(December 3, 2016 at 9:31 am)mh.brewer Wrote: Was it from a dealership (i.e. Ford/Chevy/Toyota) or just a used car dealer?

A Toyota dealership.

My big tip: When shopping in a supermarket always check the about to expire section. Especially if you're like me and cook forward for a few days (not so much now as I'm living at home) and freezing.

(December 3, 2016 at 9:51 am)Tazzycorn Wrote: My big tip: When shopping in a supermarket always check the about to expire section. Especially if you're like me and cook forward for a few days (not so much now as I'm living at home) and freezing.

I always look for reduced prices, no not the "sale" crap, but stuff on it's sell by date, or discontinued.

(December 3, 2016 at 5:18 am)Pandæmonium Wrote: This accountant approves. Never, ever buy new cars. The depreciation in a new vehicle is beyond a joke, far more than almost any other asset I can think of. Second hand is the way to go. You still lose money, but you lose a lot less. And never go for finance if you can afford cash. PCP and HP finance deals are always without exception some of the worst finance rates on the market. If you have to borrow, try a bank first or the credit card thing I mentioned above.

This was probably the biggest mistake we made money wise. We bought a 2014 Chevy Cruze in 2014 that was second-hand, so it wasn't full price but it was close enough. The silver lining is its a great car so I don't really mind about the value since I won't be selling it anytime soon.

My tip for cable is share with friends/family.

I don't pay for cable, by I do pay for Netflix and HBO Now. That costs me $30 a month. My brother pays for Hulu and Showtime. My parents have BrightHouse cable as part of their HOA, and we all have Amazon Prime.

We all share logins. So I can watch literally anything I want on any channel. I don't miss any football, any of my shows, and I get plenty of movies with Netflix/HBO/Showtime/Amazon.

Unfortunately I don't know anyone who has cable other than us. We got it earlier in the year and I haven't seen an online cheaper alternative that is reliable. I'd love to go online-only at some point but until then, cable fills that gap quite nicely.

We did get a good deal on it by combining it with our internet.

(December 3, 2016 at 10:07 am)Tiberius Wrote:

(December 3, 2016 at 5:18 am)Pandæmonium Wrote: This accountant approves. Never, ever buy new cars. The depreciation in a new vehicle is beyond a joke, far more than almost any other asset I can think of. Second hand is the way to go. You still lose money, but you lose a lot less. And never go for finance if you can afford cash. PCP and HP finance deals are always without exception some of the worst finance rates on the market. If you have to borrow, try a bank first or the credit card thing I mentioned above.

This was probably the biggest mistake we made money wise. We bought a 2014 Chevy Cruze in 2014 that was second-hand, so it wasn't full price but it was close enough. The silver lining is its a great car so I don't really mind about the value since I won't be selling it anytime soon.

Ugh. That car dealer was such an asshat too, but we really wanted a dark blue Chevy Cruze after we rented one for a camping trip. We got the bells and whistles too, which upped the cost. We'll be buying a truck in a few years (maybe sooner). We will definitely be buying that used, given the ticket prices on a good extended-cab pickup.

When you buy a used car from a dealership look for a car traded in that is not the same make as the dealership. They don't want to market it, they don't want to support it. If they don't sell it within a month they send it to a car auction. You can find these at sellmycar.com. Found a friend of mini a van with 70K miles for $3.5K.

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(December 3, 2016 at 10:36 am)Shell B Wrote:

(December 3, 2016 at 10:07 am)Tiberius Wrote: This was probably the biggest mistake we made money wise. We bought a 2014 Chevy Cruze in 2014 that was second-hand, so it wasn't full price but it was close enough. The silver lining is its a great car so I don't really mind about the value since I won't be selling it anytime soon.

Ugh. That car dealer was such an asshat too, but we really wanted a dark blue Chevy Cruze after we rented one for a camping trip. We got the bells and whistles too, which upped the cost. We'll be buying a truck in a few years (maybe sooner). We will definitely be buying that used, given the ticket prices on a good extended-cab pickup.

What do you want a truck for?

I keep track of mileage on the Equinox for Dr. appointments, it's deductible. Also, my ATV is entirely deductible, and so is the pickup truck.

As a farmer, gasoline I purchase in bulk for farm tractors is stored separately since it is taxed much less. It is also a different color so getting caught with it in the Equinox would be a ticketable offense.

Until a few years ago, it had lead in it too. Absolutely cannot get that anymore.

I'll never purchase a car again.

I bought my Subaru, and I love it, but I loathe paying on a car that by the time I'm done will be worth jack shit.

I will lease from now on. I don't mind not owning a thing that will be worth shit by the time I'm don't paying on it. Plus, I get a brand new car every three years or so.