#How to Afford Nice Houses and Cars: Tips for Broke College Students
Are you a broke college student who feels like you’ll never be able to afford a nice house and car? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Many young people find themselves wondering how others manage to afford comfortable homes and reliable vehicles while they struggle to make ends meet. Fortunately, there are some strategies you can use to work towards achieving your dreams of financial stability. With a combination of smart financial planning, a strong work ethic, and a bit of creativity, you can set yourself up for success. Keep reading to learn how to afford nice houses and cars, even as a broke college kid.
##Smart Financial Planning
The first step to affording a nice house and car is to establish a solid foundation of financial responsibility. By taking the time to plan and manage your finances wisely, you can work towards building the future you’ve always wanted. Here are some tips to help you get started:
###Create a Budget
– Sit down and assess your current financial situation.
– Determine your income and expenses, including tuition, rent, groceries, and other living costs.
– Allocate a portion of your income towards savings and investments.
###Set Financial Goals
– Identify your long-term financial goals, such as buying a home or car.
– Break down these goals into smaller, more manageable milestones.
– Track your progress and adjust your plan as necessary.
##Build a Strong Work Ethic
Affording a nice house and car often requires hard work and dedication. By putting in the effort to advance your career and increase your earning potential, you can position yourself for financial success. Here are some ways to build a strong work ethic:
###Invest in Your Education
– Consider pursuing internships, co-op programs, or part-time jobs to gain relevant work experience.
– Network with professionals in your field and seek mentorship opportunities.
###Develop Marketable Skills
– Take advantage of skill-building opportunities, such as workshops, seminars, and online courses.
– Look for ways to gain hands-on experience in your industry, such as volunteering or freelance projects.
##Get Creative with Your Finances
Sometimes, affording a nice house and car requires thinking outside the box and finding unconventional solutions. Here are some creative ways to stretch your budget and maximize your financial resources:
###Explore Housing Options
– Consider living with roommates or in a more affordable neighborhood to reduce housing costs.
– Look for rental properties that offer shared amenities to save money on utilities and maintenance.
###Buy Used or Certified Pre-Owned Cars
– Research reliable car models and shop for used or certified pre-owned vehicles to save money.
– Take advantage of low-interest financing and trade-in options when purchasing a car.
In conclusion, while it may seem challenging to afford a nice house and car as a broke college student, it’s certainly not impossible. By focusing on smart financial planning, building a strong work ethic, and getting creative with your finances, you can work towards achieving your goals. With dedication and perseverance, you’ll be well on your way to enjoying the comforts of a comfortable home and a reliable vehicle. Don’t be discouraged – start taking steps today to secure a bright financial future for yourself. After all, everyone deserves to live in a warm and clean home and drive a car that doesn’t break down once a week, no matter what stage of life they’re in. Good luck! 🏡🚗🎓
Keep going with college and you will find out. That is, assuming you’ve chosen to study something that actually makes money.
Debt. A lot of people have WAY more debt than you’d assume.
Dual income and debt
One thing you will learn along the way is many many people can’t afford those things, crippling debt is often the way people get all this stuff. Living well beyond their means on credit and a prayer. Alternatively people work hard, aim to get good jobs, invest wisely and are careful with their money.
I was able to buy when I was 24 and my condo jumped in equity over the 10 years I had it so I had 20% down payment for my home. My housing expenses were very low when I wasn’t making a ton of money. I do make substantially more now. It took about the 10 years after college to actually make money.
No kids
It took awhile to get there. Lots of renting, saving, and waiting for the market to be just right. Beyond that, some luck.
The idea that you’re coming out of university and buying a house is a dream for almost all of us.
I’d say I have a decently middle class house and car, two kids, don’t have to worry about bills.
My husband works a niche IT job that pays well.
But even still, we wouldn’t have been able to get a mortgage if my father hadn’t died and left us a sizeable chunk of money to use as a down payment.
College with a good b school, find a reputable company to work for, change jobs 3+ times until you land somewhere better.
Ramp up your income to these ranges:
– $100k by 28-30
– $125k by 35
– $150k by 40
– $200k+ by 45-55 (management and senior management)
The big jumps are when you get into management or mid level to senior management. You’ll probs change jobs again in this phase.
All along your early 20s and early 30s, you save as much as you can, get a roommate, cook at home, be mobile for opportunities. Ideally you want to save 40-50% of your income (but it might not be possible), so try your best to save and invest.
Income and wealth (savings/investments) have a feedback loop of a relationship. They are two separate concepts and should be treated as such. When you have high wealth, you can demand more of your job/income. Imagine being in your 30s and having $1M in wealth. You determine your situation, not the company. Demand a raise, demand a promotion (tactfully) or move laterally to another company. You are no longer a kite in a hurricane.
Now combine these results with a stable partner making similar income. That’s going to be $300-$400k latter in your career as a household. You’ll live a great life.
This route is more white collar business school, finance or sales oriented as that’s all I am familiar with. I realize it represents closer to the top tier expectations. However, I don’t expect anything less of myself nor should you as you are competing in the marketplace for jobs and maneuvering opportunities and paths. Good luck and spend time strategizing objectives on how you improve your situation everyday!
