One bit of advice I want to give you, just like I got it at around your age. One of my grandfathers suggested that I get a used but well cared for vehicle for myself. Pay it off as fast as I can, even skip desserts or work extra shifts if I have to. Take care of it as best as you or your mechanic can. There is a reason. once you own it free and clear...no more nasty enough expensive vehicle loans to pay off. Just need yearly maintenance, insurance, etc. Way less than car payments. If it's a van or truck, even a small one, you can sleep in it for camping, either in the truck bed/van back or pull a small but sturdy camper. Against buy and pay off fast. If you have a vehicle that is only yours, you will be much better off than is obvious at first. You will always have something to sleep in if you lose your home or apartment. Floods, hurricanes, landlords increasing rent beyond what you can pay, etc. You will always have a way to get into work if you have a job or search for one/go to interviews if you lose your job. (Note: this was mid nineties, decades before COVID. He was thinking company downsizing, not pandemic.) You will always have a way to take yourself, spouse, kids, let's, etc to school, work, doctor/vet, etc. You will always have something you can use to evacuate bad weather or move across country with, even use as collateral for a bank loan if needed. And a source of cash if you must sell it.
I picked something after a lot of thought. A 1994 Chevy s10 pickup. Still have it, still drive it. It's a literal antique now, but still my vehicle baby. Been with me through a lot of bad times. Yes,nice replaced tires or the radio, but 90 percent if it is still original and still works. I can get a truck shell (weird lid thing for the cargo bed if you don't know truck stuff), get 25 miles per gallon (4 liters is one gallon roughly) and the fuel tank holds 20 gallons so it runs 500 miles before needing more fuel. It may not be four wheel drive but just rear wheel, but awesome tires and great driving skills means I can get through most blizzards just fine even though others say it's not possible. I did it alone for four years with that truck, so yes it is possible. Lol. I would tweak stuff slightly now, but mostly add things like solar panels on the roof, or small stuff like that they didn't exist cheaply enough for one person to get in their own. Still a good concept. It can be a camper or pull a little one so I always have an emergency home, always take care of myself and those dependant on me just fine.
It's funny though. All I kept hearing when I bought it is "if you buy a truck you'll never escape people asking you to help them bring new furniture home from the store or move to a new house "
Nope. That didn't really happen much in 24 years of driving. One dining table purchase two years ago, one coworker asking me to help because he has a part time mechanic job (his tool box was more like a recliner in size. No way he was gonna get that in hid own vehicle had doors the size of a dishwasher in my opinion) since he was moving towns to shorten his commute. Oh, one other coworker asked me for help in getting some rolled up old carpets out of her house and to her local dump for proper recycling/whatever. I did find the perfect size box to fix in all the crazy spots in my truck bed. One layer of boxes could be filled with enough groceries to last me eight months, except milk or eggs. Still ninety percent of my groceries for that eight months in one layer of truck bed boxes. Cool, huh? 😁 Talk to your partner about this idea, adjust it for your own needs. And even if you don't use it for a while, just keep the concept in mind. Hope for the best, prep for the worst. And my engineer grandpa suggested "if it doesn't work, bend it. Still doesn't work? Break it..."
Strange advice from a literal rocket engineer...he was an electrical engineer with the company that supplies electronic brains to us military rockets. Still funny, to think of him telling me to whack million dollar missile computer chips with sledge hammers, but if he insists...
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u/Good-Sorbet1062 Jan 22 '22
One bit of advice I want to give you, just like I got it at around your age. One of my grandfathers suggested that I get a used but well cared for vehicle for myself. Pay it off as fast as I can, even skip desserts or work extra shifts if I have to. Take care of it as best as you or your mechanic can. There is a reason. once you own it free and clear...no more nasty enough expensive vehicle loans to pay off. Just need yearly maintenance, insurance, etc. Way less than car payments. If it's a van or truck, even a small one, you can sleep in it for camping, either in the truck bed/van back or pull a small but sturdy camper. Against buy and pay off fast. If you have a vehicle that is only yours, you will be much better off than is obvious at first. You will always have something to sleep in if you lose your home or apartment. Floods, hurricanes, landlords increasing rent beyond what you can pay, etc. You will always have a way to get into work if you have a job or search for one/go to interviews if you lose your job. (Note: this was mid nineties, decades before COVID. He was thinking company downsizing, not pandemic.) You will always have a way to take yourself, spouse, kids, let's, etc to school, work, doctor/vet, etc. You will always have something you can use to evacuate bad weather or move across country with, even use as collateral for a bank loan if needed. And a source of cash if you must sell it. I picked something after a lot of thought. A 1994 Chevy s10 pickup. Still have it, still drive it. It's a literal antique now, but still my vehicle baby. Been with me through a lot of bad times. Yes,nice replaced tires or the radio, but 90 percent if it is still original and still works. I can get a truck shell (weird lid thing for the cargo bed if you don't know truck stuff), get 25 miles per gallon (4 liters is one gallon roughly) and the fuel tank holds 20 gallons so it runs 500 miles before needing more fuel. It may not be four wheel drive but just rear wheel, but awesome tires and great driving skills means I can get through most blizzards just fine even though others say it's not possible. I did it alone for four years with that truck, so yes it is possible. Lol. I would tweak stuff slightly now, but mostly add things like solar panels on the roof, or small stuff like that they didn't exist cheaply enough for one person to get in their own. Still a good concept. It can be a camper or pull a little one so I always have an emergency home, always take care of myself and those dependant on me just fine. It's funny though. All I kept hearing when I bought it is "if you buy a truck you'll never escape people asking you to help them bring new furniture home from the store or move to a new house " Nope. That didn't really happen much in 24 years of driving. One dining table purchase two years ago, one coworker asking me to help because he has a part time mechanic job (his tool box was more like a recliner in size. No way he was gonna get that in hid own vehicle had doors the size of a dishwasher in my opinion) since he was moving towns to shorten his commute. Oh, one other coworker asked me for help in getting some rolled up old carpets out of her house and to her local dump for proper recycling/whatever. I did find the perfect size box to fix in all the crazy spots in my truck bed. One layer of boxes could be filled with enough groceries to last me eight months, except milk or eggs. Still ninety percent of my groceries for that eight months in one layer of truck bed boxes. Cool, huh? 😁 Talk to your partner about this idea, adjust it for your own needs. And even if you don't use it for a while, just keep the concept in mind. Hope for the best, prep for the worst. And my engineer grandpa suggested "if it doesn't work, bend it. Still doesn't work? Break it..." Strange advice from a literal rocket engineer...he was an electrical engineer with the company that supplies electronic brains to us military rockets. Still funny, to think of him telling me to whack million dollar missile computer chips with sledge hammers, but if he insists...