I just started checking the Chase Auto Finance website to make sure they received the payoff for my car loan. I just mailed the payment on Sunday so I'm sure it probably hasn't made it to them yet. I should have sent it via overnight mail but I didn't think it was worth it to pay the extra fee. The payoff amount given was good thru June 2, 2008 so I was pretty sure the payment would make it to them before that. I'd just made my regular payment two weeks ago so I didn't need to worry about the payment being late.
The funny thing about paying off my car loan is that I wasn't just paying off the loan on my current vehicle; I was also paying for all of the negative equity I'd rolled in from my past new car splurges. I bought my first new car when I was 18 and continued to buy a new car every 2-3 years. Each time, I would just roll in the negative equity from the prior vehicle and take out a whole new loan. It floored me when I thought about that I've been making car payments for the last twelve years!!!
After all those years of making car payments, I will finally own a relatively new (2006 model) vehicle outright. It makes me sick to think of how much money I've given to the finance companies but at least I won't need to make a another vehicle purchase for at least 5-10 years. This gives me plenty of time to save for my next pre-owned vehicle that I will be paying for in cash.
Once my car loan is showing a zero balance, I will have finally put twelve years of past mistakes behind me and have a fresh start.
Reminder: If you are a new visitor, please take a moment to subscribe to SingleGuyMoney.
Image Credit: Omar Omar
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Congratulations on paying off that loan! I'm sure it's a great feeling.
WOW. It's easy to be oblivious when you are in the middle of something like that, but when you wake up and realize you've been doing something like that for that long..... it's just nice to wake up.
Congrats on the pay off. Does it drive different?
@erin: It feels great!!
@(not) the jet set: It drives like a brand new car!!!
Congrats on paying it off.
there's no better feeling than paying off a loan. and you shouldn't feel too bad about getting a new car/loan every few years. if you can afford it, it's a great luxury.