How to Afford a New Car on a Small Budget

You have been driving an old beater around for a while now, and you thought it would be nice to sport a new car for a change. Unfortunately, when it comes to purchasing such a high dollar item, you do not know how to make that work. Not only do you have bad credit, but you do not have a lot of income to go around either. Still, if you employ a little creative financing, you might be able to get that new car you want. 

Buying an Affordable New Car 
While you may not be able to pick up a fancy new Lexis on your budget, you might be able to afford that new Subaru for sale you saw in a recent car dealer ad. The way for a low-income person to get into a new car is to start by picking a car that is reasonably affordable. This means not getting in over your head with payments you will not be able to afford each month. To make this a possibility, you must work up an initial budget so that you are certain about what is within your price range. 

Look Into Improving Your Credit Score
While low income and bad credit can be a red flag to most lenders, it is not impossible for you to get a car loan if you are in this situation. Car loans for people with bad credit will typically come with a higher interest rate. However, if you do a little leg work on how to improve your credit score this can go a long way towards your getting a better loan with a lower interest rate. 

Make Sacrifices 
When it comes to paying for a new car, you may need to make some sacrifices along the way. This may involve tossing out your cable bill to free up more capital. You may have to stop eating out so much in order to make each dollar go further. You might even consider getting a roommate to help you pay your bills; thus, freeing up even more money for your monthly car payments. 

Ask for a Raise 
You have been a hard, loyal employee around the office. Your boss knows that you are the one person that she can trust to get the job done on time without messing things up in the process. It may be time to leverage that relationship you have built with your boss to ask for a small raise. As a valued employee, your boss may appreciate that you need to earn a little more each hour to make your monthly car payments on a new car purchase. If this pans out, then you may not have to tighten your belt so much in other areas to make this work for you. 

Getting a new car is perhaps more within your reach than you realize. Sure, you might have to do some creative planning to make this dream happen, but nothing good in life comes without some sacrifices along the way. Just be sure to do your homework and make sure that you have a solid plan in case there are any curve balls thrown your way.