How To Save Money When You Buy A Car

“This is a Sponsored post all opinions are my own.“

The best thing I ever did was buy my car. It gave me my first experience on how the world works. I had never bought anything that I would have to pay for over time.   It was the first time I was a big girl, and I bought something that I couldn’t pay off the next month. It has been a long time since I was twenty but one thing hasn’t changed you need to do your research when you buy a car if you want to save money.

I know own four cars they are all paid off and I can tell you the secret to do the same thing.

 

1. Determine what you can afford. You will do this by listing all your expenses and adding in 20% for savings. Then you need to figure out your loan amount.
2. Go to Cars.com 
3.  Open up the Cars.com auto loan calculator  
4. Once you have figured out how much you plan to borrow if you plan to borrow add 10% to that amount because you will need to save for car repair and car maintenance.
5. Then you will have a good idea of what you can afford.
6. Once you know what you can afford you can search for the cars in your area that are in your price range.
7. You will need to look at more than the sticker price when making your decision. You need to look into what type of services the car will require and when. If you buy a used car with 30k miles does it need something large done by 36,000 miles? These are all important factors to consider when shopping for a car.
8. Once you have a good idea then use this information to compare the cars on Cars.com.
9. Then check for their availability and find who has the car you want at the price you can pay.

In order to, not have a loan I suggest buying a car that is 50% less of your projected budget and putting that money into an account. If you have to take out a loan this time if you save each month your next car should be able to be purchased in cash. They say cash is king and that is true. I have always gotten better deals by being able to write a check for my car over having to deal with the bank. The first car I bought was a lease so that I was able to put away cash for when the lease ended. Then I had enough money to buy a car that I still own. You know what they say you can have what you want but being able to afford it is important.

That is how I save money when buying a car.