Am I overspending?

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I just don't get what could compel someone to put down 14k and still be at 500+ a month over 6 years.

I generally don't really believe in putting down payments though.

But yeah that 14k could have been a downpayment on a house and you could have moved out. If you were in CA, living with your parents is almost the norm til late 20s since it's ridiculously expensive and your salary won't get you anywhere good. Otherwise you'd be stuck with roommates, which IMO is worse than just staying at home and saving all you can.

I think you should just keep the car, and get a higher paying job. In fact it should motivate you to make more money. Be it by working overtime shifts or just getting a new job.
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Zeffy94

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I just don't get what could compel someone to put down 14k and still be at 500+ a month over 6 years.

I generally don't really believe in putting down payments though.

But yeah that 14k could have been a downpayment on a house and you could have moved out. If you were in CA, living with your parents is almost the norm til late 20s since it's ridiculously expensive and your salary won't get you anywhere good. Otherwise you'd be stuck with roommates, which IMO is worse than just staying at home and saving all you can.

I think you should just keep the car, and get a higher paying job. In fact it should motivate you to make more money. Be it by working overtime shifts or just getting a new job.
I’m salaried so I don’t get overtime anymore; the reason I like my job is because my department is extremely fun to work for as well as I have enormous job security. I have a very unique skill set that allowed me to get this job and work my way up to a position that should require a degree yet I got it without needing college.

I’m hoping on the promotion as they have been good at promising me things that do materialize.
 

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I’m hoping on the promotion as they have been good at promising me things that do materialize.
This is your issue... hoping your employer will promise you better opportunities. It does happen out there but you're also part of the equation to make any better oppotunity happen for yourself.

After I graduated college and was working in the corporate world, I had the same mindset as you in where I stayed at a mediocre paying job due to promises by management, and because the company was huge, and well known throughout the IT industry. I felt that if I left the company, I wouldn't have anything better. I was wrong. I ended up leaving the company for another job that boosted my salary 20% from my previous role.

You have to look out for yourself because if I have learned anything about employers, you're expendable whether you like it or not.

I have a very unique skill set that allowed me to get this job and work my way up to a position that should require a degree yet I got it without needing college.
Is your employer sticking their thumb out and actually offering things like tuition reimbursement for higher education, or things of that nature for you to better yourself in your career? If so, have you taken that step?

Even though you have a unique skill set, are they transferrable? What if you are part of a mass layoff tommorow? Given the fact that the job market today is competitive, and not having a college degree, it puts you at a disadvantage if you're looking to make a decent living salary.
 
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I already struggled making it through grade school due to various learning disabilities; I’m not going to put myself in a bad spot by doing it all over again for college. Yes they offer tuition reimbursement, except because of how college is designed, you have to take classes that have no bearing what so ever to your major and that’s where I’d fail. Besides, a stupid piece of paper is barely worth anything in my eyes, minus a few fields.

It was hard enough to get an office job with a 2.0 gpa and no degree in the financial industry but my sister got me in here and with ample opportunities to move up I’m gonna stick it here.

If it means I have to sell my car, well then I guess I’d do it, and like someone said, I might find something that allows me to still experience relatively the same type of joy the CTR brings me. Maybe even find an Si since I know how to drive stick... who knows. If I depleted my savings I could pay off the loan in full and begin saving, but then it puts me in a really bad spot if I need emergency cash.
 

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"Maybe even find an Si since I know how to drive stick..."
You may know now how to drive a stick, but have your learn't anything about buying cars ??

:popcorn:
Honda Civic 10th gen Am I overspending? k-vector-businessman-try-to-keep-car-sinking-in-quick-sand-vector-illustration-cartoon-640825129
 


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Yeah... buy something that you can pay off within 4 years and that doesn’t take more than 10% of your monthly income to finance.

Has I kept my old Civic (2013 LX) I would’ve been in such a better place... that payment was like 215 a month, and gas was barely anything because I was getting 36 MPG. Even my last civic was somewhat unaffordable based on my payment, but if I kept that I still would’ve been in a much better spot because I doubt I would’ve blown the several thousands I did (not to mention the down payment) on the CTR.

