Little Red is FREE

We paid off the Mazda today!

I made Casey go IN to the bank with me. That's how excited I was. No one even congratulated us. What the heck, credit union?! Don't send me a satisfaction survey. No one offered to take a picture of us next to the car! But they sure do take a picture when you get a loan for 5 years on the freaking thing. Dave Ramsey would have a field day with that comparison! Whatever, i'll take a freaking selfie.

Moving on.

1 year and 3 months early!

Impressed? My original goal was to pay it off in 2 and a half years, but whatever. Early is early and a win in my book. I love, love, love reading other people's tips even though some of them don't work for me. So, here are ours.

How did we do it?

1. When I first bought the car, my payment was low enough for me to handle. I definitely didn't get in over my head. I liked having a payment I could afford. There was never a month where I was scared I couldn't make my payment.
2. I made sure I could pay extra on my loan. Read the fine print, did you know on some loans that comes with fees?! Make sure you check!
3. Round up. Most car  payments are a random amount "$208.75". I picked a number, still within my budget, and told myself it was my car payment. $220 was the number I picked and I NEVER paid below that because that number was my car payment in my mind. Usually, I paid well over that $220, but that was my number that I never went below. Every penny counts.
4. Our budget is loose. So, we budget more money for things like lunches out. If ever I bought pizza on my debit card and a friend paid me for half, the money they paid me back went towards a car payment instead of back into the checking account.
5. Sometimes I use my debit card for work. (It's often, I am horribly impatient when it comes to waiting for someone else to finish with the company card). When I get reimbursed, that money doesn't go back into checking. We already account for it being "gone" so I make a car payment.
Disclaimer: Case loathes that I do this step and it 100% ruins budgets, but whatev, it's what I'm into.
6. This one is random, and not really a step or tip, but one month the bank teller applied the truck, car payment, and the "extra" that I was paying all on the car. It sucked  when I had to make another truck payment but it's awesome now.

I realize some of my tips are not realistic for all. They also prove that we need to get better at budgeting, but I'm so excited to have a free car! I know, I know it's still not free, but I'm calling it that and it rocks.
Now, to start shopping for my SUV.

Kidding, kidding. We may like this one vehicle payment life. Now cross your fingers that no vehicles break!

PS-- We are debt snowballing. I super love Dave Ramsey and Casey loves excel. If you're into tips and tricks like this, let me know in the comments. I'll talk money with you all day long. Make it rain!