Did you enter dental school with a new car payment?

[Dynomite]

If you entered dental school with a new car payment, did you find that you could afford it reasonably ok with your school loans? I know it's not ideal to make such a big purchase right before entering dental school, but my 11-year-old car died on me in the middle of a busy intersection (embarrassing) and I no longer have any confidence in the car. Getting a new car to have that reliability to get to dental school classes and back is a must for me at this point. I'll be starting dental school in August, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to afford the car payment while I live off purely school loans. Both parents are deceased so it's all on me and loans. So how are you guys affording a car payment?

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[Lidopaine82]

If you entered dental school with a new car payment, did you find that you could afford it reasonably ok with your school loans? I know it's not ideal to make such a big purchase right before entering dental school, but my 11-year-old car died on me in the middle of a busy intersection (embarrassing) and I no longer have any confidence in the car. Getting a new car to have that reliability to get to dental school classes and back is a must for me at this point. I'll be starting dental school in August, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to afford the car payment while I live off purely school loans. Both parents are deceased so it's all on me and loans. So how are you guys affording a car payment?

im in the same boat. i bought a car 2 years ago and i'll be paying it off for a while. When i take school loans, i plan on taking enough for school, rent, car payment, and other bills. These loans aren't just for school, they are so you can live too. since we wont be working

 

[Dynomite]

im in the same boat. i bought a car 2 years ago and i'll be paying it off for a while. When i take school loans, i plan on taking enough for school, rent, car payment, and other bills. These loans aren't just for school, they are so you can live too. since we wont be working

Do most schools budget your financial aid so that there really isn't any room for other expenditures such as a car payment? Or are there generally more than enough funds to meet your living needs, not extravagently by any means, but well enough that you can have a decent place to live, nice car, etc.

 

[Lidopaine82]

Do most schools budget your financial aid so that there really isn't any room for other expenditures such as a car payment? Or are there generally more than enough funds to meet your living needs, not extravagently by any means, but well enough that you can have a decent place to live, nice car, etc.

Im not really sure how it works, but how would they expect you to live if they only give you enough to cover what the school charges? I haven't done this process yet but im sure you could get enough loans from a variety of sources to cover whatever you want. My brother took out loans for law school. Enough to cover his tuition and enough to live off of. You can get up to 38K in federal loans and the rest of what you need in private loans.

 

[beezies]

I also had to buy a new car last year. Now I'm in a five year payment plan and a tad confused about how to deal with it. I suppose taking out one loan to pay off another sounds pretty dumb, but I needed a car at the time. Is there anyone in the boston area who wants a new mini?! Seriously though, if anyone else has done this, I could use some advice too.

 

[DcS]

If you max out your staffords and other govt loans, you will have enough to 'live' off of, meaning to pay rent and eat. Adding a car payment into that will likely be a very tight squeeze. It depends on your school. For ex, at UNC I have enough to pay my school bills and then maybe have 12-1500 per month to live off of. That includes rent, utilities, going out, eating, etc etc. It's been enough but I would not have been able to have a car payment in there.

 

[kilani]

I have a similar case here, with 4 more years of payments, and I already did some of the calculations, it's gonna be really tight trying to make the car payment from what is left of the loans, they don't usually give you a comfortable margin when they calculate the cost of attendance which includes your school tuition and fees, and living expenses.

 

[sinned]

get a "certified" used car at a dealership so that you get the 6-7 years with 100,000 mile warranty...good buy

 

[gsrthomas]

get a "certified" used car at a dealership so that you get the 6-7 years with 100,000 mile warranty...good buy

Yes buy a used Toyota CPO. So you get the 6 years 100k warranty. But in reality Toyotas and Hondas done even need a 100k warranty. If you maintain it properly they last forever.

How much money do you have to put down on a car??