I bought my current used car w/ cash, and it cost $10k. Gas in the first year would be something like $800 (45mpg, 10k miles, $3.50/gal for gas), and insurance would add another $500 or so. Let’s add $1-2k for sales tax, registration, and maybe some random things that need fixing, and round up, so we’re at $14k or so, or $1166/month.
I’m married w/ kids, and the USDA says I should be spending a little over $1k/month on food. So even in the first year of owning a car, I’d still probably spend more on food than the car. If I was single, divide that by about 3, so the car would be cheaper than food after 3-4 years.
There’s no way a car is more expensive than food for the average person, assuming a reasonable car and reasonable food consumption.
Exactly.
I bought my current used car w/ cash, and it cost $10k. Gas in the first year would be something like $800 (45mpg, 10k miles, $3.50/gal for gas), and insurance would add another $500 or so. Let’s add $1-2k for sales tax, registration, and maybe some random things that need fixing, and round up, so we’re at $14k or so, or $1166/month.
I’m married w/ kids, and the USDA says I should be spending a little over $1k/month on food. So even in the first year of owning a car, I’d still probably spend more on food than the car. If I was single, divide that by about 3, so the car would be cheaper than food after 3-4 years.
There’s no way a car is more expensive than food for the average person, assuming a reasonable car and reasonable food consumption.