I sold my LJ Rubicon earlier this year

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Earlier this year when the used car market was crazier than it is right now I sold my LJ Rubicon. I still have my Right Hand Drive TJ Wrangler Sport that I'll never sell, though I never expected to sell the LJ either. The plan had always been to diesel swap it with my Liberty CRD as the donor vehicle.

A guy post on Facebook from a few states south of me, I can't remember now, was asking if anyone had a black on black LJ Rubicon with a manual transmission. His dad owns a Black on Black LJ Rubicon with an automatic and he wanted a matching LJ Rubicon with a manual transmission to go wheeling with him.

I posted a reply with the above picture, and we came onto an agreement on the price. He came up, test drove the Wrangler LJ Rubicon, and ended up buying it.

I haven't really talked about it since it I let it go. The weird thing is as great of a Wrangler it was, I don't miss it. I think part of it is that it was a manual transmission, I really do prefer an automatic and I really disliked that NSG370. But I think the bigger part for not missing it is that when I sold the LJ Rubicon, I paid off a mountain of debt. It took off years maybe even a decade off of getting my finances in a better place. It's been about 6 months now and I can tell you my finances have been the best they have been in 10 years just from selling that Rubicon. It's allowed me to snowball getting out of debt like crazy.

In a way it was a blessing as well because I found out my son had been hoping for years to take ownership of my Liberty CRD. I had told my kids years ago that when they turned 14 we would get a project vehicle for them and we would work on it together for 2 years until they got their license to drive. My son turns 14 this year and I found out earlier this month that he had been hoping that my Jeep Liberty would end up being his. He's not the biggest Jeep or even car fan, but he really loves that Liberty. So in the end it seems everything worked out and happened for a reason.

I guess all of this to say is that Jeeps do make our lives better, no they aren't for everyone, but for the people that cherish them, they can bring joy and happiness to us in unexpected ways. I will always cherish the memories I made with my LJ Rubicon but I will be eternal grateful for the financial freedom my LJ Rubicon gave me by letting it go.

-Grant

 

[AndyG]

You know the older I get the more I realize the more that I know that there is also more that I don’t know.

Good can come in a lot of ways, And sometimes not being so attached to things can help us to bring joy into our lives and others.

 

[Mike_H]

Earlier this year when the used car market was crazier than it is right now I sold my LJ Rubicon. I still have my Right Hand Drive TJ Wrangler Sport that I'll never sell, though I never expected to sell the LJ either. The plan had always been to diesel swap it with my Liberty CRD as the donor vehicle.

View attachment 355250

A guy post on Facebook from a few states south of me, I can't remember now, was asking if anyone had a black on black LJ Rubicon with a manual transmission. His dad owns a Black on Black LJ Rubicon with an automatic and he wanted a matching LJ Rubicon with a manual transmission to go wheeling with him.

I posted a reply with the above picture, and we came onto an agreement on the price. He came up, test drove the Wrangler LJ Rubicon, and ended up buying it.

I haven't really talked about it since it I let it go. The weird thing is as great of a Wrangler it was, I don't miss it. I think part of it is that it was a manual transmission, I really do prefer an automatic and I really disliked that NSG370. But I think the bigger part for not missing it is that when I sold the LJ Rubicon, I paid off a mountain of debt. It took off years maybe even a decade off of getting my finances in a better place. It's been about 6 months now and I can tell you my finances have been the best they have been in 10 years just from selling that Rubicon. It's allowed me to snowball getting out of debt like crazy.

In a way it was a blessing as well because I found out my son had been hoping for years to take ownership of my Liberty CRD. I had told my kids years ago that when they turned 14 we would get a project vehicle for them and we would work on it together for 2 years until they got their license to drive. My son turns 14 this year and I found out earlier this month that he had been hoping that my Jeep Liberty would end up being his. He's not the biggest Jeep or even car fan, but he really loves that Liberty. So in the end it seems everything worked out and happened for a reason.

View attachment 355254


I guess all of this to say is that Jeeps do make our lives better, no they aren't for everyone, but for the people that cherish them, they can bring joy and happiness to use in unexpected ways. I will always cherish the memories I made with my LJ Rubicon but I will be eternal grateful for the financial freedom my LJ Rubicon gave me by letting it go.

-Grant

Good on ya for paying down that debt. As a reformed payment maker, I can tell you the release of stress and worry that comes with not owing a bunch of money and getting to a place of financial freedom is HUGE!

