My wife and I abhor car payments. When we had been married just a little more than two years, we decided that we were financially sound enough to purchase a “new” vehicle. In this case that meant one that was already 3 years old, but it was certainly new to us!
We bought a 3-year-old Ford Escape, and liked it quite a lot, but what we had not expected was just how restrictive that monthly car payment was. Just like a mortgage, it was inflexible and unmoving. Every month it demanded $300 out of our paychecks. Most months that was okay. We had planned for the cost, knew what to expect, and could afford those payments.
There were some months, though, where we were stretched painfully thin because of that payment. Those months were the ones that led us to one conclusion: We did not want to have car payments again. Ever.
I know that might seem somewhat extreme to you. If you have carried a car payment all your life, it might not really bother you. For some, their income is such that having a car payment, if reasonable, is just not that big of a deal. For us, it felt like a constant burden that could put us in a real bind should some unexpected circumstance befall us.
Because we were unestablished financially and did not have a lot of savings, that did not leave us the option to go purchase whatever car we wanted in cash, and therefore avoid car payments. It meant changing our mentality about the kinds of vehicles we would drive and what we needed from them. It would also mean giving up on comparing what we had to what others had (a good idea anyway).
We frequently talk about how the best plan is one you will follow through on. That is the case for car ownership too. You might have the means to buy a nicer car and want to do so. That is totally fine! Or you might have the need for a nicer care than we do because of demands that work places on you. If you put 20,000 miles annually on your vehicle, you probably cannot drive the kinds of cars we have over the past 8-10 years.
Regardless, I think it is valuable to share our experience so that if you are feeling trapped by car payments, you can know that there is another way to do things. Over the next few posts, I am going to be recalling stories from the past many years about our various vehicles and experiences, and the lessons we have learned along the way about owning a car with out payments.
It is possible, and you don’t have to be wealthy to do it!