Interesting article from MSN about how people are going broke with car debt (hope this isn't old news).
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...&wa=wsignin1.0
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Interesting article from MSN about how people are going broke with car debt (hope this isn't old news).
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...&wa=wsignin1.0
I'm going broke from medical bills and the skyrocketing rent for my apt...:(
It's interesting how we can go broke by choice. We can spend HUGE amounts of money on things like a car, when we could easily choose cheaper forms of transportation (cheaper car, bike, bus, train). Then there are the things we don't GET to choose, like medical costs, higher rent (unless you live in a place where there is a cheaper housing choice), skyrocketing utility bills...Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
I have an '01 Ranger that cost me about 8k three years ago, I got rid of a 30k minivan to buy the Ranger...I found I was getting angry every single month when I wrote out that big check so decided to do something about it.
...and wool :p
Yes, I drive too. But when I first shopped for insurance (and getting ready to do that again, who do y'all like?) and they ask my odometer and how old the car is, average miles per year etc I have to repeat it several times. "no, it's not 77,000 per year (can people do that? :eek: ) that's over the life of the '99 vehicle"
Then explain "I take BART, my commute is to-from the station and in good weather I don't even do that, I ride my bike".
But I think of it as recreation, fun and an investment in my health.
Mine is my HOA. It's fun to try to sell a condo when the dues are $243 a month, and we're on year 7 of 5 digit assessments. UGH!
Good article. Glad I'm driving a paid for car:) Just wish I didn't have such a long commute - there is no alternative arrangement - I've looked!
Holy COW!!! $243 a month just for dues??? :eek: I guess I'm spoiled her in the middle of nowhere, my last mortgage was only $500 a month, and the new mortgage we're looking at is around $750.Quote:
Originally Posted by CA_in_NC
Then some of us drive 15 year old cars and buy expensive Italian bikes.
When I'm all through, the bike will be worth more than the car:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
They were 150 when we bought. We're talking about a small, modest condo here - we thought we were buying below what we could....Quote:
Originally Posted by Queen
HOA has been very badly managed, and the sellers made a bunch of misrepresentations about how things were going.....
I really feel for people in more expensive areas (e.g. DC, PNW) - I don't know how they make it!
When you put the Bike Fridays in my car, the value well more than doubles:D :D I kinda like it that way (though I'm starting to get the large firm pressure of you have to buy a nicer car to impress clients - my response - you can pay for it then...)Quote:
Originally Posted by mimitabby
There are some nice things about working in research and development, in a test chamber. The only car presssure going on around here is the guys seeing who can buy the biggest PU truck. and obviously, with my honda civic, i'm not in the competition!Quote:
Originally Posted by CA_in_NC
I have to say, I'm in awe of Geonz. I see her riding to work, play, out with friends, in every sort of weather...she's got this car-free thing dialed in!
I'm in awe of anyone who can go outside in the pitch dark and/or rain
and ride their bikes to work.
I am going broke on Orthodontia bills. Darn kids. ;)
Queen,Quote:
Originally Posted by Queen
I am seriously envious at your $750 mortgage. :eek:
I don't know anyone who pays less than double that amount in my area (triple is more common)! I've been shopping for an affordable condo for years and can't find anything under $650k. As it is, my rent-controlled apartment is $1200/mo. and well below market value.
Great article - thanks for posting it.
Wow! :eek: I thought the $651 mortgage I pay was a lot! I could not afford California.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluetree
Since I do social work and my SO is a librarian, I can't wrap my head around ANYONE making enough money to buy a $650k place. :eek: Right now we're renting a 2 bed/2 bath 1000sq ft condo with a garage for $665 a month, I guess as much as I wish we lived someplace more fun/interesting, there are definite perks to living here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluetree
At this point we have a second car (we're out on the edge of town) but once we buy in town we're ditching the second car and keeping my almost paid-for little Ranger. I'm so looking forward to having my reasons and excuses for NOT riding to work disappear. :p
I would love to be able to ride to work. The housing bust has not hit Austin. The only way DH and I could afford a house is to move out of town. We are 30 miles out- no way not to drive. Our home splits the drive between our works. I am looking into the bus, it will still require me to drive 10 miles. The only way to get there is a busy highway with no shoulder.
