Update

I got the phone call last night about the car. He told me that the blue book value is higher than the price I had originally been told (which I figured because that price was really low for this particular car). He told me how much he would like to get for it but that he would work with me. I think he wants to be able to sell this car to me, so we'll try to work something out together. I am going to see the car tomorrow and talk about some more things. It is a '97 Kia Sportage, which look like this:

I will take pictures of the actual car tomorrow.

First thing this morning I made myself a budget. I HATE making budgets, and even more than that I hate sticking to them, but I know that in order to figure all this out I have to force myself to come up with one and stick to it. The budget came out to be pretty much exactly what I make in a month, which leaves no room for medical bills, car maintenance or emergencies. I will REALLY have to sit down and look this over and figure out what I can change. Start getting serious about menu planning, etc. Ugh. Steve has been saying that I should start out with a car that may not be my first choice, but that will work for me for a couple of years. Honestly, I am not going to find anything that fits my criteria (which I don't think it unreasonable - newer than 1996, 4 doors, a/c and cd player) that will fit comfortably in my price range. Plus, I want a car that is going to last me longer than "a couple of years." At least 4 would be nice. By then I think I'll be more financially stable and can maybe get something closer to my dream car (which is nothing like a Mustang or zippy little sports car).

I put in a loan application this morning so hopefully I'll be getting a phone call on that today. The estimated payment online was lower than the last time I put in an application, so I'll have to see why that's different. I'm starting myself a Car File that I'm keeping in my backpack so I can keep this all straight!

Diana told me this morning that if I get this car I am teaching her to drive a stick and that we are always taking my car when we go places because it has a killer stereo system (something I really don't care about, lol).

The next step is checking out jobs.