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Figure out your total income. Figure out all of your expenses that you have to live. What ever is left over is what you can afford for a car payment but don't base the car you want on that. Remember, you will need to buy insurance and you will have other expenses.

My rule of thumb is that the value of all of your vehicle's, I'm talking about cars, trucks, boats and their Sea-Doo sisters, motorcycles, and anything else like this-should not total more than half your annual income. Why? It's because all of these kinds of things go down in value. You never want half of your income going into things whose value is dropping like a rock. You don't need a $20,000 car if you're making $30,000 a year. That's just stupid. Think about it this way. If you're making that kind of money, and I walk up and tell you I've got an investment opportunity that will turn $20,000 of your hard-earned income into $12,000 in just three or four years, are you going to take me up on the offer? If you've got a brain in your head, the answer's no! Now, I'm okay with it if you make $300,000 a year and buy a $20,000 car if you pay cash. That's like most people running out and buying a Happy Meal. It's just not a big deal! Do not buy a new car. Buy a 1 or 2 year old car and save lots of money.

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Q: What can you do to figure out how much you can afford when buying a car?
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