[KingOfJericho]

I would get something for $3-6k and just hoard cash for a while. Jeep Cherokee comes to mind. Don't have to worry about door dings and it's cheap to fix if anything goes wrong.

[ejheverest]

Your car payment is a lot for what you bring in each month but, that's not what is killing your financial situation. First you need to have 20% withdrawn each month for investments/savings, pay your CC off since the interest is money your wasting each month. After card is paid off, put card in a bowl filled with water, put in freezer so its a solid block of ice.(this will make you think about having to use it since you'll have to melt it to get the card) I don't see how you even spend the other 1000-1200/month on anything except for the CC balance. School loans? car insurance? rent?
Guarantee you will regret not investing 20% of the money you take home.

[ejheverest]

what is your major in college?

[BoxerGT2.5]

You phucked up when you took on a car loan that is over 1/4 of what you pull in monthly. Also, if you carry a balance over on a CC every month your an idiot. It's clear you major isn't accounting/finance. YOUR A KID, go get a used Accord and revisit acquiring a BMW when you have a real job and little to no debt outside of a mortgage.

[koreez88]

$110 phone bill? I guess you are an iPhone user?

[ZJP]

Originally Posted by BTM

Depends on how much you like the car...but if it were me I would probably try and get into something with lower payments...it seems like you're less than comfortably affording the car, god forbid you have an emergency? I would be paying off the CC every month, ie carrying no balance forward, paying no interest, and then see how much you can realistically put towards a car.

With a 60mo loan you will still be making payments and will have an out of warranty car or pay for an extended warranty (trust me, they aren't cheap, I just got mine for 2015/100k for $3200 incentive price, list was $3700) so that is another cost you will incur one way or another (ie shell out for the warranty or shell out for the repairs...)

Just a few things to think about

Well I mean most of the time I'll pay them off in full, otherwise I'll usually pay half to avoid sitting with a huge balance and getting raped with interest.

See the warranty thing is what also keeps me from selling my car. It's just a great piece of mind knowing that I'm covered if something breaks.

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

Yeah.... Whos paying for college?

Parents.

Originally Posted by jopa489

Well, about $750 (more than 1/3) of your monthly net income is drained by your car payment, gas, and cell alone. That's ignoring the interest you're accruing on the credit cards, insurance, food, and the many other living expenses required.

If your car payment feels like a burden, it's smart of you to consider doing something about it. While it's easy to tell you to dump the expensive car and buy a shitbox for the time being, my best advice would be to look at the bigger picture. What are your plans post-college? Graduating and going on the job hunt? Huge student loans to pay off? If yes to either of those, you might want to sell the car.

If you're finishing up college, have a job lined up, and minimal student loans, you could probably afford to keep it. When you're working full-time the payments will be easier to make, and you probably won't have to keep a balance on the CCs. It all depends on your own situation.

Post college plans depends on basically whoever out there is hiring, I don't have anything lined up at the moment. No student loans. I have a few more semesters left and I should be done.

Originally Posted by BMW E90

Let's say you get an E46 M3 for $25k after all fees. Even at 60 months your payments would be around $400. IMO just cut down on your credit card expenses. After car payment you should have about $1400 left.

$1400- 110 for cell - $200 for gas= $1090 - $600 CC= $400 left over. If you could cut your CC balances down to about $300 then you'd have $700 left over. Maybe even cut down on your cell phone bill too. Or just add a line to your parents' family share plan or something. That saves you like $60-70 a month. I honestly don't think the car payment is that big of a problem. Unless you also have rent to pay, you could just trim down on those things I mentioned and live comfortably. Think about it, it's not like you're struggling to make the payment.

No rent for me, still living at home with parents. The living costs for an apartment on Long Island are INSANE. A shitty 2 bedroom apartment is still like $1k/month if not more. Rather just save for a house in the future.

But you're right, I'm not struggling to make the payment. Instead, I'm just limited to splurging on other things.

Originally Posted by smmmurf

I don't think you'd save enough by switching to an E46 M3.

If you are paying for college, sell the car. If your parents are paying, stick it out. Switching cars costs a lot of money in most states, and a $300 difference per month over 1 year is only $3600. That's marginal at best.

Yeah, they're paying. I go to community college for now so it's not anywhere as expensive as some top university. I just have to finish up with my AS degree and then it's just off to another SUNY school. I guess you're right though about the $300 difference. It's not that significant.

Originally Posted by mike87

haahah you cannot afford

Thanks for that totally useless post. You're a real asset to this forum.

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

If you were like me and saved $100 on a car payment... you would then just spend an extra $100 somewhere else.

Personally, if you have a job lined up after graduation I definitely would not sell it, you are only 3 years from having it paid off. If your after college life in uncertain then don't go for the M3 either, just get a really cheap college car and then save up the money you are saving for a really nice deposit on the car you want when you do land a nice job!

Oh, and ignore the "living on the edge" naysayers. I enjoy living on the edge myself. It is not for some people, but others enjoy it that way.

Well my goal was to try to cut the payment in half, or at least by a significant amount so I could put it towards either CC bills or into my savings account. But I see what you mean.

Originally Posted by kyleb350

So it sounds like your monthly expenses are $1200 on average? That leaves roughly $800 to apply to misc. variable expenses.

Since you didn't mention rent or food, I'm guessing you still live at home?

Sounds a bit tight. Your fate shall be determined if you get a job lined up or not

Still living @ home.

