Ah... debt!

How we have not missed you! Life without a car payment has been lovely. We paid off our Saturn Ion in 2007 and never looked back. However, with the demise of the Saturn brand (sniff) and the increase of miles on the old, little car, we decided it was time to consider an upgrade. So after receiving a note from General Motors about using our "Saturn loyalty" benefits on any GM car, we headed out on President's Day weekend to hunt for a car that can hold more than four people (yes, our little car had only two seats in the back and could only hold our family).

I had researched three different "crossovers" prior to setting off on our journey. The mid-priced and safest of the three was the Chevy Traverse. So we started with the Chevy dealership. We figured if we didn't like how it looked, handled, felt, etc., we could head down to the GMC and Mazda dealerships to check out the Acadia and CX9 (respectively).

After dropping the kids at G&G Zafft's house, we headed to the Chevy dealership to chat with the sales associate with whom I had made an appointment.

[Sidebar: If you're going car shopping, make an appointment! You'll feel a little more in control when you walk in and see a wall of salesmen waiting with baited breath to show you all the "amazing" deals.]

After a discussion about not wanting any of the "extras" (e.g., leather seats, a DVD system, self-dimming mirrors, a latte machine...), we headed for a test drive of the 2011 Chevy Traverse.

Long story short; we loved it. It felt good, looked good, and fit into the budget requirements we'd established. The best part is that the lowest model includes fun little extras like power windows, a Bluetooth system that syncs with my phone, and an MP3 jack for music.

So, without further ado, here's the newest addition to our family:


The little car was sent off to auction yesterday, which made us feel a little sad. It served us well for six years, and we would have kept it longer if it could hold more people. But, on to new adventures with a car that holds EIGHT people and isn't a minivan! Woo hoo!