A 2 bedroom condo near my work would have been $20k more than our home. Houses in the area are 30+ years old and cost $30-50K more. Usually those homes need at least some repairs.
I just keep watching our car notes getting closer to paid off. The only way we are getting a new car is if we have a baby (we aren't trying soon), DH's single cab truck won't cut it then. I am amazed at my friends who have no plans to keep their expensive cars and continually trade in to be upside down. One of my friends pays $700 on ONE CAR!!
I wonder about priorities, too. My cousin (who is dead broke) is getting married soon and she was given a choice by her father: the $100k wedding she asked for... or the down payment on a house. She chose the wedding. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
Then again, my family thinks my priorities are out of whack for riding my bike at 5am in 30° temps. :D
Did you really mean a wedding that costs 100,000 dollars???Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluetree
I'm paying more than $800/mo just for rent! And they want to raise my rent $100 when the lease ends in June. I tried finding a cheaper place last June, but no luck.Quote:
Originally Posted by Queen
The rental market here has finally caught up with the huge real estate boom.
Bummer.
Yes, and according to the local paper it's no bargain here to buy a condo either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluetree
My friend was given the same choice. A $20k wedding or $20k. She took the wedding. That $20k is nearly the traditional 20% down payment on nice starter homes in Texas. And she and her husband are starting with her med school student loans.
My wedding was extravagant for my family at about $5,000. If my parents had offered me that in cash I would have taken it. My wedding was gorgeous, but one day wasn't worth that much. I don't have the fairy tale love affair with my wedding. With $5k to start us off, my DH and I would have had it a lot easier.
Well, if any of you want to give up beautiful scenery, pleasant seasons, rolling hills, and access to the ocean...Central Illinois will give you the opportunity to own a REALLY nice house for $150k and a dang mansion for $500k. :D
Yup. Not too unusual around here, young people can be quite spoilt. My brother's wedding cost $150k (dress alone was $20k), but at least her physician-parents could easily afford it. My uncle, on the other hand, can not, which makes me less inclined to want to go to my cousin's wedding.Quote:
Originally Posted by mimitabby
Everyone thought my bro's wedding was beautiful. Personally, other than the ceremony, I thought it was ostentatious, wasteful and a bit crass. I mean, what's the point in carpeting an entire ballroom in fresh rose petals? They stuck onto your high heels fer crissakes. People... get a grip! :mad:
I am glad I don't have daughters. It's sad when even I don't think a 5k wedding isn't extravagant... but I bet it could be done nicely for under 1K!Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
$100,000 wedding! Holy Kamolee!! :eek:
I bought the exact car I wanted, when the price was down because the next year's was coming out, and traded in my rust-bucket that needed a new engine for more than it was worth without repairs. (I couldn't sell it because it had failed state emissions test, legally had to replace engine and pass test before I could sell.)
This car should be good for at least 10 years, hopefully 15. It's got a 6 year loan (eeeeek!) but at 4.5% interest. So I don't complain *too* loudly...;)
It's the first new car I've ever bought, and it was very nerve-wracking to take that step!
I can't imagine having that big a wedding! DH and I had a 20 person very informal wedding to make my parents happy (not that they paid for it, but they wanted the wedding). Didn't go into too much debt, but went through the "wedding day" stuff for the wrong reasons. Given our choice, we would have eloped.
Oh, Blue, that much $$ for a few hour of one day?? sounds like peopleQuote:
Originally Posted by Bluetree
do need to get a grip. think of all the bikes... You could buy bikes for hundreds of kids with that money. and helmets too!
or... nice bikes for all the bridesmaids and groomsmen! and they'd still have money left over for a decent wedding, with food and favors and flowers
She chose a $100k wedding over $100k for a home? Argh!!!!! I work for the United States Bankrutpcy Court, so it pains me to hear the arguably stupid financial decisions that people make. That, and I lack the "big wedding" gene; it's never been a fantasy of mine.
