Money Saved is Money Earned

 

Poor Richard Almanack

"A penny saved is twopence dear" proverb from Poor Richard Almanack is often mis-quoted as a penny saved is a penny earned. The wisdom in the concept no matter which quote you use is a good financial stewardship principal.

Value Drops in Cars is Your Gain

Value drops in cars is one of your best tools to have during a car purchase.  It is a double edged knife as well. If you purchase a vehicle at the wrong time it will cost you money.

A car has a natural depreciation cycle. If you can map the cycle and make your purchase accordingly you can make a value purchase. Of course there are many other factors to purchasing a car but, depreciation is the biggest factor to determining how much you pay for a car.



The 80/20 rule is in full swing here. According to Consumer Reports 48% of the costs of ownership of a car is the depreciation (for the first 5 years). According to the Consumer Reports data 24% of ownership is the fuel costs. These two factors collectively equal 72% of the ownership costs.

Consumer Reports further divided up the ownership costs between carrying costs and operating costs. The data Consumer Reports compiled is in more detail on their web site, but below is my breakdown:.

Drive Free For Life - Down Under

Often good ideas don't go anywhere. Sometimes they get feet and walk around a bit. The Dave Ramsey "Drive Free for Life" plan is a idea with feet. It walked all the way down under Barefoot via Scott Pape "The Barefoot Investor".