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Agreed. You can save a lot of money by keeping your cars longer than most, and buying good deals used, especially if you keep them well. Mine are always garaged, and well maintained, clean, etc. Not the latest model, nor the most expensive, but I have other priorities for my money.
Maybe the point is, they put off driving expensive cars until after they had enough money. I could pay cash for any car made - well, almost. But the reason I can do that is that I never wasted money buying the latest, newest cars as I went through life.
And then there's the other question: How do you know they have money? My mortgage broker friend tells me many of the 'wealthy' people in our town could not qualify for a mortgage.
Well. A bunch of them are my relatives and business partners.
Since I've done the balance sheets on a few of them, I have an idea of their actual net worth.
My wife also used to manage retirement accounts...that's a lot of people, too.
Sometimes being fiscally prudent means buying a new, reliable car (as opposed to crappy) that runs a long time with no repairs outside of basic maintenance. As opposed to a crappy beater or brand where the knobs fall off the dashboard after 3 years.
I would never drive a "crappy car." I don't need a top of the line status symbol car, but having dependable transportation is important and I don't want my car to be or look like a junker. I tend to keep my cars over 10 years and take care of them.
Although, when I worked in Silicon Valley during the heyday of the early Internet years, I couldn't help but notice that many of the guys I worked with went out and purchased their dream Porsche or Ferrari cars after the company IPO. Nowadays I guess it would be Teslas and whatever else is considered status.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,726 posts, read 58,079,686 times
Reputation: 46195
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4
Well. A bunch of them are my relatives and business partners.
Since I've done the balance sheets on a few of them, I have an idea of their actual net worth.
My wife also used to manage retirement accounts...that's a lot of people, too.
Sometimes being fiscally prudent means buying a new, reliable car (as opposed to crappy) that runs a long time with no repairs outside of basic maintenance. As opposed to a crappy beater or brand where the knobs fall off the dashboard after 3 years.
Not all beaters are undependable.
I have NEVER had a knob fall off the dash, and some of my older stuff is well over 500k miles. My 'modern' cars are <300k and 30+ yrs old.
I take my neighbors to the dealership for recalls and repairs, many more times than I ever work on my own cars. Neighbor's new cars and trucks have ALL been towed in numerous times, not me... (in my beaters).
One friend just spent $8000 on engine and fuel system repairs on his $50,000 pickup. I have (3) just as capable trucks <$5000 and will easily run to 1m miles. (not being cheap... just being reliable, sustainable, dependable, and valuable... I WORK my vehicles very hard (towing 30,000# in mtns). They can take it. Not sure a new 'plastic' truck could hack it.
Not for everyone, but certainly viable for many.
Drive on!
Invest in whatever you like... we all make those choices, no perfect answers that fit all.
(I have SAVED over 60,000 gal of (free) fuel for others to waste)
Their "FREE" choice...
Some people spend on PETS!!! (a lot)
My working farm 'pets' earn their keep and NEVER poop in the yard or venture into the house (in last 50 yrs), or YAPPED or bothered a neighbor. For SOME (most) that would be 'over-the-top'...
Some spend on Cable and TV's (I have not had a TV for over 50 yrs, no loss)
Some spend money on booze and smokes
Jewelry?
Gourmet meals? (I would rather contribute to a school fundraiser 'Chili-supper') We are all different (Thank goodness)
The only time I bought a brand new car was in 1973. A Toyota Corolla for $2000.
It's just too expensive for no good reason. I always got them a few years old because they depreciate so much in the first few years. Check the repair records, check Consumer Reports for reliable cars and pay cash.
My current car is a nice 2004 Subabu Outback. It's great in our New England winters, kind of too big, but I got a great deal on it. Hubby loves driving it. Yes, we are retired and we share a car--and that can work.
Location: Formerly Pleasanton Ca, now in Marietta Ga
10,351 posts, read 8,574,670 times
Reputation: 16698
Quote:
Originally Posted by Listener2307
Maybe the point is, they put off driving expensive cars until after they had enough money. I could pay cash for any car made - well, almost. But the reason I can do that is that I never wasted money buying the latest, newest cars as I went through life.
And then there's the other question: How do you know they have money? My mortgage broker friend tells me many of the 'wealthy' people in our town could not qualify for a mortgage.
Funny thing about qualifying for a mortgage is they like you if you have a regular job and paying the maximum in taxes. If one is smart and has a lot of paper write offs so your income looks low and you keep more money, the lender classifies you not as financially savvy, but debt overloaded.
Funny thing about qualifying for a mortgage is they like you if you have a regular job and paying the maximum in taxes. If one is smart and has a lot of paper write offs so your income looks low and you keep more money, the lender classifies you not as financially savvy, but debt overloaded.
What you need is an income commensurate with the house you are buying and a credit score in the good to excellent range. I suspect many of the well-to-do people who can't qualify for a mortgage were lazy when it came to paying bills. It only takes a couple of missed payments to do heavy-duty damage to a credit score.
It took me a long time to really understand the credit game. However, there are a couple of major tricks. The first one is really simple. Its pay all your bills on time. The second trick is more complicated. It involves having a whole lot of credit that you never use. I have huge lines of credit that I never use. I believe my total credit card usage is about 3% of my total credit. Without getting into numbers, I will say that borrowing on a home, car, or anything would be pretty simple for me.
Oh, yeah- the DEALERSHIP will take care of you if you buy a new one! No, thanks. I have a mechanic I trust and the last 3 cars, bought off-rental, haven't required any work other than routine maintenance and replacement of parts as recommended.
There’s still warrantee with a new car. I have no trust in anybody who will stand to make money of me. As I see my kids, they spend money on little things when they take the car in for minor change or tune up.
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