I completely get both sides of the argument, but... in Millionmiler's case he needs to improve his credit score. Paying cash won't resolve that issue. Personally I'd recommend stopping the per diem pay, and finance a good used car through a bank he's already doing business with.
He's hoping to purchase a home one day. He's got to improve that credit score to achieve that goal.
Good points all, but I'm thinking along the same lines as OS on this one, mainly in terms of MM purchasing a house in the future.
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
Good points all, but I'm thinking along the same lines as OS on this one, mainly in terms of MM purchasing a house in the future.
Per Diem:
Getting paid per diem means getting a portion of your salary paid to you without taxes taken out. It's technically classified as a meal and expense reimbursement.
Truck drivers and others who travel for a living get large tax deductions for meal expenses. The Government set up per diem pay as a way to reimburse some of the taxes you pay with each paycheck instead of making you wait until tax filing season.
Getting per diem pay means a driver will get a larger paycheck each week but a smaller tax return at tax time.
We have a ton of information on our wiki page on per diem pay