The Big Debate

So, I hope you all are doing well. I'm doing well today, other than the fact that I feel very poor. VERY poor. I ordered the Euros from the bank, and they withdraw the money before I get the Euros back, so I feel as though my money is in limbo. Hopefully they'll be in today. As well, I spent about $20 on lunch today. I used to have quite a bit of money in the bank and tend to always go out for lunch or spend money when i'm with friends. It's not too bad, although I don't feel as though I can affoard it right now. So for the next couple of weeks i'll be laying low.

This new job that I have has thrown a major life-altering question my way. I'll be making about $25,000 between now and next spring. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot when I'm still living with my parents and paying 40$ a month on my only bill (my cell phone bill.) The plan for this year is to save $20,000. I don't know for what, yet, and that's the problem.

You see, I could do two (as I see it, maybe three, but the third option - travel the world and blow it all, doesn't seem like a logical thing to do) things with this money: Save it, or; buy a car.

The car I want is a Toyota Yaris. Midnight blue. 4 door, hatchback. Yup. Runs me about $17,000 after tax and their "graduate rebate." Although, I did read somewhere that the price is negotiable. Now, i'm not the greatest haggler nor the greatest bargainer, but I am thrifty and stubborn enough that I might be able to argue someone down. I also love the idea of paying cash (or debit - or, even credit card to rack up the Airmiles - that would be sweet). That's option number 1 - and it would leave me with some pocket cash to put towards gas or insurance or "pimping it out" - Juuuust kidding.

Second option - Save it. The number one thing I would be saving for is a downpayment on a house. This would require 2/3 years of saving because, as you see, I live in Calgary. Where is Calgary, you ask? Well, we host the Calgary Stampede each year, apparently "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" or so they tell us. And we're also the fastest growing city in Canada. With the oil and gas money that flows into our town, we have a booming economy. The problem is, is that the average house price in Calgary was $457,624 in 2006 and for Condos: $326,645 in 2006. These are up around 22% from the previous year. That's not even a fancy house - that's your run-of-the-mill house. They've jumped more this year i'm sure - and they say that house prices are due to double in the next 20 years. At that rate, I couldn't even get a mortgage approved, let alone make the payments. I was hoping that the house market would crash just a little bit so that I could afford a house. I would much rather purchase a house and make the mortgate payments then pay the average $960 dollars a month for an apartment.

That is what i'm debating between. On one side, having a car would be sweet, on the other hand, owning a home at 22 would be sweeter. The problem is, can I really afford either?

I don't have a driver's licence. I have a learners. That's it. This may surprise you, most people judge me for it. But I don't have a desire to drive. Never really had. I'm quite content taking public transit for all my needs. I work downtown, I live next to train station, a mall, a video store, a thrift store and two grocery stores. I'm quite content. However, if I were to purchase a car, I would have to take Driver's Ed classes (run about $300 I think), the Driving lession (assuming I don't fail by smacking a car when I try to parallel park) $80, and some sort of "Learn about your car" classes ($80ish) because I am not going to be one of those gals who blows a tire and just stands at the edge of the road, waiting for help. So that's $460 dollars before I even own the car. As well, because I'm a brand-spanking new driver, insurance is going to well, be a bitch. TDCanadaTrust tells me that for a brand new Yaris i'd pay $2835/year for Car insurance. So, that brings the grand total up to a peek over $20,000. There goes my savings. And a very large dent off my paycheque for every year afterwards. Now, i'm not a huge car enthusiast but it just seems like an awful lot of work during the year and all that i'll have to show for it at the end is a car. Meh. I just shrug, really, at the idea. I think I just talked myself out of it, heh.

The only problem with option number two is that I don't think I can afford a house. ING Direct (my gifters of the oh-so-nice $5,000 credit account) would only approve me for a mortgage of $50,000. I couldn't buy a bench downtown to sleep on for $50,000. TDCanada Trust would give me Homeowner's insurance for the year for just shy of $700. That's not too bad, I guess. I'm not really sure. But I don't think that a $20,000 deposit is enough. I'd probably have to save for another year, maybe gathering about $50,000 in total for a down-payment. With a down payment of $50,000, ING Direct would offer me a mortgage of $66,688.00. Nope, still no house. I think i'm SOL on this one.

I think that my last and only option is to hoard it all. My ING Direct account has 3.5% interest, which is okay for now. If I put my $20,000 grand in there, i'll make at least an extra $700 dollars - which, is actually kind of pathetic. I'm sure there's a better place to put my money.

That's what I've been battling with recently, what do you think about where I should put my money?

That's all for today, folks!