Keep the truck?

LOL good.

BTW, if you are financially sound enough to pay off your truck, I'm surprised you are worried about $8K at 2%.

I put half down on my '11 sport and have a tiny payment well under $300 per month. Most people are probably paying $500 or $700 per month...

I just think you are in a pretty good situation, better than if you sold it.

 

I'm pretty financially sound. I took a pay cut for the new assignment (lost about $1k per month in extra pay) and it took me awhile to adjust my lifestyle (ie: buying a truck, vacations, dining out, etc...) but now I have a good budget. My financial situation next year is a little uncertain so that's what has me worried about any debt.

 

I think the way this economy is right now, everyone is on edge...

 

2.5 years with minimum payments? That sounds awesome to me!

 

x2

 

I've had a loan through USAA too. Good company to work with if you ask me.

I will most likely be buying my new Tacoma with another loan from them soon.

 

Ah, TW, where people come for legal help, relationship advice, financial planning tips, and contraception by plasti-dipping your third member

Well, looks like 96% of responses say to keep the truck. I would agree.

2% interest is very low. If you can be disciplined with your money and take some time to make investments, it's relatively easy to do much better than 2% returns.

 

I don't know what I would do in the OP's position, with the job prospect and all. I know that 2% interest wouldn't bother me at all normally. I wish that was the only debt I had. The house, truck, and motorcycle are all higher than that. I do pay all of those aggressively though, while my student loans (right at 2%) don't get more than the minimum payment.

If it's any consolation, even with a mortgage (old house), car, motorcycle, and student loan payments, my last credit score (for the new house) was right around 780. So as long as you're not putting yourself in a hole you can't get out of, debt isn't necessarily a bad thing. As it's already been said, it's all about the debt-to-asset ratio.

With the job change though, I understand your uneasiness. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide.

 

I'm in the middle of the same thing. I just bought a 2002, and am trying to sell the 2010. Unfortunately trucks aren't moving up here with the price of gas right now.

 

Sounds like you have been listening to Dave Ramsey! That is a good plan, I think even Dave says if you can pay your dept off in less than two years you are probably ok to keep your possessions. But really, it comes down to how much hardship the dept causes you. If you can attack the dept with "gazelle like intensity" (like your quote suggest) and you could knock it out in two years paying only 2% you should keep the truck. The 2% interest over two years on 10K is not that much compared to the potential mess you could be in if you sell your truck for less than its worth.

Good Luck!

Edit:

I am not trying to sell anything here but Dave Ramsey's web site and podcast have changed the way I look at my financial planning, he has great advice on retirement, health insurance, paying off dept, and just being smart with your money. Dare I say it has change my life. Just recommending it because I use it and this seems like an appropriate place to post it.

http://www.daveramsey.com/home/

 

With all the money you spend to drive, through gasoline and insurance and payments, I say make damn sure you're driving something thats worth it.

I know damn well that most vehicles wouldn't handle my abuse. My truck has been a champ and I love it more now than when I first got it. I'm at 79,600 and I got it with 27K.

 

Thanks for all of the sound advice TW. I'll be keeping the truck and hopefully paying off the other debt by the end of the year.

I've heard some Dave Ramsey via podcast. Good financial message but his political and religious views are hard to swallow at times.

Here's a few pictures from a quick wash and wax this afternoon.

 

Nice Truck I am glad you decided to keep it! Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but the thing is after listening to Dave I have never looked at dept the same, and while I can't say I agree with 100% of what he says I can definitely say I find him more agreeable then a lot of other talk show host. Come to think of it, I don't believe you could ever agree with someone 100% who talks about the controversial topics like Dave does.

 

i took a dave ramsey class one time. he is right on most things, yes, but when you listen to him closely, he's not telling you anything you shouldn't already know in my opinion. "don't spend money you don't have" is his final message from what i take out of it. I didn't like how to take the class you had to buy a hundred dollars worth of cd's and dvd's and stuff. some of it leather bound?!! broke people really need that don't they?! . . . my economics professor (who actually was a very cool, down to earth christian guy as well actually) didn't really care much for him either.

but sorry for derailing. good luck with your debt, and congrats on being able to keep the truck.

 

Yes, its ok to temporarily halt retirement planning to take care of debt. I would halt your retirement for a year, keep the truck and get agressive about the other debt.

 

Most of the religious parts of Dave's radio show come from parts of the bible which deal generally with how to live, handle money and conduct yourself with friends and family. I dont go to Church at all but I draw wisdom from the bible in certain areas. Dave is very blunt about the message he brings: "this is the advice your grandmother would have told you - only we leave our teeth in"

in the last 2 years, I've snowballed a car loan at 5k, a personal loan at 8k and 10k on a student loan. My girlfriend and I had never really done a budget before but after reading his book Total Money Makeover we realized we were idiots for just spending what we had and limping to payday. I've been able to get our finances on track and her on board with what we're doing.

There's now $2k/mo extra to attack bills and enough that we can put aside for a wedding in Key West in the spring of 2013

 

I vote with the many others saying if you have to have a vehicle, there is no vehicle as good as a paid off vehicle. Especially if it's a fairly new Tacoma, one of the highest reliablility vehicles in the world. You now have years and years ahead with no car payment plus probably minimal maintenence costs making it much easier to pay down any other debts.

 

Thanks guys. TW is amazing. I hope this thread helps others like it helped me. Debt should be more scary to most than it is. I'm glad I have a paid off truck that will last 20 years! Maybe a toy car isn't too far off. Cash of course

 

And I am watching and reading Band of Brothers this week....makes me feel like a fool for worrying about any of my problems. Thanks to those who serve. I'm uniformed, but my life is easy compared to most military.