What are the Money Moments that Matter?

This month at BrightDime we’re talking about Money Moments that Matter. These “moments that matter” are really just big financial decisions that may not appear to be such a big deal at first glance. They are choices that set you on a path that’s difficult, if not impossible, to get off of. We’ll cover some more common examples of these moments over the next few weeks but today we’re focusing on two that matter mostly because of one thing: the difference between what you can afford and what you can buy.

Buying a home and buying a car are two of the biggest purchases most of us will ever make. Most people borrow money in the form of mortgages and auto loans to do it. And we often think that what we can borrow is the same thing as what we can afford. But it’s not. Taking out a mortgage or a car loan commits you to making monthly payments for YEARS to come. Don’t think of it as a single decision; think of it as one chance to make a good decision every single month for a long time. For a mortgage, that decision repeats itself for 30 years, and for a car loan it’s usually at least 5 years.