DO IT~! I graduated about a year and a hlaf ago, waited about 3 months then bought a G35...then 8 months later, I bought another one!!!!! So worth every penny too!

Do yourself a favor and have fun now when your young and you dont have tons of other monthly expenses...and yes, 54k a year is def enough.

Good Luck!

 

Oh yeah, once again, I totally agree. I like to feel that I am pretty financially savvy. I budgeted for MAXing out my 401K, I am using a Employee Stock Purchase Plan for saving for housing, and laid out a pretty good budget for the cost of living. Fortunatly I was tought financial soundness even before college, for anyone who hasnt ever really thought about personal finance, a lot of the advice on this board is really good. Even the ones that say to go out and have fun and get the G, because honestly, you have to enjoy life.

 

Same Here...Electrical Engineering at USF...I'm currently working at Honeywell in clearwater, FL...I'm hoping to stay there after graduation.

One month...I'm counting every single day...can't wait

 

Agreed...having very low expenses is the best time to save, when I started working I literally had no expenses (no utilities, no rent, no kids, no student loans, didn't pay for gas, didn't pay for food during the week, etc) and it helped A LOT...but then again, I was homeless LOL. It just made more sense not to trap myself with debt when I'm always traveling. She should definitely take advantage of opportunities to save/invest depending on her situation but have a balance of fun while doing it if she plays her cards right

 

Well considering I work in NYC it makes me want to cry myself to sleep at night.

 

You may or may not like my advice. I think you should enjoy yourslef. I'm a few years removed from college. I DO max out my 401K, save a ton and still bought a G and now I'm looking at a house. However if I got the G right out of college may have been tougher to do that. Being only 25 and looking at 400K houses in the area is tough but its possible if you manage your money correctly.

I saved up for 2 years pretty good and now have decent money saved to put a good downpayment on a house. The way I look at it is buying a house is basically putting money back into your pocket - if not more money, especially in this area where house prices are going crazy. I know you're in Pittsburgh and some of my friends own houses in the area. They live in 4 bedroom houses for 125K right outside the city - cost of living is real cheap so also take that into consideration if you plan on living there. Again if you are renting its basically wasting that money.

Now that gets me to my last point. If I were you if you are planning on living in Pittsburgh i would DEF. buy a house now there. Its really very cheap. If you can possibly get a 3-4 bedroom house, maybe even rent out a room for say 500/month there you go, there's your G payment or close to for basically nothing and you'd be getting a house and a G at the same time.

 

Man so much good info has been posted here. And no flames what so ever. I'm sort of in a similar situation. I grad in may 06 but i got an internship this past feb for 6 months 18k, so yr of 36k. This is all as an intern so i'll assume if i stick with the company i'd be at 50ish.

People can only give you general figure with out knowing your actual expenses. For me i am using all this money now till aug. To pay off all CC debt, save money for 15 mth of rent since the rents are not paying all of it anymore. And im buying another bike and hope to pay it off with those funds. So with all that knowledge i plan on coming out in Aug with nothing hanging over my head. And if i get offered to stay around after aug. That money is all saved mutual fund and/or roth IRA will be started. OR i think i might get a 03 g35 only cuz i love caribean blue and it was discontinued and the g35 will be my 2nd car g20 being first.

Anyhow you're the one who knows best what you can afford. By the way congrats on EE i did it for 3 yrs and finally decided i hated it. And switched into MIS.

 

I thought of doing that as well, it's a great idea...but my house is still being built If she can get a house somewhat close to the college campus but not too close to affect real estate value, I would definitely do that. But it would help to know some people you trust renting out too...don't want strangers destroying the house

 

Id have to say wait a year to get settled in your new position at work so your able to save more and then purchase an '06 without any worries. Your not going to have that much take home money after taxes are takin out of 54K and then your left with a big monthly payment. Definitely wait it out one year

 

Hell yeah MIS! I go to RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) 75% of the students are engineering majors and I got laughed at for an 'easy' major. Now I am the one laughing because I am the one with the good high paying job

 

I'm kinda in the same situation....

I'm almost 1 year out of college (may 2004) making >50k as an IT consultant. I've been living at home since grad and have been maxing out my companies stock match and 401k and also throw a bunch into savings each paycheck. I don't have any CC debt or anything like that to speak of.

I think I'm aiming to get a new car in the fall as my 92 Civic is startin to struggle a bit I'm also looking to move out and rent a place for the time being as the prices in northern VA/arlington for places are out of control nowadays. I also have between 15-20k to put down on a car for a downpayment that is not part of my savings.

I'm not sure what car to get at all, but I plan on test driving a G35 coupe out... Any suggestions on how my situation is?

Thanks...

 

You could afford the car on $54k a year. I am only a junior in college and bought my G to commute to school (the money saved on rent covers the financing for the year on the G). When I get out of college working in IT I will only have one year left on the financing and she will be all mine . You won't regret getting the G, unless you have to drive in the snow lol.

 

Hi, guys this is my first post here, though I have been reading up on the G for the last 2 months on here. Wow, when I read that first post I couldnt believe how similar the situation was to mine. I am graduating this may and start working in july making about 56K. I have had my mustang Gt since senior year of hs and I think its time to move on up and reward myself though ill miss all that v8 power...atleast till I save money for some mods. I wanted to get a coupe in may itself but after giving it some thought I have decided to wait till around oct or nov, pay off my student loans, get a really good deal on a 05 or maybe go for an 06 ( anybody know if there will be any changes? ) I have good credit, will be living at home, so dont really have many bills. All said I should have 35 to 40k in disposable income not counting the year end bonus and the 6mths raise ( which is going straight to the APS fund lol ) I went to the local infiniti dealer last week and had a talk with the sales manager and infiniti does have a college grad program where basically if you are a recent grad and you have a job you get the same deal as a top tier credit holder will have. The sales manager actually wanted me to walk out of the dealership with a car the same day if I could just show him a letter from my future employer....talk about temptations! Seems like a the g35 is the choice for recent graduates for rewarding themselves Also I want to say that this forum has been a great resource to learn about the G, there are a lot of guys who know what they are talking about. I didnt have much knowledge of imports, let alone the G but these past 2 months have given me a better idea of what I am getting into.

 

I have toyed with the idea of buying a house, but I wanted to test out the Pittsburgh area and see if I could live there for a while. You guys are all giving great and invaluable advice. I am a big saver, so I will def. be maximizing my 401k.

I probably shouldn't have test drove it, b.c I am IN LOVE. I never loved a car so much before. My boyfriend is sick of me talking about it...lol (i think he's jealous...shhh)

 

The Market is pretty good for engineers. I'm in syracuse and the Lockheed martin here just hired 800 engineers. A lot of my egineering friends have gotten jobs. I don't know how it is for other fields.