As soon as I got away from my parents house, I always had a $25 beater! I needed one to get back and forth to work on most Monday mornings. Weekends were tough on Road Runner parts drive I pretty much had one full stall of the 3 car garage I rented full of broken Mopar parts. That continuous search for replacement parts developed into a pretty good side business.
The beater car to get to work just carried on through the winter. Life was pretty god for this guy through his 20s.