About three years ago, I started off with over 90k in student loans and have paid those down to about 45k due to a well-paying job and living in cheap apartment.
The transmission just died on my car and isn’t worth repairing, by anyone’s standard. I just wasn’t expecting to buy a new car this soon. My goal was to pay down the rest of my student loans in the next two years, and now that’s not going to happen.
I’m having a really hard time trying to decide what price point I should aim for with this new car.
I make $67,000 and have $12,000 in my bank account, with a goal of having at least $9,000 in savings while I’m paying down my loans. After taxes, rent and my average credit card expense, I have about $1,240 each month ($1,880 - $640 student loan payment), which I have been putting towards savings and/or overpaying my student loans. This has let me put down $20k on my loans each year and still add to my savings.
Getting another car is going to set back my savings and/or require another a loan, in either case, my financial goals are going to be pushed back by however much the car costs.
I’m having a very hard time figuring out a price point for buying another (used) car. I could get something a few years old for $8k-$11k at a used car dealer, or a certified pre-owned car for $12k from a dealer. I’m hoping to have a car that’s going to be reliable, but I also know that reliability and cost go hand in hand. I’m not interested in going through a private seller – I need to get this car purchased ASAP so I don’t have the time to hunt on Craigslist, and I don’t have a lot of car knowledge, so even if I get it inspected first, I’d like it to come from a more formalized source.
tl;dr: I want a car that's going to be reliable, but cost impacts both reliability and my goals of lowering my debt.
Submitted December 07, 2017 at 08:48AM by progtastical http://ift.tt/2kxpqsQ
