March 2010 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Out of curiosity...
The lease on my car is up in a few months. We've been searching around for a car and have finally found one we like... and have freed up the money it would cost for the monthly payments. I've also been lurking on the Money Matters board and when anyone posts their budgets with car payments over $300/month it seems that they all comment that that is a high amount for a payment. The car we're looking at would be over $400/month.
So if you wouldn't mind, what are your car payments... and are we crazy for thinking of spending over $400/month for a car payment?
[Poll]
Re: Out of curiosity...
BFP #1 2/28/12- 3/3/12 CP at 4w3d
BFP #2 4/1/12- 5/7/12 Missed M/C at 8w4d (measuring 6w3d)
TTC on hold until December
Well right now we're only looking at one car (the Mercury Milan). DH's company has a program where we only pay invoice price for the car... so even if we did go with the comparible, lower model one (the Ford Fusion) the difference would be so miniscle because the invoice prices are practically the same. It's the dealerships that jack up the prices.
Plus, as I said, we have the money for the payments- and to me it doesn't seem outragous as that is what most people around me's payments are. I guess this may be another situation like TK where it's like being an outsider.
I don't think $400 is that outrageous. If you can more than afford the payments and are getting a good price for the value then I don't see anything wrong with that. Any car that you buy is going to lose value as soon as you drive off of the lot, so if you can afford it then you might as well pay for the one you want.
Would this be your only car payment or are you still paying for H's? And you're not an outsider alot of our friends pay $400+ for car payments, we just are saving for a house and tend to live below our means!
BFP #1 2/28/12- 3/3/12 CP at 4w3d
BFP #2 4/1/12- 5/7/12 Missed M/C at 8w4d (measuring 6w3d)
TTC on hold until December
Neither of our cars have payments - they are both over 7 years old though.
When I did have a payment, it was nearly $500. I chose this higher payment because I could afford to pay that much per month and it was only for 2 years. Knowing my long-term financial planning, it was a good option for me.
If you are leasing and it's $400+ per month, it had better be one amazing car. If you are purchasing and get a better interest rate for the higher payment and a shorter timeframe AND can afford it, I say go for it.
We have been thinking about new cars and for us it comes to two things: how long will we be paying for it and how much per month. I'm all for shorter time periods with slightly higher payments so that we can do other things in a few years with the money we have allocated in the budget for a car.
I hate having debt. Another option would be to try to get a lower per-month payment and pay extra each month to pay down principle without feeling strained during months that a bit of extra cash would be helpful, like December.
Good luck with your decision.
H's cars are free and clear. His baby he has had since he was 16 and the car is now 17 years old... but he'd rather die than ever get rid of it. His truck was a college graduation gift from his parents so that is also completely paid off. We're just finding that since we're coming off a lease, and H refuses to go for another lease he wants to buy, that we're going to have higher payments no matter what since we don't have that trade in value.
I just think I need to stop paying attention to some of these boards. All the research I did said that your car payments shouldn't be more than 12-15% of your take home pay and a normal monthly payment is between $360-480, so I just understand how so many people are saying that spending over $300/month justifies a high car payment. I get the depreciation aspect but all cars depreciate and if I'm going to have it until I run it into the ground, I mine-as-well have a car I like (especially if I may have to drive it every day 45 miles each way starting in October).
Thanks though for reassuring me I'm not insane.
If you want that car and you can afford it, go for it.
The payment on my car is a little less than $300, but we can afford that. DH's car is paid for, so we only have the one payment. I had a specific car that I wanted when we went looking, so we figured out how to make it work for us.
My car is $284.71 a month, but it was also a 6-year loan and used with nothing down. DH doesn't have a car note but his car is 14 years old so he'll be needing another one soon.
My dad and brother worked at Ford so I got to study car notes a lot. Depending on the car and the age, $400 a month is not uncommon. Mercury's are also a bit more expensive than some companies like Ford and GM so you can expect to pay a bit more for one. But if you can afford it, then screw what other people think. I think the Milan's look nice!