To pay or not to pay a truck off
To start, I am debt free, the only debt waiting payments under my name is a college loan that’s only $120 a month, after bills, I have $3,000 ish money to throw away, atleast $500 is used for my hobby budget
Without getting too detailed because it would reveal more than you think: a relative of mine lost his job. It was a good job with high pay, additionally he drove around providing contractor services. HE had a used 2016 truck with a remaining balance of $13,000. I have donated at least $3,500 recently to him for some repairs and stuff. I’m not one to strangle family for money so there’s not too much rush on getting it back.
Anyways, he has found a job but it doesn’t pay that much right now, he’s under “probation period” and pay him like half the market rate or something. It’s pretty dog shit pay is all. So I’ve been covering the payments, $300 every 2 weeks. I was told I could sell the other beat up truck for $3,000 to get my money back. I can’t. The issue isn’t condition, it’s the age, it’s a 2006 truck. 20 years. Highest offer I got was $600.
No biggie, he has some specialized equipment we can sell to cover some costs while he’s on probation period. The problem is, I’m not getting any buyers fast enough. For reference, these equipment go for $500, I priced them at $150, their brand new open box and no-one’s buying at all. Even worse, if I sell all these merchandise, that is roughly only $2,000 total I'll get back, but that's all been going on the truck to wait for his raise. So if I sell everything, and put it in the truck, I'm not going to get a cent back soon.
My problem with all this starts with the current economic, political, market situations. I want to use this money to be financially stable once the storm's gone. I want to invest in rich metals like Silver to stay afloat when the real worth of the U.S dollar comes to light, but some of this money is going to the truck, plus the $3,500 I won't be getting back. HOWEVER, on the brighter side, IF we pay off the truck, that is valuable as it is his method to earn more money from side gigs. If we sold the truck, he would eventually have to pick another one up anyhow, and seeing what happened post covid with Trump, the prices of used/new vehicles will skyrocket.
To reiterate. Sell the truck, get my USD back while petrodollar is still strong and invest the money in "inflation proof" materials or Keep the Truck, and not worry about buying an overpriced rust bucket in the near future. They both seem wise decisions to me, but idk, I'm hoping outside perspective can guide me to the best path.