purchase a new car, as the garage gave us a decent price for my old one. We go and pick up a 2012 Ford Fiesta SE Hatchback on Tuesday. It's in black and has a few bells and whistles I will never use, but we got a good deal on it, so decided to take it. I should see a huge difference in my gas/petrol bills, I hope. It is costing us an extra $10 a month in insurance, but can't do anything about that. Luckily there is 0% financing as money is pretty tight at the moment, but we should be able to make this work. Also we 0% financing, it's not like it is costing us extra money in interest.
What I do know is that my old car in unreliable and not safe for me to drive. So the garage was good enough to lend me a car to tide me over until Tuesday.........a Ford Taurus.........the keys had better not stop working in it.
In between hands we committed to having the driveway tar and chipped. This was money we could have done without spending. However the results are awesome and has made a huge difference:
I personally had never heard of tar and chip. It is more commonly used in the countryside and what they do is level out your driveway. Spread a layer of tar over it, then a layer of chippings, which are sort of like pea gravel, then take a roller over it. Spread another layer of tar and then chippings, and roll it again. There is no maintenance to this and should last quite a while.
To tarmac/asphalt our driveway would have cost $21,000 and we would have never been able to afford that.
So my head has been pounding over spending this money for the driveway and my car breaking down all at the same time. We are in a huge belt tightening mode now, so I'm afraid don't come to me looking to borrow money...........we don't have any!!!!
15 comments:
We called it bitumised gravel surfacing in Australia and its a very common road surface, especially in rural areas. Next time it rains, look for any spots where water pools and add some more gravel and a coating of bitumen on it (or, if your local authority has a 'Jet Patcher' pothole repair truck, have them come in and top the low spots.)
Biggest problem with this sort of surface is that it might crack and let water through to the sub-surface. This will cause localised break-ups and pot holes. Coat any cracks that appear with a bitumen spray (or paint bitumen onto the cracks with a thick brush - like they do with roof tarring).
You should get a good life from the new drive if its been properly prepared and laid.
Hey you got the same car as me,lol. Mine is the Titanium diesel and i love it! It goes forever on a tank of fuel, i only fill up once a month and with prices as they are at the moment (£1.43 a litre) a full tank cost me £46 yesterday. The road tax is £20 a year, (you can't even buy a pair of shoes for that, lol)- do you pay road tax in Canada? Can't remember what i paid for insurance, but it was only a little over £200 a year, i think. You got a great deal with the 0% finance too!
The drive looks good, i think any kind of work which involves laying is expensive, hopefully it will last you a long time though.
have a good weekend, and enjoy your car when you pick it up:-)
Call before if you need to, your message sounded stressed.
Jane xx
Lots of back roads up, in and around have tar & chip. Dang I should have hit you up yesterday for that loan ! Chin up, you are not alone in the 'belt tightening' department.
The drive looks fantastic - it should last a good long while. Your new car sounds great, too - it will be such a relief to you to have a reliable car again.
hugs, Kaye xoxox
Sorry things are so stressful but congrats on the car! Hubby's van seems to be crumbling as we speak so I am dying to get a new car (not so much dying to get a job though to pay for it). Beautiful driveway!
Oh Gill hope you feel better soon.
Financial stress is horrible but I know you'll soon have it under control.
Enjoy the hire car.
Sft x
so you are getting an 'uncle fester' not bad we have a much older one with the 1.25 zetec engine - loads of performance and doesnt drink fuel - result
as for the drive reminds me the gypsies will be here soon - i wondered where they were at !!
nick
Your driveway looks great and congrats on the new car. I know you will feel much safer getting around
Drive looks fantastic Gill. So Sorry to hear of your car troubles,,that would definitely have my eyes and arms..and probably legs twitching!! I really hope the ilage you get makes up for anything else. :)
A new car...YAY!!! What a relief that you won't be stranded somewhere any more :)
The drive looks great! We live in the northeastern part of the US and the winters usually make our streets a mess with them fluxing from the cold and snow plows, so in the spring they tar and chip instead of repaving every street. It's also a lot cheaper to do this instead of repaving :)
Enjoy your new car when you get it. Be sure to post snaps :)
Take a deep breath and try to relax this weekend :)
beautiful driveway and congrats on the new reliable car! sorry about the stress but if anyone is able to handle belt tightening, you are!
The driveway looks wonderful...and congrats on the new car. I hope you have good luck with it.
We are looking for an inexpensive way to improve our long laneway in PEI so I'll look into tar and chip. It looks quite nice. Boy I bet you're glad to get that monkey of a car off your back! Peace of mind is worth the extra cost!
Great news about the new car and driveway - it sure will feel smooth having both :) I think the financial stress will be worth it compared to the breakdown stress.
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