New Van!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
New Van!
4
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 9:23am

Well, we did it.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-27-2005
In reply to: arstegemann
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 11:15am

Okay,first I want to say how completely jealous I am of your new minivan. We have one but it is the smallest they make and it has NO extras on it. We just paid it off and I'm itching to get a new one but instead we are using our car payment money to pay on other debt. WAHHHHHHH!!!!

Anyway, if it were me, I would probably use the $65 toward your van, BUT I also haven't been paying $65 extra towards my mortgage. I think you should do what makes you feel good. If keeping that money towards your mortgage makes you feel better then keep doing it, especially since you think you can get your van paid off early without that $65.

Congrats on the van!!!!
Cristin

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2004
In reply to: arstegemann
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 11:20am

Hi and congrats! That's good that you bought a preowned van and didn't lose most of it's value driving it off of the lot like a brand new one! We will never buy brand new because of that.

For me, It is just so motivating to knock off the small debts first. A lot of "experts" say to pay off higher interest rates first. It really depends on what you feel comfortable with. But I know what you mean about paying off that mortgage. If you don't mind~ What is the balance on your mortgage? Car loan?
If the car loan is smaller with a higher interest rate~ it could be paid off fairly quick. Then put all of that money on your mortgage. Meanwhile you can keep paying the $65 on your mortgage too if you can. I keep hearing people talking about the tax benefits of a mortgage but we have never qualified for that, I think the mortgage has to be really high~ so paying it off would be much more gratifying.

We'll be getting a new mortgage once our house is done being built of $145K. Our first home's mortgage was only $50k~~ so I'm flipping out a little. I want to pay that sucker off in 15 instead of 30 years like you. So I'm going to "try" to put a couple hundred extra a month on it.

BTW, cute baby!! Nicki

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-04-2003
In reply to: arstegemann
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 11:42am

Thanks for the input.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
In reply to: arstegemann
Thu, 03-02-2006 - 1:26pm

I think the 'finacially right' answer is to apply everything to the car loan and let the mortgage ride at minimum for right now because of the higher interest rate(although it is neglible difference) and the fact that the mortgage interest is likely deductible which essentially adjusts your mortgage interest rate so that the difference is more substantial. That being said, you are looking at a pretty ambitious payoff on the car w/double payments and still paying the extra on the mortgage so I can see why the 'right' answer for your family might be to continue doing what you're doing with the mortgage. If something changes though and you can't quite make as big a payment on the car, I would definitely switch the extra over to the car. I don't think there is ever a perfect answer for anyone...you just have to find the one you are most comfortable with, most closely matches your goals and that you are most likely to stick with.

The other thing about paying it off as fast as possible is that if, God forbid, it got wrecked, that would make the insurance payoff bigger so you could get a new car. I think that is part of what I hate most about the car payment thing is the jam it can leave you in after an accident if it gets totaled (especially early in the loan).

Peg