[acidlittle]

Say.... Hypothetically......

You have 10,000 Dollars in the bank.

You have an old car that works, but has 165000 miles, is starting to rust, will need new brakes and tires by the end of the summer.
You have found a car for about 15k that you love (not 4wd but a good gas saver)
You have just under 20,000 in student loan debt.
Live with your parents until August.

Would you...
A) Take a loan out for the full 15k and make payments, but knowing things will be a lot tighter when you move out in August, my bank has an extra 1% off loans right now so the loan APR would be 3.5% all said and done.
B) Drive the car you have for as long as you possibly can, saving up more money, knowing that there will always be cars for sale when you need one.
C) Take the 10,000 in savings and throw it ALL at your student loans completely depleting any safety net you have should something bad happen (I do NOT HAVE any health insurance........hypotheically :lol: ) and running your current car til death
D) Get the newer car, put 4k down on it so you would still have 6k as a safety net, taking a loan for about 11k thus increasing my total debt to 31,000.
E) Buy a 600-800 bicycle and move close to where I work when I do move riding my bike as much as possible and keeping the car for necessities only
F) Use the 10k in savings to purchase vehicle taking loan for about 5k and increasing total debt to 25k

there are just too many options, right now I pull in about 1900 a month (net) and pay out about 500 in bills, but remember in August I will definitely have a rent payment added to that, which I am "planning" for by saving 1000 bucks a month...

Just looking for honest advice or tips to kill my debt and hopefully not have to take out more then I need to right now.

 

[survival]

You won't like my answer, but I'll put it out there anyway.

1. Get insurance. A simple car wreck (ven if its not your fault) like Leon, could put you in the hospital. To fix your a broke leg can cost you thousands if not ten thousands if it was severe. You would have to file bankruptcy if you cannot pay and they can garnish your paycheck depending on the type of bankruptcy. So you would be bankrupt AS WELL as still paying for the medical care. Insurance (Medical) should be a top priority for anyone. That first, then food.

2. Take 1000 of that 10 grand and put it in an envelope, mark on the envelope (Emergency). Thats not for bubble gum, gas for the car, date night. Its for if your car physically throws the motor, or blows the water pump.

3. Take the 9 grand left, throw it all at your student debt. All of it on the principle, not the balance (Big difference).

4. Keep paying on that debt until July, and save up enough for the utilities for your new place, deposits and moving in.

5. Move in August (would be good if you didn't have to, but understandable). If you do have to move, I like the idea of using the car as a backup and riding everywhere on a bike. You can get a bike for 100 bucks at a yard sale. I have a $2500 Cervelo, it rides the same as a $50-100 dollar yard sale or wallly world bike.

6. Continue to pay on that school debt until it is paid off.

7. After its paid off, save enough that would pay for all your bills if you were laid off, fired, quit etc from a job. Save enough to cover 3 months.

8. Start with the new house plan.

In the meantime, to get your debt down even more, sell stuff that you don't use no more and throw it on the loan. If you don't have stuff to sell, sell others people stuff (ebay) and take a profit from it. 99% of the time, people will have old outdated electronics or they will buy new phones etc, just ask them "hey, if I give you 50 bucks for that will you let me have it"? When they say yes, sell it on ebay for 150 (if thats the going rate) and take 100 bucks for yourself. Don't do percentages, do straight numbers. It worked for me.

http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

 

[acidlittle]

I like most of what you said, the only issue being if the car does break completely, or even minorly as it's old and not worth anything, I will have to get a new one.

I don't know how comfortable I feel only have 1k as a safety net either. There are just so many variables that I have to think through in the next months

 

[acidlittle]

That link is pretty darn good too, I'm just impatient and want to have that damn loan paid off TODAY