Talk me into a new car.

[Deleted]

You don't need it. Wait on it for a while and you'll discover there's something else you want in a year or two that kicks much more ass than the Prius.

If you want to buy my Fiat, I'll ship it across country for you! LOL much smaller than your FIT but awesome gas mileage!

[spindle92]

Sorry, I am of no help. This is why I use to lease cars (before I started comuting and couldn't lease due to high miles), I loved getting a new car every few years.

[Deleted]

If you don't need it, I wouldn't get it. I'm cheap though and am driving around an almost 20 year old vehicle so take my advice with a grain of salt. 

[Deleted]

If you have absolutely nothing else to do with those car payments....go for it. BUT i doubt you couldnt find something better to do with the money.

[jojoandleo]

I love not having a car payment.

Signed, the girl driving a 2000 Honda Accord that is slowly dying but refusing to even look into getting a new car.

[glitzyglow]

House improvements put value into the house, so I'd probably do those things first and then come back to a new car once the house improvements were finished.

[winecat]

Think of all the awesome trips you could take by not having a car payment?

Signed,
the girl who is driving a car with 248k+ miles

[achase123]

Are you maxing out your 401(k) contributions? How much of a cushion do you have in savings? Should be 6 months worth of living expenses for a single woman.

Even the flooring for your house is a better idea because it's going to add value to your home. Getting a new car is fun but not practical because they depreciate (as you know I'm sure). I could think of lots of things I'd do before buying a new car that wasn't necessary.

signed, a single woman with less than one months worth of living expenses in savings right now :/

[udscoobychick]

achase123, what is a good percentage to be putting into a 401K for someone in her mid to late 20s?

Edited to tag Achase.

[bowies]

Wait, I thought 10% into a 401K was standard?

I bought a new car a little over a year ago, so I'm not much help in talking you out of it. In my defense, my old one had a hole in the bottom/needed constant repairs and the new one is saving me money at the pump. FI wants a new car too, but his never needs repairs and has good gas mileage, so he's keeping it (for now).

Uhhhh, lemme see...the Prius V recently failed safety crash tests. Does that help?

[achase123]

Feb 22, 2013 9:15:44 GMT -5 udscoobychick said:

achase123, what is a good percentage to be putting into a 401K for someone in her mid to late 20s?

Edited to tag Achase.

A good rule of thumb is at least as much as your company is willing to match for.  You want to get the max match you can.  As a single person under age 50 you *could* put in up to $17,500/year but most people aren't able to do this.  I think I'm doing 9 or 10% right now. 

What I generally recommend is to beef up the savings account first and foremost because that's your emergency fund in case anything comes up.  Once you've done that and you have a cushion start putting AS MUCH as you can into your 401(k) account.  If you can get to the point where you're maxing it out that's great.  The next step would be to think about a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA.  But this is all contingent on being pretty comfortable as far as cash inflows.

[udscoobychick]

Feb 22, 2013 11:50:01 GMT -5 achase123 said:

Feb 22, 2013 9:15:44 GMT -5 udscoobychick said:

achase123, what is a good percentage to be putting into a 401K for someone in her mid to late 20s?

Edited to tag Achase.

A good rule of thumb is at least as much as your company is willing to match for.  You want to get the max match you can.  As a single person under age 50 you *could* put in up to $17,500/year but most people aren't able to do this.  I think I'm doing 9 or 10% right now. 

What I generally recommend is to beef up the savings account first and foremost because that's your emergency fund in case anything comes up.  Once you've done that and you have a cushion start putting AS MUCH as you can into your 401(k) account.  If you can get to the point where you're maxing it out that's great.  The next step would be to think about a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA.  But this is all contingent on being pretty comfortable as far as cash inflows.

Thanks for the info--I am putting in 8% right now...my company matches that an additional 3% (the max that they will do).  Once we've paid for the wedding, I guess I should beef that up a bit!  I'm not going to hit $17,500, but I can probably increase it to 10 to 12%.

[achase123]

Feb 22, 2013 13:20:33 GMT -5 udscoobychick said:

Feb 22, 2013 11:50:01 GMT -5 achase123 said:

A good rule of thumb is at least as much as your company is willing to match for.  You want to get the max match you can.  As a single person under age 50 you *could* put in up to $17,500/year but most people aren't able to do this.  I think I'm doing 9 or 10% right now. 

What I generally recommend is to beef up the savings account first and foremost because that's your emergency fund in case anything comes up.  Once you've done that and you have a cushion start putting AS MUCH as you can into your 401(k) account.  If you can get to the point where you're maxing it out that's great.  The next step would be to think about a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA.  But this is all contingent on being pretty comfortable as far as cash inflows.

Thanks for the info--I am putting in 8% right now...my company matches that an additional 3% (the max that they will do).  Once we've paid for the wedding, I guess I should beef that up a bit!  I'm not going to hit $17,500, but I can probably increase it to 10 to 12%.

That's a great plan!  The younger you can do this, the better.  You've definitely got the right idea.  It's really amazing the impact it makes to contribute to your retirement when you begin in your 20's.  HUGE difference in your bottom line when you retire.