AITA for using money we “earmarked” for our 6 month old’s college fund to buy back the exact 1972 Ford Bronco I owned as a teenager?

A Redditor impulsively used $23,000—including money intended for their 6-month-old’s college fund—to repurchase a sentimental 1972 Ford Bronco from their youth. While the truck holds deep emotional value, the decision has caused conflict with their wife and in-laws, who feel betrayed. The Redditor wonders if this act of passion can be justified or if they crossed a line. Read the full story below…

‘ AITA for using money we “earmarked” for our 6 month old’s college fund to buy back the exact 1972 Ford Bronco I owned as a teenager?’

I realize that on paper I am totally the a**hole but when you dig deeper into my motivations I’m hoping its more of a grey area that anything else and maybe even I did the right thing. When I was a teenager my dad bought me a classic 1972 Ford Bronco. It was my true passion and I don’t recall a memory from high school that somehow doesn’t involve that truck.

Plus my dad and I would spend hours and hours working on it together and we went through that especially father/son rough patch when I was teenager it was always that Bronco that brought us back together. I made a huge mistake and sold the truck when I turned 19 and my dad died of a heart attack two months later so while not logical,

I’ve always felt a karmic connection between the two events. We had a baby in early February. she is our first and the light of my life. My wife is doing well but she’s back at work and she’s realized that she hates all the day cares we’ve tried and really wants to be a stay at home mom and plus she’s still very hormonal from delivery,

lack of sleep and breastfeeding so she’s having a rough time and is angry a lot. I guess I need to say this. Two weeks ago I was driving through our town’s warehouse district and saw a Bronco that was pretty beat up but resembled mine. I stopped just for nostalgias sake and the owner came out and let me take a look inside.

My dad and I had glued a wheat penny under the dash as sort of security measure so I just sort of checked and goddamned if it wasn’t MY BRONCO!
I asked him if he’d ever consider selling it, he said actually someone was on I-25 as we spoke from Colorado to buy it for $21000. I freaked out and asked him if I could buy it right then and there for $23000.

He said if I could come up with the cash, yes. I had been procrastinating setting up a 529 so I had $12000 in savings that my wife’s parents had given us, I maxed out my credit card to Venmo and my mom bought down a check for $4000 and I f**king drove away in my old car.

It was like a dream come true. Like a literal dream come true. It needs a lot of work I can’t afford right now but it’s mine. Like in my driveway mine. Again. I can’t even describe what a joy this is. My wife and her parents are furious with me.

They feel I was deceptive, that a “real” man would have sacrificed anything and everything so my wife could go stay at home with his kids and that’s setting aside that they gave us the money for a college fund. My point is my daughter is only 6 months old, we have 18 years to set up a college fund of her.

But this Bronco means everything to me and if I wouldn’t have acted it would have been gone forever. Now it can be that same connection between me and my kids. To me it’s the literal meaning of happiness. Like I said on paper–a**hole…whole story–grey area. How do you guys see it?

See what others had to share with OP:

SnausageFest −  Jesus dude, yes, YTA. Who spends $23K without so much as speaking to their spouse first? Assholes do.

madisonpreggers −  wow, I have an almost 7 month old and your post literally ruined my day. YTA for this line alone: she’s still very hormonal from delivery, lack of sleep and breastfeeding so she’s having a rough time and is angry a lot.

Really? She’s not angry because her husband is the type of person who blew a f**king college fund on a junked out car? Wow this one really affected me. I’m going to leave this and try not to check back in because I’m heartbroken for your wife and daughter.

Devourer_of_felines −  I had $12000 in savings that **my wife’s parents had given us**, I maxed out my credit card to Venmo and my mom bought down a check for $4000.

Your in laws gave you guys $12k so y’all could get a head start in life as a family and you blew the lot on top of an additional $7k in credit card debt, all without a single word to your wife and the mother of “the light of my life”?. YTA.

