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Even Paid Off Vehicles are Expensive

04.24.2011 by Matt Jabs //

Tomorrow I’ll publish a more robust and detailed article on this subject but given how high gas prices are threatening to go, wanted to touch briefly on it today.

Vehicles are expensive to own!

Understanding that financing vehicles is more expensive than paying cash, let’s consider how much it costs Betsy and I to own our “paid off” vehicles… perhaps we should be riding our bikes more!

We currently own a 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix (hers) and a 2000 Jeep Cherokee (his).  Both vehicles have been paid off for years… but despite that fact how much are they costing us each month – and do we really need to own both?

No, we don’t need both, but will most likely hold on to both until one dies.  We will not, however, be replacing both.

Adding up our costs of insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc… we found that our 2 “paid off” vehicles are costing us roughly $750/month.  As mentioned above, I’m publishing a detailed article on the topic tomorrow so watch for that.  In the meantime, check out these other personal finance articles from around the web.

God bless.

Other solid personal finance articles

  • Save Money Purchasing Beef In Bulk – Betsy and I purchase a 1/4 of grass-fed beef every year and highly recommend it for savings and higher quality meat.
  • How Much House Can I Afford? – With the mortgage rates at their all time lows and the housing market still favoring buyers, this may be a good time to buy. But how could you tell how much house you can really afford and that you’ll be ready for homeownership?
  • YNAB 3 Budget Software Review – Here is another solid review of YNAB, the same budgeting software I recommend.
  • Where is My Tax Refund? – How to check the status of your tax refund.
  • Can you get a mortgage after Bankruptcy? – 3 years after filing Bankruptcy Debt Kid looks to find out if it’s possible to buy a house.
  • The Best Ways to Save for Retirement – Phil weighing in on helping you save for your nest-egg.
  • Save tax on RESP withdrawals – If you’re looking for info on RESP’s, Mike is the go-to-guy.
  • How Social Security Benefits Are Calculated – I’m glad Mike is writing about this… because I certainly wouldn’t want to!  🙂
  • Do You Need to Make a Will? – I think everyone should have a will, it greatly simplifies burdens on loved ones and allows you to give where you’d like.
  • How much do you (really) need in your emergency fund? – David helps us determine how much to save for emergencies.

Categories // Money Management, Rally Tags // automobile, cost

Order Water! – DFA Tip of the Week – 2/23/2009

02.23.2009 by Matt Jabs //

There are many ways to reduce costs in our every day lives, so to help do just that each Monday I will post a money saving “Tip of the Week”.

This weeks tip involves a subject my wife & I have been practicing lately; though I did not think to blog on the subject until I was sparked into action by a post on Satyam Nayak’s blog which he titles “Improbability Drive”.

When you go out to eat, instead of ordering a soda, coffee, tea, juice, milk, bottled water, or any other type of drink…simply order a glass of tap water.  My wife & I notice that most restaurants are charging between $1.75 and $2.25 for these beverages.  This is an incredible mark up and one that costs you nearly $5 every time you go out to eat.  If you drink alcohol, the cost is greatly increased; in fact if you purchase alcoholic drinks with your dinner you could easily spend half as much on liquids as you do on your meal!

Let’s say you go out to eat four times a month.  Using an average cost of $4 for drinks for you and your spouse (adjust cost accordingly per your situation) and adding tax for your purchase you will spend $17 every month on 8 drinks!  This money could be better utilized on that Netflix subscription you have been wanting to get, or perhaps $17 extra into your savings account.  Unless of course you like *ahem*, pardon the term…pissing your money away!

So next time you & your better half are out to dinner just order a nice tall tasty glass of ice water!

Click here to see all our past DFA Tips of the Week.

Categories // Spending, Tips Tags // cost, dining, eating, frugal, order, out, water

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