How can people afford cars?

until recently i was in a couple of bands and gigging 2 or 3 times a week. now i'm in just 1 and not playing so much but if and when things do pick up again i'll be buying a car. i used cabs for years but really it was costing more than a cheap car would.

one of the other guys in my current band just picked up an old renault 5 off gumtree. it's a 20 year old banger but it's kind of charming, runs okay and has room for amps and guitars. it was £250 and had, new tyres, 8 months MOT and road tax. he's got free parking near his house, avoids the congestion charge if he can help it (rides to work) and it hardly uses any petrol. at that price it's got be almost disposable.

sometimes you just need a car and i've no qualms about doing a similar thing if and when the need arises.

what about insurance thought? those are usually the deal-killer especially for young adult.

I paid £500 for a Citroen AX and end up paying nearly twice that for insurance, granted I was 18 then and has already sold the car when I was 20 (I loved that little bugger), but either way we do have the highest insurance cost in Europe (I think).