According to this rule, when buying a car, you should put down at least 20%, you should finance the car for no more than 4 years, and you should keep your monthly car payment (including your principal, interest, insurance, and other expenses) at or below 10% of your gross (i.e. pre-tax) monthly income.
10 Ways to Save Money on Your Next Car Purchase
Some financial experts recommend setting your car-buying budget at half of your annual salary. If you look at the previous example of making $5,000 monthly, that will equate to an annual salary of $60,000. Half of that is $30,000. According to this rule, you can spend up to $30,000 on your upcoming car purchase.
Here are six strategies to help you save enough money to buy a car.
With the 30 day savings rule, you defer all non-essential purchases and impulse buys for 30 days. Instead of spending your money on something you might not need, you're going to take 30 days to think about it. At the end of this 30 day period, if you still want to make that purchase, feel free to go for it.
Depends on your definition of “afford”. The average person at my store that buys a $40k car makes $100k-$120k per year household income. They generally lease or finance the vehicle. I do have some customers that make $80k buying a $40k car but that is uncommon.
As a general rule, aim for no less than 20% down, particularly for new cars — and no less than 10% down for used cars — so that you don't end up paying too much in interest and financing costs. Benefits of making a down payment can include a lower monthly payment and less interest paid over the life of the loan.
If you do not have 30k cash and no debt, yes, 30k is too much. The only time you should ever get a car loan is when you are borrowing the money at a very low rate, and you have carefully considered that buying a new car is worth the instant loss of money and instant depreciation for your particular situation.
8 simple ways to save money
Dave Ramsey takes a balance sheet approach. Rather than looking at monthly transportation costs, Dave recommends buying cars that cost no more than 50% of your annual income. So if you make $50,000 a year, you should not spend more than $25,000 for a car(s).
While many pundits say you should have a down payment of at least 20% of the vehicle's purchase price, that isn't always necessary — or possible. On a $30,000 loan, that would require a $6,000 down payment. Lenders won't disqualify you if you can't reach that amount, but the closer you get to it, the better you'll be.
A 15k car with your income is absolutely reasonable. ... If you go shopping at dealers for a 2-4 year old "certified pre-owned" car you might find the prices to be as high as a new car.
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