Reply #30: lol. we know you're abnormal...

[Dead_Parrot]

;)

My primitive brain understands the concept of being better off in the long run, but in the short term - while you're paying off the loan - you're spending more on a month-by-month basis. Maybe I'm just fucking up my sums (it's not unheard of) but as it stands, if I were to put solar water heating on my roof (NZ$5K, $1K from my a/c + $4K loan, NZ$98 repayments) and half my electric bill (from ~$100 to $50) I'd be paying $148 instead of $100 - ie, $48/month worse off: I don't catch up until month 118 (nearly 10 years): After that, I'm laughing.

Now, I'm probably an extreme example - NZ interest rates are massive, and my bills are fairly small - but if the repayments come to more than the saving each month, you need to be in a position to pay the difference...

Maybe I am a bad case example. Just for fun, I worked out that if I did buy a Prius on credit, it would be 83 years before I broke even. That's what you get for driving ~40 miles a month... :)