Tips I lay out in this episode are especially relevant for inexpensive cars being bought for 5000 or less. I believe the lower the target price a car buyer has the more homework needs to be done to ensure finding a quality car. Those in debt with no savings need to get their cash car buy right the first time, as they have little financial margin in their lives.

I have never traded in a car. I have thought about it and even tried on occasion. Each time the price offered would have forced me to leave too much money on the table. I have not been willing to do that, yet. I always end up selling the car myself. I have never failed to come out much better than if I had traded the car in. Typically, as might be expected much much better. Kelley Blue Book, KBB.com, say selling yourself will benefit you by about 15 to 25 percent over trading your car in. It is true when you sell a car yourself there is some time and effort involved. A lot of elbow grease is required to get a car ready to sell (though I would think to get a top trade-in offer this work would already have been done). There is also the variable of how much time it will take you to sell your car. This of course will depend on several factors. Some of which are the price range of the car (more expensive cars will likely move more slowly), where you live, and how competitively your car is priced. I wrote a post on how to sell your car in 7 Tips to Sell Your Car Fast. I would recommend if you have questions about selling your car you review this post. The key point is to know in trading in a car is how much money you are leaving on the table and what your time is worth. Is it worth your time to sell the car yourself? You should answer this question before you trade in your next car.

I am excited today to have with us a person who has been involved in mobile since 2005. He has created mobile content for major brands and small startups a like. He is a mobile marketing consultant blogger podcaster speaker coach advisor and soon to be husband. Since September of 2013 he got engaged sold his house and quit his job. The Mobile Mixed web show is hosted by this man and features free interviews with successful mobile marketers & the world’s top experts sharing their insights and advice to help retailers/marketing people like you dominate mobile. Please welcome the man responsible for the  Mobile Mixed Podcast and soon the SMS Marketing Handbook, Greg Hickman.

I went out and reviewed my Google Analytics stats for my website and found that the number one search bringing people to my site had to do with some combination of words having to do with an underwater loan. I was surprised by this given I had only written one article on this subject. Evidently many people have questions about this topic. I therefore decided to do this podcast episode.

I have talked a lot about buying cash cars. I have said most people can not afford the depreciation that comes with buying a new car. and cautioned about buying one on credit. I will tell you a cautionary tale of my own new car experience and the lessons I learned from it.

About five years ago, husband and wife team, Dan and Vanessa Hayes, decided to forgo the consumer consumption lifestyle that most of us take for granted. Instead of accumulating more stuff, they are now working to edit their lifestyle down to only things they need, love, and use.

We have John Lee Dumas with us, who had an idea or AHA moment and then took massive amounts of action to achieve his dream. John created Entrepreneur on Fire, a 7 day a week podcast. I should note he did this when many podcasting experts said it couldn’t be done. Undaunted John moved forward. Now, in less than 18 months, he has aired over 450 podcasts delivering on his 7 day a week promise. This has earned him $100,000 and over 300,000 downloads every month.

I spend this episode reviewing why the current system for buying cars is broken and what you can do to change the game in your favor. Why you should buy a cash car and how it can benefit you.

Phil Anderson shares with us the story of how he was laid off with no savings and both credit card and auto debt. He tells how his life changed when his girlfriend, an account and now his wife, created spread sheet to help him budget his money. From this simple beginning budgetsimple.com was born. Phil is now debt free and started living his dream of having his own company in September 2012 when he left his job to go full time at budget simple.com

Learn how a CARFAX report can give you greater confidence when buying a used car by reducing the amount of uncertainty.