It dawned on me yesterday morning that I could be saving tons of money if I just plan my car purchases instead of buying them when I need/want to like most people. Some of us buy cars when our last one dies, while others buy when that new model looks so good we just couldn’t resist. How about buying cars when demand is low, when we have negotiating power, and when we can get a great deal?

Many of us time purchases for something like a house or even stocks because the price of buying the asset fluctuates. However, a car is also the same way! The manufactured suggested price might not change from year to year, but the out the door price as well as a ton of other options can vary. This means that if we come from a position of strength (we are buying when no one is), we will get a good price.

It is popular believe that consumer spending will be going down, especially for luxuries like cars. So why don’t we take advantage of it and buy a car in a year when no one would want to purchase one? At that time, car salesmen would be desperate and will be giving everyone tons of incentives along with free options to buy a car.

On the contrary, we should be holding off on our purchases if the economy is doing great and everyone is buying because no one will want to negotiate with us as cars are flying out their car lot.

Stop buying cars because we just got a promotion and can afford it now, as the extra cash can always be put into investments to grow. If we hold off and buy only when there are good deals out there (usually based on supply and demand), we will save tons of money in the long run.