A little backstory, I'm a 25 year old manufacturing technician attending college, and I got out of the Navy 1 year ago.
About a year before I left the Navy, I came across a decent deal overseas, about a ~3k discount on a brand new 2012 mustang that I could order. It took me 2 months to debate it with myself(my car before that was a Hyundai Elantra 2006), but eventually, after speaking with my mom and step father, and their response to it was "You only live once", I bought it, and took delivery of it a year later in December 2011. I financed 26k of it, and paid 11k in cash.
I loved it initially, but as 2012 dragged on, and after getting my job immediately after getting out of the Navy, almost entirely because of the expense of that car and my wish not to destroy all the savings I had accrued while in the Navy(60k in stocks, a 10k CD that was to expire 6 months after I got out), and after discovering this site towards the end of 2012, the idea of not having that car entered my mind. That insidious thought, and how expensive the car was(400$ a month car payment, 200$ a month insurance because of an accident I had in the middle of 2011) just would not go away.
At the beginning of December, it hit me, I have goals for investing, high ones, and the sooner I achieve them the happier it'll make me, things such as 100k in total financial assets, a 401k funded with at least 30,000$(the sooner the better), and even driving that car over my motorcycle(another 2012, but that's a story that I don't regret in the slightest), the wear and tear, the gas costs, the depreciation and loss of life, and the continued insurance costs to fund it(even if my plan was to upgrade the hell out of it several years later and turn it into a fun/track car) leaving a bitter taste in my mouth, I broke. I took it to Carmax within a week of that thought entering my head, and I cut my losses on that vehicle and got 1000$ of my money back from it(yes I could've probably made more off of it, but I was happier to quickly cut it out then attempt to deal with secondary buyers or haggle with a dealership). I used that to immediately buy a quality bicycle(a Surly Cross-Check).
Costs of that experiment in ownership: ~20k(11k down payment, one year of insurance and car payments and gas).
Benefits: Well, I now know that buying a Corvette or higher car(what I previously dreamed of) isn't really for me, the energy wastage and enjoyment to dollar ratio is too far beyond what I'm willing to put up with, so it probably saved me money in the long run since I might never make that mistake again(or I'll downsize it, you know how cheap and how stupid-powerful a literbike is? Yeah.)
In addition to selling that, after extensive reading in November and December(this site, getrichslowly archives, YMOML and Early Retirement Extreme), I've rededicated myself to achieving my version of Financial Independence, and I've also realized after hating the idea for so long, that it actually is financially beneficial to buy a house for me(I hate roommates but there is one that I know I can put up with, and I don't believe in housing as an investment after growing up in two housing bubbles, the Bay Area and Las Vegas), so I bought the Nolo guide to your first house and will try and figure out the market here in the next two months.
