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Nothing wrong with that. Problem is, for most people the nice car/truck really IS wrecking their budget. It might not be the only thing wrecking their budget, but it's a big ticket item that can't be quickly or easily fixed after purchase. You mentioned food & drink, but it's much easier to change your grocery store purchases if you've been spending too much on those.
Exactly. As bawac34618 admitted in his post #174, buying too much car is a hard mistake to undo. And we see similar stories all the time in this forum: people posting to ask for financial advice, and when we ask for more information it turns out they have a car payment that is simply not affordable on their salary.
The person who truly lives a very low quality of life while saving every dime is so rare they're really not even worth mentioning.
Unfortunately I think there's quite a few posters of this variety in the frugal section every time I see a thread about how cheap the monthly food budget can get. Truly shocking how someone will deprave themselves of nutrition, taste, and variety just to save a few hundreds of dollars a year.
Unfortunately I think there's quite a few posters of this variety in the frugal section every time I see a thread about how cheap the monthly food budget can get. Truly shocking how someone will deprave themselves of nutrition, taste, and variety just to save a few hundreds of dollars a year.
I'm sure these people exist, but I don't know any of them in real life.
I know people who drive crappy cars and are proud of it while they go out to eat every meal. They could easily have a pretty nice car for what they spend on going out rather than eating at home. Priorities.
I like cars. I get great joy driving my Jeep. I like my wife's Highlander we lease even though I find it somewhat boring. I value it's reliability, safety, and the fact that SHE loves it.
Cars in themselves aren't evil destroyers of your path to riches. Sure, they can be expensive, but so can eating out every meal, golf memberships, big houses, vacations, and a ton of other things you deem important but others view as a waste.
It's not the car that's the problem. It's the person behind the wheel who had no plan to riches and is just winging it.
I was lucky. My family knew nothing about financial affairs. In my 20's I was taking night classes. A very engaging professor brought investing, planning, and finance into my life and opened my eyes. After that class I was hooked. I sat down and made goals for retirement and our kids college. I used averages and set up everything on autopilot. I kept an eye on progress and made adjustments as I saw fit. The rest of any extra went towards fun stuff like vacations and nicer things. I drove crappy cars , did my own repair stuff, and other things as necessary to save money. As my plan progressed, I was able to afford better stuff like cars and vacations. My lifestyle varied but the adherence to the plan never did.
My wife and I retired at 60. The kids college was totally paid for. We have a nice house, 2 nice cars, a few toys, and no money worries ever again. I still have a plan and still stick to it.
People blame the house, the car, or a ton of other things. It's you! Make a plan with reasonable goals and enjoy the rest.
There is always a way to get where you want to go. Blaming anything or one doesn't accomplish anything.
I don’t see where he mentioned anything about the person’s spending, which if he did would make some sense in context of the thread
Seriously.....you need to be spoon fed into?
He said this
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sky1
I had a coworker who just recently retired after being laid off> He has 3 pensions, lots of money, throat cancer and is now in hospice just one year after retirement. Yeah saving is nice but life is not a trial run.
3 pensions lots of money recently retired and a year later got cancer. Basically man worked all his life for security in later life. Ends up dying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markg91359
There are many poor reasons for not saving and investing money when you are younger. However, I don't regard this as a poor reason. Its very pragmatic. Everyone's goal in life shouldn't be to save as much as possible. Rather, it should be to enjoy life as much as possible. This requires a realistic view towards deferred consumption for future gain. While you need to save for retirement, you also should be conscious that a significant percentage of people die before reaching age 60 or 65 when most retire. Money that is not consumed generally brings no joy or happiness. Such money could have brought satisfaction to the individual while he was alive whether it be in the form of a new car, a new home, or perhaps vacation opportunities.
The extreme example is Ebenezer Scrooge. He was very rich, but most people would have judged him as leading a very poor life.
I try to strike a balance between saving for retirement and having a very enjoyable life.
That’s what we are doing. I get my use out of my vehicles. I maintain them they are reliable and they are all bought for specific use. I have no issue spending money if I need to. Im just not gonna blow my life savings on stupid crap. I don’t care that I’m not driving a 60k BMW.
Wanna save a bunch of Money, buy a house in a okay area/high crime area. Spend $1K on cameras , security system and park your car indoors and you will be just fine. The $500-1000 a month saving in rent/mortgage will be far greater than the $2-300 or $5-700 savings on a car payment.
For some car payments are a complete waste of money, for others it is a necessity to have a dependable car that takes them where they need to go safely. You can easily find a recent 1-2yr old used car for $13-20K that can last 10-15 yrs, if maintain properly vs paying $22-40K New for the same car.
No modern car will last 20-30yrs without issues like in the past, due to all the insane amount of electronics in cars now and after about 10-15yrs, some parts are very hard to find as replacements.
You live once in life, driving a hooptie for 30yrs hoping to be a millionaire at 65 could pay off or mean nothing if you die in a wreck or get sick. BALANCE IS THE KEY.
3 pensions lots of money recently retired and a year later got cancer. Basically man worked all his life for security in later life. Ends up dying.
That’s what we are doing. I get my use out of my vehicles. I maintain them they are reliable and they are all bought for specific use. I have no issue spending money if I need to. Im just not gonna blow my life savings on stupid crap. I don’t care that I’m not driving a 60k BMW.
It looks like said person had throat cancer not lung cancer. See I don’t like to create things that aren’t there so do I need to be spoon fed? Nope. Dying with a lot of money doesn’t mean the guy didn’t ever buy a new car or spend any money
No modern car will last 20-30yrs without issues like in the past, due to all the insane amount of electronics in cars now and after about 10-15yrs, some parts are very hard to find as replacements.
.
False.......a simple new car will be fine for 20-30 years (think Camry/Explorer)
7 series BMW, probably not so go 30 years out looking for parts.
It's not just cars. People need to understand that money is not just for buying immediate needs, it's for INVESTING. Money you spend on new cars, or lattes, or lunch out, or whatever - is not available for INVESTING. To be anything like financially independent, investment is going to be the only way for the vast majority to get there.
Scrooge is an extreme example, a fictitious character who perhaps invested literally every penny beyond a very austere life. Yeah, that's just nuts. It might make some sense to live like a monk as you are getting your startup off the ground, but, once you are about 40, there should be enough in the bank to where an occasional splurge is OK.
Investing to most folks: I saved 10K on that Lexus so now I can spend 10K more on my credit cards!
CNBC had a story a few weeks ago on the DOW/Nasdaq highs affecting US spending. If the stock market is roaring then people spend more despite not really being invested heavily in the market. The example was a simple 9-5 worker having tiny amounts in the market but they feel like they are "in the market" making money like a hedge funder.
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