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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:47 am Subject: Buy a used car and owe no one

I am a strong believer in owing nobody anything. All of my life I have purchased used cars, and end up with no monthly bill, and lower insurance. A used car may sound risky, but you can have a mechanic look it over before buying it. I just save my money until I have enough to buy a used car flat out. It is a wonderful feeling to have a possession and own it, actually being yours. I suggest that if you want something that is truly yours, and you only need liability insurance, then go for a used car. I only pay 87.00 dollars a month on car insurance. Could I purchase a new car? Sure, but then I would be indebted to some bank, and if I miss a payment, by even a day, they have the right to repossess it. So, I choose to avoid high payments, with interest, and do whatever I want to the vehicle, by simply opting to live with a used car. Your thoughts?

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:11 am Subject:

I absolutely agree with you...100%. I'm a girl so my insurance is even lower, $50 per month for full coverage. In my experience, it also saves you money to buy the used vehicle from an individual seller rather than the used car lot. It is a wonderful feeling to have an extra $300 per month in my pocket rather than going to interest on a new car.

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:13 am Subject:

Rach, that is something that I failed to mention, but you covered it for me, buy from an individual, not a marked up price dealer. Thank you for that add.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:24 pm Subject:

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 1:16 pm Subject:

My husband is a firm believer of buying cash cars, and now looking at it i can see where he is coming from. We currently have 3 vehicles, all of them are paid for. I do not care about the flashy cars, because when i see someone in those cars, i just shake my head and think "i hope you got a good deal on it", when you get older you get wiser.

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:30 pm Subject:

There's a freedom in having your car paid for!! Even if you don't have the cash to buy it outright, getting a small loan from your bank and paying it off fairly soon is better than a new car loan.

We built our credit up doing this- we went to our bank, got a loan for a used car, had them deduct the payment(it's never late this way) and paid it off.

When we needed a roof several years ago, the bank was happy to loan to us because of no late payments, and a paid off! Now we have all of our vehicles paid for, and yes, much lower insurance!..KAren

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:33 pm Subject:

Great job.

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 3:06 pm Subject:

I am definitely a great believer in "learn from your mistakes" and once I get my vehicles paid off I will NEVER buy a new one again! Both of our cars are still owed on and they are so ragged out it isn't even funny! We are paying 500 monthly for the two of them, that's almost a house payment, no wonder we can't get money saved for a down payment on a house!!! AHHHHHH!

Guest · Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 4:04 pm Subject:

There are so many ways to save money - car expenses are one of them. When I raised my kids in a working class town, a family had 2 cars - one was the "good" car and the other was the "work" car. The "good" car was usually used, but was considered a good car if it had less than 100,000 miles on it. The man of the family drove the work car. It usually had no air, poor heat, ripped seats and lots of rust. When it finally died, he would just go buy another one. My daugher and her husband have one good car and one "beater." One of them takes the bus to work and the other one drives - so someone is home right after the kids get home from school. I think they are smart. The beater is used for errands around town when another spouse is using the "good" car.

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:14 pm Subject:

That makes sense to me. My husband and I though about carpooling together but he goes in an hour before I do and he is 20miles further than I am from home. If an emergency came up, there would be nobody to get to the kids if I was at work with no transportation. We do not have public transportation where I am, wish we did!!!

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:41 pm Subject:

Nothing wrong with a beater, especially when it is paid for.

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:30 am Subject:

My husband always wants a Cool Newer car. I need him to read these posts. I so agree with all of you. I just paid cash for a car for my son and He loves it and I feel sooooooooooooooooooooo good about it.
We now have 4 cars with no monthly payments and an RV. I need to get rid of the RV and the 4th car is a collectors item that just collects dust.Also the 3rd car never gets used because DH has a company Van. (Just think how my driveway looks!)
Yet he would still like to trade the 3rd car for a newer model.

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 3:58 pm Subject:

Watch out for a man who will trade in an older model for a new one, they tend to do the same with women.

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:58 pm Subject: car loan

I had a VERY old car..a 1988 Baretta, until last year. I DESPERATLY needed another vehicle. I went through a good finance comapny and bought a 1997 Jeep Cherokee, for $1500. When I got my loan, I was able to get some extra money, too!! Payments are affordable for me. Knowing I 'got something myself' AND it shows, on my CR, I am making payments, as well.