Just because someone lives in a nice house or drives a nice car, that does not mean that they can afford a nice house or a nice car. Comparing your finances to others will only ever hurt you because people only want to show you what they want you to see, not the truth.
I started investing at 18 + 20 years of working.
Could be we got in it when it was cheaper. My house was 150k when I bought it. The state says it’s worth almost 400k now.
Family help with the downpayment, a good salary & no kids.
Starting 20 years ago didn’t hurt
Sometimes a good paying job. Sometimes debt. Sometimes family helps them (sometimes while swearing they are a “self made man”).
According to the National Census Bureau the average American dies with $65,000 of consumer debt.
In other words the average working Americans are incurring more debt than they’ll ever payoff .
Does that answer your question ?
1. Get a job that pays enough
2. Keep spending low enough
…. That’s it.
The difficulty is finding the job that pays enough, and finding a house that’s cheap enough.
People make dumb financial decisions. I know someone who has now leased their 2nd toyota. 10 + years of leasing Toyotas, just because she worked there right out of school. And I’m talking a camry she couldn’t afford the top trim. Imagine paying 500 bucks a month to lease a toyota corolla.
A) They can’t – it just looks like they can and one day soon their credit is going to bite them on the arse (hard)
B) Working hard and smart, spending thrifty and investing wisely
I’m interpreting your question as “How can I meet my financial goals?”.
Below are 6 dials to turn to get to your goals. Turn them all, and I think you will be successful. Turn none on them, and you’ll have a tough time.
Hope this goes without saying but…
Meeting financial goals <> Happiness
​
A. Work tirelessly in an endeavor that pays you / earns you enough money to someday achieve your goal. Make yourself as valuable as possible in your endeavor (through talent, knowledge, etc.)
B. Hitch your wagon to someone who is pursuing “A” (optional)
C. Give it time (stay healthy)
D Let your money work for you (save and invest)
E. Avoid things that have negative effect on your financial goals
– Debt / expenses / bills
– Relationships (outside of “B”) / Children
– Spending everything you earn
– Vices
– Time not spent on the items above
F. Be Lucky
Many are in debt up to their eyeballs. But if you have a decent job and make smart decisions you’ll do alright. I was a broke college kid living in my parents basement, commuting an hour each way, and working all my weekends. Now I own a home, have extra money for hobbies, i was able to easily buy a new commuter car last fall to deal with commuting to a new job while the real estate market is frozen. And if you have a partner with the same good income you’d be in a great place financially, at least without kids. I’m single but most if my colleagues are dual income so they have substantially more disposable income than me.
So, a shit ton of it is pure luck. A lot of them got propped up all the way through their entire lives by their parents, including getting employment, and have no idea that’s how they remained in the top 30% of income earners. They escaped something they didnt even know could have trapped them if they were not insulated very well by it.
And then they nearly effortlessly fell directly into roles that set them up to win life–dual income households, etc.
If you come from poverty, it’s unimaginable, because the way of thinking and systems to get there, *flat out doesnt exist for you* at all, and to do it, you’d have to somehow intuit the entire thing and manifest it by sheer force of will. Something almost no one can do without a good degree of psychopathy and a few issues with narc traits, where you cant feel any guilt at all for using someone–to climb this ladder, you MUST step on some necks.
The people that ‘made it’–didnt see those necks. Never even thought about it.
“My uncle got me a job as an electrician!”–which means someone more deserving *didnt* get it. Someone who played by all the ‘rules’ and applied the correct way, and went to school the correct way, *just lost a job*. That person, who now, in a half a decade could be making 60k+ at this job that was *handed to them*, obliterated someone else’s chances, because *someone else* covered up the fact that they stepped on a neck to get there.
This is ‘networking’–*deliberate blindness to injustice of the system where others play by the rules*. This is how 80% of jobs are delivered and filled. 80%.
And you, as a poor person, *are not trained to see the world like this*, because, being poor, you’re led to believe following the rules is the only way to move forward. If you BREAK a rule as a poor person, you’re punished, *not rewarded*, like these people were. THEY get a parking ticket, it’s just.. whatever, YOU get one, and it’s going to crush you for 2+ months. YOU get something where you know someone else *worked hard* to try to get it, you get imposter syndrome, or may even *not take the gift* due to guilt.
And we may give too much–if you’re in college, if a poor parent asks for money–money you got from a loan, *you probably give it*. You shouldnt. You should never. The idea SHOULD be laughable to you
Poverty fucks us, that’s how we dont understand, how we take 3 generations+ to break it.
Always Wonder how I see people in my office driving 60k+ cars when I know I make way more than them.
One thing to know, is that a lot of people have generational money, as in their parents have money they pass on to them, as the parent’s parents did for them and so on. It’s such a foreign concept to me, but I know so many people who have this as a part of their lives that it’s just ponderous. That said, I freely admit that I am insanely jealous of them as it is something I have never, and will never know.