I have roommates, but I currently have a new car loan I am paying off so I dont have $700 to throw at it every month. Even if I paid about 450 or so, I think it would still take 10 full years or longer.
A second job is out of the question, I have an office type salary that already keeps me in the office more than 40 hours a week.
Ive fully accepted that without a salary bump Ill die in debt.
protip, dont buy new cars when you are so deep in debt.
Okay, so, neat thing:
Most dealerships/banks won't let you finance cars that are more than a few years old. From my experience, this means that anything older than, say, seven years can't be financed and has to be paid in full. Even with a cheap older car, it can be extremely difficult to collect that entire amount and pay it at once... especially when you're driving a car that constantly needs work done (because it's old and needs to be replaced).
It's often "cheaper" to pay $300/month towards a car than to try to accumulate $5k while driving a POS hooptie that needs work every other month. See also: people who can't afford an apartment and instead have to live in extended stay hotels.
In my country, the US, you absolutely need a car unless you live in a city with a fantastic transit system. Even for crappy retail jobs, nearly every application asked if you had "reliable transportation" which, in the vast majority of cities without public transit, means "Do you have a car?"
you can find very cheap, serviceable cars for less than $5k that dont require a ridiculous amount of upkeep.
and if you actually understand the math, no the $300/mo payment is not cheaper. ---
Minnesota is like having sex in The Boundary Waters. ****ing close to Canada.