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. And there is nothing I can do to change her attitude.
Living beyond ones means
March 16th, 2007 at 01:49 am
March 16th, 2007 at 02:06 am 1174010777
Unfortunately, one has to want to change before it gets better. Really, all you can do is plant seeds and hope they take root.
March 16th, 2007 at 02:19 am 1174011577
March 16th, 2007 at 02:36 am 1174012569
March 16th, 2007 at 02:52 am 1174013549
March 16th, 2007 at 01:42 pm 1174052529
March 16th, 2007 at 02:47 pm 1174056444
I always park my car way, way out, so no one will park near me.
March 16th, 2007 at 11:00 pm 1174086034
I can not even imagine paying $37k for a car when we made $100k. Insanity.
March 17th, 2007 at 03:02 am 1174100531
March 17th, 2007 at 01:01 pm 1174136491