The question is... do I just try my best to make do with the situation at hand, or do I correct the mistake and begin hyper saving? As long as the RAV doesn’t start burning oil it should be fine for quite some time... problem is that engine is prone to doing exactly just that, might be time to learn how to do my own oil changes...
 

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I just don't get what could compel someone to put down 14k and still be at 500+ a month over 6 years.

I generally don't really believe in putting down payments though.

But yeah that 14k could have been a downpayment on a house and you could have moved out. If you were in CA, living with your parents is almost the norm til late 20s since it's ridiculously expensive and your salary won't get you anywhere good. Otherwise you'd be stuck with roommates, which IMO is worse than just staying at home and saving all you can.

I think you should just keep the car, and get a higher paying job. In fact it should motivate you to make more money. Be it by working overtime shifts or just getting a new job.
it's the negative equity he rolled over .... if it wasn't for that, he would be in a much better spot.

If it means I have to sell my car, well then I guess I’d do it, and like someone said, I might find something that allows me to still experience relatively the same type of joy the CTR brings me. Maybe even find an Si since I know how to drive stick... who knows. If I depleted my savings I could pay off the loan in full and begin saving, but then it puts me in a really bad spot if I need emergency cash.
IMO getting rid of the CTR just to buy another car is not the right way to do it.

if your going to get rid of it, drive the RAV4.
if your going to buy another car, keep it.
 

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OK, so I am doing a bunch of number crunching and seeing what works.


And the best option is not having a car payment at all..

Code:
Car Payment    0
Living Expense ("rent")    700
Credit Card payments (fixed)    280
Credit card payments (misc)    310
Gas estimate    118
TOTAL    1408

Amount saved in year est    14809.92
Amount saved in 3 year est    44429.76
You already have a car. Until you have the downpayment for the house, you don't need a fast car and you don't need a car payment (plus additional insurance and maintenance costs). It's not fun, but part of being an adult is making adult decisions, like not having a fun car for a little while.

it's the negative equity he rolled over .... if it wasn't for that, he would be in a much better spot.


IMO getting rid of the CTR just to buy another car is not the right way to do it.

if your going to get rid of it, drive the RAV4.
if your going to buy another car, keep it.
This x1000. Except just drive the RAV4.
 

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Yeah... buy something that you can pay off within 4 years and that doesn’t take more than 10% of your monthly income to finance.

Has I kept my old Civic (2013 LX) I would’ve been in such a better place... that payment was like 215 a month, and gas was barely anything because I was getting 36 MPG. Even my last civic was somewhat unaffordable based on my payment, but if I kept that I still would’ve been in a much better spot because I doubt I would’ve blown the several thousands I did (not to mention the down payment) on the CTR.

The question is... do I just try my best to make do with the situation at hand, or do I correct the mistake and begin hyper saving? As long as the RAV doesn’t start burning oil it should be fine for quite some time... problem is that engine is prone to doing exactly just that, might be time to learn how to do my own oil changes...
just doesn't make sense to me to get rid of the car with a 25k lien to go back into a ~17k? lien (20k si - 3k positive equity from ctr) in order to obtain a lower monthly. The amount isn't that big of a difference in the end.

nobody can answer that question for you. Everybody is going to have different views on how they lived their life when they were younger. You can't correct your past mistake. Your already down the cash down payment that you had to put down when you rolled over the negative equity. good thing here is that you owe less than what the car is worth now.

This is not the smart choice but i personally would work harder, get a better job and make it work. Cars are a big part of my life. You only live once is the words i live by.

The smart choice like I said would be to get rid of the CTR, don't buy another car and drive the RAV4. You said you have 2 cars because you dont like to drive in bad weather because you don't trust others around you. While I totally agree with you and think the same, two cars is a LUXURY, not a necessity. In your current situation and your priorities you set, you don't have the option for that luxury.

Also, not sure how it is down there but here, it is a lot easier to get approved for a home when you don't have a car payment.
 
