I have been a car enthusiast for most of my life. I remember drawing them as a child, fawning over high-end cars in enthusiast books, playing racing games extensively, etc. I can name almost every car I see on the road and give a basic description of it. My computer and phone background are car related.
I have never owned a car, nor does my lifestyle require one right now. I live on the bus routes to work and studies, and I am in walking distance of all of the stores I need to run basic errands. Despite this, I find myself during particularly stressful times longing to buy something, scouring the used car section to find something that might satisfy an itch. I was just recently test driving a car that was 25 years old that ticked all of the boxes: it was manual, rwd, no driver aids and minimal electronics, it looked good, it was reasonably practical, got reasonable gas mileage, is in excellent condition with low mileage and cost under 10k.
Despite all of these things, I just do not need a car. I live in a region where the roads are heavily salted during the winter and so if I were to get this car I would have to anticipate that I would be dealing with rust within half a decade, thereby worsening the condition of the car, even if I try my hardest to prevent it. The alternative would be to find a way to keep the car inside during the winter (I don't have access to a garage now), where it would of course be totally unused and a drain on the wallet (although I would take this time to do my own mechanical work, which would be a new experience for me). I have even considered getting an apartment in my city that has climate controlled parking, just to make this seem like a more plausible option.
All in all then, I recognize that this is a stupid idea. But I wonder, is there any way that I could somehow turn this into a somewhat mustachian venture? I have no debt, am almost finished a graduate degree and have nearly 20k saved (5k in stock equity, 5k emergency fund). The few thousand in surplus that I seem to be generating every year and saving just seems so inconsequential to my goal of being financially independent, and I tell myself that my desires are so modest. So it is hard for me to contain myself and I find myself often browsing the classifieds. How do I deal with this heavy dissonance that I experience on a regular basis?
