I think everyone finds themselves in a situation where they need to make a big purchase and they need to do it fairly quickly.

You might remember that last year at this time my husband and I were saving for a new roof. And we were able to pull together the cash very quickly.

Now we need to get a new vehicle and will need to purchase it in the next five months.

Why that timeline? Well, that's just a few weeks before our new baby will be here.

In case you missed that news here is our announcement:

I foolishly thought I would be able to fit three car seats into the back seat of my car. But it turns out that is not the case. I tried, I couldn't make them fit. So now I will need to purchase a larger vehicle.

Also, our car does not have enough LATCH systems to support three car seats and I am NOT comfortable with a tether system.

Since we are a cash-only family, I really don't want to take out a car loan so that means we have five months to pile up the cash we need. It's a little stressful. I'm not going to lie. Whew!

But I know we can do it if we just press in and work hard. And here are three tips to making it all work if you find yourself in the same situation.

Have a plan

A few thousand dollars isn’t going to appear in my bank account magically. So Jason and I have had to sit down, look at our budget and figure out what our next step could be.

On our current income alone we just can't make that much money work. So we've had to come up with some ideas, cut some things out and just be content.

Make tough decisions

So there are things we had planned to do that now we are not planning to do. In the grand scheme of life these are not a big deal, but in the moment they stung a little. I’m already over it. We’re going to be having a hard candy Christmas, using lots of freebies to do gifts and just being frank with people, but hopefully, they will understand.

Find more income streams

Jason is fortunate because his job allow him to do side work in the same industry as long as it doesn’t interfere and he lets them know. Also, I have some things lined up to make some extra money in my business that I am just working hard to make work.

10 Side Hustles to Help You Earn Extra Income

It means for me taking on a few more jobs that I might otherwise say no to, but still falling within my personal moral standards. I won't work for just anyone and I won't work for companies with practices I don't agree with.

I know none of these are new ideas or that innovative, but I hope if you find yourself in the same boat they will inspire you.

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