Driving Down Debt

October 17, 2024

If you remember, one of our was about our work schedule transition and our search for options to buy or borrow another family vehicle. This will be a great update on our progress! At our most recent appointment with our financial coach, Mee, we discussed the possibility of refinancing again, especially with the recent drop in interest rates. We also asked Mee about an email we received from another lender about a pre-approval. It turned out to be a baiting email. However, Mee was able to review Summit’s auto loan refinancing options with us, which sparked a valuable discussion about our credit health.

Using a free app on my phone, I did a soft pull on my credit score to calculate where my auto loan interest may land. I was pleasantly surprised to see that since financing our current vehicle in December, my credit score had increased by over 50 points. This was a proud moment, reflecting on our progress in reducing other debts and maintaining low credit card utilization, putting us in a better financial position.

We decided to have Mee complete a refinancing application through Summit since I now qualified as an “A” borrower. By refinancing our vehicle, we are able to save nearly $4,000 with a shorter loan term! An added bonus was Summit’s 90-day no-payment policy for auto loans. We were ecstatic! We plan to set aside the money we would typically use for our car payment to further reduce credit card debt and add to our emergency savings. Mee also helped us set up an autopay option, which lowered our interest rate by another 0.25%.

If you’re wondering what you could do about your car payments, check out Summit’s . It took us a few months to review our options, but we’re so glad we kept it at the forefront!