How are you students able to afford insurance, car payments, gas, etc.

[TheGoods07]

I see a lot of students owning a car or 2 being able to pay the monthly payments, insurance, gas, and any other maintenance costs while going to school full time. Are your parents paying for all this, are you working full time as well, or am I just missing something here..? Just curious.

[df329]

they all have rich parents or are spoiled :!: or both :D

[theurbancanadian]

Thank god I have a girlfriend that's business oriented like myself, it's makes life so much more enjoyable. We work around a plan and a budget. Put aside a portion of our cheque each week into our joint account. Every month, there's excess funds that we use to pay any CC bills, if any. The portion of our pay we don't put into our joint account, we keep for ourselves for whatever (lunch at work, outings with friends). Our parents pay for each of our university tutions and send us money here and there. I can't complain about our lives from doing this. We have our own appartment, just put a down payment on an Altima Coupe and have verything that keeps us happy and we're only 22.

[corrupt123]

I have a part time job where I'm making atleast $10/hour

I bought a fullsize wide body car (mercury grand marquis) and scored a good deal on it (1200 with emissions, needed nothing to safety) and since it's a widebody fullsize, insurance is cheap.

The downside is that I spend more on gas than most, since the engine is a 4.6L v8 and it's a big car. Upside though, I spend significantly less on insurance so it balances out or I end up paying less in total. I can also move more people and luggage, so if I'm out with friends getting more pitch on gas sometimes ends up with profit in my pocket. (not that I scam my friends, I usually drive free)

Lastly, maintenance and repairs I can do pretty much on my own, so I save a good deal of money that way. (Couple weeks ago I did a brake job on both front wheels for the cost of parts!)

*edit* I'm 18 and live at home, so my income is pretty disposable.

[VivienM]

I see a lot of students owning a car or 2 being able to pay the monthly payments, insurance, gas, and any other maintenance costs while going to school full time. Are your parents paying for all this, are you working full time as well, or am I just missing something here..? Just curious.

I think a lot of those people are living with their parents?

If you look at how much it costs in housing, utilities, etc. to move away from home to go to university, you can QUITE comfortably use that money to pay for a decent car...

[gei]

Everyone I knew had their parents paying for all that stuff, myself included.

IMO, students shouldn't have to worry about that stuff while focusing on their studies. It seems to me that most immigrant parents felt this way and usually paid their kids' way.

[Narci]

OSAP.

I kid I kid haha.

The OP's post is a bit vague. Is the OP referring to the high end car show quality cars in the student parking lot or the low end rust buckets that get to park at the back of the lot?

You'll get some kids who have thier parents pay for everything and some who scrape by driving a K car to get from school to work and home.

[antime1]

i would assume so. i have a 14/hour full-time job in the summer, and part-time during the school year and theres no way i could afford a car while im paying for my school entirely myself (lil osap too). luckily im getting 90s in uni and a good schol for my next year or id be screwed.

[df329]

Everyone I knew had their parents paying for all that stuff, myself included.

IMO, students shouldn't have to worry about that stuff while focusing on their studies. It seems to me that most immigrant parents felt this way and usually paid their kids' way.

:lol: any kid who can't do more than "focus on studying" is stupid

[Flyer]

The family business of..."waste management" >_>

[ids748]

I pay my tuition (engineering) have a 2dr honda accord (not cheap on insurance) pay my own gas, pay for some stuff around the house and don't take osap or get money from parents.

yes i live at home but................9000/yr tuition not a penny from parents.

how did i do it..................CO-OP program w000000t

[thephenom]

Parents bought car and pay for insurance, and I pay for gas, maintenance and what not. How do I pay it, in high school, save up during summer. In University, OSAP and then co-op.

Now I'm done with OSAP, time for a new car and pick up all the bills myself. :D

[AudiDude]

When I went to school, I paid for my own car, insurance, clothes, and I paid rent.My mom took some graph paper from work to help me out...

[bobbings]

parents for the car and insurance but part time job for the gas

[TrevorK]

I've always paid for the cars I had through high school and post-secondary.

It's all about whether you choose to work or not. Just working PT nowadays can get you a very nice income, and it's within the reach of anyone to do so.

