[BlueDubbinTDI]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

There's a lot of good advice above. I'll add my $0.02 worth.

If you were my son (and I have one your age) here is what I would tell him, and it is what I do.

• Never buy a car (or any other depreciating asset) that you can't pay cash for, even if you decide to finance it.
• Don't finance it. There is a car out there you can afford to pay cash for, it just may not be your dream car, but it will be great car. Extreme example, I drive an FR-S. I'd love to drive a supercar (say an Adventador), and I could probably find someone to loan me the money for it (at minimum I could mortgage my paid-for house tomorrow to finance it), but that doesn't mean I should.
• The total value of anything with an engine in it you own should not add up to more than half your annual income. That's a lot of money to be losing every year. (That kills the supercar for me!)
• The definition of being adult sometimes means we give up things we want today so we can have better things tomorrow.

(NOTE: For those that are familiar with Dave Ramsey, this will probably sound directly out of his playbook, and it is. However, I've been doing it since I was 16 and paid $300 for my first car, when what I really wanted was a $2,500 used '69 Camaro, so let's just say he and I both understand common financial sense.)


I've posted this before, but here is something to think about (also Dave Ramsey)

tube.com/watch?v=BKyV8CTHeJ0

I hope I have the self control to actually give this a shot once I'm done with this car.