I'm a rising senior and thinking about taking a gap year and I wanted advice on expenses for the gap year like what you guys did and so forth. To save money, my mom said that I could stay at home for the year which is what I'm thinking about doing. I'm also thinking about working as a scribe in a hospital near home. However, my dilemma is whether or not I should buy a car after I graduate or right before I go to medical school. I was thinking after I graduate because the city bus is so unreliable where I live and my mom does not have a car. I have like $5000 dollars saved up so far, and I will probably save around $3000 more dollars by the time I graduate. If I get a car should I lease a new car or buy used as I'm using the car for medical school too?
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Gap Year Expenses
Started by Lina19
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never lease a car. It's not worth it. You end up paying more money than buying a car in the long run. A reliable 2nd hard car will probably be within your budget. Depending on your job situation, it might be better to just buy a car when you graduate so you can have a reliable method to commute to work.
if you can stay at home and have a job, definitely do that. Paying rent is not fun.
if you can stay at home and have a job, definitely do that. Paying rent is not fun.
www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance has some good info about cars that may help you in this matter.
Stay at home, buy a used car. Something in the $5000 range should last you pretty well without too much hassle or worry.
Take the scribe job if you can get it...the experience is invaluable. Plus, you need something paid, even if it's crappy pay like scribing, to cover gas and car expenses!
Take the scribe job if you can get it...the experience is invaluable. Plus, you need something paid, even if it's crappy pay like scribing, to cover gas and car expenses!
If it's your first car, you don't need to go all out on it. Many people buy their first cars at $2000 or so and it's usually in modest shape. It's no Prius but it'll get you from point A to point B. You might even pick up a few tricks to fix up the car and maintain it. Those are good skills to have. You'd be surprised at how many people nowadays who have no idea how to jump a car.
Normally I'd be the first to agree with you...you absolutely can pick up a good car for $2000.
However, OP has unlimited time (no current job to pressure them) to shop for a good car at a good price. They also have the budget to spend what I consider the maximum on a used car - for $5k, you should be able to get the car that will last your gap year, med school, and residency. And, if budget isn't a hard limit, I actually think that your first car is not the one to go cheap on...it takes some time to learn how to shop for a used car, and the risk of lemons is substantially higher in the $2k group. Just my $0.02
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deleted577188
I'm glad I have a used Honda for this very reason. I would never pay for basic **** like fluid changes, tune ups, and even some parts repair/swaps. Knowing how to do this stuff is invaluable especially since labor is hella more expensive than parts.
Yup. But it's a real @$##$ on old GMs. Parts are overpriced for luxury models (I'm looking at you, BMW...and your required, expensive, proprietary tools to boot!)
Solid, simple, Honda/Toyota if you're going to go cheap. Volvo/Subaru if you don't mind paying a bit more than you really ought to on repairs (aka if you're going to spend a bit more up front to get one in better condition). Occasionally a GM, but if you go older model be prepared to encounter some bizarre metric/SAE combos because it took them a while to figure out what they were going to do!
Get a job, stay at home, get a cheap old car is what I'd do.
I really wouldn't advise spending $5k on a car though. You still have to save up for basic maintenance (oil changes, new tires (god forbid), etc.) and insurance and all that infrastructure that comes with a car. And you still want some left over for a rainy day. Besides, I think buying a car that needs a little bit of work is a good way to invest yourself in it and really develop respect for it. Too many people I know have nice cars and let it go to **** because they have no idea how to keep it in good shape. Once you fix something up, you develop an understanding for how it works and its limits.
OP has $5k and will have another $3k by the time they buy. To me, that's enough for insurance and maintainence, plus rainy day money.
$5k will not buy you a 'nice' car...it will buy you the same car you'd get for $2k, only with fewer miles on it and before whatever major issue has come along to drag a car down to $2k. You'll get the car before it requires a quart at every fill-up, for example...but the same car otherwise.
I agree entirely on the merits of working on your own car, for what it's worth...my first one was one I rescued from its spot abandoned at the edge of the woods and fixed back into running condition. My mom and I worked on our own cars my entire life. But while I will never pay a premium for the new car smell, I think that a low-mid tier used car gives you the opportunity to save money and learn some of your own fixes without the major drawbacks of a $2k car (such as needing real used-car-evaluating skills to avoid true lemons, and losing your ride to work for a more extended fix).