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

You know the older I get the more I realize the more that I know that there is also more that I don’t know.

Good can come in a lot of ways, And sometimes not being so attached to things can help us to bring joy into our lives and others.

I have to mirror your thoughts as well. I wish I knew things things I know now when I was in my 20s, life would be much different for me right now.

Good on ya for paying down that debt. As a reformed payment maker, I can tell you the release of stress and worry that comes with not owing a bunch of money and getting to a place of financial freedom is HUGE!

Agreed, it's affected everything in my life. Just the amount of stress I don't have anymore is huge. Even my kids have mentioned how much happier I am now. I just feel like I can breath and for that I will be forever thankful to that LJ Rubicon.

 

[AndyG]

Good on ya for paying down that debt. As a reformed payment maker, I can tell you the release of stress and worry that comes with not owing a bunch of money and getting to a place of financial freedom is HUGE!

Everyone has a little bit of a risk tolerance difference - And I have been all over the place financially in my life and I will certainly tell anybody- debt comes with a little bit of depression or loss of freedom- You know the minute you do it you have sold some of your future away. I may not even be able to find the right words but it becomes something that takes up some mental space.

I’m not gonna say I’m 100% against, but it is something to be careful with.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Everyone has a little bit of a risk tolerance difference - And I have been all over the place financially in my life and I will certainly tell anybody- debt comes with a little bit of depression or loss of freedom- You know the minute you do it you have sold some of your future away. I may not even be able to find the right words but it becomes something that takes up some mental space.

I’m not gonna say I’m 100% against, but it is something to be careful with.

I never thought about it that way before @AndyG. I still have a few debts left but will within my means now. Thinking about debt as giving up freedom is a great way of thinking about it as well! I'll have to pass that thought and mentality in the future to my kids!

 

[Mike_H]

Everyone has a little bit of a risk tolerance difference - And I have been all over the place financially in my life and I will certainly tell anybody- debt comes with a little bit of depression or loss of freedom- You know the minute you do it you have sold some of your future away. I may not even be able to find the right words but it becomes something that takes up some mental space.

I’m not gonna say I’m 100% against, but it is something to be careful with.

I’m not either, but I do think very hard about what debt I sign up for. I’m buying into a business right now. That is financed.

I don’t finance fun or expenses. I will hold a short note on a vehicle, if interest rates are favorable.

 

[AndyG]

I never thought about it that way before @AndyG. I still have a few debts left but will within my means now. Thinking about debt as giving up freedom is a great way of thinking about it as well! I'll have to pass that thought and mentality in the future to my kids!

At the minimum you’re selling some of your future income stream. And you are literally selling it for less than you’re getting because you’re adding interest-

I’ve seen situations where people would keep their debt under control and they were able to make some career moves that were just massive later because they have the financial freedom to work for less money at a start up company or something.

Another sure fire way to be miserable is have a job that you hate that you can’t quit because you have a little bit more debt than you should.

Money has so much power in our lives and we do so little to educate our young people-

We send them to school to train them and prepare them to make a living and we don’t do the first thing to help them handle the money that they plan to make.

It’s really amazing that things go as good as they do sometimes- At the same time a lot of people run into trouble that they would otherwise avoid if they were educated more about money.

 

[AndyG]

I’m not either, but I do think very hard about what debt I sign up for. I’m buying into a business right now. That is financed.

I don’t finance fun or expenses. I will hold a short note on a vehicle, if interest rates are favorable.

This is a smart way to look at it.

Credit is money. It just needs to make sense.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

At the minimum you’re selling some of your future income stream. And you are literally selling it for less than you’re getting because you’re adding interest-

I’ve seen situations where people would keep their debt under control and they were able to make some career moves that were just massive later because they have the financial freedom to work for less money at a start up company or something.

Another sure fire way to be miserable is have a job that you hate that you can’t quit because you have a little bit more debt than you should.

Money has so much power in our lives and we do so little to educate our young people-

We send them to school to train them and prepare them to make a living and we don’t do the first thing to help them handle the money that they plan to make.

It’s really amazing that things go as good as they do sometimes- At the same time a lot of people run into trouble that they would otherwise avoid if they were educated more about money.

You nailed it 100%. I was stuck at a job that I grew to hate very quickly for almost 8 years. I just recently switched jobs earlier this year. I'm not really making that much more money, but I'm literally working half the hours that I was working at my old job. I got the job offer a week after I sold the LJ Rubicon. At the time I thought I might have made a mistake selling my LJ Rubicon, but I ended up using some of the funds to hold me over the 4 weeks it took for me to get my first paycheck at my new job as well. Once I got my first paycheck, I was able to pay a few other things off.

