Just looking for some imput....

[Chan_Highwind]

So... I was orginally thinking about grabing out a student loan. Nooooo, nothing huge like nearl 10,000 smackers. That's just INSANE! And saying I don't make that much right now, that's improbable.

I was thinking about taking out a $5,000 one to help with my situation going on in my life now, and just in case the whole living with my dad thing doesn't turn out like I hope it will. I'd like to think I'll be there only a few more months more, and then be out. That's what I'd like to believe.

But I was thinking about grabbing a couple friends of mine that knew cars really well, and going out and getting a Slug Bug. Small, simple, and rather well on gas. Plus, if worse comes to worse, I can live in a car!! Right!!?

It would make it WAY easier to get to school, work, and then home, which is about three to four hours of public commute right there [Ask Washu, it sucks butt to get to my place to the school alone!!] help out with me moving into my dad's place, and then moving out again. Plus I'd like to think I'd be able to get to more of the K-con meetings as well that are farther away.

But I have no idea about insurance, and never have done insurance shopping before!

Either or, what are people's ideas on it? I know I'll have to pay it back [duh!!] and that my payments already will be about 50$/month after I'm out of school for six months. And yes, I know that student loans NEVER GO AWAY untill you fully pay them off. And that will be about ten years or so. I'm not dumb about it. I actually read SOME of the things on that site. But... yeah... Is this a good idea or am I just jumping the gun too much?

[superjaz]

Yes they never go away, but unlike personal loans they do take income, and unemployment into consideration.

Say before I was laid off I had my student loans on an income sensitive, so they looked at how much I made and adjusted, making it longer to pay back but better to be able to pay some then none you know?

Now that I am laid off and stackin up baby apt bills I went for a deferment, what that does is I can pay back interest or make a payment if I want but I don't have to make a payment for a while.  Good and bad as I will have to pay later, I call it putting peter in a coma to pay paul. 

So while it is dept, there are worse kinds.

For insurance we go with progressive, they are not kiddin with the discounts.  We added a car to our insurance, and it made it pretty spendy, so we called and updated our info (married discount collage grad discount ect) and was able to get it lowered quite a bit.
Also (I don't know if other companys do this probably)  when you pay your insurance bill in 6 months in advanced it saves you more.  Def worth saving up for it, instead of going monthly and paying more over all

Hope this info helps, only you can decide if its for you.  One thing I would also reconmend if you do it is don't go crazy with it.  When I got student loans I saved a lot of it and used it to pay bills until I got a job.

[reppy]

I've taken out approximately $6,000 in student loans while attending Clark.  Depending on the year, I've had to pay 50-100% of my tuition out of pocket.  Plus expenses.  And then, I also needed a car.  If you do take out a loan to get a car, get something reliable with good gas mileage, and try to have a thousand or two from the loan saved as a backup as an emergency fund.  Like, in case the car breaks down 6 months from now and you need $500 to fix it.

[Wrath-Chan19]

I say you shouldn't. I know nothing about loans really but I think it would be better to not get into a situation you might not like.

Find someone at school to carpool with, SAVE THE EARTH! My dad does a lot of carpooling for his work, and it's fun. Also gas is a bitch to get
And for moving I'm sure you know people with a car who are willing to help

and if you do end up with no where to live, I may magically be able to convince my parents to let you stay for a bit as long as you help pay for food and what not untill you get a place. and there is the magical couch surfing

[Chan_Highwind]

Find someone at school to carpool with, SAVE THE EARTH! My dad does a lot of carpooling for his work, and it's fun. Also gas is a bitch to get
And for moving I'm sure you know people with a car who are willing to help

I'll be moving in with my dad... and they all go to bed about 9-10 at night. I don't get off until 9:30 and most of the buses stop running in Vancouver by that time, even more so on Sundays. And it'd suck alot to have them stay up late just to come get me from work; which is why I was thinking of a car.

And having started working back at the 76 Gas station, I'm already commuting at least 2-2.5hrs a day on the bus depending the day because of school and such, and at my current place I get home at about 11pm from walking home from Vancouver Mall/Westfeild Shopping Center. Having to walk up the Andressen Hill at night, then about 5 miles down Milplain to the Pine brook living community... yeah... I think I just might kill myself from walking and have failing grades out of college with that. ><; Other wise, I'd totally go with that Wrath. Thanks for the advice!