[weedb0y]

they all have rich parents or are spoiled :!: or both :D

err.. NO...by working while pursuing school..teaches you the value of a dollar at a young age ;)

I even had my car under my own name as well along with seperate insurance.

[weedb0y]

:lol: any kid who can't do more than "focus on studying" is stupid

wait till they graduate and figure out that education without experience isn't worth much

[thephenom]

err.. NO...by working while pursuing school..teaches you the value of a dollar at a young age ;)

I even had my car under my own name as well along with seperate insurance.
Now THAT's a good paying part-time job to pay primary driver insurance.

[df329]

err.. NO...by working while pursuing school..teaches you the value of a dollar at a young age ;)

I even had my car under my own name as well along with seperate insurance.

:confused: - I think it's great when students work while pursuing school and stuff. It's great if you can do it alone :)

wait till they graduate and figure out that education without experience isn't worth much

If they graduate from a good program I don't think it matters that much. Lots of people don't care if you have done part time jobs.

[AzNCrAzYcOoLeR]

i pay for insurance and car and gas

nothing from parents.

Im 21, and i dont go to school anymore.

[dracore]

What I don't get is how high school students can afford car payments to drive Mercs or bmws. I see them driving them to school or your local Tim Hortons and they start popping off the hood and admiring the parts inside

[GoiNGPoSTaL]

If they are women it could be a professional pole engineer or rub and tug specialist.

[isleepinadrawer]

im 23, and just bought an 07 civic coupe lx this week. the only way i can afford it is with my coop term with oil companies. Also car insurance with APEGGA is the best option for me. I pay 1700/year

[VivienM]

What I don't get is how high school students can afford car payments to drive Mercs or bmws.

Cars are cheap. Assuming your credit is good enough (which is next to impossible if you're 18 - which is the problem), you can lease a $40K car for like $700/month. $700/month is NOT that much money if you don't have to pay for housing, food, and all those other things that drain independent adults' budgets...

[f00kie]

Everyone I knew had their parents paying for all that stuff, myself included.

IMO, students shouldn't have to worry about that stuff while focusing on their studies. It seems to me that most immigrant parents felt this way and usually paid their kids' way.

If you're focusing on studying, you don't need a car.

[trixstar]

heck i'll just take my dad's car... he hardly goes anywhere so i'll make his car useful.. maybe those students drive their parent's car??

[KevC]

Yeah I think most of these kids just drive their parents car. My parents have nice cars, and I feel awkward driving them. Generally I park out of the way and avoid people seeing me with nice cars, cos I don't like the fact that people think I'm loaded or spoiled.

But yeah, this is a good thread. I should bookmark it. Insurance is the killer. I figure if I get a decent job (career related... >$15/hr) I can pull off earning enough to support my own car.

Say $15k car (used).... car loan @ ~8% (is this reasonable?) for 48mo ... $367/mo. Gas ~$100/mo. Insurance shouldn't be more than $300/mo.

So it's <$800/mo. @ $15/hr... I'd only have to work <13hrs a week to maintain that. But then there's also my cell phone bill, credit card bill, TUITION (which I'm lucky to have paid for... a lot of kids aren't this lucky).

Paying interest on a USED car loan SUX ass.

[weedb0y]

Now THAT's a good paying part-time job to pay primary driver insurance.

Just have to prioritize things. Obviously I knew that my own car is a luxury and my parents dont need to pay for it. This has also helped me make better decisions later on in life as well.

I learned the value of a dollar at a very young age.

[Bullseye]

Another reason is that young people often aren't that bright when it comes to money and priorities. For example, I racked up loads of debt while in school to keep a car on the road, debt that took me years to pay off. It was stupid, I didn't need a car, I just wanted one, like most young people do.

[squireglig]

It's just about budgeting.. I paid for my car / insurance / school while i was in school and worked part time (25 - 30 hours a week). Living at home helped... i can't really see how it is possible to make car payments and rental payments... I could barely do that a couple years ago. Also, college was pretty cheap compared to uni tuition. I finished college, started working, and moved out when i was 19... looking to buy a house on my own... now that's a challenge.