Buying Your First New Car ... On a Budget

Bummed ... maybe even royally bummed ... that would about sum up how I felt last week. A single mom out doing grocery shopping, and my car broke down.

Okay, maybe it doesn't sound that bad. But let's put this into perspective: I just replaced the alternator. Before that, it was the power steering pump. Before that, immediately after buying the car, it was the radiator. So I may love that little Honda, but it's getting old and I've already put more money into it than I purchased it for.

Maybe - just maybe - it's time for me to stop being cheap and actually look at (gulp!) buying an honest-to-goodness new car with the warranty and all the shiny stuff that comes with it. My first time. Terrifying.

Hit the Search Engines

Even in the smallest of towns, most car dealerships have a website. It may not be a great website, but it will definitely give you an idea of what you're looking at.

Go to your favorite search engine and look up "Car Dealers in (Your Town)". If you're lucky, you'll get plenty more results than you'll ever need. If you're extremely lucky, those results will offer ways to contact the dealerships about financing.

There's a few benefits to this digital shopping. First off, there's no pressure. You're insulated from salesman hype by your computer screen - they can't talk you into buying a car you don't want or can't afford.

Secondly, by doing this initial search online, you can take a good look at what cars are in your price range without (again) some salesman hanging off your arm steering you in another direction.

Finally, you can take a few seconds to jot down the make and model of cars that roughly fit in your price range and do some serious research.

Research the Benefits

When I began my terrified search, all that I knew was that I wanted a small car with four doors. Not a lot to ask for, I thought ... until I came up with all the different types of cars that fit that category.

Even narrowing the results down to fit in my modest budget, it was overwhelming.