Twenty-Something reality check: Nobody cares what you drive

When I was 16 I drove my parents' used '85 Subaru station wagon (a.k.a. The Silver Bullet). I was just thrilled to be behind the wheel of something with four moving tires. I could pack at least five friends in it legally and a few more if we avoided driving by the Dairy Queen in our small Texas Town. That was where you cops drank coffee.

The Bullet was great on gas mileage and 100% paid off. In fact my parents never took a loan out on a car. They bought used vehicles in good condition with whatever they had in their bank account. Now, we didn't live under a rock, our family had two credit cards, but they either always had low or no balances on them. This lack of debt wasn't because they had a lot of money to pay off cards off each month; it was because they never spent a lot on things that they "wanted." They only made purchases they needed.