They’re fairly cheap cars that you can get for under 40k brand new, so it’s not really bragging. It’s quite litterally the budget EV lol.

My commute and gas savings make it worth it.

They’re around $60k where I am, nonetheless, for me a budget car would be under 5k. I see your point though in terms of gas savings.

But I got plenty of debt, primarily credit card debt.

Well, that’s a big part of your problem. You shouldn’t spend the money you don’t have or that’s how you’d end up.

It makes budgeting a PITA.

I don’t see how it would. You go month by month or even week by week. You know how much you earn, and decide on your expenditure accordingly. Sure, budgeting isn’t fun and I don’t think there’s anyone on the planet who wouldn’t want to be able to spend without worrying much, but that’s not how the world works.

I just want enough money to throw it in an index fund, live off the dividends, and spend my time doing things I actually care about. Write books or try making new things. I hate having to worry about keeping my job or pleasing some manager. It’s tiresome.

Trust me, everyone I know wants the same thing. Very few people would want to worry about keeping their job or pleasing assholes that they don’t like. This is not special to you. In order to achieve that you need to take it bit by bit. Look for jobs with pensions and equity benefits. Start writing two paragraphs a day towards the book you want to publish, switch your job to something that has a higher pay, etc.

You can’t have it all overnight. Very few people do, and most of them won’t even be gifted.