Question

Discretionary spending: $450 per month



New car

Insurance: $175 per month

Gas: $100 per month


Used car

Insurance: $125 per month

Gas: $100 per month

According to your research, you need to budget
for insurance and gasoline if you choose to buy or lease the new car.

If you choose to buy the used car, you need to budget
for insurance and gas.

Answer 1

Here are the monthly and annual numbers based on the figures you gave.

1) Monthly totals (insurance + gas)
- New car: $175 + $100 = $275 / month
- Used car: $125 + $100 = $225 / month

2) Remaining discretionary spending (from your $450/month discretionary)
- If new car: $450 − $275 = $175 remaining per month
- If used car: $450 − $225 = $225 remaining per month

3) Annual totals
- New car: $275 × 12 = $3,300 / year
- Used car: $225 × 12 = $2,700 / year
- Annual difference: $3,300 − $2,700 = $600 (used car is $600/year cheaper for insurance+gas)

Notes and next steps
- These calculations only include insurance and gasoline. If you will be buying or leasing, also budget for: car payments (loan or lease), registration/taxes, routine maintenance, repairs, and possible higher depreciation for a new car.
- If you want, I can add a car payment (loan or lease) to these numbers, estimate maintenance differences, or build a simple monthly budget showing how each option affects savings and other spending. Which would you like to do?