I agree with mikeash, and wanted to just add my own personal experience.
Most people I know, and what I also do personally, is buy a used car for less than $10k, and pay it off within 3 years. Then you live with it until it no longer becomes economically viable to keep it.
So my wife and I own our cars at this point, which frees $400+ a month we can put towards something else with the understanding in 2-3 years we will need to budget for cars again.
The basic cycle is 3 years of car debt, 3 years without.
(I don't live in an area which has public transportation)
Comments
I agree with mikeash, and wanted to just add my own personal experience.
Most people I know, and what I also do personally, is buy a used car for less than $10k, and pay it off within 3 years. Then you live with it until it no longer becomes economically viable to keep it.
So my wife and I own our cars at this point, which frees $400+ a month we can put towards something else with the understanding in 2-3 years we will need to budget for cars again.
The basic cycle is 3 years of car debt, 3 years without.
(I don't live in an area which has public transportation)