With many of the lockdown restrictions easing up, I was happy to realize that I now have greater mobility around the metro and even beyond. I now have more options on the places I can visit and even farther destinations that I can travel to. So now, I can start acting on my previous plans to wander around, see new sights and embrace new experiences.
A huge factor in these plans, of course, is transportation. Despite the waning number of cases, it is still a COVID-19 world and the risks posed by the pandemic is still very real. I have found that using my private vehicle, especially for out-of-town staycations, is still the safest, most convenient, most cost effective and most comfortable way to travel as opposed to doing so by public transportation or car rental.
For one thing, with only myself and my immediate family as passengers, we are able avoid contact with other people during the trip. Secondly, we don’t have to produce documents like antigen test results and vaccination cards just to board our car. Also, we don’t have to pay for luggage and other miscellaneous expenses usually encountered during commercial travel. Another plus point is that, since we are all relatively healthy and we are traveling inside our own vehicle, we don’t have to wear protective gear like facemasks, gloves or similar items that would hamper our comfort, and we have the freedom to make ourselves as comfortable as we see fit.
Clearly, owning a car opens up a world of fun possibilities when it comes to domestic travel.
If you are in the market for a new car, however, you should know that buying a car is one of the biggest purchase decisions you can make, and it is not one to take lightly. As shared by author Kathleen Elkins in this CNBC article, there are myriad pressing financial items to consider other than your vehicle’s purchase price. These include your car registration fees, automobile insurance, fuel consumption (especially with today’s soaring gas prices!), maintenance and parking fees. Really, all these could add up to quite a lot!
Even the car’s actual price can actually balloon up once you factor in sales taxes and loan interest rates, plus, of course, your dealer’s commissions.
What you don’t need is to have that nagging worry that your car purchase would eventually run your monthly budget to the ground.
What you do need is a tool that helps add up the costs of your car payments so you can plan your budget accordingly.
CarPaymentCalculator.net, for instance, is a site that helps you compute your car payments. It crunches the numbers for you, whether for your loan application or based on how much of your monthly budget you can allot to your car payments. It factors in items such as rebates or trade-in obligations, giving you a more complete picture of what your car purchase will actually cost you.
You can also compute for operating costs such as your gas budget or your car’s fuel efficiency, taking out a lot of the guess work when it comes to your car-related expenses.
This allows you to more accurately forecast your monthly expenses, enabling you to budget more effectively for your family’s basic needs, as well as for small luxuries, such as traveling to exciting destinations!
There should be more to your life than just worrying about your car payments. You should make room for the fun stuff, like enjoying the joys that owning a car brings you just like I did!
With a clearer picture of your car budget in mind, you can now take your initial steps towards your car purchase decision!
Let me know how it goes!
P.S. If your kiddos are like mine who get antsy during long trips, CarPaymentCalculator.net can also keep them entertained with its arcade of fun driving games like Cars Lightning Speed and Nick Racing Stars. Be sure to check these out!
Photo credits:
- Header photo by proostoleh on Freepik
- In-article photos by JESHOOTS.com, ANTONI SHKRABA and Oleksandr Pidvalnyi on Pexels.com
Jellybeans in the City 