Out of the Mouths of Babes

One of the many times that I was evacuated from the path of a potentially deadly hurricane with my three very large teenage sons and two cats, the only hotel that accepted pets was an expensive luxury resort. When we arrived, we were surrounded by luxury cars and limos. The perplexed valet could not figure out how to work the (broken) power locks on my vintage SUV. I proceeded to crawl into the back seat to unlock the doors. Not at all drawing room style. My SUV is 13 years old and boasts nearly  300,000 on the  odometer. What parent of three boys in her right mind would want a nice car? I make an effort to live below my means which includes avoiding car payments and debt of all kind in favor of saving for investments and emergencies.
After we were happily settled in our room, one of the boys commented on the poor valet who tried to do his job with dignity although our car would have made the Beverly Hillbillies proud.

My son then sagely summed up the situation and stated, "The reason we have the money to stay in this hotel without going into debt is BECAUSE we have an old car." Touché.