 

[Mike_H]

At the minimum you’re selling some of your future income stream. And you are literally selling it for less than you’re getting because you’re adding interest-

I’ve seen situations where people would keep their debt under control and they were able to make some career moves that were just massive later because they have the financial freedom to work for less money at a start up company or something.

Another sure fire way to be miserable is have a job that you hate that you can’t quit because you have a little bit more debt than you should.

Money has so much power in our lives and we do so little to educate our young people-

We send them to school to train them and prepare them to make a living and we don’t do the first thing to help them handle the money that they plan to make.

It’s really amazing that things go as good as they do sometimes- At the same time a lot of people run into trouble that they would otherwise avoid if they were educated more about money.

This is so true. I was TERRIBLE with money when I graduated from College. I got a fancy engineering job with my fancy Engineering degree. So, as a 23 year old kid I had a nice income stream. Not ridiculous money, but WAY more than I was used to. So...like the first week I had a job, I went and bought a brand new truck, I had an expensive apartment, was paying to go out all the time, etc. I was using credit cards to pay loans, loans to pay credit cards, etc. I was juggling the monthly payment game, and it almost got me.
It took my wife really kicking my ass about it (she's such a blessing) for me to get my head right and get our money under control.

Thankfully a couple lessons from Mom and Dad were Pounded into my skull early and I managed to graduate with only 10K in student loans (which seems absurd anymore) and I've been doing a max match into my 401K (at a minimum) since I started working. Those were the ONLY two good things I did with money, but it was something. Now we're pretty set for our retirement, enough that I don't contribute to a 401K anymore, but the money I would be putting away is going toward buying a business (which is my secondary retirement income source).

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

This is so true. I was TERRIBLE with money when I graduated from College. I got a fancy engineering job with my fancy Engineering degree. So, as a 23 year old kid I had a nice income stream. Not ridiculous money, but WAY more than I was used to. So...like the first week I had a job, I went and bought a brand new truck, I had an expensive apartment, was paying to go out all the time, etc. I was using credit cards to pay loans, loans to pay credit cards, etc. I was juggling the monthly payment game, and it almost got me.
It took my wife really kicking my ass about it (she's such a blessing) for me to get my head right and get our money under control.

Thankfully a couple lessons from Mom and Dad were Pounded into my skull early and I managed to graduate with only 10K in student loans (which seems absurd anymore) and I've been doing a max match into my 401K (at a minimum) since I started working. Those were the ONLY two good things I did with money, but it was something. Now we're pretty set for our retirement, enough that I don't contribute to a 401K anymore, but the money I would be putting away is going toward buying a business (which is my secondary retirement income source).

Similar story to me, out of college I was okay with money but then I got a job offer in a different state making double what I was making, my spending got a bit out of control and then I get hit with a divorce which really wrecked my finances for years. That was all 8 ~ 10 years ago and I'm just now finally clawing my way out of it. My current wife has been a tremendous help with thing as well.

I'm going to have a long talk with my kids soon about money, this thread has been great for giving me great examples of how to talk about it with them.

 

[AndyG]

I know I’ve been Mr. philosophical lately so I’m gonna tell you guys something else-

And this is true you just have to experience it may be to understand what I’m saying and I’m gonna give you an example-

- sometimes we have to let things go in order to have room for some things to come in-

I am totally serious-

I’m gonna give you guys an example of that that really blew me away because I have been playing with the concept for a long time and somebody proved it-

There is a consultant that goes into stagnant medical practices that can’t seem to get their business rejuvenated- The first thing he does is clean out all the file cabinets and clear up all the backlog and get all the IOUs taken care of and everything ready to receive new business- Why does this work? Because when people feel overwhelmed at work they become mentally closed.

If you call a business and the owner gets short with you or you feel like he just blows you out it is because more than likely he is mentally closed- He may not even realize what he’s doing but it is a defense mechanism because he knows he can’t do any more work correctly- And he knows work not done correctly is hard to collect.

I have found this works in so many areas of our lives-

Declutter, dejunk, and watch what happens.

