Looking for an Automobile
(Chapter 19)

The suggested budget amount is the place to begin. You may find you want to drive more expensively or cheaply than your budget sheet determined. That’s all right as long as you adjust another category up or down to balance. At the end of the project research, the "scratch" budget sheet will be redone on a final budget sheet and the totals of dollars and percentages will balance or this segment will not be valid.

Look through the newspapers, auto finders brochures, or the internet to find a "car of your dreams" or "a car you can afford." Remember, you are six years out of high school, 24 years old, and the car you might own now will not be functioning. You will have to "buy" a car for this project or get no credit for this segment." Leasing will not be an option.

The ad must include the

If using a newspaper or brochure ad, cut it out - remember, neatness counts - and place it on an 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper. Creative touches are recommended. Do not cut apart internet pages (unless you ALSO include an original.) We need to see the internet sites and printing date. Prepare a write-up that explains why you selected this vehicle. Include the data from the ad, your transportation needs based on projected use and affordability.  Or use computer graphics and design.

Critical: You need to figure financing for this car because you cannot use a credit card and you will not have the full amount of cash. You will be financing this through a bank as an installment loan. In a creative and professional way (not handwritten), you will need to show the math as to how the financing would work on your created "ad" page for the project.

NOTE: The down payment of 10 % will have been saved for this purchase and does not have to come from the budget.

You need to finance the vehicle by checking the DuPage Credit Union for their Vehicle Loan Rates or by shopping online for an interest rate for a car loan. You may finance your loan for 12, 24, 36, or 48 months.

You have two options to figure out the monthly car payment:
1.  Using an Auto Loan Calculator (for example, State Farm's). Print the page with the figures inputted and the results page.
2.  Using a simple version of the calculation, shown below

Using the above example, the Dupage Credit Union has a current interest rate of 5.69%.  A used car’s financing plan for 3 years would look like this

The $224.59 figure would then be placed in the adjusted budget column.