Member-only story
- Own your car outright
I was fortunate to inherit hand-me down cars from my grandparents when I was learning to drive and never had a car payment.
As I listened to one of the legendary Dave Ramsey rants about car loans, I pulled out a calculator and did the math. Every penny I had in retirement savings was the equivalent to a $300/month car payment over the past 15 years.
It may be obvious, but it bears saying out loud: if you are losing money on your car, it is really hard to make money from your car!
2. Deduct your mileage on taxes
If you are a U.S. taxpayer, you can save significant “income” by driving your car for work or charitable purposes. You aren’t paid at end of a drive as with a ride-share service, but rather at the end of the year in savings on income taxes.
How does it work?
If you drive a car that you own either for work or for charitable purposes, track your mileage and report at the end of the year with your taxes.
The IRS credit amount is 55 cents per mile. So if you spend an average 20 cents/mile on gas and vehicle costs, you are making a 36 cent profit per-mile.
