Student loan or Car down payment

Don't buy a new car if you're gonna go to medical school.

Quote from vaultaddict : Don't buy a new car if you're gonna go to medical school.

^this

Have you been accepted to medical school or just trying and would it actually start next year if you got in?

Im asking because I start nurse anesthesia school in June and I was accepted at the beginning of this month. So there is lots of time to plan.

Im not 100% sure on this but wont your student loans be deferred if you get in medical school? If so I would not pay them off now.

I understand your dilemma with a new car. I have had my current vehicle for 10 years and it is starting to have problems. A/C no longer works and randomly shuts off. I would like a new vehicle for the reliability but I will probably keep what I have and just fix anything major that breaks.

Personally I am just saving as much as I can for school as I have a family of 4 and we will be living off of my student loans. That's what I would do if I were you.

do you already have a car?

is that 11 grand ALL of your savings?

are you going to burn through ALL of your savings for a civic?

Dumping all your savings into a new car isn't wise, regardless of attending school.

On that income, I would buy a used car if you need something soon. The interest rate on the student loans is nuts, I would pay that off ASAP.

Use spare cash to pay down the existing student loan

Yeah, I guess I should have expected the "don't buy a new car" answers after I posted that I was trying to go to medical school. I'm not accepted yet, and I'm in the middle of interviews. I don't think my application is competitive enough for California schools, but I'm pretty sure I'll get in somewhere (crossed finger).

Also, I don't have a car at the moment. That 11 grand is the money I received from the insurance company for a totaled car.

this is a no brainer, pay off whatever has the high interest rate, and student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy...

Pay off the student loan!

Quote from blackb1rd88 : Yeah, I guess I should have expected the "don't buy a new car" answers after I posted that I was trying to go to medical school. I'm not accepted yet, and I'm in the middle of interviews. I don't think my application is competitive enough for California schools, but I'm pretty sure I'll get in somewhere (crossed finger). Also, I don't have a car at the moment. That 11 grand is the money I received from the insurance company for a totaled car.

If you absolutely need a car when you're in school...I'll give an argument for getting a car (though maybe not a brand new civic).

i'm assuming you'll be getting school loans for med school, but given the interest rates today, those rates should be pretty darn low. you should look into consolidating your current 6500 loan with whatever new loan you can get with a far LOWER interest rate (i think current rates are mid 3's).

keep that loan, and have the payments deferred (NOT in forbearance) - meaning interest does not acrue while you're in school.



then, with your car, don't be drawn only to a civic because of the interest rate. there are plenty of other places that can give you just as competitive rates (1.49 from penfed for example - that .5% for a 15k loan may make a difference of a couple hundred bucks over 5 years max - which calculates to <5 bucks a month).
if you really love the civic, i guess go for it, but don't think you have to get that because of the rate. there are good rates to be had on any car going with your own lender.



also, think of a backup plan if you don't get into school. if you end up with a real job, you may not be able to defer your student loans...

Live as cheap as you can through school and when you get done get something you will enjoy. From the sounds of it were about the same age and I have plenty of friends who went out and got new cars and now they are always complaining about the payments and stuff. Med school is going to be a full time thing. I would probably pay the loan off asap. Its one less thing you will have to worry about if you don't get accepted this time around because your loan will start having to be paid on if you aren't enrolled for 6 months.

LIVE IT OUT BRUH! You only got so many years to be young. Work is a commitment!

Please be careful if you go back to school. My husband racked up over $120,000 in student loan debt at a 6% interest rate. All I can say is that it's a nightmare trying to pay it off and I'd hate to see you end up in the same boat. Paying down the student loan debt would boost your credit score. It's also one of the only debts that you can't walk away from in case of an emergency, so I would say to definitely pay it first.