I just moved out to the Mountain West, and I'm loving it out here. So far I've gotten everywhere by bicycle and bus, which is working out just fine for my intra-city travel. However, a huge part of the reason I moved out here is for the mountains, which are much less accessible by bike or bus. There are always meetups or car pooling with friends, but the meetups usually leave from parking lots 1hr (or longer) bike rides away, and though I have met a lot of people that I like, I don't have any people out here I'm close enough to to say, "hey I want to go backpacking, wanna come so you can give me a ride?"
I think I want to buy a car, and I have enough saved up to buy it in cash. I'm looking mostly on Craigslist at old Subarus, with some Toyotas and Hondas mixed in. The range I've looked at so far is 2.5-5k which would get me a used car in decent condition with anywhere from 100k - 180k miles on it.
The only complication is that I think in three or so years I might try to work out some sort of remote software dev job and work out of a converted cargo van (estimated cost of van+ build out ~= $8k) while traveling the country and visiting friends and family scattered throughout the US. I really like this idea, but it would be a huge step, and depending on what's going on in my life and how much I like my new city, I might just completely scrap these plans.
So I guess what's my best financial move here, assuming I'll get some sort of vehicle to get up to the mountains? I save roughly 70% of my take home pay as it stands right now, but I still feel this nagging guilt when I'm thinking about spending thousands of dollars that could be going to an investment account, especially when I think about how I might be selling in 3 or so years.