How To Save Money For A Car

Towards the end of 2020 I bought a gently used car! It’s now my baby and you can watch my review and tour of my car on my YouTube channel. From that video, I often got questions on how I was able to save for the down payment and payments to follow. I figured why not share what helped me last year. I’ll be giving you my tips on how to save for a car in 2021.

Here we go!

Tip #1: Figure Out What You Can Afford

From monthly payments, insurance, and the overall maintenance of a car, buying a car can begin to get very pricey down the line. It’s important to know what you can realistically afford and have a monthly number in mind for what you are willing to pay on the car. This will allow you to better budget for what you are aiming for once you know your range.

Tip #2: Create A Timeline

Whether you’re aiming to buy a car in three months or at the end of 2021, it is going to be very vital you have a general time frame in mind for when you want to make your purchase so this way you will be able to effectively allocate how much money you need to save weekly and/or monthly. This put you on a better track to meet your deadline.

Tip #3: Create A Savings Account

With a savings account you will definitely want to do thorough research to make sure it’s a good fit for you and your lifestyle. This means that you find an account that is going to make you money in the long haul. If you want to take it to the next level (which I strongly suggest), get into setting up automatic savings. Whatever your income is, take some of. that percentage and set it up to directly go into your savings account. This really helped me because I didn’t even get to see the money from my checks and I didn’t have a chance to miss it because it directly went into my savings account.

Bonus Tip: Look into signing on money saving apps like Digit, Acorns, and Qapital. These apps will monitor your spending habits and take money that you don’t need and put it into your savings.

Tip #4: Create A Monthly Budget

If you want to stay committed to your savings goal a monthly budget by far will aid in you achieving that! I personally am a very hands on and visual person so I used a physical print out budget plan where I wrote down all of my living expenses, my income, and what I could spend a little cash on here and there. This helped me stay on track. There would be some months where I had to write down that I spent over the amount I allotted for on eating out. It doesn’t feel good to go over but you realize where you need to cut back.

I’m now giving away the Monthly Budget Template I still use to this day for FREE. Just click here and sign up for my weekly newsletter and the download link will be available right away.

This template will help you organize your finances to give you more financial understanding to make sure you’re on the right track of saving for a new car in 2021!

Tip #5: Get A Side Hustle

A side job can help close any saving gaps your primary source of income cannot cover. I live for a side hustle! Side jobs like babysitting, delivery driving, grocery shopping, or working a weekend part-time job will accelerate your process in saving money. Please also be mindful that there are tons of scams out there especially claiming that you can easily work from home. Make sure the job is legitimate; do your research on the job! Another thing to consider is that if your current schedule can even fit an extra side job. Sometimes we’re extremely busy and you never want to overwork yourself just to make money. Mental and physical health is most important!

Tip #6: Sell or Trade In Your Old Car

If your car still has a good engine, running heat/AC and overall in good condition, you’ll actually be surprised just how much it could be worth. I was able to get about $2,000 on a 2006 Toyota Corolla! Do your research to estimate4 your car’s value before putting it up for sell or trading it in. This way you know what it is worth and it’ll give you some wiggle room in your budgeting.

If you’ve found these tips helpful please let me know in the comments below and subscribe to stay in the know of GlobetrotterCurls!