Should I sell most of my ponies to save for 1 year of car insurance?

[Icecrystalline]

Just out of interest, imagine you're me, you're 17 and you have some quite expensive ponies, probably a collection you paid over the £4,000 mark for...

and you see all your friends of friends driving around in second hand cars, I'm currently going off road driving to learn, I cannot afford lessons by any means and neither can my mum. Can't afford a car, can't afford insurance, currently can't buy any ponies as I have nill money because someone broke my blackberry and I am the one who has to pay for a new one....    (considering I saved up for over a year for that second hand blackberry) And I just really badly want a car, but insurance is £1,000 minimum for me, even to go on my mum's insurance...

I keep getting the feeling that I should sell all my ponies, but I am really attached to them and I feel ridiculous for being this way, it is absurd that I am putting plastic ponies before my own needs. 

So, what would you do if you were me? (No nirvanas, just other G1's that are rare).

Thank you for your time, I need to really mull this over... 

[ponylady]

That's a tough one. 
I can only say that you are still young and your needs outside of the pony world are more important. 
 
I know it's sad to think that you might have to sell some of your ponies. But maybe you could just choose a few to sell at first and see how you feel about it.  If you can't handle it then , well then you will have to find another option to save the money up for insurance. 
 
But it might be easier than you think.  And you can always recollect them later on down the line.
 
Good Luck on whatever you decide, it's not going to be easy either way
 
 

[hikari_amaya]

I've noticed that quotes are just that quotes. If you don't have already a car then it would be pointless, to sell off all your ponies for a year? Sadly where I'm at my kid brother just got insurance last year they quoted my dad $2,000 when all was said and done it was $6000 to add my brother. They will go by your record and since you've no formal classes over here in the US they require classes until your 18. Even then they'll probably be spiking it up. I'm sorry to so blunt but sadly its the truth.

And as for the phone what version did you have? I might be able to help on that

[Catlein]

I think one of the things that you may need to consider is whether a car is a want or a need. As Hikari mentioned, the expenses of owning and operating a car are very expensive, and often more than expected. Even if you do sell your ponies, realistically you will probably not have enough for a decent used car, insurance, and upkeep (gas and mechanics... which get more expensive with the wear and tear on your car). Even if you do end up with enough money from pony sales, you will have to find a revenue source for your car anyway so that you can keep it running. I have no idea what your situation is, but you could possibly consider looking for part-time work as this is a more sustainable way of becoming a car owner. If you want to speed along the process, you could also sell some ponies as well.

[megt19]

Speaking from experience, selling ponies is hard work! and I wouldn't recommend it if you really love them anyway.
I agree with Catlein, that you should try to get money elsewhere, like a steady part time job or something (easier said than done I know)
I pay my insurance monthly... then it doesn't seem like such a big chunck of money as when you pay annually.

[Icecrystalline]

Hi everyone, thank you for replying, I am in full-time education at sixth form studying 4 a-levels, I have been thinking about getting a weekend job, but whenever I apply, nowhere wants a 17 year old, the minimum seems to be 18, and I want to work close to home otherwise paying the fare to where my workplacement is would take out a significant chunk of my wages, minimum wage for me in the UK is £3.56, which I feel is absurd, but hey it's still money at the end of the day. I just dont know how to juggle college A levels and getting my A*'s and getting a job. I may just part with a few ponies, because I definitely don't want to part with my most special ones... It's just really difficult when I was ripped off by someone on ebay for my Big brothers that I have considered selling, I was new to collecting and paid £50 per BB with all accessories minus combs.
I just don't know what to do!
xxx

Post Merge: March 19, 2012, 05:24:22 AM

Oh and forgot to mention, I have access to my mum's car, I still live at home and mum really wants to share her car with me, but neither of us can afford the insurance, she pays £500 for her now and to add me it would be an extra £1,000. Waa.

[hathorcat]

Alas in the UK the kind of prices a 17-18 year old will pay for insurance will probably be over £1000 [worse if you are a boy!]. The average for a guy between 17 and 23 in the UK is over £3000 per annum.

There are a couple of ways to reduce motor insurance now however - you can sign up to one of the young drivers schemes such as Coverbox or iKube which either charge per mile driven or offer a discount if you dont drive between 11pm and 5am.

