I've felt your pain. I've despised my car payment too. I've written that check every month and prayed for the day when that $300+ would actually STAY in my bank account, rather than make it's monthly march to my lender.
Friends, that day, for me, has come. And it came earlier than tentatively planned. In my original plan, I was going to continue making payments for several more months. But at the bottom of my monthly statement, in tiny font, there was a little phone number with a note saying I could call to find out what my payoff amount would be. Last week, on a whim, I called that number. I found that if I paid off my car immediately, I would save about $400. That was more than a whole monthly payment....YES PLEASE!
I know what you are thinking..."Maggie...my payoff amount is still so large, this isn't even an option for me."
Yes. Many are still in this situation. I was too, not so long ago. But you can still help yourself. In addition to keeping track of your payoff amount as you get closer to the maturity of your loan, you should be thinking about how much extra you can make on your monthly payment. Even $35-50 extra bucks a month can help so much (although $100 is better!) because extra money, especially at the beginning or middle of your loan period, will go directly toward your principle, not the interest like most of your normal payment. It is incredible how much more quickly you will get that title and save money doing it.
With the car paid off, I can now start dreaming about what I will do with that extra money that'll stay in my account each month. Conveniently, if we start saving that amount of money for one year, that'll be about how much money we need for a trip to Ecuador next summer. In the mean time, the car is all ours!
Doesn't that sound great? Here's hoping you'll do what you can to call yourself a true car owner too!
Keep It Real (and paid for!)
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