I have around 5k€ left to pay for my car, for the rest I just spend what I know I can. I have a credit card but I just keep it there for emergencies or to pay in installments when the seller doesn’t allow it, everything else goes to the debit card.
Edit: for context since I just read “in the US”, I’m italian. My school was 150€/year so I saved myself the school debt thing.