'til 200,000 Miles Do Us Part
Looking for ways to free up some cash? Look no further than your driveway. As was pointed out in a recent MSN article, the average U.S. household spends a whopping $8,000 a year on transportation. That includes car payments, insurance, gas, repairs, and public transportation.
Matt's View
Breaking the cycle of financing cars is one of the wisest steps anyone can take toward wise money management. It might take a little while, but a great first step is deciding to keep your car as long as possible. You don't need to cross the million-mile threshold like a Wisconsin salesman did recently with his '89 Saab. But the U.S. Department of Transportation reports that the average life span of a vehicle is 12 years or 128,500 miles. That's a lot longer than the average person keeps their car (4 years/55,000 miles).
Once your car is paid off, take the amount you were sending to your finance company and send it to a money market fund. In three to four years you should have enough for a quality used car. And you'll have a sizable chunk of cash each month that you can put toward other goals.
Managing Money by The Book
- "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." - Matthew 7:24-25
Recommended Resources
- Money, Purpose, Joy - Discussion Guide
- If you want to take your relationship with money to a whole new level, bring the subject into your small group. It can be scary to open up about money, at least at first. But the "Money, Purpose, Joy Discussion...…Read the rest
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