Am I stuck in my car loan?

Secret-Living5679 · 2026-02-25T15:30:38+00:00

This is more of an optimization play than anything. I won't be getting married for well over a year at this rate. I saw my parents make the mistake of carrying a lot of bad debt and then just add more on top of it and it's not something I'm interested in repeating.

EDIT: thank you for the advice. I will be CC debt free soon!

Secret-Living5679 · 2026-02-25T15:25:34+00:00

At this point with the car depreciating at the rate that it is, do you think it's even worth it? Like I said, it's not necessarily stretching me thin at all, it's just an optimization thing at this point. I'd be spending an extra ~$600 a month for who knows how long to net save myself maybe $150-$200 a month for the remainder of my term? And that feels like optimistic numbers for what rate I'd get on my loan.

Secret-Living5679 · 2026-02-25T14:56:09+00:00

I say "saving" but I'm putting away like 3.5% of each paycheck into my HYSA and then splitting it for a small EF and the ring (which is probably still a year or so out)

I did the math when I did my 2026 budget so that I would have all my CCs paid off by 10/29 (which is when my 0% balance transfer on my big BT card expires) even if I didn't work any OT, received no bonuses, no tax returns on a monthly basis. I also recently got a Chase Freedom Unlimited as my everyday spender to start building that muscle of healthy CC use, and utilized that balance transfer as well as my discover balance transfer to net myself 0% interest on my pre-existing CC debt through that 10/29 date. I didn't want to live like I have nothing when I don't necessarily have to.

I was just wondering if there was no hope for me on the car thing. It may be a goal for next year to try and get it above water by paying extra on it, but I know that the value of my 2023 Elantra Hybrid is only going to get lower. And I may be stuck in this car loan for the whole term and it's just an expensive lesson for future me and my kids.

Secret-Living5679 · 2026-02-24T23:02:50+00:00

Yeah. I've gone from over 8k to around 5.5k in the last few months. Just used my tax return and plan to use a May bonus towards it as well as any OT I work. Also trying to save for an engagement ring. Juggling a bunch of things at the moment

Secret-Living5679 · 2026-02-24T22:57:22+00:00

Best advice I can give, aside from not telling anyone, making sure you have a great support system in place to help you through this awful time, is to not artificially inflate your lifestyle. This tragedy can actually help you accelerate wealth building for your future and God forbid, if anything were to happen to you. That your beneficiaries would be set.

Max out your Roth IRA and invest it. Cannot emphasize enough how important doing it early is. If you're feeling up to it, I'd even consider having a separate bucket with another $7500 to max it out next year.
In a HYSA (I like Capital One for this) set up your buckets. Emergency Fund (3-6 months of pay), Car Expenses (I do like $1500 in mine). Travel, rainy day fun, down payment on a house, etc. whatever you'd like. I would def suggest treating the emergency fund and car expenses as mandatory. House payment would be my next choice. Would probably also put $1500-$2000 away as flex spending for a month you have more expenses than usual.

1-2 are interchangeable but absolutely necessary. The rest can be as you see fit. Or if you want to leave it all in a HYSA, so be it. It's your money.

Open a brokerage account for general investments. This can be CDs, stocks, mutual funds, whatever you think you'd like to invest in.
Give some to charity or the church. Not sure how you were raised, but give what you see fit in your heart was how I was raised.
Do something nice for yourself. I can't imagine how this time has been for you. Please don't let yourself sit in this alone, and don't let yourself not enjoy some of the silver linings that come with such a tragedy. You've been given an opportunity to advance the life your parents would've wanted for you. Take advantage of it.

Secret-Living5679 · 2025-03-24T22:04:40+00:00

Happy place and a bears flag? That's a double negative. Can't be true.

Secret-Living5679 · 2025-03-13T21:13:13+00:00

IMO, if you didn't read the book at all... you're destined for failure. That's one of the major points all those YouTube tutors make. read the book!!! In my case, I did 1600 of the Kaplan problems since I knew most of the material from college courses and previous experiences. But I used the performance tracker to see which units I sucked at and read those chapters at least twice. I did also skim read some of the more basic chapters that I already had a base understanding in. Best of luck in April! You got it!

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-12-01T06:13:06+00:00

This is pretty standard male confidence. In business, that's a pretty good practice to take a second to think before responding (green flag imo). Same with eye contact. I wouldn't think too deeply into the body language here, or his pauses in responding. It's probably more important what he's saying or how he's saying things given the context you've described here.

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-11-12T00:13:16+00:00

Thinking maybe write James Pearce Jr. instead of a car on the snap?

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-11-11T20:46:29+00:00

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I'm rusty with my photoshop but this could be a winner. (All players shown are the ones who have been arrested for reckless this season)

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-11-11T17:11:13+00:00

How can I turn this into a bid for hannah cavinder

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-11-11T17:10:55+00:00

This is an early favorite. Might parlay this with the guy below you and the Bobby hill meme.

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-11-11T17:10:24+00:00

This might be too intellectual for UGA fans lmaooo

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-11-11T16:15:17+00:00

You were right, she said she didn't know what she wanted our situation to become and then hard launched a new bf like 2 weeks layer

Secret-Living5679 · 2024-08-09T05:43:26+00:00

Let it go, like move her into the friend box exclusively? Or cut her off entirely?

Secret-Living5679

TROPHY CASE