PigtailsOfDoom wrote:
While I do think Gbaji makes a relatively decent point about the high expense of your vehicle, you are absolutely correct that cars in this day and age are pretty much a necessity.
Sure. No one said that he should not own a car. One that costs him $800/month is a whole different story though. Doubly so when it's clear that he could not afford to both own that car *and* feed himself adequately. That's the "choice" I was talking about. He choose to spend a ridiculous amount of money on transportation. Also, I simply can't believe that he is required to pay $430ish a month in insurance on said car. That's ridiculous. Full coverage on my car (as in the coverage level required when you finance a car from a dealer) costs me just over $500 every six months (so about $80/month). In California.
Unless he foolishly got talked into the most expensive insurance options known to man, I can't imagine how his car insurance could be that high. But if they are, then again, it's a choice. For the cost of a couple months at that rate, he could outright buy an older model used car. Insurance on that will be cheap. Even just the $375/month cost on his car is higher than someone making his income level should be paying. He's doing exactly what I said people do: They overspend on things that they don't need, and come up short on those they do. He should be looking for a more basic used car in the $200-$250/month range (assuming purchase from a dealer).
Quote:
If you live somewhere without public transportation anyways. When trying to decide between food and my car, I'd have a really difficult time figuring that out where I currently live. I've got a 10 minute drive from my home to my work, so if I didn't have a car I'd be pretty much screwed. I guess I could sell the car and buy a bike? But still, where I live it's extremely rainy during the winter months. When you're desperate though, you're desperate.
Yeah. Or sell the way too expensive car and buy a much less expensive one instead. Heck. If things are desperate enough, just don't make payments on the car. It'll take them 3-4 months before they'll repo it, during which he could put the $800/month towards both buying food *and* directly buying an old used car via private sale for cash. So his credit takes a hit. In that situation, the last thing you really need to worry about is credit though. Focus on income and using it wisely.
Not that I'm recommending this as a course of action, but just presenting alternatives. Certainly, a loss of credit rating is less of a problem than going hungry.