 

[Mike_H]

I know I’ve been Mr. philosophical lately so I’m gonna tell you guys something else-

And this is true you just have to experience it may be to understand what I’m saying and I’m gonna give you an example-

- sometimes we have to let things go in order to have room for some things to come in-

I am totally serious-

I’m gonna give you guys an example of that that really blew me away because I have been playing with the concept for a long time and somebody proved it-

There is a consultant that goes into stagnant medical practices that can’t seem to get their business rejuvenated- The first thing he does is clean out all the file cabinets and clear up all the backlog and get all the IOUs taken care of and everything ready to receive new business- Why does this work? Because when people feel overwhelmed at work they become mentally closed.

If you call a business and the owner gets short with you or you feel like he just blows you out it is because more than likely he is mentally closed- He may not even realize what he’s doing but it is a defense mechanism because he knows he can’t do any more work correctly- And he knows work not done correctly is hard to collect.

I have found this works in so many areas of our lives-

Declutter, dejunk, and watch what happens.

Holy cow! We must be brothers from another mother. I’ve been working on doing the same thing. When I started here two years ago, the first thing I did was start getting rid of stuff. I’m still doing it. People were asking me, “Why?” We might get a job that needs this machine or that machine.”

My first question is always when was the last time we used it? The second question is how would you do the job if you didn’t have the machine?

Technology marches on. Sometimes you need to force people to move along with it. To date, I’ve not lost a single order because I got rid of a machine that we used to use. There is one job that we will probably get rid of, but it a loser anyway.

 

[AndyG]

Holy cow! We must be brothers from another mother. I’ve been working on doing the same thing. When I started here two years ago, the first thing I did was start getting rid of stuff. I’m still doing it. People were asking me, “Why?” We might get a job that needs this machine or that machine.”

My first question is always when was the last time we used it? The second question is how would you do the job if you didn’t have the machine?

Technology marches on. Sometimes you need to force people to move along with it. To date, I’ve not lost a single order because I got rid of a machine that we used to use. There is one job that we will probably get rid of, but it a loser anyway.

Everything around us is either going to give us energy or take energy-

People will waste time debating on how to use a certain piece of equipment to do a job or Debating which piece of equipment to use and when you get rid of one you just decided for them-

The extra equipment may not stay maintained and parts and so forth become hard to get

Guys get rusty on how to use it

It Impedes safety and movement of the shop floor

They take up the space you need for something that really works- and the budget -

Workers often don’t care about workflow and all that until they see the benefit.

It is managements’ job to do that- keep at it.

I love tools but overtooling is an impediment.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Everything around us is either going to give us energy or take energy-

People will waste time debating on how to use a certain piece of equipment to do a job or Debating which piece of equipment to use and when you get rid of one you just decided for them-

The extra equipment may not stay maintained and parts and so forth become hard to get

Guys get rusty on how to use it

It Impedes safety and movement of the shop floor

They take up the space you need for something that really works- and the budget -

Workers often don’t care about workflow and all that until they see the benefit.

It is managements’ job to do that- keep at it.

I love tools but overtooling is an impediment.

This is so true! I had plans to do so many other builds but after getting this build done, I'm cut that list of vehicles I want to build done easily by 80%. I took me a while to realize if I was building all the time it took away from what I really want to do, which is to go out and explore.

For me personally I know of one other vehicle I'm going to build, my 1947 Willys Jeep CJ-2a after that I have no plans anymore. I'm sure I will one day but even my CJ-2A is going to be a year or two from starting at this point. I want to go out and enjoy what I've built at this point first.

 

[AndyG]

This is so true! I had plans to do so many other builds but after getting this build done, I'm cut that list of vehicles I want to build done easily by 80%. I took me a while to realize if I was building all the time it took away from what I really want to do, which is to go out and explore.

For me personally I know of one other vehicle I'm going to build, my 1947 Willys Jeep CJ-2a after that I have no plans anymore. I'm sure I will one day but even my CJ-2A is going to be a year or two from starting at this point. I want to go out and enjoy what I've built at this point first.

So often we don’t get what we want because we aren’t working on what we want. We get lost.

The average person lives unconsciously. They watch too much tv, they overspend, overeat, undersleep, and underexercise.

Then they complain they are out of shape, tired, broke and dont have the life they want ( because what they saw on TV will never happen)

I don’t know everything there is about how to be happy but I’ve been happy and I’ve been unhappy and I have come to the point in my life that I know it’s not all an accident-

If you don’t know where you’re going you will never know when you get there. At the same time blindly following a goal can close your eyes to other opportunities. So what’s the solution? Staying present minded, conscious and aware. Living a little bit more on purpose.

