Wellness - Try on your Car Payment

Here is a helpful financial wellness tip that we ran across and wanted to share:

You already know that car loans cost less when you can pay a portion of a vehicle's purchase price in cash. Logically, this makes sense - the more you have for a down payment, the less you need to borrow. The challenge here is two-fold: first putting aside dollars every month to save for your down payment and secondly, being sure your auto loan monthly payment can fit your budget.

Here's a tactic that gets you closer to the down payment you wish you had and can also let you "try on" your car loan payment on a trial basis, no strings attached. For 3 to 6 months (or longer), try to put aside a portion of your paycheck that equals the amount you expect yoru car payment will be for your new vehicle. This will help you to:

1. Build up your down payment fund to an amount that can make an impact to the amount your borrow with your car loan.

2. Audition your car loan, with the luxury of stopping the "payment" if the amount is too much for your budget.

The best part about this plan is you can stop payments at any time becuase you're making the payments to yourself.

This "try on" tactic can serve as a reality check for your plans to buy a car. You might have the pleasant experience of realizing you can handle a car loan without too much pressure or you might learn you need to wait a big longer, save a bit more, or plan to buy a less expensive car. When you learn during this trial period will pay dividends when you do get your next vechicle.

This works for home loans as well!

From your Wellness Committee:
Angela Marino, Jennifer Jones and Robyn Purvin