“I’ve been around awhile…” Whenever I start a conversation out this way, my children respond with a collective groan. It would seem that my years of experience, my own struggles and triumphs, and my hard earned wisdom is a source of annoyance for my now grown kids. Still, I try my best to pass along a tidbit now and then.

This past week, my daughter’s car broke down. I can relate to her frustration…fixing a car isn’t a cheap endeavor. At the same time, I’m breaking into a happy dance. That car has been on its proverbial last wheels for years. I haven’t considered it safe to drive since 2013, and keep in mind that while I might be a tad bit overprotective, my own vehicle is over 10 years old. It wasn’t the age of the car that bothered me, it was the upkeep. Cue the groans, because this is where the urge to pass along some of my worldly wisdom gets the better of me.

Sometimes the best thing that can happen is being forced to let something go. Bear with me here. My children learned a lot of their money habits from me, and since I’m frugal by nature, they also tend to go with the most economical alternative. I don’t believe that my daughter pays full price for anything, especially if she’s shopping online. You can save a lot of money over the years by choosing to go with a generic brand over a name brand in the grocery store. Still, I think we can sometimes take that too far. There are certainly material goods in this world that are worth some extra money, such as purchasing the proper virus protection for your computer or choosing a safe and reliable vehicle and the maintenance that goes with it. But when it came to maintaining her vehicle, my girl went the other route: used tires, cheap oil, cheap filters. And she was going to drive that thing until the wheels literally fell off. I’ve never been so grateful for a blown transmission in my life.

You can’t always go the cheap route, whether it is a monetary investment or a time investment. There are some things in life that are worthy of your time, attention, and money. I’m a firm believer that your vehicle is one of those things, along with your home, your career and education, and of course, yourself. For my daughter, it means saying good-bye to the old clunker she was driving and getting into a safe and reliable gently used, new-to-her car. For me, right now, that means having quality time to spend with my family, enjoying my leisure hours, and planning a retirement that I can look forward to, and investing the extra time in planning and money in saving that’s going to make that a reality. I’m Retiring Tina, and I still have some work to do.