Years ago, my husband and I made a decision to never finance a car again. It's a simple goal, really, that can pay big dividends over the course of your lifetime. But carrying out such a plan on a middle-class income has involved some sacrifice. For example, until recently, our newest vehicle was an aging 1995 Toyota sedan with nearly 200,000 miles that looks a bit out of place in our solidly middle-class neighborhood full of much newer SUVs. We still have that car, but we have since replaced a truly ancient 1986 Nissan Maxima with a much newer and modern 5-year-old vehicle. We accumulated the money for that vehicle over the last 10 years through an automatic savings plan that directs money each month from our paychecks to an account set aside just for automobile purchases. Over the years, we've been tempted to just throw our plan out the window, drive to the car lot and drive away with a shiny new vehicle financed on the spot. But we're sticking with our savings plan and buying only used cars we can truly afford. We know we're saving a lot of money in financing costs, and that's been great, but we've enjoyed an even greater benefit. There's a certain level of freedom and security in not having a car payment each month. Nobody can take our cars away if we lose our jobs. It's been so long now since we've had a car payment that I can't even remember much about what it's like to have one. But I do know one thing: I never want one again.