<prompt> Human: I just graduated with a Bachelors degree in Information Technology Security and Computer Science. My starting job has netted me a salary of 55kyear. Im currently living at home and am 7k in debt from my car. To my parents so I am not accruing interest. I plan to get 8-9k selling my current car.I would like to pay off my current car and trade it in. My goal is to buy a 2012 BMW M3 with 23k miles on it for 38-39k. I know the car is expensive, but I plan to live at home for the next two years and save as much as possible. Id like to put 15 into my 401k and save 1k Or more every month to put in my savings. Would this be feasible? The better question is would this be prudent? Please ask questions if you need more information! I appreciate any help! Assistant: Buying an M3 on your salary is a mistake. You should be saving first and taking advantage of the fact that your parents are allowing you to live with them for two years.Have you started working yet? Evaluated your budget and seen how much you will receive? Compared this to your car payment on a loan of 30K? 55K is around 3200 a month, right? Then on top of that, you that 15 pre-tax for 401K, you should be putting 400mo into an IRA, and then maxing your savings. You can buy the car later, no need to buy it now. The car will be a lot more impressive when you live on your own, anyway.edited to elaborate: Have you looked into the insurance rates on an M3 at 22 with a sparse driving record? Have you looked into how much new tires, brake pads, filter changes, etc., cost on an M3?Human: What would be an appropriate amount of money to spend on a car at this salary then? My current car is okay, but it needs work and I dont want to put money into it. Assistant: The frugal rule is 20 of your monthly net take home pay on your car. However, this includes insurance, maintenance, gas, etc. If you do the math youll see that its actually quite a small amount of money, and a 40K performance car is out of range. If youre a car guy, and it qualifies as a hobby, as in driving will satisfy your interests rather than say, computer gaming or building model planes, then I could see it increasing to 25-30 of your net pay.edit: to figure how much you can spend on a car, find out what a car will cost you each month, and work backwards based on the term of loan youre willing to take. So if you have 600month for your car, 100mo is gas, 50mo is maintenance fund, 100mo is insurance, so take the remaining 350 x a 48 month term loan with interest. Just an example.Human: Id consider driving a hobby. I dedicate a lot of time to my car. I love driving, I enjoy keeping my car well-maintained, etc. Cars are probably my main hobby. However, I want to make a prudent decision when it comes to buying my car. Ex when can I afford it, etc. Assistant: Thats fine, you just have to factor that into your costs. More driving more gas and more maintenance. More potential for an accident. Id buy something in the 15-18k range if I was in your position, and I would go used certified, maybe to get the most bang for the buck. Like uyes_its_him said, people will say thats probably too much still, but if its a hobby you dont want to be miserable driving a 9k car.Human: Heres something that I needed to hear. I want the best financial plan I can possibly have, but I need people to understand that this is in fact a hobby and I would be absolutely miserable driving something that I cant have a bit of fun in.  <response>: Try these cars:MX-5 you can modify the shit out of itS2000EP3 Type R really cheapUsed Impreza WRXForester TurboMk 5 Golf r32Focus RSVolvo c30 t5Volvo c70 t5Fiesta STThe list goes on If youre not a badge snob, then you dont need to spend so much on a fun car. 