I have always comfortably but below my means, and I prefer to keep it that way. I'm amazed at the lifestyle of many of my friends and colleagues. They either make a lot more money than I think they do or are in debt up to their eyeballs (or a little of both). Why invite that kind of added stress into your life?
i thought people only had those big expensive weddings on tv! :eek:
i'm spoiled living here. its going to be hard moving out of the bush. i have VERY cheap rent and no other bills, well besides what i use to play with. i'm trying to save up now, after getting myself out of credit card debt (which was oh so very very nice!) so i don't have to visit indy at her job.
just thinking about rent and purchasing a car, gives me the shivers. when i do though, i want something reliable but won't take me over the deep end.
Man... A car loan is something I'd NEVER go for. The interest rates are way too high and my Dad even said "There's only one loan you should ever have and that's a mortgage on a house"
I bought my first car outright for $5000. She's still running FANTASTICLY. Sure she's now 12 years old, but She's economical so I'm not spending much on fuel and I only use her now when I visit the parents... who live in in an adjoining shire a hilly 22km away. But even then I'm almost at the stage where I can start visiting them on the bike!
Rent's 260 per week, We're 4km from work, 7km from the city and just in a REALLY nice area. When we settle down and buy a house, we'd love to settle here. (which won't be for a while since the house market is falling and we don't even know if we're going to be here for that long) we'
Well my bike isn't italian, but I did pay more for it than the last car I got off ebay. dh found it, has it purring for a 20 yr old Saab. and it's red :) We did real good on that one. Our game is to see how good a car/truck we can get for even less than the time before(that incl any mechanical fix-ups) We finally have all of our cars paid for and that's the way it'll stay. I can't see spending up to $400 a month on a car, when I can take that and go on vacation somewhere. Less is more for me. My advice: Find something you like, buy it, and drive it. Don't keep up w/ the Jones', be yourself and you'll save a bundle. JenniferQuote:
Originally Posted by mimitabby
AMEN! I don't understand it either. We live in a very materialistic world.Quote:
Originally Posted by indysteel
and don't forget the foreclosures for house loans. A lot of people are really going to hurt from thatQuote:
Originally Posted by Queen
Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to be locked into an ARM you KNOW you can't pay and wondering when they're coming to take your house?? :eek: I am thrilled to live below my means so I don't have to have those fears.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandi
Amen sister! I am with you on that one. We have no debt except our home loan. And we refied at the right time. We took no money out when we refied cause we want to pay off our home loan. I think we got a 4.7% interest. when we bought our house it 6.8%. Our mortgage payments arelike $735. and we add an extra $300. a month to pay it off. When we bought our truck back n 2002 it was interest free. So that was cool! And it is paid off now. Credit cards we use like cash. If we don't have it we don't use it point blank. The credit card company does not like us!Quote:
Originally Posted by Queen
Interesting article on cnn/money earlier this week. It places a $180,000 value on the benefits of buying less of a car
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/12/maga...ymag/index.htm
We've only bought two new cars in our marriage...both for Silver. 30 years ago, used cars were bad deals...but quality is much better now.
I hear you CA. We wanted to elope and got talked out of it. If we had our time again, it would be elope elope elope. Our wedding cost less than $1k all up including my wedding dress ($250). We got married at lunchtime on a wednesday cos we thought it would be just us :p That way we got the flowers in the church for free from the previous saturday's weddings, and virtually no charge on the church. Admittedly, Wed lunchtime is not a "normal" wedding, but I really cant understand huge weddings :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by CA_in_NC
My jaw just dropped when i read $100K... then someone said $150K... are they completely nuts?????? :eek: :eek: I dont mean to offend anyone, but that's a lot of money!
you're forgetting the Mazda 626 that you got. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Silver
Right and buying a used car that is still under a warranty has worked out great for us.
but it is certainly nice to have the cars paid off and not want any thing else. While I hate driving a mini van...a '98 minivan with some 115,000 miles on it, I LOVE quickly stowing my bike (and various tri equipment) inside the van all nice and secure!
oops, you're right. That was 1986 and I kept it for 9 years and 134,000 miles.
In Bloomington, we have a member of the Forbes 400 (estimated net worth is $4Billion). He drives a '96 Cadillac and his wife a '94 Buick. They park on the street...because the city won't let them add a garage onto their house...