Should I take out a 3,000 private loan to buy a really cheap car with it and use it to get to school everyday? Because the school is basically in the middle of nowhere so I would have to take 3 transfer buses, two trains, and then walk the last 17 min to get directly to the school. Then redo the whole process over 2x a day for 5 days a week. It will take me 3hr 17 min with public transit and 45 min by car.

But my main confliction stands from my mother telling me that I could go to jail for taking out a student loan to buy a car with it? But my only purpose is provide transportation for me to get to and from school. This will be my first time taking out a private loan so I am uneducated about the whole thing. That's why I wanted to ask everyone on this site first before I go off what my mother says.

What are all your thoughts on this?

You can buy whatever you want with student loans, just make sure you also go to (and pay for) school. I practically lived off mine while I was in school.

You won't go to jail.

Make sure you don't buy a money pit though...

You can buy whatever you want with student loans, just make sure you also go to (and pay for) school. I practically lived off mine while I was in school.

You can use the BALANCE for living expenses (or anything) after tuition and fees have been collected. As long as it's in your budget go right ahead. Even *if* there was a question about it, reliable transportation is a legitimate use for educational funds. You have to get there, on time, in all weather.

I just realized you are taking out a private loan. They may have restrictions. Read and/or ask if there are any stipulations to the loan.

As long as your tuition/fees have been paid, you can use any remaining balance on anything you want. Many people that take out student loans do so not for the tuition/fees, as those might be covered by grants/scholarships, but to cover regular living expenses while in school.

I really wanted to avoid loans but, unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards for us. My car that I had owned for 10 years went to the auto graveyard about 3 weeks before I started nursing school. I had to take out student loans and bought a $5,000 car, which is still going strong 4 years later, so it was worth every penny. Most of the way through my first semester I found out my job was being eliminated. I was able to draw unemployment and eventually found a part-time job to help but I went from making almost RN salary (I was a medical transcriptionist) to a fraction of that. I ended up having to take out student loans just to pay the bills for the remainder of nursing school. It wasn't ideal but it was necessary and now I'm working on paying them off.

I would recommend to take the least amount you need to get through, especially with private loans, as they have a higher interest rate, but if you have to do it to get to school, it is completely understandable.

I am wondering if you can move closer to school. A 45 minute commute by car sucks when you are getting paid to do it... it sucks even more when YOU are paying to drive that far! And the time with public transit - holy crapola.

Can you move in with some other students and share a rental house within a five minute walk of your classes?

Why not just finance a car? The interest rate to do that is probably significantly less than the interest rate for student loans. My car's interest rate is less than 1% but student loans are all in the 2-4% range.

I am wondering if you can move closer to school. A 45 minute commute by car sucks when you are getting paid to do it... it sucks even more when YOU are paying to drive that far! And the time with public transit - holy crapola.

It is a pretty far drive and the reason I chose the school is because I got some pretty decent scholarships to attend the school and I chose not to do the dorms because they're new and it's cost 12k overall for boarding money that I don't have so I would have to commute for the next 3 years unless I cab find myself a decent paying job with flexible hours.

But thank you for your advice, it was helpful.

Why not just finance a car? The interest rate to do that is probably significantly less than the interest rate for student loans. My car's interest rate is less than 1% but student loans are all in the 2-4% range.

I would be very careful with financing a car. Its great that you got a great interest rate on your auto loan but not everyone has access to those kind of interest rates. Plus the op is not employed so she may not be able to get an auto loan. Also there is price minimum on auto loans, most I have seen is a minimum of $5000. I think the op needs a car regardless, public transport cannot really be trusted. I knew I needed a car for nursing school , so I saved some money,put half down on the car and financed the rest. It was my first auto loan and I got 6 percent interest which is very good in my opinion. The car was also bought from a dealership that offers free oil changes for the life of the car and so far the car has been great.Anyways, I think the op can find something decent but you have to research very well.

In the end I think you would save by getting a separate auto loan (unless the payback time frame is the issue). The rate on my car is less than my federal student loans, plus, the longer it takes to pay the loan back, the more interest you will have to pay for it in the end. Make sure that whatever car you choose to by that it is in relatively good condition. Today there are very few cars going for 3K that are in decent shape. If it breaks down every other day you won't be using it to get to school and you'll be constantly getting it fixed, costing you even more money.

I was actually in a car accident last November where my ex-boyfriend collided into another car by trying to hurry up and make the light. I suffered a broken bone and a fracture in my rib cage (which took about 6 months to heal completely) and received an abrasion on my back and two on my upper arms. I will be receiving 10,000 or more in October from his issuance. So would it just be smarter for me to wait until October to buy a car and just use the public transit for now?

In the end I think you would save by getting a separate auto loan (unless the payback time frame is the issue). The rate on my car is less than my federal student loans, plus, the longer it takes to pay the loan back, the more interest you will have to pay for it in the end. Make sure that whatever car you choose to by that it is in relatively good condition. Today there are very few cars going for 3K that are in decent shape. If it breaks down every other day you won't be using it to get to school and you'll be constantly getting it fixed, costing you even more money.

I think there is nothing wrong with an auto loan if you have stable income and buy a car that you can afford. I'm currently financing my car and it's going to be paid off 2 years earlier than expected. The op does not work so how would she make the payments? How about the op credit history? Car loans are little more harsh in the sense that missing 1 or 2 payments can end up getting your car repossessed. With the op current situation, I don't think it will be smart to get an auto loan even if she did get one, the loan interest would be terrible.