Volunteering? Keep Your Car In Commission
The pads on the brakes on my car are about a millimeter or two thick. It’s not great, but its enough to prolong the next brake job just by a little bit. I should really go right now, but sometimes I’m cheap. I kind of like seeing a few dollars in my bank account and I like to have a little extra cash to be able to help someone or an animal less fortunate than me. Since I went carless for awhile, it is easy to remember what life was temporarily like without a vehicle, which makes me a bit more motivated to spend the money to keep mine in working order.
So many people who stretch themselves thin for good causes tend to put their personal maintenance last. It is one thing if you have a brand spanking new Chevrolet Silverado that’s under warranty, but it still doesn’t make life easier than having a beater truck if you don’t make the time to take it in. Then, when it is in the shop we scratch our heads and say, “why me?” That’s exactly what someone I know said when they pushed their van into a Dallas auto repair shop. It would seem like not such a big deal, but she was from South Carolina! She was driving across the country to take a dog from a county pound to a rescue that had an opening. When a relayed transport could not be organized, she stepped in. While at the shop, she sent a message to others involved and asked them for “donations” to get her back on the road. In other words, money that would have gone to the rescue of other dogs and horses went to fixing her car that she should have been maintaining in the first place.
The moral of the story? Before volunteering to make a long haul drive, check the logistics. Is your car road worthy? In addition, if you skip maintenance, you are not saving money. It is like preventative medicine for humans. A little money now can save a lot of money in the long run.
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