My family usually has no car payments, or sometimes one car payment. We always have working cars.

We don't buy new cars. Instead, we buy used cars. We believe used cars are usually a much better value than new cars. Used cars sometimes have problems, but used car problems are usually smaller than used car cost savings.

As for reliability, we keep 1 or 2 more used cars than we need at any given time, so in the rare event that one breaks down, we always have another that is fine, and we never have to rush repairs at extra cost. We can take our time and shop around for the best repair deal.

Because we don't usually owe any money on our used cars, we don't need to carry collision insurance, saving us a large amount of money each year. Even if one of our used cars became damaged severely or beyond repair, our savings would far more than cover the cost of the repairs or loss. But we've never had that happen, and continue to save large amounts of money that we've invested to earn even more

Our used cars are nice. They aren't beaters. We keep their ages staggered and their types varied, so we always have the perfect used car for any given trip, whether it calls for a pickup, compact, family car, etc. We ride safely and in comfort without being either showy or looking silly. Used cars save us a ton of money.