How Much Car Can I Afford?: Don't Let the Cost of Owning One Drive You

This Element is an excerpt from Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want (ISBN: 9780132350099) by Gregory Karp. Available in print and digital formats.

Think smart, think “transportation”: escape the car payment debt trap!

Consumers figure, “I’ll always have a car payment. Everybody has one.” They don’t care what the car costs or how many years they’ll be paying it off. It’s the car payment debt trap: the never-ending cycle of financing automobiles. It robs many Americans of their wealth: They’re constantly funneling huge payments into assets that are plummeting in value.