Everyone Thinks Car Payments Are Normal. Wrong.

There’s a version of adulthood most people have accepted without questioning it. You graduate, get a job, and sign up for a car payment. It’s just what you do. It’s what everyone does.

And that, right there, is the problem.

Car payments aren’t a fact of life. Or at least they shouldn’t be. I bought my car second hand from someone who sold it one year after they bought it. Why — I’ll never know. It had under 9000 miles on it, perfect condition, and the gas mileage is insane. I buy gas once a month. That’s it.

I paid cash and it cost me 30% less than it cost the initial owner a year back. It even smelled new.

However, I remember a time not too long ago when I drove a friend home from wherever we were. She was sitting in the back and suddenly exclaimed: ‘Are you kidding me? You have to roll down the windows back here? Manually?! You don’t have automatic windows on this car?’ Nope, I don’t. I also don’t have a monthly car payment that’s bleeding me dry. She does. She wouldn’t have to if she accepted a 3 seconds of manual window rolling on her back doors.

Car payments aren’t a fact of life. They’re a financial habit so widespread that people have mistaken them for a requirement. They’re not. They’re a choice, and it’s one of the most quietly destructive choices you can make with your money.