Network Engineer for a software company here

 

I work at a restaurant for 25-30 hours a week and pull in roughly 500 a week. I paid off the tC in less than 6 months. Big difference between me and you though... I'm in school. I dont have the usual house, water, phone, electricity, etc etc bills to contend with. with the exception of play money and a cell phone, all the money i earn went to the car.

 

The best thing to do is test it out for a few months. Considering everyting you came to 550 so lets say 600. Every month for 3 or so months put away 600 and see how that works. if you can do so and still gave enough for elecricity and everything else then so be it.

 

mines paid off... thanx mom! (house warming present) b4 it was paid off tho, payments were $354 a month... walked out paying $21,xxx for the car. i work in sales tho, so the money's not bad.

 

Ahhhh!! So nice not to have a payment! More $$$ for beer! I did save $$$ for almost 3 years before I purchased. Test-drove the tC and ordered one the next day! Write down your "budget" on a piece of paper and stick to it. And try to stay away from overzealous spending! BTW-I'm in Sales.

 

it is deffinately good to have no payments haha... beer and other things!

 

no payments here either. its great

 

I get paid $7.50 an hour and I work 40 hours a week. I get around $500 in two weeks. So that equals about a thousand a month. I will be able to afford a payment of $200-300 a month and insurance. But financing the car for 5 years is kinda crazy because I am not planning to work where I work for 5 years. When you invest in something this expensive, think about the long term.

 

yeah the long term is what gets me. you know all the unexpected things that could happen work wise. if i can pull around 300+ a week then i'll be fine. as long as i don't lose my job. total cost for payment+ins. is about $405. i'm figuring in a $100-$150 monthly gas bill. so it shouldn't be more than $600 a month total for everything.

the budget isn't a big problem for me. my spending habits have changed drastically and so have my driving habits. (after paying almost $400 for a speeding ticket) my scion addiction has gotten so bad that i'm dreaming of scions. had a dream last night i was racing a new civic si. didn't get to finish the race dream though, the other guy swerved and clipped me and i woke up...but anyway, thnx for ya'lls help/input. i'll keep ya up to date on the purchase and what not. when it comes to that time.

 

^^On your monthly gas biil: that's probably your 1st month's bill. Gotta show off the for your new baby! After that novelty wears off (and if you don't have a long commute), you'll only spend about $80-$90 a month. I personally spend $64 a month. ($32 every 2 weeks.) So there's some $$$ saved right there! Of course, all this depends on how much gas is in your area and how hard you drive. Mods will lower your MPG also.

 

Im a full time student earning about $700/mo. and living on my own. If I can afford it, I think you can too. But like everyone is saying take everything into consideration and see how much money you will be left with at the end of the month. Then decide weather or not you want to do it. Its a huge step and there is a lot at stake so take your time when you make the decision and plan ahead. Good luck.

 

on 700 a month i don't think i could survive. i've had a job like that and it only lasted about 3 weeks. yeah the gas bill could possibly go down over time, not sure how. of course teh difference between my truck and the tC is really apparent gas wise. i'm getting MAYBE 14-16 mpg in the city, and close to 22 mpg on the highway. so its a guzzler for sure. but with a 4.0L V6 i can't just you know, not have fun with it, and it's in a small truck. so there's no rubber on them tires anymore... hoping to order my tC in about 2-3 months :HOPING<--key word) to. DANG I CAN't WAIT ANYMORE! GARRRRRRRRRR!!

 

student in technical college... monthly payments of 550.

 

I got my tC for about $240 a month. Insurance averages like $100-$120 per month for full coverage. About $100 per month on gas, depending on how often I go out after work. So just shy of 5 bills per month for everything.

I'm a lab assistant at a local community college. When I got my tC I was a compounding technician. Never had any problems paying my bills.

 

Buy something that is well within your mean (15-20% of income). This way you don't have to worry if you get the reduction in force (layoff) or reduce income. Have you considered a used scion or any other used car?

 

SAVE SAVE SAVE, put as much down as you can to keep monthlys low. I liked the idea earlier in the thread to save for 6 months, but if you miss, don't buy.

I put 7k down and am financing the rest through TFS. Under 250/month. You also have to factor in costs like insurance and gas, don't forget those. Research credit unions and whatnot.

I think it also helped me that I'm a teacher.

 

Yes I think that saving your money and then making a large downpayment will be easier on you in the long run...I have saved up 8K for a downpayment...I might even borrow 2K from my brother because I won't have to pay my brother interest...haha...better than paying interest to my lender.

10K down and finance the other 8-10K...this is my plan.

 

Always take unexpected costs into consideration (as mentioned earlier). It would suck if your car was broken and you couldn't afford to fix it.

Also, if you miss a car payment, it will make a big impact on your credit. So if you ever feel that you would miss a payment, don't get the car.

 

I work as an Assistant Manager at a shoe store (The Walking Company) 40-45 hours a weeks and after it's all said and done with commission + monthly bonuses I make a little under $20 an hour. My payment is $331/month (well its' going to be as soon as it starts heh) and it's not a big deal at all. Just make sure you have the money set aside and you put down a reasonable down payment so you can finance less! ( I put 5k down).

-Nick

 

I am a full time student, and i work at a pizza place, and a restaurant that my parents own.

At the pizza place, i work about 25 hours a week, and about 10-13 hours a week at my parents' place. At the pizza job, I average about 17 dollars an hour, and at my parents place, about 28 an hour (after tips and all). This all adds up to $3k a month give or take, and my car payment is right under $300 a month. Insurance is 95, cell phone 70, and about 70 more a month in misc expenses (xm radio, internet service). The rest goes into savings for the most part, and I do spend quite a bit on random stuff. And I usually pay a little more than my minimum on my car loan.

My old car was an 04 civic, that was 239.24 a month, so i could make the car payment in about a weekend of work.

Taxes suck though, claiming all my tips. Thats a big chunk of cash that I have to pay to the IRS every year.