Buying a car, getting insurance, planning utilities

The big accomplishment of the day was buying a used car.

When we moved to Korea in 2013, this wasn't an issue because we were able to send our Elantra early enough for it arrived soon after we did. We then sold our Accent shortly before we left.

USFJ, however, doesn't allow this (and because of the steering wheel thing, it wouldn't have been a good idea anyway). So instead of bringing a car, we have to get one locally.

It will take a few days to get the paperwork together, and I still have to take driver's training (AND get licensed), but the issue of on-post transportation is -- for the moment -- resolved. We went to the ATC dealership and picked out a 2008 4-door Honda Fit with about 90,000km for less than $3,000.

From what I can tell, ATC has an interesting business model. They buy used cars from departing service members and USFJ people (for low, low prices), then fix them us and flip them by selling to incoming Americans. They quote prices in dollars, take care of registration paperwork, accept credit cards (for cars!), and will even pick you up.

If you're new to Japan, they're the "Easy button" for getting a car. There are other ways, of course, to getting a car if you're interested in putting in more work, but if you only want something that'll shuttle you around the area, they'll work just fine.

For insurance, I went over to AIG. USAA doesn't do insurance in Japan, but AIG does, and a decent policy was only about $300 for the next year.

The third thing we accomplished was to get an idea how much utilities will cost. A GS-12 in Camp Zama, Japan gets $41,200 annually [Source] to pay for housing and utilities, but estimating a budget in advance so that you don't exceed that allowance can be tricky.

From what they told me, I should limit my rent payment to between $2,000 and $2,400 a month. Then, with all the initial fees, I'll still have about $3,500 to spend on utilities throughout the year.

So that's good -- we can do that. Now it's just a matter of finding a decent place.