I really do. I hate owing just about any money in any amount to any person. I hate putting more than $1000 a month on my credit card. I used to take advantage of the 0% offers from the big box stores on big purchases like TV’s and appliances. No longer, because I thought it was a good idea to borrow money for my new car.
And by new car of course I mean “new to me.” Because anyone who knows me knows I am a major cheap-ass, and have a really hard time spending money on an asset that will be worth 10% less in six months. I will dump money into my house, but cars not so much.
So back to financing my car. I wanted something a little bigger to haul stuff around for the house, and four wheel drive seemed like it would be worth having. So I purchased a 2005 trailblazer. It was a fine car; it met most of my needs. The problem was it cost $12,000 and I financed about half of it over 48 months. Payments were around $170 a month which is completely reasonable.
Anyone who is reading this is thinking “Hey $170 a month for a car is nothing!” and you would be right. However I am slightly crazy and hate owing people money. The only thing that is worse then owing someone money is not knowing how much you owe them!
The bank that the dealer did my loan with was some fly by night organization located in a one stoplight town. This bank was so advanced they did not have online account access, and their website only contained their contact information. This bank also did not bother sending out statements. The only thing they did send out was a coupon book. A coupon book? What year is it 1976?! So needless to say this bank was useless and I blindly threw money at the loan for about a year.
After that the loan stressed me out enough that I decided to pay the loan off, they sent me a statement after I requested it. I think it was from one of those printers we had in grade school where you have to tear the holes off both sides. I finally figured out how much I owed and paid the dang thing off.
So moral of the story for me is: Borrowing money to buy things you cannot currently afford is not worth the irritation that I feel from owing money on that particular item.

Posted by fubar1383 









