How to Save Faster for a Bigger Down Payment on a New Car
When you’re getting ready to buy a new car, it’s important to put together the largest possible down payment.
Putting more down will help you secure a lower interest rate, pay less per month and eliminate your loan as quickly as possible.
Here are four clever ways to save faster and put a bigger down payment on your new car.
Cut Restaurant Meals From Your Budget
Though the bills seem small individually, restaurant meals add up quickly over time.
As a result, not going out to eat is a quick and easy way to bulk up your savings for a large purchase.
Even if you only spend $50 a week on restaurant meals, going without for 10 weeks will allow you to increase your down payment by $500.
If you can stay in the habit of avoiding restaurants once you buy the car, you can continue putting this extra money toward your loan to pay it off more quickly.
Take a Part-time Job for a Few Months
One of the most effective ways to save extra money is to increase your income by taking on a part-time job.
By picking up a few extra shifts in the evenings each week, you can rapidly put together a good chunk of money for your down payment.
In order for this approach to be effective, it’s very important for you to put all of your earnings from your second job away for the down payment.
Don’t allow that money to get spent on household expenses or become an ordinary part of your lifestyle, or you’ll have a hard time building up funds for the car purchase.
Set Your Tax Return Aside
If you get an annual return on your taxes, setting it aside is an easy way to make a large one-time addition to your down payment savings.
Although it’s somewhat dependent on the time of year, using a tax refund is one of the quickest ways to increase your savings.
You can also put bonuses from work or distributions from investments aside if you expect to receive them.
Sell Your Old Car
The final thing you should do to save up a larger down payment is to sell your old car and put the proceeds from the sale into the new one.
If you have a reasonably good used car, you can sell it to a private buyer and avoid dealer fees.
If your car is an old beater that has reached the end of its useful life, consider contacting a junk car removal service and seeing what it’s worth as scrap.
These four simple steps will quickly allow you to save up a considerable down payment for your new car.
The more of these ideas you implement and the more you can save, the better your financial position will be when you finally make the purchase.
Category: Car Purchase