<prompt> Human: So the car Ive been looking at new Toyota Tacomas and am hoping to get one between 28k and 30k. Now heres the catch, I only make 30k a yearat the moment. I feel like I keep talking myself into it, and ive talked with my parentsim 19 and they are really good with money, and they have yet to discourage me. I would also say that my situation is very optimal. I dont pay any rent, and my parents are very loving and will let me stay as long as I needI definitely want to move out by 2122 though so I get to save almost all the money I make. My job that I am going into Commercial Plumbing also has a set wage per the hours experience you get, so I know exactly how much money I will be making going forward.Currently I make 18hr, starting Janor at the latest June it goes up to 30, with a 3 raise yearly for 5 years, and then 60hr in about 6 years from now. To me this means that I know I will not be paying this car off, struggling with only 18hr for the foreseeable future. And yes I know that this isnt an optimal point of view for long term goals.Another reason im talking myself into this is that I know that I wont get another car for a long, long time. Since I started driving at 16, Ive always had a beat up piece of shit car, and I never let it bother me in terms of social status. I know my personality and I know that I wont be buying cars or leasing every 3 to 5 years.So my questions are:How ridiculous is my 28-30k price range?Are my points valid, or am I talking myself too deep into this?Is a used in the range of 18-24k THAT much better?Should I rot away in my 03 prius?Oh and I almost forgot to mention, I have about 6500 to put down at the moment. I have more in the bank, but Im not going to deplete my bank account for this. The longer I wait, the more I can put down which I know is optimal but If I get the right deal now I might pull the trigger.And ultimately its my life, and Ill make my own decision, but I would love all your input and maybe you can change my mind. Thanks!Assistant: Its ridiculous and many young people make this mistake. I made this mistake when I was your age and regret it to this day. I bought a infiniti G35 for 30k when I was 19 years old and making around 35k a year.Im now 32 and if I played it super safe and just opened a Roth IRA and invested 5500 a year into it I would have 150k in cash now. My G35 that set me back so many years because of high payments is sitting in my driveway and Ive had it listed on Craigslist for months at 3500 and it has yet to sell. At the time I invested about 1000 into apple. I could have invested 16000 but decided to use the other 15000 on the down payment for the g35. If I didnt want a fancy car and put all that money into apple like I contemplated I would have had 450k cash now.So now to answer your question, regardless of how much money you end up making in the future. What would you rather have in 10 years? 150k, 450k or a used car you cant get rid of for 3500? If your answer is the last option then go with the truck.Human: I can still invest over 5000 a year though. It would be around 500 a month 300 for gas and insurance. So I have 1200 a month to invest. I have literally no other expenses  <response>: But youd rather live with mom and dad and park your 30k truck in their driveway for 3 years until you are ready to move out lol. 