One of my goals for 2011 is to save $10,000 so that I can buy a new (to me) car. And I have to admit I have a bad case of Prius envy. Each one I pass during my commute to and from work seems to taunt me with its zippy design and earth friendly aura. Darn you Prius!

Currently I have ~$4,500 in savings for a car and I have a $250 "car payment" built into my monthly savings. (Check out my monthly budget here.) So I think I could afford to buy a used Prius and take on a car payment right now but my goal is to be able to buy a used Prius outright with cash. 

The car I drive now is a 1995 Volvo 850 and just passed 163K miles (don't be jealous!) that my parents bought for me in college. Overall it's a pretty great car* although I have had to drop some cash to keep it functioning. It's hard to strike a balance between keeping the Volvo in good shape and saving for a newer car. Over the past two years I've spent an average of $155/month just on Volvo maintenance which kind of hurts but with all the maintenance I really think to Volvo can run for another two years *fingers crossed* which will hopefully allow me to save that $10,000+.

In a perfect world I’ll wave a bittersweet goodbye to the ’95 Volvo as it’s towed away by NPR on the same day I drive a newish, grey Prius into the garage. Ahhhhhh.

But for the forseeable future I’ll be driving  the Volvo. It’s no Prius but I’m so thankful it’s taken me this far and I’m trying to take really good care of it so that I’m not forced to buy a car before I’m ready.

*Except that I can’t fill up the gas tank all the way b/c there’s a leak in the gas tank tube. If I fill it up until the nozzle clicks off itself, gas leaks on the ground. So I have to do my best to guess how much gas I can put it. Neato.