I am 23 years old and my salary is 38k net, Im looking to lease a car thats $550/month, could this work for me

Question

To those that answered this question, thank you all.

Here's the break down, I have $26K in the bank and I make 38K net after taxes and all deduction ($3200/month). I work for a fortune 100 company with 152,000 employees around the world so I doubt they will go belly up anytime soon (stock keeps growing).

I drive 250 miles a week and my monthly expenses (gas, rent, electric, phone, groceries and others) are $2,200/month.

Car lease pmt is going to be 550/mo with 110 bucks in insurance so total of $2,860 which leaves me ~$350 in savings each month.

I am looking to go back for my graduate degree soon (1 year).

Can someone advise if this payment would work out for me, any experiences are appreciated.

Answer 1

I wouldn't do it. I sounds like you know deep in our gut what the answer should be.

Here is my take. Yes you want a car right now, but you're young and you will also want to do other things. $350 in discretionary income per month is really not a lot. What if you want to go on vacation? What if you have an emergency? At $550 plus insurance, I think that too much of your salary would be going to a car. What kind of a car is this? Sounds like it might be too much car in any case. In my experience, if you can't aford to buy it, you can't afford to lease it.

Personally, I make $90,000 and I pay $500 for my Infiniti. Sometimes I even think it's too much for me as at this point I would rather be investing in my home or saving more.

Answer 2

there is no guarantee in the job market any more in the US,,go look for a good used car and buy it,,the lease game is bad if you go over the miles while you are on the lease...i bought a used 98 lincoln towncar 54,000 miles for 7,000..the back seat never has been sat in