I started bicycling a lot more this year because of the gas price crisis.  But oddly, it’s our car that has a lot to do with health in our family.

My wife developed a chronic illness in March.  We’re grateful there are medications to take care of it, but I am self employed and am insured on her company’s health plan.  But her company was shifting it’s insurance costs onto employees, which basically mean much bigger insurance premiums with reduced benefits.  When she got sick, and we realized her co-pay on meds was basically $1000 for the first month.  Add to that, my work has slowed down since 2007, so we were living near our credit limit and were categorized as “bad credit.”  Bottom line: these circumstances threw our finances into a whole new dimension.

I work at home, where we live near San Jose State University.  Her job is in Cupertino, so getting rid of the car, a major expense for us, hardly seemed possible.  So I got to thinking, how do I turn this asset into cash?

A friend suggested we go to Car Title Loans in San Jose for some fast cash.  Our old, trusty Corolla was our collateral, which makes sense because the blue book value on Toyotas holds up better than other models.  We borrowed money against it to cover those first few months of expensive treatments and related expenses.  I honestly think the emotional burden that was lifted with that has helped my wife get healthier.  I was relieved I didn’t have to go to a dicey storefront in an unfamiliar neighborhood.  Just as good, they have an online application that takes about 20 minutes.  It’s definitely the automobile title loan company I would go to again under similar circumstances.

-Abel B.