Having a car can come with a hefty price tag. In addition to the high monthly payments, there are also costs for maintenance, fuel, insurance, and additional expenses. These costs can accumulate quickly, leading individuals to find it difficult to keep up with their payments. This situation can be even more challenging if you encounter a financial setback or unexpected difficulties. During these times, it’s crucial to know where to seek assistance with car loan payments, especially for single mothers.
Single mothers frequently face greater challenges compared to others, as they lack a second income contributor. Additionally, they might not receive child support, which means they are solely responsible for covering all expenses. This situation can complicate their ability to manage car loan payments, particularly when unexpected events occur. Experiencing illness, injury, or other unforeseen problems can leave many single mothers feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about how to meet their financial obligations.
Having a car loan indicates that you were once in a position to manage the payments, but something has occurred that now makes it difficult for you to do so. This could be due to a decrease in income, rising costs, or another circumstance. It’s essential to have a strategy in place to ensure you can keep up with your car payments. Understanding various options available to assist with car loan payments, especially for single mothers and others, can significantly alleviate the financial strain.
Ways to Get Help with Car Loan Payments
While there are many people who need help with making their car loan payments, there are not a lot of programs out there to provide the assistance. This is because owing on a car is seen as more of a luxury. While many people need to own a car to get to and from work, they don’t necessarily have to have one that they owe payments on. They could have a cheaper vehicle that they buy outright, and not have payments on. Because of it, it may be difficult to find a program that will give you the money to pay for your car loan.
In light of this information, it is a good idea to know what you can do to help with car loan payments. Single mothers do have some things they can do to earn the extra money to help with paying for their car loan payment. Consider the list of options below to see if there is something you can do that can help get you the car loan payment assistance.
- Look through your house to see if there are items you no longer need. List those things for sale online in the Facebook Marketplace or on Nextdoor. Selling some items you do not need will help with making a car payment or two. You can also gather up items and hold a garage sale to earn the extra money to make the car payment.
- Offer to do a little babysitting for others during the hours that you are with your children. By adding in one or two more kids during those times you can earn some extra money that can be used for car payments.
- Determine something you can do on a very part time basis to earn some extra money that can be used for making the car payment. Things like mowing lawns, pulling weeds, cleaning houses, baking cookies to sell, wash cars for people, run errands for others, etc. There are many things that can be done for extra cash; you just have to determine what it is that you would be willing or interested in doing. Consider your interests and talents and then go from there.
- Take the cash that you would use to pay for groceries, utility bills, and food, and use it for your car payment after you get help for obtaining those items. There are many organizations in your area, along with churches, that will help pay for things like groceries, utility bills, and more. Get the help from those places for items like that and then use the money you would have spent on those items to pay for your car payment.
- Contact churches in your area to let them know you are a single mother who needs help making her car payment. See if there is any assistance they can provide to help you make the payment. Most churches do have programs in place t help people in the community who experience a financial setback.
- Contact the bank you owe your car loans through and explain your situation to them. Some banks and lending institutions will consider that financial hardship and put your loan on hold for a month or two. They need to know you are struggling or they will not be able to offer any type of assistance. Letting them know is a good route to take, so they can let you know if there are options in place to help you through this period.
Considering the Options
If something has happened and you need help making only one or two car payments then try to stick with doing some of the things listed above. Doing those things will help you get through that difficult period until you can get back on track. But if this is an ongoing issue you may want to consider other options. There are always options, no matter what your financial situation may be.
Having a vehicle that you do not owe payments on may be ideal for your situation. If you are struggling to make the car loan payments every month, it may be a good idea to consider selling the car, and going with a cheaper one that you will not owe any money on. By selling the car you owe money on, you will free up your debt and not have payments anymore. Purchasing a cheaper, older vehicle will help you not have to worry about making monthly loan payments.