I was in your boat too except I make more per year, but live in NYC so maybe it balances out. I got a part-time job and I make sure to see a minimum number of patients so that at least my garage parking, insurance and montly payment are taken care of. It's not a daily driver and won't be until I move to Texas, so gas isn't a worry. So if you can get a partime job with your skillset then do it. Should I have waited? Probably. Sometimes I kick myself for not having done so, but it's a car I plan to keep well passed the my loan term.

Some other tips:

1: What can you do to reduce your current expenses? Can you find an apartment with cheaper rent? Do you pay for cable/internet/netflix? I play games online and cancelled my memberships when I bought the car. 12.99/month times 12 months is at least 1/3 of my insurance for 6 months or a couple of fillups. Netflix was cancelled. Moving to Brooklyn for a cheaper pad. Do you buy coffee every day? Lunch? These little things add up over a long period of time.

2. Do you have a girlfriend? Dump her. She'll be more of a money pit than the FRS. (joking)

I'm probably not one to give advice, though. The FRS was an impulse buy and it doubled my monthly payment, but I make sure I can afford it by working a 2nd job.

I'm a 21 year old software engineer, so I guess I'm in a similar situation as well. I make quite a bit more than $2400 a month, though.

I'd say save up for a good sized deposit (try to be a little patient and you might be able to wait for the STI version if your interested ;)) before you commit to a long finance option. I would've if I could've waited - I keep kicking myself for not waiting for the manual transmission though (although the AT is very fun still).

If your in a stable job and feel you can afford it, I say go for it. You sound smart enough to be able to make an excel spreadsheet with all your bills & figure it out - also keep in mind emergencies. I use mint.com for my finances, maybe that could help you?

EDIT: Oh, and to go on what the guy above me said - cancel your cable bill if you have that crap. Netflix is about 10% of the price. Also look at no contract cheap phone plans (boost/metropcs). Although, I gotta say if you need to cut pennies like that you really shouldn't buy the car.

+1 for the older Miata! (If you like convertibles.)

Those cars are awesome! I never really gave them a fair chance since the fr-s, but they really are great cars, I'd say they are even more enjoyable at slower speeds (my fr-s seems to make me drive too fast, don't know why people say this car is slow lol).

The 6 months net pay total cost actually sounds like a pretty reasonable aim.

Is the $700 you pay for rent your portion or does your S.O. pay part of that?

Either way, your rent is under 30% of your take home which is a good place to be. If you're sharing that at 50%, that leaves ~$370 a month before you would actually hit 30%. If you could put enough down that your car+rent is less than 30% of your monthly outlay you'd be in a pretty good place.

My current rent is a bit high, but my lease is up in 3 months. I'm aiming to get it down by a couple hundred a month at least so that I can save more on top of my student debt and car debt.

If I'm perfectly honest, financially speaking a car probably wasn't the best decision for me, but three things put over for me. 1. Cars are my hobby. The enjoyment I get out of driving the car is worth the cost. 2. My old car had 212k on it. I was going to have to be putting some serious money into maintaining it in the very near future. On top of that, it left me stranded for four days when I was working on the brakes and a refurbed part didn't fit. I decided I wanted a warranty for the next few years. 3. I'm young and single. As long as I discipline myself to save at least a few months emergency fund now, I can recover from any long term impact.

I also decided that if I was going to have a car payment (Which was a given if I wanted a warranty) I would rather pay for a few more months and get a car that I really wanted instead of paying a similar monthly payment for a shorter time for a car that was just sort of okay. With the loan terms I was offered on different options, the monthly payment differences were minimal. In the short term, that is what matters. As I progress in my career and get raises I can always dump more money into the car payment to get it done faster.

On $2400 a month, I would be hesitant. Even with my student debt and higher rent than yours, I'm coming out a little bit ahead of where you would be. But that depends on your living cost. Living with your S.O. has the potential to decrease them considerably if you're smart.

Nathan

I'd come down on the don't side, but mostly because what you are likely to be relatively rich in is time - no kids, spouse - so buy yourself something cool and cheap that will need some love to keep on the road (e30, older mustang, used miata). I spent my 20's elbow deep in '70's era motorcycles because labor was basically free and rich(er), time-poor old farts such as my current self couldn't afford to keep something like that running AND have a reliable dd. But that was me. In the end, everyone has their own comfort level and willingness to trade between current and future consumption.

I'm with mrybczyn on this.
I've read somewhere that the affordable car means your net annual income divided by 2, which is same as your monthly net pay x 6.
Considering that, $25k car is not affordable for you. You still will be able to do it, but you will end up giving up other things.

Suze Orman would say no. I watch her "can I afford it?" segment all the time. The first thing she checks for is if you have an 8 month emergency fund. As in, do you have enough money in the bank to continue to live your current lifestyle for 8 months with no changes? This is in case you lose your job or get in an accident, etc. She checks for this even before 401k, etc. You don't have the savings. If your current car works fine, then I say save your money until you can pay cash. But that's me and I'm ultra-conservative with money.

But not having a car payment is about the best feeling ever :)

These are great tips guys! I really appreciate them.

Most of them point towards the "no, don't buy the car."
Yes I do have a significant other. That does drain some money from me as well. Forgot to factor in $50 phone bill.

By the looks of it, I cannot afford a car any time soon (or within the next 5 years) unless I get ditch my S.O., eat Ramen Noodles, get a new job that pays more than $2,400 a month.

Looks like that sucks. Do people really live like this? I've seen someone working at Pizza Hut that owns a BRZ.
And someone who delivers for a cater company with an Integra Type-R...

I guess that's a no go for this car.

You don't have to make a lot of money to have a lot. Just be good with money. You are on the right track with having not debt, now its time to save. Like I said, make a car payment each month until you have cash to pay for the car. Also, start stockpiling money like mentioned above. I've always heard 6 months income saved in an emergency fund, but I think 8 would be much better. This might take a couple years, but you will feel much better knowing that the car is yours and that you bought it with cash

Im almost 23, not sure if you want advice from someone younger. Though personally i'm paying off my BRZ with no problem because I still live under my parents without the responsibility of paying for shelter and food. Though I have a lot of other unnecessary spendings which I am certain I can live without, but not willing to because i'm young and still want to party. However, looking at your financial stability atm, i don't really suggest it. Personally if it wasn't because I needed a car for transportation, i would have saved up for a mortgage instead. I'm not fond of spending money on something I already have (assuming I'm in your position of having a TL already). The car will on depreciate in value, where as saving for a property will always lead you to greater wealth. I would say no if I was in your shoes at the moment. I think fun and luxury should only exist if you have money left over. I'm kind of hypocritical i guess, but hey, who actually doesn't know how to reason? lol

dafuq?

I still feel like I'm young until I read something like this.

Are you seriously asking people on a car forum to be your financial consultants? Granted we may have a few on here but come on. Next will be "Does this look infected?" :bellyroll:

Could you live off of $700-$900 a month? That's after your current bills, etc. I don't see why not. I think that's plenty for a single guy with no debt. Plus you can keep your car in case you need to ditch the FR-S for financial reasons. Plus, you got $5000 in the bank. Shoot worse case scenario is you have to sell it and you owe more than what it's worth but you got $5000 to help with that difference. You can still keep saving money monthly as well. I say yes go for it man!

you can!
 

yes you can.. because i can!