Whose's wife is pestering him to buy a new car. 

For months now my wife has been poking, prodding, chiding and cajoling him to buy a new car, only have to me, time and time and time again, rebuff her, ah, suggestions.

And it's not really a "can we afford this" type of thing; we have enough money to buy the car cash; in fact, we're talking about replacing both our cars and buying new ones, both for cash because if I can avoid it I want to stay as debt free as possible.

After we sold the old house we swiftly did away with all of our debt except for the mortgage; it's a tremendously gratifying feeling to be essentially debt free and have a enough cash stashed away for any emergency.

So why am I still driving a 16 year old Mazda pickup with 185,000 miles and a transmission that is slipping through the first two gears?  Answer:  Because it still runs and 'gets me there.' 

This is so odd because a half century ago, when I was a young lad of 25,  I would have been ALL OVER buying a new car, and loving every minute of my new ride.  Now going to a car dealership is like going to the dentist for me.  Except, the pain from the dentist provides a quick payoff; the pain of dealing with a car salesman seems to last a lifetime.

I came 'this close' to buying a new car this afternoon; took a two hour test drive, blah, blah, woof, woof... and then I walked away from the deal. 

And on the way home, the ride in my ol' truck felt particularly good, like an old worn-in pair of Levi's 501s.   Priceless.