Perpetual Car Note People: Why?

This is why saving a high percentage of one's income is a necessity. I deduct 20% from my net cashflow and keep it in either cash or precious metals.

Before I had the Tacoma with 14k miles, I had a $5K Maxima with 90k which replaced a $3K Volvo station wagon with over 150k, and apart from a few minor issues, I never had trouble with them. All of them were owned outright and the price tags are within what one can afford to purchase outright. While older autos do tend to have higher maintenance costs, from a cashflow analysis, this does not justify interest on a car note.

Finally, with regard to housing, renting an apartment is hardly throwing money away since the landlord takes care of the maintenance, taxes, wear and tear, etc. The arguments against debt extend to houses - if I cannot afford to buy it outright, I forego it. I will take this a step farther and say that the US's cultural fetish of home ownership has led to ruin; only about 1/4 Swiss households own the houses that they live in, yet that does not prevent them from being prosperous.

 

I don't mind having a car note because I can afford to have one; however, I believe in putting as much down as possible to shorten payment schedule and reduce payment amount. There is security and peace of mind in owning a newer car (w/full warranty) that is reliable and you know will start up and go every time.

We do follow Dave Ramsey's advice and our life has been so much better because of it over the past few years.

 

I'll always have a car note because between my wife and I, we like new shit. I don't see a problem. Having a material possession for 5 years gets old. Thats why people remodel

 

Again, I agree with you to a degree. All debt should be eliminated as quickly as possible. But how do you propose she save up for a car when she can't get to work in the first place?

 

Agree with FENRISULFR above. Pay yourself first by saving a large portion of your income. My wife and I do that and we never even factor that into our monthly budget. Some goes into investments/savings, some into an emergency fund, and like FENRISULFR, we have even bought gold/silver in the past year.

 

Yeah, I think we can all agree the problem is fucktards like jrdbrn. And I mean that in the nicest way possible, man, you really help the economy for me.

 

In today's market, renting is probably the wiser choice for several reasons not the least of which is flexibility in location which also leads to some flexibility in housing cost. By location, I mean if you decide you want to take a job in East BFE, you can do so with little financial impact whereas a home owner needs either sell or rent his property before leaving.

As far as ownership leading to ruin, I would disagree. What leads to financial ruin for so many isn't owning a home but rather making bad financial decisions when trying to buy one.

Make no mistake though. If you rent a home, you are paying taxes and you are maintaining the property through your rent and your landlord is making money. You may not be directly responsible for these items but your rent reflects the cost.

 

My father is old school right off the boat. His motto is if he doesn't have the money to buy it in full,he waits until he does.the only thing he ever made payments on was the house.never refinanced it for anything.he owns it outright.it is crazy how we just accept a car payment every month forever.I've had car payments since 1996 and it sucks. I'm paying off my 2010 and driving it until it blows up

 

I had renting an apartment in mind, but I could say the same for houses. Financial ruin comes when one lives beyond one's means, which is what the home ownership fetish begot. I am planning on purchasing a travel trailer to bypass the landlord issue completely.

This is how wealth is created.

So by that logic, I should melt and recast my gold ingots at least once every five years?

AeroCooper - pardon me for missing your post initially. If this is the case, I would sanction debt only as a last resort, and only for a beater - if it is possible to take a bus, or to carpool with a co-worker, or even move closer to work so that she can walk, that would be wiser. I did without an auto for about three years; it is not the end of all things.

 

Oh and my father retired at 35 and raised 6 kids. We werent poor not were we filthy rich