Thank you for your responses Honest Abe and grantmeaname,
If you buy a car it'll sit and depreciate all year, plus maintenance and insurance and all the rest of the full gamut of expenses. Do you use a car seldom enough that you could rent a car from a traditional company like Enterprise or a new flexible carsharing service like Zipcar every time you needed one, or is it low, very frequent usage such that owning a car makes the most sense?
I'm not really a fan of renting cars/ don't always think its practical especially since I'm under 25 (expensive). Right now I use a form of beer /barter for rides or use of a friends vehicle which can be a pain. Honestly, I know that I don't 100% need a car but after going through all of college and the past 5 months without one it would definitely increase my quality of life. I'm not talking about a fancy car, just a reliable point A to B car. I'd still bike a ton or walk if possible.
If I were to move out of the country it'd have to be with a new employer. I'm very open to this possibility but I also love the US so I'm just going to research everything I can.
Also I asked a friend who's an accountant about my situation and he said to consider holding off contributing to the IRA for a year. Any thoughts on that?