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I used to put $50 of gas in my Nissan Frontier weekly. Now I'm putting about $35-$40 in my hybrid Maverick every other week. Financially I've kept the same routine; except I put $45 in the tank every other week and $50 in Apple stock every other week. At the end of the year I will have put $1,300 (26 x $50) into Apple stock. If Apple stock increases at 20% (about average for Apple), that would be $1,430 after 1 year. At the end of 3 years, I will have put in $3,900, and it would be worth roughly $5,205. At the end of 4 years I'd have $7,676; and at 5 years I'd have $10,641.
And it's all because I just kept doing what I was doing before but putting the money in a different place. If you don't want to put it in Apple, put it in Microsoft, or AMD, or a high yield CD, or a college fund. The point is, be smart with your money. I'm paying the same for my Maverick as I was for my Frontier. So I've reduced my repair amount to almost $0 for 3 years (due to the warranty) and not increased my monthly payment, AND I'm saving $1,300/year.
You can setup an account with a company like Vanguard or Schwaub online (I'm not affiliated with either) and link it to your bank account and transfer money manually every other week. IT'S DOABLE!! Even if you just stuck $1,300/year in savings, you'd have $6,500 + interest saved up after 5 years. No stock is guaranteed to go up, but be smart and do something financially wise for a change!! The hybrid gives you an excellent opportunity to do that!
***************************** February, 2023 Update ***************************
I entered a comment below, but the $630 I haven't spent on gas every other week is now worth about $950 in AMD stock (I switched from Apple to AMD stock early on). Y'all can do this. Just pick safe stocks or high yield savings accounts.
***************************** February, 2024 Update ***************************
I dropped to saving $80/month, because gas has dropped to about $3.50/gal. After 19 months I've put about $1,522 ($80 * 19 = $1,522) into my investment account. It's grown to about $3,669 (invested in AMD & NVidia). If I played it safe and had put it in a savings account getting 3% interest, it would still be worth about $1,542.
***************************** October, 2024 Update ***************************
(I'm buying a '25 Maverick & trading the '22 in soon)
I've saved on average $95.76/month for 26 months. After 26 months I've put about $2,490 in my investment account ($95 * 26 = $2,490). If I made 5%/year, it'd be worth around $2,504. 10%/year would be worth about $2,600. And investing in NVIDIA a year ago, it's now worth $7,859. I forgot I had put updates here and put a longer update in a new comment at the end.
***************************** January, 2025 Update ***************************
(Final update)
I just purchased my 2025 Maverick which was $13,000 more than the trade-in value of my '22. lf I had just put all my gas savings into a savings account, it probably would have been worth $2,700. After 2.5 years, that's almost enough to pay for a battery replacement if needed. That was my initial goal.
In the end, since I had invested the money in Apple then NVIDIA, my $2,700 was actually worth $7,946. So I put that and another $5k as a down payment on my '25 Maverick and kept the same loan amount for another 2.5 years. And it was all because I essentially kept my budget the same when I got the hybrid and started saving $100/month in gas.
I'll continue to save my gas money, but this may be my last comment on this post...not sure.
This is kind of a get rich slow scheme. Any time you get a raise or reduce a regular expense don't just increase your standard of living. I'm not saying to never increase your standard of living, just do it slower than your increases to income. If your salary goes up $1,000, increase your standard of living by $333. If I can do this, anyone can. If you've read down to here, I hope this has been an encouragement to you and that you find some financial wisdom in this post and updates.
And it's all because I just kept doing what I was doing before but putting the money in a different place. If you don't want to put it in Apple, put it in Microsoft, or AMD, or a high yield CD, or a college fund. The point is, be smart with your money. I'm paying the same for my Maverick as I was for my Frontier. So I've reduced my repair amount to almost $0 for 3 years (due to the warranty) and not increased my monthly payment, AND I'm saving $1,300/year.
You can setup an account with a company like Vanguard or Schwaub online (I'm not affiliated with either) and link it to your bank account and transfer money manually every other week. IT'S DOABLE!! Even if you just stuck $1,300/year in savings, you'd have $6,500 + interest saved up after 5 years. No stock is guaranteed to go up, but be smart and do something financially wise for a change!! The hybrid gives you an excellent opportunity to do that!
***************************** February, 2023 Update ***************************
I entered a comment below, but the $630 I haven't spent on gas every other week is now worth about $950 in AMD stock (I switched from Apple to AMD stock early on). Y'all can do this. Just pick safe stocks or high yield savings accounts.
***************************** February, 2024 Update ***************************
I dropped to saving $80/month, because gas has dropped to about $3.50/gal. After 19 months I've put about $1,522 ($80 * 19 = $1,522) into my investment account. It's grown to about $3,669 (invested in AMD & NVidia). If I played it safe and had put it in a savings account getting 3% interest, it would still be worth about $1,542.
***************************** October, 2024 Update ***************************
(I'm buying a '25 Maverick & trading the '22 in soon)
I've saved on average $95.76/month for 26 months. After 26 months I've put about $2,490 in my investment account ($95 * 26 = $2,490). If I made 5%/year, it'd be worth around $2,504. 10%/year would be worth about $2,600. And investing in NVIDIA a year ago, it's now worth $7,859. I forgot I had put updates here and put a longer update in a new comment at the end.
***************************** January, 2025 Update ***************************
(Final update)
I just purchased my 2025 Maverick which was $13,000 more than the trade-in value of my '22. lf I had just put all my gas savings into a savings account, it probably would have been worth $2,700. After 2.5 years, that's almost enough to pay for a battery replacement if needed. That was my initial goal.
In the end, since I had invested the money in Apple then NVIDIA, my $2,700 was actually worth $7,946. So I put that and another $5k as a down payment on my '25 Maverick and kept the same loan amount for another 2.5 years. And it was all because I essentially kept my budget the same when I got the hybrid and started saving $100/month in gas.
I'll continue to save my gas money, but this may be my last comment on this post...not sure.
This is kind of a get rich slow scheme. Any time you get a raise or reduce a regular expense don't just increase your standard of living. I'm not saying to never increase your standard of living, just do it slower than your increases to income. If your salary goes up $1,000, increase your standard of living by $333. If I can do this, anyone can. If you've read down to here, I hope this has been an encouragement to you and that you find some financial wisdom in this post and updates.
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