Wonder how many cyclists already figured this out?

[light_sabe_r]

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'

[wannaduacentury]

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

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. Jennifer

[wannaduacentury]

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?

AMEN! I don't understand it either. We live in a very materialistic world.

[Brandi]

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

and don't forget the foreclosures for house loans. A lot of people are really going to hurt from that

[Pax]

and don't forget the foreclosures for house loans. A lot of people are really going to hurt from that

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?? I am thrilled to live below my means so I don't have to have those fears.

[Brandi]

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?? I am thrilled to live below my means so I don't have to have those fears.

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!

[Mr. Bloom]

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.

[Thistle]

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.

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 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

My jaw just dropped when i read $100K... then someone said $150K... are they completely nuts?????? I dont mean to offend anyone, but that's a lot of money!

[silver]

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.

you're forgetting the Mazda 626 that you got.


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!

[Mr. Bloom]

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...

[crazycanuck]

One can also go broke just trying to fly to North america...****..I need to invent brooms that can fly at 35000 ft..

c

[Tuckervill]

>>Did you really mean a wedding that costs 100,000 dollars???<<

For that much plus another 10k she could have my 3 BR/3 BA house with 1.5 acres in town with a 1200 sq ft workshop, a separate 1 car garage and a 20x12 studio.

Of course, she'd have to live in Arkansas.

Karen

[Trek420]

Just think how many bikes you could get for that....

[Fredwina]

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...

when I lived in Dallas, the newspaper reported Ross Perot drove a Chevy Caprice. most truly rich folks(as in monetary wealth) that I have know have had very plain cars.
personally , I'm jealous of my Brother and my SIL. they just bought a 60 year old two bedroom house for $50K. Of course, it is in Missouri.

[Geonz]

Good article - especially the fact that the notion of NOT HAVING a car was not only mentioned, but first on the list - even if it was a "long shot." Wow. The times they *are* a-changin'.

My mortgage is under $700 and I toss an extra "premium payment" in most months. I've been lucky enough to be able to buy my vehicles outright (that first truck needed a short term loan from little sister at savings account interest rates). No cable, no land line, no internet at the house Every time I get the blurb from Insight saying "Only $70/month for internet and phone!" I think "Wow!! I'm saving $70 each month!!"

My cab driving brother is going to need a car soon and mine fits the bill. I had already gotten to the point where "If lightning strikes it, I'll take the insurance and take my time replacing it." I didn't start out this aversive to driving - but I've gradually expanded my "acceptable conditions."

Big however - I am out here in a college town in the central midwest! I was reminded how easy the learning curve has been tonight because both of my left-hand turns had the people behind me anticipating that I'd be turning left and giving me lots of room to get across (the first time the guy just wouldn't pass me and I figured out the driver must have recognized my bicycle). Then you realize the truth behind all that stuff the vehicular cyclists say about acting like a vehicle and being treated like one.... knowing that's a whole lot more likely to happen here, where there really is enough room and time to get to work on time.

But I get inspired by thinking of the profound and horrible impacts that our dependence on vehicles cause.