Some interesting numbers:
Credit score in Oct. 2007: 561
Current Credit score: 654
My credit got kind of low in Fall of 2007 because I used credit cards to pay for my MAT courses, but reimbursement helped me pay them right off. My current cc debt is somewhere around $1200, which should be paid off within a month or so. I hate carrying any at all. Haven't used them since the aforementioned time last summer.
I will have to buy a car soon. I am currently shopping. I do not want to pay cash for it, and do not mind taking on a car payment. Despite some friends telling me how wrong this is, I'd rather have some savings than have no car payment. Not a big deal to me.
That being said, I really want to buy a house. I'll have 5% saved sometime by around Christmas, I'd suspect, and probably be officially ready by around then. I'm not sure if my car would make it that long, though, so I'm torn as to what to do first. I'd like to get my credit score up over 700 by the time I end up getting my mortgage. I think it's pretty possible. I'm guessing the changes I made in the last month will increase it 20 points by next month, even.
So that's my current dilemma: car or house. I might have to buy a car, soon, though, so I'm deciding what kind of car I want. I'm from Michigan, so feel like I should buy American, though I'm not 100% committed (I'd love to buy a Prius, for example, though they're way too expensive). I love my current Grand Am, an electric blue 2000 model that is the first car I've ever owned that I've loved. I still do, in fact - but it's falling apart. However, the engine is top notch and the only things that are falling apart (the airbags, the power steering) are my own fault.
I love that it's 4-door (I don't think I'd want a 2-door car), yet sporty. I like spoilers and it has one. It can fit a carload of kids with baseball equipment but isn't a gas guzzler. I'm looking for a similar car. Pontiac stopped making Grand Ams a few years ago, though, and they have replaced it with the ugly G8. Someone suggested a Chevy Impala. Maybe I'll look into those.
On Transportation (part three)
4 weeks ago
3 comments:
Buying a house is a great idea and I would try to do that before buying a car if at all possible.
I don't know where you will be looking for a house, but I think there are some good programs in Baltimore and Maryland to help first time home buyers. Pretty sure I have read about them in the Sun. Maybe contact Jamie Smith Hopkins from the Sun for more information.
As far as the car is concerned, you must know someone back in Michigan who can get you employee pricing on GM or Ford vehicles. That would help a little and hopefully you could get a 0% financing loan as well - that would be sweet.
Good luck,
BDC
Oh yeah... the G6 replaced the Grand Am and the G8 replaced the Gran Prix.
The G6 is a good car, the Ford Fusion is also an excellent vehicle as well... I sold both of these vehicles up until a couple of months ago... If you want my unsolicited opinion, go with a used one. You can buy them about a year old with 20 to 30 thousand miles on them and end up saving between five and ten thousand on them depending on the vehicle and the options. And, as much as I hate agreeing with that Majestic Motors ad, buying a used car does make more sense these days. Just be careful where you buy it... stay away from the side lots and the used car only places.
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