<prompt> Human: Hi PF, Im graduating college soon with around 27K in student loans but staring a job with 68.5K salary immediately after graduation. After tax monthly salary will be probably be right under 4KMy first problem is finding a place close to work with decent rent. The lowest rent for one bedroom in a 2B2BA apartment or house in the immediate area is 1500mo. A little farther out that drops to about 1000mo. Obviously I would choose to go with the cheaper rent. The dilemma lies in the roommate. I could live with someone that I am familiar with in for 1500mo or I could live with a stranger and spend 1000mo. My main concern is living with a stranger that ends up being terrible would cause stress and distract me from work. What are your thoughts on how I should choose?Also my current car which is 18 years old is not going to last much longer. I plan on buying a used car. I dont want to buy another another cheap POS that wont last much longer. Preferably 2010 or newer. I have a cosigner with good credit too. The cars that seems to fit that and be the most affordable are Honda Civic Honda Accord Subaru Impreza VW Passat Hyundai Elantra Mitsubishi Lancer Mazda 3All of these are listed under 15K from dealerships. Buying a non CPO car would cut the total cost of the car by 1,000 but I dont know if that is worth the risk. Do you guys have any tips for deciding which car to buy?Expected expenses: 10001500 rent 450 minimum student loan payment I think 70 utilities 50 internet 100 phone bill 400 food ?? car insurance depends on car ?? car payment ?? gas living closer to work would bring this down 342.5 max 401k contribution with employer matching  <response>: 4k seems pretty reasonable. You dont say what state, but I assume since housing is expensive, so are taxes.If you will be paid bi-weekly, which I think is the most common situation, I suggest you base your budget on 2 paychecks per month, not 112 of your take home. Its not a huge difference, but easy things like that help you avoid over-commitment in my experience. Plus, because most things are due on a monthly basis, you really only have 2 checks coming in before the next payment is due 10 months out of the year. The couple times a year you get 3 paychecks in a month, you will feel like you have some money to work with, whether its for something youve been saving for, or you use it to pay down debt, or whatever.Youve got a tough call in living arrangements. If we are assuming 3700 a month, youve got 1k in billsfood, another 1k in rent, 350 401k, leaving 1350 for everything else. If you choose the more expensive living arrangement, that goes down to 850. Assuming you are looking at 10k for a loan, you should be under 500 for insurance, gas, maintenance dont forget to squirrel some money away for that and payment. If you chose the more expensive housing, that would be 350 left for anything else, which isnt a whole lot. But, you do have a couple extra paychecks unaccounted for, so I think it seems like you can afford the more expensive digs if it is worth it to you. I have owned 2 German cars, and as a group, they are not as reliable as Japanese cars. They are also typically more expensive to repair. I would avoid the VW. From your list, I would most strongly consider the Mazda and the Civic. The Mazda will be more fun to drive, and the Civic will be super reliable. 