My car was totaled 2 weeks ago, got a payout and now got a different vehicle. I financed through my credit union for 4.49% for 60 months. $257 monthly payments. I want to pay it off as fast as possible. I currently make around $1300 a week, my rent is $1200 (50/50 split at $600), electric is around $120-$200 right now. I grocery shop every 2 weeks costing about $200-$300, phone is $45, Wifi is $61, streaming/subscriptions are around $50, and other monthly bills are around $120. No idea what car insurance will cost me yet, I'm gonna assume $200 max. I was thinking I might be able to afford paying $750 extra per month. Should I do more?
How should I handle paying off a $13k car loan?
byu/quintavian inpersonalfinance
Posted by quintavian
5 Comments
4.49% is not an emergency, world is on fire rate.
You should put as much as you can towards the loan, while still leaving enough to cover daily expenses and save for a rainy day fund and retirement.
Start here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics.
>My car was totaled 2 weeks ago, got a payout and now got a different vehicle. I financed through my credit union for 4.49% for 60 months. $257 monthly payments. I want to pay it off as fast as possible.
why? 4.49 is a great rate.
You don’t have to be in a huge rush to pay down a 4.49% loan. You can if you want to, but I wouldn’t dip into emergency savings for it.
> No idea what car insurance will cost me yet, I’m gonna assume $200 max.
You should find this out BEFORE buying the car. And to be clear: are you saying that you already have this car, and do not have insurance on it? If that’s the case, you get that TODAY. You didn’t say where you live, but in the US, if you’re financing a car, you almost certainly need to have comprehensive and collision on it. Seriously do not drive this car until you’re insured.
that rate is low so $750 extra is already solid, just keep some savings on the side instead of throwing everything at it