5 Things This Millennial Did to Pay Off Her Car in 6 Months

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If you’re thinking about paying off your car early, you aren’t the only one.

And, it’s a great idea! A car payment is one of the biggest monthly expenses you’ll have.

It’s a great idea to work toward paying it off early so you can free up that income to save it, invest it, put toward another expense or purchase, etc.

So, how can you pay off your car early? How did this millennial pay off her car in 6 months?

Keep reading to find out!

Contents hide

1 How to Pay Off Your Car in 6 Months

2 1. She Made a Plan

3 2. She Made Extra Money

4 3. She Saved Like a Crazy Person

5 4. She Made Lifestyle Changes

6 5. She Reduced Expenses

7 Recommended Reading

How to Pay Off Your Car in 6 Months

This millennial owned a 4-year old SUV and had a car loan.

She was determined to pay it off and put together a plan to achieve that goal, which she did in under 3 months, eek!

Now, can YOU do this?

Yes!

You definitely can, but if it takes you longer, that’s totally cool too. Create a plan that fits your lifestyle best. Would it be worth it to live off ramen noodles for a year just to pay off your car early? For some yes, for some no. So, keep yourself in mind, don’t push yourself too hard and above all, keep your eye on the prize. Check out these 5 things this millennial did to pay off her car in 6 months…

1. She Made a Plan

This might sound so gimmicky but you gotta start with a plan. This is so simple. You don’t need to type it out or create a fancy report, though you could if you wanted. Just put your ideas on paper, in your planner, cell phone, on a piece of printer paper, etc.

Write down…

Your goal
Your plan
How you’ll execute
How you will hold yourself accountable and track your results

For me it was about checking in every month to see how much closer I was to my goal. I did this by checking my balance online and reviewing my budget to make sure I wasn’t financially or emotionally suffering in other areas of my life, to reach this goal. And, I wasn’t so I kept trucking forward.

2. She Made Extra Money

This is not a must but it definitely helps. Take up a side hustle. Use that extra money toward making a larger car payment to pay off your car loan faster. Here are some ideas:

Make $200/month taking online surveys (this one is a favorite)
Try Online Panels which pay $40 to $400+ each all online
Start an e-commerce store to make an extra $500/month with Shopify (I’ve done this over and over again with ease)
Make $250/month helping out neighbors (doing things like dog walking, babysitting, landscaping, washing cars, etc.)
Take up an online job (like copywriting, editing, graphic design, etc.)

There are a ton of ideas. Check out these 8 online jobs for college students. Psst…they’re great even if you’re not in college!

3. She Saved Like a Crazy Person

Up your savings game to put that money toward your car loan debt.

Ideas:

Try grocery pickup (this one WORKS!)
Carpool
Use one car instead of two for your family
Move to a cheaper area
Set a family budget
Cut out Starbucks and fast food
Try gas-saving apps like Gas Buddy
Use coupon/deal sites like Rakuten which gives you deals (for free) on your online shopping

4. She Made Lifestyle Changes

Here are some examples:

Cutting out fast food
Eliminating pricey memberships (like gym, subscription boxes, etc.)
Cutting back on expensive entertainment
No vacation this year
Lowering grocery bill by using cash-saving grocery apps (like Ibotta)

5. She Reduced Expenses

Like #4, reducing expenses is a big part of lifestyle change. Try using cashback sites to get a little money back off your purchases.

You can also do things like reduce your spending, join a personal finance app like Mint to track how you spend money, cook at home, and other habits to lower your everyday expenses.

Recommended Resources to Increase Your Income and Save Money

Credit Firm

Credit is something that you definitely need in life.

It affords most people the ability to buy house and buy a car as well as finance other large expenses and sometimes even unexpected costs that can arise.

Even if you have no plans to make a large purchase in the near future it’s still a great idea to make sure your credit is in check. There are so many little things that can impact your credit and often times you may be unaware Of these things impacting your credit score.

A high credit score of forts you a low interest-rate and a low payment where as a low credit score can mean the exact opposite and sometimes not even qualifying for that purchase you’re looking to make.

So with a choice of paying more or paying less, of course you want to pay less in to do that you want to make sure that you have the best credit score possible.

So take a look at Credit firm, which is a company that can help you review and improve your credit. It’s really great to have experts on your side and to take away the overwhelm and stress of trying to manage your credit on your own.

Take action starting today and check out credit firm.

Respondent

If you’re in a pickle and looking to make a few hundred dollars extra this month, look at online panels. I’ve done multiple panels, earning $100+ for each one. They are free to join and pay anywhere from $40 to $400+.

The most I’ve earned has been $400 on a single panel. It’s like taking a survey but you’ll be doing it interview-style, talking to the researcher on the phone, via email or online.

Check out all the open online panel opportunities on Respondent.

Rakuten

Did you know that you can save money on your online shopping? It’s like getting paid to shop. All you do is install the free cashback browser extension from Rakuten and you’ll get a popup when you land on a partner retail website. Click “Activate” to activate your cashback and after checkout, it will be applied to your Rakuten account. I earned around $28 very quickly after joining.

It’s not part-time income kind of money but it is extra money that you can get absolutely free, for doing what you’re doing anyway, online shopping.

Join using my affiliate link and you’ll get an instant $10 for signing up (it’s totally free).

Acorns

Considering investing? Not sure where to start?

Acorns helps you invest your spare change on autopilot. They round up your purchases and invest the difference for you. It’s fully automated investing, right at your fingertips. Take control, grow your money and more. This is one of my favorite investment companies.

Learn more and sign up to Acorns.

Chime

Looking for an online bank? Today, there are so many available, it’s tough to pick one.

I joined Chime within the last 6 months and I absolutely love them!

They send me daily balance notifications, alert me when a charge is declined, they have savings accounts and much more. I love their overdraft protection feature and it’s easier than ever to transfer money to friends and family. Their apps is one of the most streamlined, easy-to-use online banking apps I’ve encountered.

I found them through a discussion in a Facebook group I was spying on. It was a business group and the discussion was about how the girls in the group used Chime for their business banking for their sole proprietorship and it’s helped them separate business and personal expenses.

It’s a great use for that and also perfect for your personal banking.

Check them out here!