Budgeting For a Car in Canada: How to Figure Out a Solid Budget

Budgeting For a Car in Canada: How to Figure Out a Solid Budget

Posted on March 14, 2022

You want to invest in some wheels in Milton but you have no idea where to start when it comes to budgeting. Sure, your Uncle Saul probably has some great advice, but maybe keep reading for some sound budgeting tips for buying a car in Milton that you actually want.

Budgeting is an important part of adulthood, and for most of us, it’s not very much fun. There are some tricks to figuring out a budget plan that don’t involve pulling out too many teeth.

A great tip is to use the 20% rule. This means that all your monthly car expenses per month shouldn’t exceed 20% of your take home income. This number is meant to include not only your actual car loan payment, but also your gas, insurance, oil changes, maintenance & repairs.

Take a few minutes after you figure out your 20% number to see what the average costs are for the vehicle you have an eye on to make sure it fits into your budget. The last thing you want is to allocate the full amount to large car loan payments and never be able to afford to fill the gas tank!

Unfortunately, the 20% rule doesn’t work for everyone. Consider if you have other payments every month: rent or mortgage, student loans, credit cards, etc. Those expenses could eat into your car budget as well and you don’t want to be drowning in debt.

There are sites that offer car loan calculators to quickly give you an idea of how much you can spend per month. Doing this research ahead of time will assuage your expectations before you start seriously shopping for a vehicle.

We hope our budgeting tips for buying a car in Milton gave you some good direction! After you know your budget, head over to our site, browse our huge selection of vehicles, and get approved for financing all in one spot! We’re happy to help you get into the best car for your budget.

We’d love to help you get approved for a car loan in Milton. Simply fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you ASAP or see our selection of new and used cars at our Burlington dealership. 

Thanks for reading. Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay up to date on our latest great articles!