[ZJP]

Originally Posted by lambtron

Maybe you should consider not having a champagne taste on a beer budget or just stop using your CCs. You're spending 757 a month it looks like for gas, car and cell. That leaves you with a grand total of 1243 for other expenses. If you don't have to buy your own food or pay rent, then you're not doing so bad. You at least have the job you're working now, so if you graduate without a job lined up, you'll have 6 months before you have to pay off loans..unless mom and pop are taking care of that for you...in any case, 99% of college students would be pretty pumped if they drove an e92 335 and still had 1200 left over a month...

I don't pay for rent and I only pay for my own food sometimes, not so much as a deal breaker though.

Originally Posted by ejheverest

Your car payment is a lot for what you bring in each month but, that's not what is killing your financial situation. First you need to have 20% withdrawn each month for investments/savings, pay your CC off since the interest is money your wasting each month. After card is paid off, put card in a bowl filled with water, put in freezer so its a solid block of ice.(this will make you think about having to use it since you'll have to melt it to get the card) I don't see how you even spend the other 1000-1200/month on anything except for the CC balance. School loans? car insurance? rent?
Guarantee you will regret not investing 20% of the money you take home.

Parents cover schooling costs/insurance. Aside from those two things, I pay for all my other shit.

Originally Posted by ejheverest

what is your major in college?

Business Administration.

Originally Posted by koreez88

$110 phone bill? I guess you are an iPhone user?

Correct.

[One128i]

Honestly, you should be driving something that is cheaper to run, like a Civic, Mazda 3, etc...

Then when you are done school and get a well paying job, you can move on to nicer cars.

I know students who spend their money on nice, expensive cars, but they end up selling them because of financial issues down the road (student loans, down payment on house, etc). You're in business...I would have thought you would know how to manage and plan your finances better?

And about "living on the edge". You know why alot of people have been losing their homes and cars in this economy? Because they have been "living on the edge". No savings...living on pay cheque by pay cheque.

[ZJP]

Originally Posted by 2hondas

Honestly, you should be driving something that is cheaper to run, like a Civic, Mazda 3, etc...

Then when you are done school and get a well paying job, you can move on to nicer cars.

I know students who spend their money on nice, expensive cars, but they end up selling them because of financial issues down the road (student loans, down payment on house, etc). You're in business...I would have thought you would know how to manage and plan your finances better?

And about "living on the edge". You know why alot of people have been losing their homes and cars in this economy? Because they have been "living on the edge". No savings...living on pay cheque by pay cheque.

Lol, I don't think I would ever be caught dead in a Civic/Mazda3 or any equivalent. No offense or anything, but I've already been in the Honda scene and my last car was an STi. You can say it's my ego talking, whatever, I just have no intentions of going in that direction.

As far as the business comment, you're absolutely right. I bought the car two years ago when I was naive and didn't have much thought of my future. A lot has changed since then so now I have to face the music now.

[windowsM]

Originally Posted by ZJP

No rent for me, still living at home with parents. The living costs for an apartment on Long Island are INSANE. A shitty 2 bedroom apartment is still like $1k/month if not more. Rather just save for a house in the future.

$1k is not a lot for a 2br apt.
You don't seem to have a good grasp on real-world expenses. Get rid of the $600/mo car payment.

[JayKay335i]

Originally Posted by windowsM

$1k is not a lot for a 2br apt.
You don't seem to have a good grasp on real-world expenses. Get rid of the $600/mo car payment.

LOL

It cost me $900 a month for a shit hole 1 bedroom in the middle of nowhere MA in college. If you think $1k for an apartment, you need to wake up and smell the flowers.

You will be broke as shit when you graduate living at home. If your parents are paying for school you should be saving your money not shitting it away.

[FStop7]

Originally Posted by ZJP

Lol, I don't think I would ever be caught dead in a Civic/Mazda3 or any equivalent.

Wow.

[JayKay335i]

Wait till your parents cut you off...

[CollinsE90]

get a old 4 runner, it wont pull you pussy but you can smash some in it

[BTM]

Not saying OP should keep the car but there is no way I'd be paying 1k in rent for any extended period of time...not building equity in anything and that's half his monthly income...at least with his car payments he'll have something to speak for when all is said and done

[jpsum]

With your income, you should be looking for something that is in the $15k range. seriously. Don't kill yourself over a car. If you like BMWs, the time will come when you get older and have a better paying job.

[BMW F22]

I honestly don't see what the "situation" is in this case. If the dude makes like $2k before taxes and only brings home about $1300-1500 then yes he should cut down his expenses. Now if he gets $2k after taxes then he can easily afford that car payment. It's not like he's struggling. I would suggest that he cuts down on some things and resist the urge to splurge on shit. Also try to save as much as possible for rainy days.

[BoxerGT2.5]

Originally Posted by BTM

Not saying OP should keep the car but there is no way I'd be paying 1k in rent for any extended period of time...not building equity in anything and that's half his monthly income...at least with his car payments he'll have something to speak for when all is said and done

Cost of living and salaries are extremely inflated in NY. $1000 NY apartment is equivalent to prob $500-600 here in IL. I always get a kick out of my friends from NY and New England who bragged about making 90k right out of college there, which is the same as making 45k here. Lol

[JayKay335i]

But who the hell wants to live in IL?

Lets be honest OP, if you struggled your parents would pick up the slack.

[mtla4]

You only live once not twice so keep it. Theres are two ways to look at it...either you cut expenses or make more money. I'm all about the second option.

[Blake]

oh lawd. asking for financial advice from a car forum is like talking about religion/politics in bars.

[TK-421]

Originally Posted by Blake

oh lawd. asking for financial advice from a car forum is like talking about religion/politics in bars.

are you kidding? everyone on car forums is an expert in everything... seems like the perfect place for advice of any kind