I was quite worried that I might be forced into getting a new car sooner than I expected. But it looks like I can wait a bit more. My really old car passed the smog check today. When I got my last smog check, 2 years ago, the technician guy told me that my car barely passed. So I was all geared up for the possibility of emptying my saving for the new car, which would really suck because I don't have enough in there. Plus, I'll need half of the saving for next semester tuition.

Fixing it wasn't an option I wanted to consider since the market value for it is around $500. I might be able to get the state to fund the repair expenses, but that's a lot of red tape to go through. I could retire it and get up to $1000 (although I doubt they'll pay more than market value) to apply toward the new car. However, since I only have 2 weeks before the renewal is due, that would make for some very rushed shopping trips.

Not that I don't need a new car soon, I'm always worried that mine might just die at any moment and leaving me stranded. At least I have some time to save up for it now. I think the oil change right before the smog check helped. Spent a total of $73 on that car today, plus another $56 for the registration fee. Good thing I have around $900 in my expense account for it. When I compare the value of the car to the cost of maintaining it and the cost of insurance, it seems so ridiculous.