All in as others have said...I think the key is "do you need a car". Speaking as a 31 year old with an older car - between insurance, road tax, roadside cover, fuel [!!!!], general wear & tear its not a matter of raising enough money to pay for a car or pay for insurance - you ll need to have enough money to cover every eventuality as time passes though a year.

Also remember that what you paid for your ponies may not be the same amount of money you get back for them.

However, as a collector I do believe that real life needs to always take precedence over and above ponyville...so if you need a car for personal reasons then maybe selling some of your collection to start you on the road to affording a car and insurance is the right way to go. Just make sure to hang on to the handful that are so special to you as you will regret parting with them.

[mlp4me]

If you're able to use public transportation I'd recommend passing on the car. That's an insane amount of money for insurance for one year. Cars are expensive to maintain and you'll have to pay for gas! Just think of all the ponies you can buy instead of paying for gallon/liter(?) of gas!
I understand a car is convienent but if you're still in school and if you don't have to work you really should enjoy not having that responsibility quite yet. (If you absolutely have to sell I'd be interested in helping you out.)
Best of luck with whatever you choose to do!

[Dragonflitter]

With the way cars are so expensive these days, your ponies might not even get you one year's worth of insurance. >.<

Then after the year is up, what are you going to do when you need to renew your insurance again? You won't have ponies to sell and you'll have to drop the insurance.

[FantasticFirefly]

My life, and people I care about come before my collection. A collection should make you happy when you see it, not stress you or make you think constantly of what that tied up money could be buying. Maybe start photographing and write up descriptions, use completed ebay listings to figure out what you may expect to get. and set those ponies aside that you -would- sell. Pack them away from the rest of the collection. then give it a couple weeks. If you feel the same then, even seeing an emptier display, make your sales post (bonus- the work is already done) if you decide to keep, add them back to the collection.

I sold off chunks of my collection over the years to cover more important things. I've sold things I've regretted for a while too (now I use the method above, and regret is no longer the case. ). Everything I sold I was able to replace in better condition later. (even one I thought I'd never find again). If you have rarer ponies, it may take a while to find a replacement once you have the funds again, but it can be done.

When I didn't have a lot of fun money available to me, I started getting a lot more of the cheap ponies. which are just as pretty as some of my rares! Maybe you can sell and save for the car you want, and can still collect, but maybe not $200 ponies, more like $3-$5 ponies.

[Icecrystalline]

Thank you everyone, I really think that there is no point at the moment because at the end of the day, by next year, I won't have any more ponies to sell toward car repairs, insurance and god only knows what else. Besides, although it is really depressing seeing others my age driving round, I'll be ok, mum says she'll take me wherever I need to go

Again, really huge thanks to everyone, it's really helped with such a difficult decision. xxx

[hokuspokus]

You might regret selling your ponies one day, if you'll do this...
And if you don't really nééd a car i'd say wait some years. You're only 17 and at that age it's hard to have so many costs. But these are just my thoughts, though.

[Vintergatan]

although it is really depressing seeing others my age driving round,

To be honest, I really don't understand this way of thinking. Some people have more money, some have less - not being able to afford something others can will always be a part of life and the worst thing you can do is to sacrifice your way of living in order to keep up with the others :S

also, living in a country where cars are treated like deities, i am frustrated by the mentality by which people turn to owning/driving cars when they really don't need to. Unless you absolutely can't live without a car (as in, you´re not well connected by public transport, you can't hitch a ride with someone else, you can't walk to your school/work etc) please, don't get a car just because of social pressure!

It's also not just about costs for you, think also about the environment. Each car on the road adds so much to the CO2 emissions and we no longer have the luxury of not caring.

sorry if this was too harsh, I don't mean to insult you or anything, I just think it's more important to decide what you *need* rather than what society tells you you should have.

[FlyingPonyMonster]

Also as a note be careful about the whole adding yourself to your mums insurance, depending on how you do it it's called 'fronting'' and against the law

http://m.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/oct/14/fronting-car-insurance-costs-parents?cat=money&type=article

[DaffyDilly]

Don't do it. Seriously.

Cars are expensive. If you do this now, you'll forever be selling your collection to pay for petrol or maintenance. I'm sorry but if you can't afford to replace your Blackberry, you can't afford to run a car.