I do get raises every 6 months of about .55 each time (I'm getting one mid January) so finances will be a little better as time goes on. Holidays offer up a lot of overtime opportunity as well, I am applying for a truck driver position that offers 17.50hr base rate in January as well.
I've tried taking a loan out twice for used cars, first was a 2004 Accord 5 speed 4 door, they were asking 7,000 w/100k miles all said and done with 21% interest it was like 12,000, I was approved for that but the car looked like it was not taken care off, vauecraft battery, stp oil filter, no name tires. I applied for a 1998 Cherokee classic automatic 4.0 104k miles for 3500 and the denied me, even with 1,000 down. It is harder to get a loan on a older used car than it is for a new/brand new car. These "Buy here pay here" car lots are really the only ones that will approve me, but I'll get approved for a 1995 Civic 150k miles for 5,000, it doesn't make sense. If you have good credit a used car can be easily approved for through a bank. In order to be approved for a civic (4 door 5 speed) it would need to be 2008 or newer (maybe 2009 when we get to 2015) with less than 60,000 miles, at least this is the criteria they gave my wife at the dealer, she settled on a new lancer after looking at the used car options and lack of warranty coverage.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 44.8 mpg (US) ... 19.1 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 53.9 mpg (Imp)