Cars and houses

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.