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Living beyond ones means

March 16th, 2007 at 01:49 am

My relative and her friend who I see often, both recently got new cars. They both make less than us. Both cars are leased.

One is a 37K SUV (and they drive outside the city maybe 1 day a year)

Now they both are complaining that it will cost them a fortune to fix all the little scratches and dents. It is NYC, so bumpers around here take a beating -- some people will try to park in spaces that are smaller than the length of their cars (and will give it several tries before giving up). And since one has to park on the street 100% of the time, you have no control over such things.

The friend makes less than half our income and has 3 dependants. I cannot imagine how she is making it and driving a car 5x the cost of ours(paid in cash).

Both women's main justification is "it would cost us more to buy a used car and keep spending money for repairs." They seem absolutely convinced of it.

Second reason is "working very hard and seing nothing improving in their lives, and therefore deserving it."

That logic sucks. My relative really does work very hard and is always stressed. But I think she would not have to work as hard or feel so stressed about her situation if she did not buy all these high-priced things and did not have debt. She could still live comfortably and within her means if she only gave up on "status symobol" purchases. But she just can't. It is very frustrating. She is 52 and has no retirement savings at all. I really worry about it. But she says "I'll work until I die, such is my fate". I don't believe that she will. But in any case, she'll be miserable. Frown And there is nothing I can do to change her attitude.

10 Responses to “Living beyond ones means”

  1. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1174010777

    oh boy. 3 years ago, I was making purchases to have something to show for all my hard work....and finally realized that logic was ridiculous and decided to cut way back so i could be a stay at home mom. It is amazing how much of our lives we dedicate for the sake of 'stuff' to bring happiness. (stuff does not bring happiness...quality time does, IMHO)

    Unfortunately, one has to want to change before it gets better. Really, all you can do is plant seeds and hope they take root.

  2. baselle Says:
    1174011577

    That's terrible, but don't give in to it!

  3. Amber Says:
    1174012569

    Right now I have a friend who would like to lease a BMW then that way she can afford it, I think if you can not buy it then you can't afford it. So many live their lives on status, I agree with Thrifty just keep planting those seeds

  4. PRICEPLUS Says:
    1174013549

    Having loved in NYC at one time I know the horrors of driving there. I had a Dodge Omni. I would leave the car open and no one would even attempt to steal the car. It makes little sense to put yourself in the hole to try and impress others!

  5. Broken Arrow Says:
    1174052529

    An Omni?! Ewwww. Big Grin

  6. Cat Says:
    1174053461

    It's sad and frightening the way people squander their earnings, isn't it? I think a lot of us have been there and I wonder what, exactly, caused many of us former spendthrifts to wake up and change our habits? For me, it was discovering that I was pregnant. I was determined to be a stay-at-home mom, even though we had $23,000 in loans and credit cards, a mortgage, and were living from paycheck to paycheck. My quitting would reduce our income by 40%.

    My will to stay home was so strong that we had paid all our debt (except the mortgage) by the time the baby was born and one salary was suddenly very comfortable.

  7. Ima saver Says:
    1174056444

    I can't get over the horrors of driving in a big city. My husband is so funny about our cars. In our 30 years of marriage, I have only had one scratch on any of our cars. That was the first year we were married and I was in an alley and got a $65 (to repair it) scratch.
    I always park my car way, way out, so no one will park near me.

  8. monkeymama Says:
    1174086034

    Well when my $1k car got a scracth I didn't care. LOL. I sometimes have no idea why people pay $3500 to fix a minor dent or scratch. ????

    I can not even imagine paying $37k for a car when we made $100k. Insanity.

  9. PRICEPLUS Says:
    1174100531

    An Omni ewww? Aww come on cut me some slack BA it was a bad car for pittance!Big Grin

  10. Amber Says:
    1174136491

    In regards to Cat's response, for me it was being sick and tired of being sick and tired as well as wanting a house

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