The theory behind paying every week is that you incur slightly less interest. As loan interest is usually compounded daily, if you pay a week or three early, you pay less interest because you owe less, because you paid early.
Paying weekly is better. The interested is calculated daily, and it's calculated based on the outstanding principal. If you pay weekly, you will haves less outstanding principal on any given day than if you pay monthly, so daily interest calculation will be less.
Set your car payment budget
50% for needs such as housing, food and transportation — which, in this case, is your monthly car payment and related auto expenses. 30% for wants such as entertainment, travel and other nonessential items. 20% for savings, paying off credit cards and meeting long-range financial goals.
Extra payments made on your car loan usually go toward the principal balance, but you'll want to make sure. Some lenders might instead apply the extra money to future payments, including the interest, which is not what you want.
You'll pay less interest overall.
If you have a 60-month, 72-month or even 84-month auto loan, you'll pay quite a bit in interest over the loan term. As long as your loan doesn't have precomputed interest, paying extra can help reduce the total amount of interest you'll pay.
A person making $60,000 per year can afford about a $40,000 car based on calculating 15% of their monthly take-home pay and a 20% down payment on the car of $7,900. However, every person's finances are different and you might find that a car payment of approximately $600 per month is not affordable for you.
For large luxury models, $1,000-plus payments are the norm. Even a handful of buyers with subcompact cars have four-figure payments, likely due to having shorter loan terms, poor credit, and still owing money on previous car loans, according to Edmunds analysts.
It depends on how much income you have after your bills and expenses. But as a rule of thumb, your car payment should not exceed 15% of your post-tax monthly pay. For example, if after taxes, you make the U.S. median income of $37,773, you could shop for a car that costs up to $472 per month.
Interest savings and loan term reduction
Biweekly payments whittle down your balance quicker than monthly payments do and are one of the best strategies for a faster mortgage payoff. They also save you considerably on longer-term interest.
Save money on interest
Interest is typically spread out over the loan term. You'll pay less interest by paying off your loan early since the lender will have less time to collect interest from you.
The Debt You Have
For example, starting with high-interest credit card debt might make more sense before aggressively tackling your student loans. High-interest credit card debt means higher interest charges. Paying off your credit cards first could save you money in the long run.
Refinancing — or just making extra payments — are the best ways to pay off your car loan faster. Even if it's just a few extra dollars, you will reduce your debt and may cut a few months out of your loan.
Dealer Trick #1: Negotiating on Monthly Payments
Clever salespeople want you to focus only on low monthly payments because it gives them room to inflate other variables, such as the loan interest and length. This increases the dealer's profit — while you spend thousands more on the car overall.
Paying your mortgage weekly or fortnightly instead of monthly could reduce the total interest you pay over the life of the loan. Even though monthly repayments are the most common choice, it also results in the highest total interest repayments over time.
A $30,000 auto loan balance with an average interest rate of 5.0% paid over a 5 year term will have a monthly payment of $566. In total, the loan will cost $33,968 with $3,968 in interest.
Card rates are so high, in part, because of the Federal Reserve. The central bank raised rates dramatically in 2022 and 2023 to fight surging inflation. But that's not the whole reason. Credit card rates are higher now than they have ever been, including times when other interest rates were higher than they are today.
Finally, apply the 10% rule.
Take your monthly income and divide it by 10. Your total car costs each month should be no higher than that. That includes your car payment, insurance, maintenance, and gas. (Your insurance company should be able to give you an estimate before you buy the car.)
What Are the Disadvantages of a Large Down Payment? Providing more money down doesn't guarantee a lower interest rate, and it can cut into your savings. Depending on the vehicle you choose to buy, 50% can be a lot of money to put down on an auto loan.
The rule recommends making a 20% down payment on the car, taking four years to return the money to the lender, and keeping transportation costs at no more than 10% of your monthly income. As to how exactly it works requires some explanation.
NerdWallet recommends spending no more than 10% of your take-home pay on your monthly auto loan payment. So if your after-tax pay each month is $3,000, you could afford a $300 car payment. Check if you can really afford the payment by depositing that amount into a savings account for a few months.
Ideally, you want your extra payments to go towards the principal amount. However, many lenders will apply the extra payments to any interest accrued since your last payment and then apply anything left over to the principal amount. Other times, lenders may apply extra funds to next month's payment.
In most cases, borrowers should expect that any extra amounts they pay toward their car loan will reduce the principal balance.