You guys mentioned talking to your kids see if you can find this book-

Women and men and money by Michael Devine.

...you have to read it about two or three times to understand the mindset that it breaks all the rules about personal finance and dealings- And he talks about how things really work when money changes hands and how to gain some mastery over it. He was a real estate attorney so he’s done a lot of deals and it has been something that has influenced my life for years.

 

[AMS417]

I was raised by poor people with terrible financial habits. Finance everything, spend your paycheck every week and save nothing. I learned a lot from their mistakes but still feel into the trap. I was up to my ass in credit card debt when I married. Bought a house, two car notes just treading water. Started working odd jobs, second jobs, side hustles, flipping houses. Listen to a little Dave Ramsey, he's too extreme for me but some of his principles are sound.

Took a while to turn it around, but we are way better off now. My kid might inherit something instead of paying for my funeral like many of my family members have done for their relatives.

Being free of debt can really change things. Even making a little progress gives you hope and opportunity.

 

[AndyG]

I was raised by poor people with terrible financial habits. Finance everything, spend your paycheck every week and save nothing. I learned a lot from their mistakes but still feel into the trap. I was up to my ass in credit card debt when I married. Bought a house, two car notes just treading water. Started working odd jobs, second jobs, side hustles, flipping houses. Listen to a little Dave Ramsey, he's too extreme for me but some of his principles are sound.

Took a while to turn it around, but we are way better off now. My kid might inherit something instead of paying for my funeral like many of my family members have done for their relatives.

Being free of debt can really change things. Even making a little progress gives you hope and opportunity.

That is a beautiful story. And I love the part where he got out and worked to change the situation. Several things happen when you do that-

One it makes you not want to get into that situation again-

Secondly it makes you realize that if you’re not in debt and you work hard you can really kill it.

3rd teaches you that you can control your circumstances-

I agree with you about Dave- I appreciate a lot of what he does at the same time he’s trying to come up with one solution for everybody and he deserves credit for the success he has had with that- But you don’t have to deny yourself all your life, And accumulating money does not need to be the sole purpose of your existence- Just control it rather than letting it control you-

Another thing reading the threads above that you guys can do is watch your children and you will see their behavior patterns with money develop very early- My oldest son likes to have money in the bank and use his credit very carefully and keeps everything paid for while my youngest would be a lot more like I was at his age....Wanting more than he should have now with a plan to pay later based purely on optimism.

I was thinking how relative this conversation really is to this forum but it occurred to me that these things cost money and for most of us they are kind of a hobby- Most of us would not be on here if we didn’t have a little bit more than above average motivation to have some things. Just knowing the age of these vehicles I would say probably over 90% of the TJ’s on here are paid for.

 

[AMS417]

That is a beautiful story. And I love the part where he got out and worked to change the situation. Several things happen when you do that-

One it makes you not want to get into that situation again-

Secondly it makes you realize that if you’re not in debt and you work hard you can really kill it.

3rd teaches you that you can control your circumstances-

I agree with you about Dave- I appreciate a lot of what he does at the same time he’s trying to come up with one solution for everybody and he deserves credit for the success he has had with that- But you don’t have to deny yourself all your life, And accumulating money does not need to be the sole purpose of your existence- Just control it rather than letting it control you-

Another thing reading the thread is above that you guys can do is watch your children and you will see their behavior patterns with money develop very early- My oldest son likes to have money in the bank and use his credit very carefully and keeps everything paid for while my youngest would be a lot more like I was at his age....Wanting more than he should have now with a plan to pay later based purely on optimism.

I was thinking how relative this conversation really is to this forum but it occurred to me that these things cost money and for most of us they are kind of a hobby- Most of us would not be on here if we didn’t have a little bit more than above average motivation to have some things. Just knowing the age of these vehicles I would say probably over 90% of the TJ’s on here are paid for.

I only have one kid, and I saved for him to go to college. Not much but I had $15k set aside to get him started. I didn't hand it to him either, he had to prove he'd earned it. He enrolled and paid what he had to, the rest was debt. When he could show me a transcript with a passing overall GPA I would pay off his debt. I think I paid about $5k over three semesters and we had a long talk. He dropped out of school and took a union job as an electricians apprentice with the IBEW local. He loves it, and just started his second year towards Journeyman this week. I still have $10k from his college fund. I told him when he can match it, I will give it to him for a down payment on a house. He has $6k in the bank and is talking about buying when the market cools.

My son isn't perfect but he's better than I was at his age in a lot of ways.