In 2011, my brother was in Iraq (Army) and was dealing with an emergency at home. I stepped in and helped. I flew to North Carolina and collected his 16 year old daughter and his second car (really his ex-girlfriend's car in HIS name). My niece stayed with us for about a year, the Mazda hasn't left. I took over the payments in February of 2012.
For all intents and purposes, the car is ours. We drive it, care for it, and continue to make the payments. Once the car is paid for, my brother will transfer the title into our name. There were a few reasons why we did this.
1) To help my brother out
2) We wouldn't be able to get a new car at the rate he had (we had teens starting to drive)
3) The car was only 11 months old and in perfect condition
The light is finally near the end of the tunnel... Just under $6000 left. And I want to get it paid off as quickly as possible. So I spent the day figuring stuff out. Bottom line... the amount he pays to interest is SOOOO low, because a) we are near the end and b) his rate with USAA is phenomenal.
In doing the math, I realized that if we throw an additional $200 a month MINIMUM to the Mazda's principle, we could pay the car off 8 months early. We don't save a whole lot of interest (see a and b up there), but we would be saving the $320 payment each month (which of course we would start to throw at the Dodge - more on that later).
We have a weekly pizza night each Wednesday. We pay $50 for 2 XL pizzas and wings. That gives us dinner for 5 (or 6 if the DS's girlfriend is over) PLUS left overs for lunch for the DH and I on Thursdays, so two meals. But, if we eliminate that each month for the next 8 months, then we are in business. I can make homemade pizza and wings much cheaper... More work, but I will suck it up.
BONUS: If the DH goes in for OT for 2 days per pay period, once a month (or once or twice during the next 8 months), we could knock that out even faster (he generally brings in $1000 extra for two extra days of work, during holiday weeks it's even more).
So, we've got our eyes on the prize... getting the Mazda paid off by August 2016 (instead of February 2017).
The Mazda
September 13th, 2015 at 11:00 pm
September 13th, 2015 at 11:35 pm 1442187359
September 13th, 2015 at 11:36 pm 1442187408
I have no clue how to make wings, but I like that you are willing to do the work to save some cash for your goals!
September 13th, 2015 at 11:37 pm 1442187445
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