Why not buy an older car Rhoda? Provided you make sure you a good one then you canl find motoring to be quite cheap. For example I have a 1984 VW Golf Mk2 and it costs me peanuts to run. It costs me about £60 to fully service which I do every 2-3000 miles, the tax is £125 a year, Fully Comp insurance is £146 per year (£2.81 a week). All parts including trim are still available - much of it from VW! There's nothing on the car I can't do myself with a few basic tools. I'm always amazed at the money other people seem to spend on cars. Why do they buy cars that cost a fortune for even the most basic items or service and which they can't do anything on themselves?
You must have someone who knows about cars check the vehicle but provided it has a good engine, no serious rust and a fresh MoT then you probably have a good car. Don't listen to this talk about 'old bangers'. The condition of an older car is usually obvious to someone who knows about them and the modern MoT was tightened up years ago to get the old heaps off the road. If you have a husband, boyfriend, brother, Dad etc who is prepared to keep their eye on the car, service it often and do repairs, then you needn't spend much on motoring at all. Your £2500 should go a long way if you buy an older car in good condition for about £600. Then spend another £400 renewing all the service parts and major components such as fuel pump, lines, hoses etc as a matter of course. You'll then have a very good little car.