We All Budget
May 24, 2006 — -- OK, let's face it. Nobody really gets excited over having to budget expenses. For most of us with families, it's just a fact of life.
Our spending habits evolve quite abruptly after the initial sticker shock of pregnancy (maternity clothes, medical bills, cribs, strollers, car seats, diapers, formula, and on and on and on). If I had it my way, I could buy that $100 pair of designer jeans as opposed to the $20 Old Navy ones I settle for. I buy the cheap toilet paper that's almost as soft as sandpaper, the generic Cheerios that taste like cardboard, and I've even sacrificed my favorite anti-wrinkle, anti-sun, anti-given-birth-twice-and-haven't-slept-well-in-nights preventive maintenance miracle face elixir for plain old drug store SPF. Aahh, motherhood!
Forty percent of parents also end up buying a new car as a new baby arrives. Why stop with the budgeting here? Sure, I'd like to indulge in the latest and greatest minivan with six standard airbags, electronic stability control, traction control, tire pressure monitoring system, rear windows that actually roll up and down, a built-in mirror to keep an eye on my kids in back, and a thoughtful place to stash my purse so it doesn't take up the passenger's seat. But who -- other than DINKS (dual income no kids) -- can afford all that?
Stop the presses! The minivan I'm describing is the new 2006 Kia Sedona, with a base Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price of $22,995. That's right baby! We can have our cake and eat it too! Kia managed to take some of our very favorite features from other pricier minivans and roll them into one budget-friendly, family-friendly, mom and dad-friendly vehicle.
You're not going to get luxurious, techie gadget guru heaven for that price, but nobody actually uses all those fancypants features anyway. What you will get is functionality, functionality and, oh, did I mention functionality? From the driver's seat, six cup holders are within easy reach, plus additional bottle holders molded into the door with a cute little embossed bottle graphic just in case you don't know what goes in there. Does Kia spare no expense?
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