When Sean and I were looking for new insurance after we got married, we were looking for a lot of different things. Yes, we wanted low rates, but we wanted other things too. We wanted a real person - and preferably a young person. We both want to support our generation breaking into careers, and we know that it's hard with the baby boomers still lingering around in the job field (aren't they supposed to retire or something? ugh). We also wanted renters' insurance, because we don't live in the nicest area, and we can't afford to replace our things in case of a fire or whatnot - and you're responsible for that (not the apartment complex people!). Another thing we wanted was a national company. We know we're probably going to move in the next few years, and we'd rather not switch if we don't need to. We ran our quotes through their websites, and compared each one with what they offer.
We ended up with State Farm. Not only is the agent from StL (woot woot hometown love!), but he's our age. Paul's actually not the agent himself, he's more of an apprentice, but we like him (and Chad, the agent) nonetheless. We've got everything we need for less than $200 a month, which is a great deal.
What we didn't know when we signed up, however, is that State Farm refinances car loans.
Even though my dad is a cosigner on my car loan, I didn't have any credit yet and I didn't put any money down on my car. I had a terrible interest rate too. I needed it though. I'll never buy a used car (we've had major problems in the past, and I love knowing that if anything happens, my warranty will cover it for the next 5 years). I can budget my car payment each month, but I can't budget for what ifs on a car very well. The new car just works better for me, especially peace of mind wise, and I know that we'll be able to drive it for at least another 8 years - on the short end.
Long story short, my dad is no longer a cosigner and my loan interest rate dropped around 2.5%. While the payments don't change much, we also knocked a year off the loan (going from a 6 year to a 5 year). I'll still pay what I'm paying now though (which was already more than the minimum), with hopes of getting it paid off even sooner. I'm also hoping to put at least half of my tax refund towards the car as well. I figure the sooner I can pay it off the better. Theeen I get to start on school loans with full force. Eesh.
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