I've taken out approximately $6,000 in student loans while attending Clark.  Depending on the year, I've had to pay 50-100% of my tuition out of pocket.  Plus expenses.  And then, I also needed a car.  If you do take out a loan to get a car, get something reliable with good gas mileage, and try to have a thousand or two from the loan saved as a backup as an emergency fund.  Like, in case the car breaks down 6 months from now and you need $500 to fix it.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to be doing that this up coming year for school... mostly paying out of pocket because I'm only getting 1500 for all of next year. it's really gonna suck bad candy. I was thinking taking the risk [I may be repeting this, but that's what I get for orginally putting this up at midnight after work] and getting a car off of craigslist; like a VW bug or something small like that. Nothing huge, I'd probably wreck if I got anything close to a land boat again. But that's just me. ><;;

Say before I was laid off I had my student loans on an income sensitive, so they looked at how much I made and adjusted, making it longer to pay back but better to be able to pay some then none you know?

For insurance we go with progressive, they are not kiddin with the discounts.  We added a car to our insurance, and it made it pretty spendy, so we called and updated our info (married discount collage grad discount ect) and was able to get it lowered quite a bit.
Also (I don't know if other companys do this probably)  when you pay your insurance bill in 6 months in advanced it saves you more.  Def worth saving up for it, instead of going monthly and paying more over all

Hope this info helps, only you can decide if its for you.  One thing I would also reconmend if you do it is don't go crazy with it.  When I got student loans I saved a lot of it and used it to pay bills until I got a job.

I wasn't gonna try to go crazy with it, but thanks for saying that still!! I did look up progressive and they do have a pretty nice rate. I guess I'm just super worried because this is my firstime even looking at car insurance. Then again... I really didn't need any before either so... >>;;

I think I would just do the basic premium over month to month. That way I could at least save up some every few months and do it that way.

Thanks guys for the advice so far!! <3 It really means alot!!

[Wrath-Chan19]

you welcome

[jaybug]

I'd take the loan over the car. A car means so many responsibilities, that a student shouldn't be dealing with. Because it will become car/school??? Which one??? Trust me, I bloody well know too well!

Best plan? Do not even work. DO whatever it takes to get your schooling done, without working a job. Your job is to graduate, ASAP, and move on to bigger and better things, Graduate studies, or a job, your pick. A friend did this, at my suggestion, when he wanted more money to work, and have a car. He now has his degree. I still don't have mine. Life got too expensive for me, before I could pay my way for school.

At least you have the option of a loan. Being white male from way back was not good enough.

Oh, before I forget completely. I probably still earn more income than my friend does.

Also, I am 6 classes away from a BA in English. NOw to come up with $600 per class, and hope classes are offered when I am not working, or 8am.

[MiriaRose]

I say you shouldn't. I know nothing about loans really but I think it would be better to not get into a situation you might not like.

Find someone at school to carpool with, SAVE THE EARTH! My dad does a lot of carpooling for his work, and it's fun. Also gas is a bitch to get
And for moving I'm sure you know people with a car who are willing to help

and if you do end up with no where to live, I may magically be able to convince my parents to let you stay for a bit as long as you help pay for food and what not untill you get a place. and there is the magical couch surfing

If you don't know anything about loans, then I don't really think you're qualified to speak about this.

Sure, those people might be willing to help, but he'd still have to pay them. Gas is a bitch to get, sure, but I know a lot of people who want gas money when they give people rides, even if they're going to the same place. Also, depending on where you live/where you're going, public transportation can end up costing you more than gas.

Couch surfing isn't such a good idea, either.  I know a guy who lived in his Volkswagen bus for a few years, and he doesn't regret it because he needed a car due to his circumstances.

THAT BEING SAID, it's really up to you in the end. If you think it would be cheaper for you in the long run to get a car, get a car. If you think it'd be cheaper for you to go with the loan, go with the loan.

[Chan_Highwind]

I'd take the loan over the car. A car means so many responsibilities, that a student shouldn't be dealing with. Because it will become car/school??? Which one??? Trust me, I bloody well know too well!

