Steve, I appreciate your reply. One poster above did say the $3500 was huge (and by some standards it is, by others not as much), and I think I blended the collective replies, over-read between the lines (as I frequently tend to do) and assumed that most everyone was out to say I spent way too much on my house!
I think everyone has something that they put a higher value on. You are 100% correct in that for transportation purposes alone (and with a great deal of comfort) $25K is all you'd need to spend on a vehicle in most cases. But I think some people place a higher value on the other intangibles a car might offer than other people might value. When I lived in a location with more things to enjoy around me, I probably would have placed a car lower on the list. Where I currently am, I think I place a car higher on that list. I'll just need to make sure everything else is taken care of before I make that choice. That is probably what you have been saying all along.