Who has their truck Paid off?

I've likely already posted in this thread, but bought mine in April w/0% financing on 36 months... 32 payments left and the title will be in hand.

I could have paid cash and emptied my reservies in the process of doing so but figured I'd make interest on my $$$ and utilize the 0% to my advantage.

My wife and I are both fortunate to have good jobs, but apparently not as good as Cannondale as we still get to claim the interest paid on our student loans & house.

My house is financed at 4.5%, my wife and I have a total of approx 12k in student loan debt at 2.25% and she has a 2010 Camry financed on 60 months @ 0% - 48 payments left! and I have a 2010 Tacoma financed on 36 months @ 0% - 32 payments left! Other than this we are debt free - no revolving debt other than a gas card that I Pay-in-Full every month - so why use it? 15 cents cash back on every gallon of Exxon/Mobil gas purchased!

I think we are an example of utilizing interest rate promotions to our advantage.

 

Chase, thing is that those freaking 0% loan rates are so timing specific. Much as I hate debt, if I could have gotten 0% I would have. Since I loathe interest, we opted to pay for the Blue Beast outright. It hurt, it sucks, but I will have my title in 4 weeks (the Registry is slower that molasses) and we can take that monthly payment and just plop it in savings for the house.

The thing about the student loan interest is that you can only claim it under a certain annual income which has baffled my mind. Hell, I work with doctors who have $300,000 in student loan debt......that is over $2,000 per month.....and they can't claim a penny of it. So yes, while you can claim it, you should still wallop it with extra payments, then take all that money and pay off the house. Kill the debt and save it for charity donations, retirement, kids college, etc...,

We also wanted to pay cash, because the wife is thinking about kids at the same time she is wanting a house. I want only 1 payment every month.....the house. And I want that paid off as quickly as possible.

And paying the credit card off every month is smart. I only use our credit union's card because we get 1.25% cash back on it. Why not buy what I am already going to buy, and get a little extra coin to throw in the bank too?

 

I'm new in this thread but I gather I'll be a regular...

Where does RISK fit into that equation?

 

Paid cash when purchased. Brought price down to $15,175 out the door.

Edmonds.com the way to go. At the end of filling out what you are looking for it asks if you'd like a quote from dealerships in your area. I had 5 emails with quotes, 2 below invoice. I took the lowest one and emailed for total price out the door. When he replied, I copied/fwd to the other 4 and said thanks, but no thanks as I am obviously going for the lowest out the door price. Two responded with lower prices, I copied/fwd that lowest one to the other 4 and the original low bidder came back with another lower price which the rest said could not be done. Went to the dealership and bought the truck.

This totally takes the salesmans commission out of the picture as you end up only dealing with the General Manager, at least in my case and took just one day of emails.

This was back in Oct. 2007 and I picked up a 2008 regular cab. Had a full tank of gas, Simonize coating, Tacoma Bed mat thrown in. Talked the manager into a deal for a Tacoma cargo divider (display model) for $89 while waiting for the paperwork.

 

I've got my emergency fund started, and though I'm only 27 I have enough assets (savings & retirement funds) that I could cash out (and pay the taxes/penalties) the 401k etc. and be debt free other than the house if push came to shove.

The risk is that both my wife and I would have to be unemployed to not afford our bills/expenses, we can pay all bills/expenses on one of our incomes if something happened to the other.

 

I had my '06 paid off ..... so, what do I do? Buy a '10 AC SR5 of course.

 

You are doing pretty well for a 27 year old. I take it you do not have any kids. Still, at your age and with your student load debts, you would be better off paying cash for older but still good car and truck for yourself and your wife and taking the money you are spending every month on car and truck payments and using it to pay down your student debt and build up your savings account. Once you get your emergency fund, you don’t stop saving, you keep building up your savings and do some investing. Your 401K is fine, but you can also save some more money besides that. You really want to avoid dipping into the 401K if at all possible and it will be more possible if you have additional savings besides the emergency fund and your 401K.

When you get your savings to the point where you can buy a new car or truck with cash without depleting you savings account then go ahead. But depreciation will eat you alive with new cars. When dealers are giving deals on interest rates, they are making the money up some place else. A car or truck is not an investment, it is a depreciating asset and the more money you sink into depreciating assets the more money you are wasting. Let another guy buy the new truck and take most of the depreciation and then buy it when it is still reliable but not so shiny and sexy. Sexy and shiny is just showing off to other people and is an ego trip that does not pay the bills when things turn south. But it is your money and you spends your money and you take your changes.

 

All great and sound advice, however we both drove beaters that were F&C (mine a 95 hers a 97) - we bought hers with the "Cash for Clunkers" going on so even if they were making up the difference int he interest rate, they gave us $4500 for a down payment on a $1500 car!

Mine was completely different, I was actually looking for used and could have paid cash but would have been looking at, at least 23k for what I wanted with the options etc. I was able to buy new for 28k w/0% and a lifetime warranty (the local Toyota Dealership offers lifetime powertrain warranty on all NEW purchases) so I couldn't pass it up.

You are right on the no kids part! Thats why we can afford our toys and not have to struggle etc. I max out my 401k contribute (well not "max" but I do my company match + another 5%) and also have a Rother IRA that we contribute 15% of our income to. This isn't including our savings which totals between $500 and $1k per month that we add to it - and is already a 6 month emergency fund!

 

I have another 77 payments to go..she will be paid off right before I turn 30 lol.

 

I have about a year left of below $280.00 @month payments at 0% before my 09' DC is clear.

I am fortunate in that i could have payed all cash for it or could pay it off at any time, but at 0%...

 

Paid in full! I love it.

 

Paid in full.

 

Paid cash for it new

 

I wish!!!

 

Almost

 

paid mine off right before i turned 22

 

Paid cash for my 09 DC after returning from overseas.

 

Change on vote from "no" to "yes". Paid off my Tacoma last month.

 

Woo Hoo!

Great feeling isn't it?

 

My plan also, cept I buy every 5 years, pay for 5 drive free for 5, then it becomes the extra for the family for 5 years. At that point its a giveaway. I have done this with a 85 Dodge,91 Jeep, 99 Dodge and a 04 Vibe which is still in service.