Best plan? Do not even work. DO whatever it takes to get your schooling done, without working a job. Your job is to graduate, ASAP, and move on to bigger and better things, Graduate studies, or a job, your pick. A friend did this, at my suggestion, when he wanted more money to work, and have a car. He now has his degree. I still don't have mine. Life got too expensive for me, before I could pay my way for school.

At least you have the option of a loan. Being white male from way back was not good enough.

Oh, before I forget completely. I probably still earn more income than my friend does.

Also, I am 6 classes away from a BA in English. NOw to come up with $600 per class, and hope classes are offered when I am not working, or 8am.

Normally, I would agree 100% on the job thing, but if I want to be out of my Dad's place by October and have my Fuzzy-Son back [aka, my cat] then I'm gonna have to work. I'm not doing a lot of hours, right now I'm at 28.5 hours a week. And with my current situation, work is giving me time to actually do my homework for math. As awkward as it feels saying that. Either way, I will have to come up with money, since for FAFSA I'm getting only 1500 for ALL of next school year... Starting Summer though next spring. 1,500 is what I spent on a single semester. So I'll be pretty [buttoned] if I don't work at the moment.

Again, other wise I would be 100% agreeing with you. Thanks for the words, Jay.

If you don't know anything about loans, then I don't really think you're qualified to speak about this.

Sure, those people might be willing to help, but he'd still have to pay them. Gas is a bitch to get, sure, but I know a lot of people who want gas money when they give people rides, even if they're going to the same place. Also, depending on where you live/where you're going, public transportation can end up costing you more than gas.

Couch surfing isn't such a good idea, either.  I know a guy who lived in his Volkswagen bus for a few years, and he doesn't regret it because he needed a car due to his circumstances.

THAT BEING SAID, it's really up to you in the end. If you think it would be cheaper for you in the long run to get a car, get a car. If you think it'd be cheaper for you to go with the loan, go with the loan.

A single bus pass will cost me around 57$ per month... for three months I'd be looking at aprox.... $171. Because i'm not taking summer classes. In fact, I am looking at getting a VW Beetle because of their awesome gas mileage and the fact I know I can't total something so small. [i think I'd literally die from embarrassment if I did that!] Plus, as said before, Andressen hill is long... and it's rather steep too. I'd rather not spend 2-3 hours walking home after I move in with my dad and get home sometime around Midnight because of the swing shift... and I'm more likely to kill myself going up hills on a bike [Sports Asthma FML!] than to help me at my current moment.


By far, it won't be cheaper for me to get a loan. I'd borrow up to 5,000 and pay back something around 7,100. I've already looked into this. But it would sure as hell help me in moving my own things, getting home safely [as Aaron gets all anxity of I walk home and NOT talking on the phone with someone since I gotta walk from the mall currently anyways.] and getting extra time for that homework thing. The down side is I have to pay it off though out ten years of my life, car insurance, possibly flooding an engine because I can't quite reverse in a stick shift, and making sure that everything went though LEGALLY. Like hell if I wanna be pinned for a 'stolen car'! Though another bonus would be that I could make it to more K-con meetings, logically speaking. And I can get to places faster and not have to plan up to 4hrs of my day away going, "OH CRAP I'M GOING TO BE LAAAAAAAAAAATE!!!"

So I really do think the car WILL pay itself off... it's more of I'm still in luke-warm water about it all. It sits right but not like, "AWESOME IDEA!" right.

[reppy]

I'm sort of confused since it seems like everyone is interpreting this as "I get the car or I get the loan."

I was under the impression you'd be getting the loan so you can get a car.  In which case, I would try really, really hard not to spend anything over $3000.  Make sure you get Equifax or Carfax -- they're only like $30 for unlimited uses in a month, well worth it if you want to stay away from a dud.

If you do get a car, like I said, you save the other $2000.  Keep $1000 that you do not spend under any circumstances except for things relating to keeping the car in working order.  The other $1000 should be reserved for any school expenses that you cannot cover with your own money + FAFSA.

It requires discipline, though.  And this is just my opinion, based off of what I did myself when I took out a large loan at once.

And heck, if after a year you've found that you haven't spent any of the money you set aside as reserves, use it to pay back your loan. ^_^  If you got a loan that doesn't charge interest so long as you're enrolled then you'd only be on the hook for $3000.

[Chan_Highwind]

I noticed it veered that way too a bit, Reppy. And You are right, its a loan for me to GET a car. I'm thinking about doing just that.