Pursuit of Excellence

From the 1986 Chevy Cavalier to the 2000 Daewoo Nubira to the 1996 Ford Ranger to the 2004 Lincoln LS, and finally to the 2000 Ford Taurus, I’ve been through a lot of cars. Most of the cars were used cars given to me from my Dad. I only had one new car, which was the 2000 Daewoo Nubira, and I bought the 2004 Lincoln LS from a private seller. As far as I can remember, the 2000 Ford Taurus had over 100,000 and I think the odometer may have been adjusted. It was only within the past year that we had to replace Jill’s car, so I really didn’t want to go into more debt. However, the car was going to cost more to repair overall vs. replacing it. After searching a local dealership for a new car, I went to the local Hyundai dealership with my father-in-law and was considering a used 2019 Hyundai Elantra. In the end, I decided upon the 2020 Hyundai Elantra. It was brand new with less than 100 miles, and it came with some of the features I consider blessings such as a key fob and Bluetooth. These simple features made it so much easier for me to communicate handsfree and access my car. I haven’t had a new car since 2000 and this would be the first car that my wife and I would truly own.

One factor which made the decision a little easier for me was that the term of the car loan was for seven years at 0% with a minimum monthly payment of $238.39. Personally, I have never seen an offer like this before, and the Pandemic must be the cause of this scenario. I would’ve rather have paid cash or been able to put a significant down payment on the vehicle, but with everything happening, I know it is not possible. Also, our first child could be here any day now. Having a safer more reliable vehicle is a necessity. The car salesman tried to make me feel better about the purchase saying it was basically “free money,” which in my mind if it was truly free money, then I wouldn’t need to pay the loan back. However, I understand that at zero % interest, I was unlikely to find this deal again. I was also able to get the price decreased by trading in the Taurus. It wasn’t much but every penny helps, and the car barely made it to the dealership, so it was a personal win. Even with buying the car, I still attacked the credit card debt because it had the smallest balance, and it had the highest interest rate. When you first purchase a home, it is possible that your first mortgage payment isn’t due until at least 30 – 60 days. Even though it wasn’t due, we went ahead and paid a little toward the principal of the loan. Interest accrues daily and the more you attack the principal balance the less interest accrues because the principal balance is lower. At times, your journey to being debt free will have its downs but remember why you want to do it. What would it look like to have more of your income at the end of every month?

If you want to learn more about the self-lending principle or if you need a financial check-up, then contact me.

This month’s video is In Times of Fear, Here’s How to Focus on What Matters | Jim Kwik on Conversations with Tom from the Tom Bilyeu YouTube channel.

“The LORD will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.”
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Deuteronomy‬
‭28:12‬
‭NLT‬‬
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http://bible.com/116/deu.28.12.nlt‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

I believe in your journey to….

A Debt Free Me