Petwins −  YTA, its not a grey area, you used your kids college fund for a car.

lizardjustice −  YTA. The backstory doesn’t make you any less of an a**hole it just explains why you acted like an a**hole.

[Reddit User] −  i hope this isn’t real. this is one of the worst justifications for theft that I’ve seen in a while.. you’re so selfish.

wanderingdev −  Jesus Christ. YTA. You’re not only the a**hole, you’ll be lucky if you don’t end up divorced. I would have left you that day because I would absolutely never be in a relationship with anyone who. 1. made a purchase of that amount – WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT FIRST

2. maxed out their credit card for a memory – WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT FIRST. 3. borrowed money from other people on a whim – WITHOUT DISCUSSING IT FIRST. 4.  put our daughter’s financial future at risk

Honestly, 4 would be the smallest issue because, as you say, she’s young. But the complete financial and communication betrayal, your utter selfishness and disregard for your family,

and your amazing levels of disrespect for your wife would mean I would never be able to trust you again.
You are a terrible husband, father, and partner. Grovel until your knees bleed, sell the stupid bronco, and hope she doesn’t run fast and far with your kid.

SuB2007 −  YTA. This whole story is a reflection of your priorities. You have a wife and a child who presumably love you very much, and in-laws who are generous in helping you and your wife provide for your child’s future needs.

And yet when you get an opportunity to show your commitment to all of those wonderful people OR do something that is super incredibly meaningful to you and only you, you don’t hesitate to disrespect your wife, cheat your in-laws, and steal from your child. What YOU wanted trumped what every one of them would have though or felt about your actions.

You’re trying to justify what you did by saying “It’ll be my daughter’s and we’ll have such good memories and it will be worth so much more and we’ll recoup the money I foolishly spent.” And, in truth, you could make great memories with your daughter in this car. However, you could make great memories with your daughter with any car.

This car is only important because it makes the memories better FOR YOU, meaning even your justification is selfish. On top of that, ask yourself why you didn’t pause for 30 seconds and call your wife to ask her about this purchase before you made it. Was it because you didn’t even think about her because you were so focused on yourself?

Was it because you didn’t think her opinion mattered because this was SO important to you you didn’t care what she thought? Was it because you had a sneaking suspicion she’d say no and wanted to ask for forgiveness instead of permission?

I get that it was important to you, but $23K is a LOT to spend on something that is only important to you, and is just a slap in the face to those involved when it wasn’t even your money to spend in the first place.

fustiIarian −  YTA. If that car is more important to you than your child’s education, your wife/her parents’ trust, your credit score, your/your daughter’s/your wife’s financial security, you should divorce your wife, leave your child, and marry the car.

You did not consult your wife and spent tens of thousands of dollars (the majority of which was communal savings for your daughter’s college fund that was a gift from your in-laws) without so much as a phone call, yet you had plenty of time to contact your mother to help you in this hare brained scheme.

This was irresponsible to an honestly cruel degree. College takes time to save up for, and the $12,000 could’ve sat and accrued some amazing intrest if you had stopped to think. Plus, this car is already pushing 50 years old.

It’s not worth that kind of money in my opinion- and even if it was, you’ve traded MAYBE five to ten more years of it running (with constant and expensive repairs) for your daughter’s future and your relationship with your wife. That’s a spectacularly bad deal to carry for the rest of your life for a few more years of reminiscing about your dad.

I’m sorry you lost him so early, but I can’t imagine any parent thinking this was a good idea- your mom included. I’d mark that everyone sucks just because your mother took it upon herself to prioritize a car over her granddaughter and daughter in law, but your wife doesn’t deserve even the slightest implication of being in the wrong over your stupidity.

[Reddit User] −  YTA holy s**t. You spent so much money that was not remotely yours to spend. You basically stole from your in-laws, your wife, and your daughter

Was this a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reclaim joy and build a future family tradition, or did the Redditor make a selfish and irresponsible financial decision? What would you have done in this situation? Share your thoughts!