Bye-bye Mazda 3, hello Kia Soul!

So yesterday, we finally did it... we got rid of the BEST car ever :( We bought our Mazda 3 brand new in Feb of 2009 & it has been amazing for us. I was SOO sad to have to get rid of it, but it had to be done for our growing family. The back seat is really small, & the only place a rear-facing infant seat will fit, is in the middle seat. But, it won't fit right next to a toddler car seat because they are both so bulky. We also wanted to have a smaller payment. It wasn't necessarily NEEDED, but I hated paying that $335 a month & we are trying to save money in any way possible.

Anyways, this is what we got to replace the mazzy:

It's a 2011 Kia Soul. It doesn't have near as many cool features as the Mazda does (or really any at allll for that matter, haha!) but by getting this car, we were able to completely pay off our car with the trade in. It's also $100 less (exactly) a month. It does NOT look big at alll from the outside, but the backseat is much bigger. The truck is obviously smaller, the mazda's trunk was HUGE! but even that is bigger than it looks. The double stroller will fit back there just fine (: The thing that sucks though, is this car is a manual. . . I SUCK at driving manual! But this is the very basic model (I know, boring!) & the next model up would have been a few thousand more, because it has WAY more features & it's automatic. So I'm just gonna have to deal for awhile & practice, practice, practice driving this thing. It'll be worth it in the long run... we can do a lot with $100 extra every month! Oh, PLUS the insurance is cheaper, so that's nice (: Also, there is a full warranty on it, unlike any of the used cars we looked at, & that is a definite must. & the funny thing, this payment is CHEAPER than most of the used cars we looked at!
Anyways, I do like this car (except for the fact it doesn't have very many features - but like I said, I can deal :) but I already miss my Mazda SOOO much. I literally wanted to cry when we were pulling out of the parking lot of the car dealership. But it's always fun having a new car ;)