Money-Saving Tips from Tibs and Shell

[Pat Mustard]

My dad is in the business, so no matter what I do car wise, I do it through him.

Even if you pay outright for a vehicle, it is a major asset that only depreciates, unless you happen to hang on to a car for 30+ years that happens to turn into a classic, and there are good arguments to be made that this will never really happen anymore.

I treat transportation instead as a utility cost. When I lease, I pay less than I would pay for a normal car note, and the end of the line is that I haven't paid $25k with interest for a vehicle that is worth $8k when I'm done paying for it. Instead, I get a brand new vehicle with all the bells and whistles I want for the same lease payment.

I understand the risks of mileage overages and dents, but if you have one of those issues, you haven't found the right lease, or you haven't managed your miles properly. My father will always make sure I am well taken care of as far as not being taken advantage of by a dealer, as I'm working through him. I know how many miles I put on a car per year, and I also have a guy who will fix dents for cheap.

Overall, I would just rather have the newer car than a constantly depreciating hunk of metal.

In that case then, you're very lucky. Because you've someone to turn to you can ensure a fair deal. Someone like me without that advantage, though is generally safer to buy outright and keep the car.

As regards depreciation consider that the acknowledgement of the use you've gotten from the car. Yes it does go down too quick, but after six or seven years you're probably starting to edge ahead in utility.

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I'm pretty sure we average $35 a month in cash back usually, if not more.

Oh, and I forgot about this one I did the other day. If you use GEICO for car insurance, they will give you a discount if you pay the full policy up front rather than doing monthly payments. This is one of those situations where you have to have money to make money unfortunately.

We renewed our insurance and saved $40 by paying the entire policy at once.

The way it happens in Ireland is the insurers add about 7% onto the bill for monthly installments, which would have mean an extra €50 for me if I went dd.