Expensive Truck Payment Killing ME!

[Pianolady]

You probably had the V-10 or 460? in a 3/4 ton truck..Ford is the heavier truck in both the 1/2 and 3/4 ton category

he likely has a 4.3l v6 or 5.3l V-8 in a 1/2 ton truck

I think we had the 460.

[Cricketlegs]

My take on the whole thing is that it really doesn't have anything to do with the truck. It could have been any large ticket item and you would feel the same.

You feel that your dh can't really justify the purchase of an item that , given your post, is the only thing between you and ruination should something happen to your finances. You scrounge to find the payment, you know you can't afford it if you aren't putting anything into saving/have money left over each month, and dh is in denial and you are left holding the bag.

You resent that truck and you resent your dh for putting you in this position.

This is so NOT about a truck.

I don't know you finances. It could be that besides the house the truck is your only debt. Are you racking up a truck payment of credit card purchases each month, over spending on other items that could be reworked to allow dh his truck??? I don't know.

[Uniwolf]

*Withchy alert* blame it on the trying to quit smoking, or just the fact that I am a Witch.

I have to agree with Cricketlegs though, I have gotten the feeling from your your first post the other day that this is about way, way more than the truck, you mentioned a van that you have that you don't drive, and instead drive his truck ?????????? it hasn't been summer for several months now. It sounds like you put way more miles on the truck than he does. If that is the case, why don't you drive your van.????
Fact of life...... MOST guys like their trucks... If I would never try to get hubbs to sell his truck. I don't like his truck, but I also don't drive it. I have my car, and when we go somewhere together, we usually take, wait for it ...... geee my car.
You may want to set down and figure out what you are really upset with him about and deal with the actual issue, instead of ranting about the truck. That way you can solve what is really bothering you.

[Spirit Deer]

Here's what confuses me from your posts:

~Your take-home pay is after taxes, not before, so you're not paying the truck payment plus having taxes taken out of it besides.
~You said you don't make enough money to pay taxes. Either you do or you don't.
~Even if your business operates at a loss, which is the only way not to pay taxes on it, you still have to pay Social Security, any estimated taxes, and you still need to file. If you're not doing so, you're going to land in hot water sooner or later with the IRS and state revenue office, if your state collects income tax.
~Your husband car pools to work with his partner and hardly drives the truck, but your gas bill for it is $500 a month. Who is driving it so much, and where? At $3.50/gallon and 12 mpg, that's about 1,700 miles a month.
~The truck has a big tool box but your husband carries all his power tools in one small bag. What's in the tool box then? And being a fan of power tools myself, I know you can't get much in a small bag.
~If the truck is being used for a business, then you can deduct at least a portion of the gas, a certain amount of mileage, any repairs, insurance, maintenance, stuff like tires, etc, etc, etc. But of course you need to keep meticulous records which it doesn't sound like either of you does.
~If you're driving for foster care, doesn't the county/state reimburse you so much per mile?

I tend to think, too, there's a lot more to this story than a truck. And I'm also wondering if your stated costs are correct, because of the things you've already said that don't add up.

Not an attack, just some observations that make me wonder.

Good luck. It's not just guys who don't want to be separated from their trucks. I wouldn't give up mine, either.

[Maddy's Mom]

About the taxes: Currently our Credits outweigh our tax liability, so we do not pay taxes. We save for taxes, though...just in case. We don't have to make quarterly payments until our credits go down some. (per tax professional) Sorry if that's confusing.

About the gas: I drive. I drive the van when it's cold and the truck when it's hot. Even through Dec. it was too hot to drive the van around here. We live in south TX. DH drives 3 hours away sometimes for different jobs. The past week, he's been driving and his partner leaves his truck and my house. I guess they'll alternate like that for a while. ?? We deduct milage based on miles driven. He does keep good records of that.

Foster Care reimburses us for care, which I suppose is more than enough to cover the gas, but they don't do a per mile thing.

Tools: Currently all of his power tools have been in getting serviced for the past 4 weeks(delayed because of holiday) So he is not taking any tools with him, just using his partner's extras. His tool bag is not small, I can't even lift it, but he sets it on the back seat of his truck, along with his toolbox of handtools. I am not sure what is actually in the big toolbox in the bed. When we travel we keep our suitcases in it.

I don't know. I've tried to hand the finances over to DH and tell him to do it...but he doesn't want to. I agree it's about more than the truck. Oh well.