That moment when you realize that you are actually turning into an adult is awesome, until you come to the realization that you now have to pay bills. Part of becoming an adult is buying your first car on your own and oh what I would do differently if I knew now when I bought my first car. Read closely so you do not make the same mistakes I did when I bought my first car because it could save you later in life.

Okay so we all do dumb things when we are young and starting out, some do dumb things financially and others just do dumb things like trying drugs and partying. Well, I was the responsible one who did dumb financial things. However, because I was responsible I never put myself in a financial mess that I could not get out of. I just wish I would have done some things differently.  

 In today’s age and even seven years ago when I bought my first car myself, we look at economic benefit a car has and what stylish items they have in it. I mean there are so many different choices out there for what you can have nowadays it can honestly be overwhelming if you do not know enough about cars.  

I did not know much about cars seven years ago when I choose the car that I now have today. However, I did a lot of research and found the perfect car for me or what I thought was perfect for me. Do not get me wrong my car is great for our family but I do wish I had more room in the car.  

At the time I was buying my car, I was only concentrating on the here and now. I did not have a boyfriend and I sure was not expecting my life to turn in the way it did so quickly. So I was looking for great gas mileage because I was traveling an hour everyday seven days a week because of work and school. So gas mileage was key for me.  

I looked at used vehicles and they just did not get my attention as quick as the new vehicles did. By the way if I were to buy another car I would still buy a brand new vehicle because I know everything that has happened to the car I currently have and it makes it nice to know that if there is a recall on it for any reason I will get refunded in some capacity.  

Anyways as I said before I was looking for a car for the here and now not the future. If I were 21 again purchasing my first vehicle, I most defiantly would have bought for the future I wanted instead of the here and now. Which in turn means that I probably would have had to buy a used vehicle.  

So, there it was. It did not take me long to realize that that blue, shining Toyota Corolla was the vehicle I was going to be purchasing. It just spoke to me and I fell in love with it immediately. It was brand new in the show case room. Literally it only had 25 miles on it. I was able to get the loan and I purchased my first vehicle in my name. I mean I choose the vehicle, I signed the papers, I test drove the vehicle, I did it all.  

How exciting that day was for me. I wanted so badly to just drive it off the lot right there and then. But I had to wait a few days while they did all the checks on it that needed to be done before I could drive it off the lot and since it was a Saturday morning, I had to wait until normal business hours. Boy oh boy how excited I was.  

When I picked my new car up, I had to go immediately to work. However, after work I remember taking it down the back roads and just driving for what felt like hours. I got lost in time. I felt like a big shot purchasing my first car. I mean it is a big moment in life and for the time my car was perfect.  

I always knew that I wanted children and that someday I was going to have a house full of kids. What happened next was the unexpected. Remember now I had no boyfriend so kids seemed to be in the distant future.  

  Just two years later I met my husband and things moved so quickly that two years after that we were married and expecting our first child. Now realization hit us with a compact car and a Jeep Wrangler, we quickly started searching for a larger vehicle that we could trade the Jeep in for. We choose the Jeep because it had such horrible gas mileage and my car had great gas mileage. Both vehicles were already paid off so whatever trade in was went straight to the new used vehicle we purchased.  

At this time, I so badly wished I had chosen to get a minivan instead of the brand new compact car that I decided on because now I needed the bigger vehicle and gas mileage did not matter as much as having room for my family to grow.  

So, what I would do different when purchasing my first vehicle is buy for the future not the time you are living in. I am a person who believes we should live for the here and now but plan for future events. Since I knew I someday wanted children I wish I would have planned for that. I wish when buying my first car I would have put the 21,000 dollars I paid for that car and bought a minivan or something of that sort. You never know what direction life is going to go. Now with two kids our priorities currently is getting our new backyard ready for the summer months. However, as soon as possible I do plan on trading one of the two vehicles in for a bigger car.  

When you have a car you might want to use it when moving to a new town. Here are 5 things that you may need to know before moving to a big city.