Back in 2003, when my husband and I bought our first car together, we divided the responsibilities as follows: he did the technical research, deciding what kind of car we should get and what a reasonable price was; I handled the financing research.

I knew enough about car buying and money management to know that the most important thing was the total price of the car, not the monthly payment. So I repeatedly fended off the salesman’s efforts to get me to quote an acceptable monthly payment. Even though I knew I wanted a payment of approximately $350, I never uttered that figure to him. He was so frustrated when I told him for the third or fourth time that I simply wanted to know what the total cost of the car would be that I knew most people must not hesitate to say what monthly payment they can afford.

That’s a mind set that can cost thousands. By focusing on the monthly payment, lenders can play with all of the other numbers, including total cost, interest rate, and length of the loan, in order to maximize their profits. After all, the only number that really matters is the total amount that you’ve paid for your car (or house, computer, etc.).

Head on over to the forum discuss this topic further!

Cathy can be found blogging at Chief Family Officer.

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