My wife wants a new car

[Jordan Sutherland]

Hey guys, I would love to hear some opinions on my personal finances. I'm a 23 year old fireman in Texas. I make a decent salary and my wife is able to stay home with our two kids. We are able to live confortably because we have no debt ( besides our home and our two rental properties), but we still have to stick to a budget to make ends meet. We just got into real estate investing last year and I would like to keep the ball rolling.  We have about $40k in the bank and in moderately aggressive mutual funds not in retirement accounts. We are expecting our third child in June and my wife says she needs a new car to accommodate our whole family. She currently drives a 2008 impala that could hold our whole family, but would be very inconvenient with 2 babies and a 6 year old in the small back seat. My car is even smaller than hers. My wife wants a used SUV in the $15,000-$20,000 price range.I told her that she should keep her current car, because it will help with our long term financial goals, but she is adamant in getting something newer and bigger. I feel like we are doing very well for our age, but I feel like if we spend too much money on cars and other liabilities it will severely compromise our financial future. The money we would spend on a car could be used as a down payment on  another rental property in my local market.  Even a small car payment of $300/month will not fit in our budget at all, as  our income is nothing to brag about. What do you guys think we should do? Make my wife happy and get the car or try to remain frugal in our personal finances and continue growing our investment portfolio? Thanks for any input!!