conversation: User (EngineeringStudentt): "Hey PF, so here's the situation. I've been working for about 4 full months now and I'm really struggling with grasping how I can afford to get a reliable car. \n\nSalary: $55,000\n\nRoth 401k: 6%\n\nTake-home: $2950/month\n\nDebt: none \n\nLiquid Savings: ~1,500\n\nBreakdown of monthly expenses: [image](https://i.imgur.com/s3Zm6Bv.jpg)\n\nThe only place I can see car+insurance funds coming from is my future savings, which isn't ideal but it's all I've got. I understand that rent is high but honestly in both the cities that I work and live (Jupiter and West Palm Beach), I'm paying below average plus the place came fully furnished so that saved me a bit.\n\nMy current car is a '96 Civic (paid for long ago and insured by parents) with ~330,000 miles and while it still runs, it's really struggling. Windows don't open, engine misfires and low pressure in cylinders, burns through a quart of oil every two weeks, rusting, oxidizing, struggles HARD to accelerate. \n\nI'm a huge car enthusiast and a car is so much more to me than just something to get me from point A to point B but I feel like I'm not in a place to get something I'd actually enjoy driving just yet. I'm also completely alone in a new state so I need something reliable because it's a PITA to be alone and have something go wrong with your only means of transportation.\n\nAny advice/budget recommendations? Also as a 22 year old male living in South Florida, I expect to get murdered by insurance."
  Self: "It doesn't seem like you have a whole lot saved up and your "budget" is pretty confusing as it just seems a little all over the place. You don't count things like food, gifts, travel, etc. as expenses when they are and just have unnecessary categories tbh, but I digress. \n\nIf you need to save more and have high rent get a roomate. You're 22, shouldn't be that bad or hard in south Florida to find a roomate and it'll save you an extra $600-700 bucks a month. With only $1500 saved you don't have much of a down payment or efund atm."
  User (EngineeringStudentt): "Yeah I'm still figuring things out since I graduated only a few months ago. The items in the **flex** category are variable expenses that I have some control over and aren't necessarily monthly (travel for instance is just money I'm setting aside to visit family back home at some point in the future). A lot of them are just virtual buckets  I've created through YNAB. \n\nI definitely want to build an efund as well as spend less on rent but it's just generally expensive down here. I'm paying less than a lot of my friends that live with roommates (and i live in a studio not even a 1br). That being said, I'm sure there's something out there and I'll look for it when my lease up. \n\nAs per the down payment, my parents have offered to gift that to me so that helps. Ideally I'd be able to wait a few months and save more before getting a new car but I don't want to risk something happening to my current one and then rushing to buy a new one. "
  Thebigkapowski (Thebigkapowski): "My suggestions:\n\n1. Track the "can't live without" expenses and "nice to have" expenses, and then break those down into categories. For example based on me, I can't live without mortgage, utilities, car insurance, car payment, student loan payment. My nice to haves include everything else - internet, cable, cell phone, etc. \n\n2. Break those two down into expense categories that are meaningful. For example, if I lump everything together in "food", I look at it and think "OMG am I buying gold-covered almonds in bulk at Whole Foods?" So I have groceries (go to store, buy stuff for meal planning, cook at home), restaurants (when I go out to have a meal with friends, coworkers, lunches out at work), and food (coffees, snacks from the store in my building, basic crap I shouldn't probably be eating). This way I can see where my money is really going. \n\n3. If you are thinking about looking at other places to live, look before your rent is up. You have more time to research, no pressure, and can watch for any fluxuation in prices in your market or with specific places. If you find a few places that might work, talk to the office staff. If they have good management, they will be upfront about upcoming rate hikes. I was able to plan out a move a few years ago into a place just before they increased the base rent. Saved me money for that year. \n\n4. Figure out what max monthly payment you are willing to spend and start putting that into savings, and DO NOT TOUCH IT. You will be okay because you have the money available, but you will see what it's like to live without it. If you find yourself straining, then revisit your expenses to see if you can cut other non essentials, lower your max monthly payment, or increase your income. "
  