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I know the smart choice is to just drive the RAV4. I’m only concerned with having no recourse on an out of warranty vehicle... god forbid something goes wrong (for example, I had to throw 630 to fix an exhaust leak on it that sprang up recently).

The answer is obvious though, if I had no car payment I could easily kill the monthly payments on my credit cards with 0% interest and have even more cash I can save. My 401K is already at 10%, increasing 1% per year, so at least that’s healthy, plus my company gives all of its employees ownership via stock, and since I’ve been here the value of the stock has been going up and as a result there is a benefit to staying put, especially because we turned a corner recently to improve the value even further.
 


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I know the smart choice is to just drive the RAV4. I’m only concerned with having no recourse on an out of warranty vehicle... god forbid something goes wrong (for example, I had to throw 630 to fix an exhaust leak on it that sprang up recently).

The answer is obvious though, if I had no car payment I could easily kill the monthly payments on my credit cards with 0% interest and have even more cash I can save.
YES... and the additional cash flow would also cover possible repairs that the Rav might need. Don't "count" on company stock in the short term or ever. Think of it a possible long term compensation.
 

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I already struggled making it through grade school due to various learning disabilities; I’m not going to put myself in a bad spot by doing it all over again for college. Yes they offer tuition reimbursement, except because of how college is designed, you have to take classes that have no bearing what so ever to your major and that’s where I’d fail. Besides, a stupid piece of paper is barely worth anything in my eyes, minus a few fields.

It was hard enough to get an office job with a 2.0 gpa and no degree in the financial industry but my sister got me in here and with ample opportunities to move up I’m gonna stick it here.

If it means I have to sell my car, well then I guess I’d do it, and like someone said, I might find something that allows me to still experience relatively the same type of joy the CTR brings me. Maybe even find an Si since I know how to drive stick... who knows. If I depleted my savings I could pay off the loan in full and begin saving, but then it puts me in a really bad spot if I need emergency cash.
It's not a stupid piece of paper if there are people roughly the same age as you making double, or possibly triple your yearly salary just because they put in an effort for higher education.

That piece a paper whether it's your resume, degree, certification etc. is your identity to employers regionally, nationally, and worldwide. Without it, how would an outside employer see who you are? And your potential in willingess to advance yourself?

I could understand where you're coming from in regards to your past experience with school. If I were you, I still wouldn't let that stop you from going back into it to further it. It might be tough, but if you can get through it, it will only benefit you in your career, especially since you already have several years of experience.

But, it seems that you have already decided school is not for you.

In the end, you have to decide what's best for you and what makes you happy.
 
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It's not a stupid piece of paper if there are people roughly the same age as you making double, or possibly triple your yearly salary just because they put in an effort for higher education.

That piece a paper whether it's your resume, degree, certification etc. is your identity to employers regionally, nationally, and worldwide. Without it, how would an outside employer see who you are? And your potential in willingess to advance yourself?
The inverse to what you describe is that some of my friends went to college, ended up buried in debt, and they make far less than I do. My sister has a degree and she makes barely more than I do.

I’d be more inclined to think about college if the system weren’t so heavily corrupted and moral less but that’s not the topic I’m here to discuss.
 

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but I would rather live at home compared to living in an apartment (sorry, that kind of living just doesn't suit my tastes, not to mention rent up here isn't really cheap)
I think we're getting close to understanding your decision making process.

Care to expand on what your "tastes" are exactly?
 
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I think we're getting close to understanding your decision making process.

Care to expand on what your "tastes" are exactly?
Well, being crammed into an extremely compact living space surrounded by other people is something I dislike. Plus not having direct access to your own appliances potentially.

That’s why I want my own house (or at least a townhouse)... I’m more isolated and when I lived in my old townhouse complex in NJ it was quiet and peaceful.

My friends live in apartments and some of the things I hear are literally not even remotely desirable to me. Not to mention they piss away money on the lease they never get back and don’t even own the place. At least with a mortgage you can build equity in the property.
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