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Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,245,192 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cornsnicker3
As an aside:
I ended up with an unusual desire to find the most cost effective way to commute and succeeded in finding a bus route to my work. There is a spot a block from my house that drops me off right in front of work. $2.25 round trip per day. I ended up selling one of my cars for some extra cash and no rely on the bus to commute. Overall, a net savings. I can't necessarily credit Dave Ramsey directly, but the desire to lower costs to pay of debt (and not driving Duluth's hills in winter) really gave me to urge to do the research.
I do ponder if far more people are in bus/transit corridors than they know. They would simply have to look it up.
To the other posters point, which you replied to, most people need a car for various logistical reasons. Distance to and from work, health, familial needs, personal preference, etc. He was correct in stating that Dave's broad advice is not feasible to everyone.
When I am in the states, I also own an apartment but NYC is walk/transit friendly. When I lived in Atlanta, I drove as things were a little more spread out. But I also used public transit during the week and only drove during the weekends when I lived in Buckhead and worked in Midtown so as to not put miles on my car. I like you ended up selling because Im only stateside 6 to 7 months out of the years.
I know a guy that took Dave's advice and bought a four year old Corolla from a dealer. A month later, the key broke off in the ignition...cost him 950 to fix. Cars have way too much proprietary electro ics that can be quite difficult to diagnose and fix. General Motors has kept more people down. than the Liberals. I can take the bus, subway, ferry boat, taxi, or walk...with a paid for home, a car would cost more than I spend on everything else, combined. I have enjoyed listening to Dave, before, but most of the callers have strong income and weak brains. Never heard him once advocate living in a walkable area and going without a car. A smaller house on a valuable lot is where the value is. Drive till you qualify fueled the last housing boom, but they also required huge auto expenses that they would never get back...even if oil went to thirty bucks per barrel. The home values in the exhurbs were the first to fall and the last to bounce back..granite countertops and all....
I live a block away from my job but I know this isn't realistic for most people in my suburban city. Dave Ramsey has a hard enough time getting people to stop borrowing money for new cars they can't afford, let alone telling them they have to live in a walkable area so they can be car free. It's just not realistic for most people. He already gets accused of giving unrealistic advice as it is, and I don't think his general standards are all that onerous.
And as another poster said, walkable areas with good transit are usually quite expensive (as is the case where I live--although my whole suburban-ish metro area is very expensive).
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,245,192 times
Reputation: 1041
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hal Roach
I know a guy that took Dave's advice and bought a four year old Corolla from a dealer. A month later, the key broke off in the ignition...cost him 950 to fix. Cars have way too much proprietary electro ics that can be quite difficult to diagnose and fix. General Motors has kept more people down. than the Liberals. I can take the bus, subway, ferry boat, taxi, or walk...with a paid for home, a car would cost more than I spend on everything else, combined. I have enjoyed listening to Dave, before, but most of the callers have strong income and weak brains. Never heard him once advocate living in a walkable area and going without a car. A smaller house on a valuable lot is where the value is. Drive till you qualify fueled the last housing boom, but they also required huge auto expenses that they would never get back...even if oil went to thirty bucks per barrel. The home values in the exhurbs were the first to fall and the last to bounce back..granite countertops and all....
So injecting Political Ideologies into this makes sense to you???
You dont have to buy a car with all the bells and whistles included. Purchasing a vehicle is not a static process. For example, you can purchase a pre -2000 model Chevy Tahoe. Looks somewhat similar to the 200-2006 models. Yet it has the 5.7L Chevy Vortec V8 which does not have all the flex fuel foolishness. You can buy a completely new, no miles crate motor replacement for under $1900. So if you need an SUV and can find a decent sample for like $2000, you will be $4000 in a truck with a brand new never driven engine. Thats an example of an "analog" not too old car purchase.
Sure, in an urban city environment we all can take advantage of mass transit. Some suburbanites even do very long commutes utilizing mass transit. Personal preference for those that can afford a car, necessity for those that cannot.
In any situation, the debt to income analysis of a purchase must be considered I agree.
Exurb living was caused by many factors, not just people buying too much house than they could afford. And in the cities, small homes on valuable lots is not always the solution. If you have a family of 5 and the 3 bedroom Craftsman Bungalow downtown is on a lot with a combined value of $650K which is out of your budget, it makes all the sense in the world to buy a 5 bedroom "Mcmansion" in the suburbs for $325K. Now that decision will of course lead to inherent need for vehicles due to commuting. Its all about the smart choices made when making those purchases. Part of the issue with people going under during the crisis was buying a new home at an inflated value coupled with extravagant vehicle purchases. You have to give to get for the most part. So give up the MB for a Chevy and the $325K home.
Just IMHO, but I would guess that if financing didn't exist the auto industry would still be around, just in a much different form. I would think it would mostly be Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Mazda 3 type cars that would have a lot less bells & whistles and would cost 12 grand or less new. I would guess the industry would stop rolling out a new car every year and instead bring them out every couple years, as they already do with the generations of a given model.
Could be. As an analogy in Europe: in the UK, where many cars are purchased or provided as a corporate perk, the cars tend to be equipped with more accessories than in France, where a higher percentage of the drivers will buy on their own resources, and are more modestly equipped.
The bolded is true. Thing is, people like you are not his target audience. His target audience is the 70% of America who live payday do payday or who are going further in debt and who are financially clueless.
If that is his target, then why do most of his callers tell him that they are making 100K+ salaries? Really, is that many people making those kind of salaries? Dave act like that is the norm.
If that is his target, then why do most of his callers tell him that they are making 100K+ salaries? Really, is that many people making those kind of salaries? Dave act like that is the norm.
I haven't listened in about 6 months or so, but when I listened it was HH incomes of between $70-$120k that was the norm. That's two people making between $35-$60k, I'd say that's fairly reasonable for people who actually care about fixing their finances and think they have a shot at it. Every once in a while you'd hear people say they have HH incomes in the 2-400k range, but that wasn't all that common from what I heard.
I can't remember the last time I bought a new car.
In fact...I don't think I ever have.
Necessity, partly, but I've also just never been able to justify the cost.
To be fair, I've likely been super lucky with my second-hand picks, which have largely been bought from friends or family. Making the most of connections! While the net worth figure sounds a *little* dramatic - to put it lightly - skipping new for used isn't always a bad idea. Just have to do your best to find a reliable buy. Easier said than done, but it is possible.
the used car is a gamble, at best. A few weeks ago, a woman was standing in front of her KIA on a freeway flyover, broken down, someone hit the car, and sent her plunging to her death. I wonder if it was certified pre-owned. A 20 year old Tahoe....an absolute piece of junk. Transmission? 5000. Air conditioning 3000. Tires 200 each...leaking fluids all over the place? priceless.
Never heard Dave comment on what size houses people think they need...really dumb, and a good way to get a terrible location. Five in a bungalow would be tough...but you could easily fit in a townhouse in a much better location than a mcmansion. Average new home in the UK is 780 sf, Japan is 570..
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