Cars that don't start and other things that stress most people out

I've come to understand that I have a very high threshold for stress around most things; example: vehicles. For the last couple of months I've been driving the Jeep and I'd say its success rate of starting is about 2/10. 

I have literally anticipated it not starting most times I'm planning on going anywhere. I've had to back out of a few plans because we were stuck in the driveway. I've been stuck outside the elementary school after picking up our free food and had to explain to staff that "it does this all the time" and "if I just wait a few minutes it'll start." Super cool. Super classy.

I was more than happy to go on like this. I loved our Jeep, it was roomy and great in snow and had been paid off for years. Plus us buying a new car without driving the existing one STRAIGHT INTO THE GROUND is just not an option we have ever considered. Alas...the day finally came when the Jeep just couldn't gasp another breath. Literally, the engine and catalytic converter were totally suffocated and it actually SHUT OFF while I was driving it to the mechanic. It had to be towed away and they graciously gave us a check for $525 to use it for scrap.

Enter Sylvia. We bought her for $6,200 in a private sale which I'm typically nervous about but I had a great feeling about this one from the beginning. Only 87K miles (like NEW in our family!) and super well maintained, a local family was selling it to upgrade to a minivan because they had two kids (yeah us too) and go to the mountain skiing every weekend (yeah us too, haha.) 

Luckily, the time between buying the Subaru in November and buying Sylvia in March gave us just enough time to barely replenish our savings and pay cash for it. So now we've got two paid for cars that were at least made in the last decade. Not much to brag about for most people, but I think we've established my standards are significantly lower than others. And guys, she starts EVERY TIME!