Car or no Car?

So i’ve had amazing news in the last week
> Firstly I find out I’ll be graduating with a first :)
> Secondly I go into work to sign my new contract and find my boss decided to increase my wage by 20% from what we originally agreed upon.

I’ve work really hard over the last 2 years and sacrificed many nights out and gorgeous pairs of shoes to save the 6k I currently have towards my RTW. I’d had decided to save to 15k and leave England indefinitely sometime next year.

I’m trying to decide whether in the mean time to spend my current RTW savings on a car and start saving again from scratch. Is this a bad idea?

That’s not really for anyone else to say. Do you need a car? Are you desperate to get away next year and confident you could save the money again?

As someone that doesn’t have a car, I’d say don’t do it. But then I live in a city centre with good public transport links and would rather walk an hour to get somewhere than spend money on a bus, let alone pay petrol, insurance, tax etc.

As Robert says above, it’s not really for anyone else to decide for you. If you NEED a car but still want to travel I’d say get a cheap (but reliable/good nick) one with a small engine to keep costs as low as possible.

If you just want a car, I’d ask you whether you’d rather have a car or experiences you’ll never forget? My other half and I reflected on our RTW trip recently. If we’d kept the money we’d saved for our trip £24k) we’d be in a very strong position to buy an amazing house right now but we both agreed that we’d rather be in the position we are, having had the experiences we did rather than having a mortgage and no amazing memories.

Give it some thought and work out your priorities.

Lexi
:)

P.S. Huge congrats on your degree and payrise!

I’d be screwed without a car, my job needs me to have one! I wish I lived in a city and have no need for it but I do so…

Anyway if you’ve gotta get a car get a small 1 litre type one.  The insurance is cheapest, so is the tax and petrol lasts longer. However don’t do what I did and own a car that breaks down every other week! I just had another expensive garage trip and I’m seriously starting to doubt whether I will get to travel or not if this keeps happening to me!

You don’t need to spend 6k on a car though. I’m a big fan of cheap old bangers, haha. I once owned a Micra that refuses to die, despite being 20 years old. And it only cost me £350! The corsa I own now is just shite in comparison.

Congrats though and good luck for the future :).

If you can manage without one then don’t get one. Use buses and save more money. It’ll all be worth it while your on your travels!

silly question to ask a bunch of travellers if you ask me.

DO NOT GET THE CAR.

I guess it was a silly question… i’ve decided no car and i’m going to start looking at flight quotes instead of insurance quotes…even ordered myself a library card so i can save a few quids on lonely planets/rough guides :)

redtoshiba - 26 June 2012 06:18 PM

I guess it was a silly question… i’ve decided no car and i’m going to start looking at flight quotes instead of insurance quotes…even ordered myself a library card so i can save a few quids on lonely planets/rough guides :)

The wise decision…

I found myself in this position this week… although my travel fund was already at -$9k to begin with..  I decided to buy a car.. as I go a bit mad without one around here…  But I’m just back from a trip and don’t plan on setting off for another 2 years (approx).

But I guess the main point I would think about for you.. is.. you want to head off on a RTW/indefinately soon… can you be bothered either finding somewhere to store the car or reselling it??