Crazy Money! Car Payments Exceed $1,000

It’s Crazy Money Day!

Are you financing a vehicle? Financial experts generally advise against spending more than 10% of your income to paying off a car. Unfortunately, many don’t know that or ignore the advice. Edmunds reports that more than 25% of car buyers pay monthly car payments of $1,000 or more  Plus, car buyers are financing at higher interest rates. In the last quarter of 2022, 17 % of new car purchases resulted in negative equity. They sign the papers, get the keys, and drive off the lot with a car valued less than what they paid for it! Now that’s crazy!

Paying cash for a vehicle is the best way to avoid overpaying. However, many people just don’t prepare and save for that. So let me challenge you with a few questions. Do you even need a car? Can you temporarily share one? My wife and I have been sharing one for more than 8 months. We look at our schedules and make it work. It’s been very eye-opening. Many high school and college students don’t need their own vehicles. Can they borrow yours? How about teaching them to work, save and pay cash for their own? Unless you pay cash for a reliable used car, it makes more sense to delay the purchase. Put those car payments into a savings account. That’s a smart financial move! God promises to satisfy every need that we have but not our every desire. Continually satisfying our desires moves us outside of God’s will. It leads to financial bondage and limits our ability to serve others. I want you to avoid $1,000 a month car payment like the plague!

If you’ve been blessed with My MoneyLife, I invite you to discover the Crown Stewardship Podcasts. You can subscribe on Spotify and iTunes, or listen at crown.org.