In a previous post - "Dont be a Financial Moron" I talked about an article regarding how you can improve your financial plan using five easy steps.  During my execution of these steps I found out some useful information that I thought I would share with you.   First off, if you owe money on your vehicle and you are paying over 5% on that car loan -- PAY IT OFF -- Chances are you wont be able to beat that in the market place so whatever money you do make via a money market, CD, etc... it gets cancelled out because of your car loan.  Second thing to mention, and its basically implies the same logic, if you have a credit card and your paying more than 5% on that debt -- PAY IT OFF -- again a wash to any money you make in your other accounts. 

My wife and I have two car loans and fortunately for us we have $0 credit card debt.  After talking with a financial consultant, we decided to pay off both car loans ASAP, so we can free up that money and invest it in things that dont depreciate, break down, and of course rust ;) There are lots of ways to help speed up a car loan payoff, for one your tax return, two a tax rebate -- even though I dont totally agree with it, I will use it to pay off my debts, third making extra payments (when you can swing it) and fourth making some simple life style changes.  What type of changes?  Well for one eating out, you can save a TON of money if you simply cook at home, its cheaper, healthier and it can also be a ton of fun and rewarding if you're married.  Another way to save is to car pool to work if you can swing it.  Most Americans (at least in the mid-west) drive BIG SUV's/Trucks and have one person sitting in them.  If you can get in a carpool your not only saving some cash on gas every week, but you're also helping our planet out a bit as well (aka the Environment). 

One last thing, I found a kick butt online tool (FREE) called Mint.com.  It's a money management tool that helps you see how you spend your money by categorizing expenses, makes suggestions on improving your savings/investments and alerts you when something doesn't look right.  I highly recommend trying it out, above all its free and its using both Ajax and Flex to provide a very innovative Web 2.0 Application. I used it to see where I was spending my money on the most, so I can start making changes as necessary.

Keep in mind, my wife and I are making these changes so we can make better use of our extra cash flow.  We really aren't in debt or hurting financially, but we weren't really making use of our savings at all.  It was just sitting there getting like a .02% return (pathetic).  I suggest you read my previous post if you are curious how we started on this path ;)

Good luck!