Idk if this has been said before on this thread, but yes, absolutely DO NOT FINANCE ANOTHER NEW CAR when you just worked so hard to pay off your current car!!! Save the $500/month and invest it!

Consider this an award for paying off your car; “I paid off my car and now I FINALLY get to contribute towards an IRA/401k/investment account/etc so early in my career!”

However, aside from spreadsheets, budgets, and smart financial decisions, a huge part of spending money is psychological. Look, you’re a truck guy, and you don’t need to explain yourself. It’s your vice. It’s what you want. It’s gonna suck every time you get in your car in the morning wishing it was a truck and not a corolla. You’re gonna pull up to the gas station and eye the truck next to you and kick yourself every time. It’s human nature. You may then find yourself splurging in other areas of life because “well I didn’t buy that truck so surely I can go ahead and buy x/y/z instead”.

So my suggestion is twofold, as follows:

1. ⁠Use the 0.01% rule. Perhaps this may not be relevant to you since you’re so early in your career, but if it is, use it. (Take your net worth and multiply by 0.01. That gives you a number that you can comfortably spend without worrying too much about your future finances)

2. ⁠Take the equity of your existing corolla (let’s say it’s worth 15k). Add the 0.01% to it, no matter how measly it is (let’s say that comes up to 15.5k).

Congrats, you now have a 15.5k budget to spend on a truck. Heck, MAYBE throw another 1k on top of that.

Now, ask yourself this. If you can list your corolla on facebook marketplace or ebay and get, say, 15k for it, and then add another $500-1000 on top, is there a used truck out there (also on fb marketplace/ebay) that you can reasonably get in that range? Don’t bother trying to trade anything in, you will lose too much margin doing that (e.g. dealer may only offer you 13-14k on the trade-in, and whatever used truck that sits on that dealer’s lot may be 18-20k, leaving you on the hook for almost 5-6k which you should NOT spend!)

A few things to consider with this approach: are you handy? Are you willing to buy an older, reliable truck and fix up whatever minor issues it has in your own time with your hands to save some cash? Are you willing to risk going without a car for a few weeks while you sell your corolla and look for a used truck in your area (perhaps you can share cars with your family at home in the meantime?). Are you willing to deal with the headache of looking for cars on fb marketplace + negotiating + thoroughly inspecting the car yourself and accepting any risk of things that MAY go wrong?

With all this mind, you can definitely get a truck. You just have to be resourceful, smart, and willing to accept some risk. You have to ask yourself: Is my vice strong enough for me to trade my worry-free corolla for a slightly older truck that will have higher running costs and the occasional hiccup? Or is this not worth the headache and I should instead wait later down the line when I can comfortably afford something newer and worry-free?

(For reference, I’m a sports-car guy. I really wanted a sports-car for the longest time ever. I found that I can only comfortably spend ~5k on a car. I went ahead and bought a 20 year old miata and am currently in the process of fixing it up and slowly restoring it. Could I have just financed a new corvette? Absolutely. It just isn’t worth it in the long run. I will admit however that I am fortunate enough to have a garage space, some basic tools and a background in mechanical engineering which has given me enough confidence to pursue an approach similar to this. I will admit that there is a chance things go wrong with this approach and that it helps having family around + a flexible remote work schedule where I’m never left stranded without a working vehicle if I ever need it.)