[aggrofish]

Originally Posted by kimba01;

What people choose to indulge in is not the problem, it is those who over indulge beyond their means and then cry, "poor me". They complain and wonder why they can't have what others have.

I hear what you're saying, but it starts getting personal when certain posters simply refuse to see anothers viewpoint. Rather than accepting the fact that people have different ways of satisfying their needs - their needs and how they satisfy them- are either dumb or pointless. Car payments are dumb, poker is for losers, etc.

Everyone agrees that someone who gambles away their rent money is a moron.

[kimba01]

^Oh, yes, and then there is that. I agree.

[ScoopLV]

A $40,000 car purchased with cash costs forty-thousand dollars. A $40,000 dollar car financed for 60 months costs (with the average finance rate in Las Vegas), forty-six thousand dollars. A $100K house purchased with cash costs $100,000. Finance it for 30 years at 5% (I'm assuming someone with bad-to-fair credit here) and the cost is $231,000.

A five dollar a week lottery habit, invested in an index fund at 10%, will yield $111,000 in forty years. (The total contribution in forty years is only $9,600.) So, people can look at that $5 a week lottery habit as "five flippin' dollars a week, big deal." Or they can look at it as $111,000 in lost potential.

My mother in law has a friend who is an absolute whale at the casinos. One casino in particular. He plays $10K per hand baccarat. He doesn't have to drive anywhere because the casino will pick him up in a limo, drive him to his various errands, and then take him to the casino so he can play baccarat. And then they drive him back home, with any number of stops on the way. He doesn't pay for meals. He's got a free room anytime he wants one. I think this is a pointless waste of time. But he seems to enjoy it. So who am I to tell him what to do. He's twice my age, anyway. The point is, he can afford to play. If he wants to fritter away his life's earnings playing cards, that's his business. He doesn't need the money. (If I had that kind of money, you'd never hear from me again. I'd be too busy seeing every single country on the planet.)

Now compare that to some of my co-workers. The guys with the net worth of "diddly squat." They could take their $20 a day (five day a week) sports betting habit and invest it instead. They're young. So after 40 years they'd have a $2.5 million nest egg. Even adjusted for inflation, that's a damned sight better than betting on sports. "But it's only an hour's pay," they say. Yeah, it's $20 a day. But put that money to work and it's two and a half million dollars.

I cannot for the life of me understand why they give away one hour of their hard-earned pay every day for chump change. (Even guys who win often aren't making what they COULD be making.)

So yes, financing is dumb. And "winner" is not the term I'd use to describe gamblers. As far as I'm concerned, there are two kinds of gamblers -- gamblers who waste time and money. And gamblers who only waste time. There are better ways to make a buck. Ways that don't involve sitting in a casino for hours on end.

[Cyborgt800]

...And then there is time...which does nothing but diminish for ALL of us...one might consider spending that time in a more enjoyable/productive way than proselytizing others whom choose to do what they will with THEIR time and money.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Cyborgt800

...And then there is time...which does nothing but diminish for ALL of us...one might consider spending that time in a more enjoyable/productive way than proselytizing others whom choose to do what they will with THEIR time and money.

Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

[Cyborgt800]

^^^^ Wanna keep score?

Find a post where I go past the line of offering suggestion into preaching...

One sure place in Vegas not to live would be under your own spotlight...

[aggrofish]

Scoop on the car example your neglecting the fact that if you pay cash for a vehicle you're not earning interest on that money. I'm at 1.9% apr. it would be a waste of money to pay the car in cash and not be making a greater than 1.9% return on the funds elsewhere.

With low rates financing, at times, make perfect sense.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by aggrofish

Scoop on the car example your neglecting the fact that if you pay cash for a vehicle you're not earning interest on that money. I'm at 1.9% apr. it would be a waste of money to pay the car in cash and not be making a greater than 1.9% return on the funds elsewhere.

With low rates financing, at times, make perfect sense.

But the average car buyer is paying around 5%, because their credit score is in the 600-650 range. Even at 1.9%, I'd still just pay cash. Because I cannot abide paying $32,000 for a $30,000 car. Better still to buy a recent used car. That way, someone else pays the depreciation, salesman's commission and the initial registration hit. Cars these days get 200,000 miles with proper maintenance. No big deal to buy a car with 50K on the odometer. I haven't bought a new car in more than 20 years. And even when I buy used, I either go with a private sale, or I ask for the internet sales department. (Thank you, Edmund's.)

I know people who buy new cars every other year because they like the "new car smell." That is without a doubt the dumbest reason I've heard to purchase a car. These people usually don't have two nickles to rub together, yet they'll take on another 60 months of finance charges because they like the smell of plastic.

As far as I'm concerned, it's all about earning interest and not paying interest.

[Cyborgt800]

Lots of "assumptions " and straw men being built here! We can play THAT game all day! For instance, I could say someone paying more to live in a nicer part of town is wasting their money on vanity and superficiality when there are much cheaper places to live.


Maybe we could just stop being so judgmental...ya think?

...It's getting to the point of almost bullying! I hate bullies....

[observer53]

Enough.

This discussion/argument has nothing to do with Las Vegas (but for the mentions of gambling, which is long since no longer limited to LV. ) If you want to discuss financial management, spending priorities, etc., take it to the appropriate general forum. People looking for information on where to live (or not live) are not looking for this discussion.