/biz/ - Business & Finance

>Forced move back home due to lack of work
>Find work
>Live in country, work in city (hour's drive one way)
>Doesn't pay as much as it should for what it is, but living with family = no rent, savings start building up
>My car craps out
>Repairs cost more than car
>Because of course it does
>Start driving grandmother's car w/ her permission
>Start looking for own car, decide on $9-11K budget
>Things start not going so well at work; not a total fuck-up but positive vibes from management decline almost daily despite best of efforts
>3 month "keep or fire" period almost up, confidence almost zero
>2 days ago
>Grandma really pushes hard for me to stop driving her car
>Feel shit about leaving her housebound all day every day anyway

I haven't been this stressed out in a long time. Despite multiple talks with my bosses, I still honestly have no idea if they're going to can me or not mainly because they continue to be frustratingly vague about it even when asked at point blank if they're going to fire me.

And the car thing, fuck. I grew up extremely poor and am deathly afraid of falling into debt. My worst nightmare is finding one within the budget I mentioned, going for it, and then not longer having a way to pay for it. Any suggestions?