Geeezzzzz If you want a new car and can pay the bill go for it. Seems some of these "advisors" reuse toilet paper.
New car for the fiancee
- Thread starter buster
- Start date
- Status
[quote “Her monthly payment for the new Mazda will be $50 more per month.”
IMHO this is not great monetary thinking. If you are forced into a debt position, the debt amount and interest rate (and time) are what you should concentrate on – not this payment vs. that payment.
You are speaking to the choir. At the age of 61 and no debt...buying a new car cash is a nevermind for me. But the philosophy of no debt and making do with the minimum required is an artform unknown to the present generation.
IMHO this is not great monetary thinking. If you are forced into a debt position, the debt amount and interest rate (and time) are what you should concentrate on – not this payment vs. that payment.
You are speaking to the choir. At the age of 61 and no debt...buying a new car cash is a nevermind for me. But the philosophy of no debt and making do with the minimum required is an artform unknown to the present generation.
I'm 36 and just read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover". I wish I would have read this book when I was 18. It truly was an eye opener and they should teach this book in High Schools across the country. Everyone who is in debt on this board should read it. Pablo and Al sound like they're on the right track already.
http://tinyurl.com/26gzl9
http://tinyurl.com/26gzl9
Buster while you are at it...only store brand groceries, no eating out, clothes from Walmart..heck everything from Walmart, no vacations...you know the drill.
While no debt is highly desirable and smart, having a reliable, attractive and fun to drive vehicle is a luxury that many enjoy. 4% interest, while not the same as cash is "cheap" money.
You known your finances and whether any car payment is a major burden. If it is, the advice of "used" is always sound. Also owning a home/property is IMO very important and would be a focus on mine from the start. Having said that, if you go the new Mazda route...enjoy. While prudent financial planning IS very important, life is also short. A balance needs to be struck IMO. Everyone has to set that for themselves.
Good luck and fortune to you.
While no debt is highly desirable and smart, having a reliable, attractive and fun to drive vehicle is a luxury that many enjoy. 4% interest, while not the same as cash is "cheap" money.
You known your finances and whether any car payment is a major burden. If it is, the advice of "used" is always sound. Also owning a home/property is IMO very important and would be a focus on mine from the start. Having said that, if you go the new Mazda route...enjoy. While prudent financial planning IS very important, life is also short. A balance needs to be struck IMO. Everyone has to set that for themselves.
Good luck and fortune to you.
JHZR2
Staff member
This is kind of true... some online savings banks are paying 6% apparently... ING is paying 4.5% at least.
If you have 4% financing, you can do better (though after taxes maybe not???) keeping the money cash even if you could pay it all off at once.
I do this with credit cards all the time... Of course as an engineer I analyze the numbers quite a bit... but it has worked for me - buy stuff at 0% or 1.9%, keep the cash in ING, then right before the terms are out, pay it in full!
JMH
Are you asking for advice or just telling us? I know this will sound rude, but since she is about to graduate from law school, maybe she needs to start thinking like a lawyer.
Your girlfriend has obtained an advanced professional degree that will enable her to very inexpensively start her own business. Perhaps she should consider using her borrowing power in that regard.
If she is just hoping to pass the bar, get a job ( won't pay much, starting pay for new lawyers is pretty low ) and work at the job, then going upside down to buy something like a Mazda 3 while on a fixed income may not be very good judgment.
On the other hand, borrowing money to start her own practice and look professional might be a good investment in her future, and more professionally challenging and financially satisfying.
So many people here have a skewed view of debt. Debt is a tool, like any other tool, that should be used in the appropriate circumstance. Equity is always your friend, often your only friend in an economic downturn, and debt should be retired as soon as practicable, but most small businessmen (businesswomen) can only amass so much cash.
Your girlfriend has obtained an advanced professional degree that will enable her to very inexpensively start her own business. Perhaps she should consider using her borrowing power in that regard.
If she is just hoping to pass the bar, get a job ( won't pay much, starting pay for new lawyers is pretty low ) and work at the job, then going upside down to buy something like a Mazda 3 while on a fixed income may not be very good judgment.
On the other hand, borrowing money to start her own practice and look professional might be a good investment in her future, and more professionally challenging and financially satisfying.
So many people here have a skewed view of debt. Debt is a tool, like any other tool, that should be used in the appropriate circumstance. Equity is always your friend, often your only friend in an economic downturn, and debt should be retired as soon as practicable, but most small businessmen (businesswomen) can only amass so much cash.
I don't think any of us implied that you can't/shouldn't enjoy life. Equating eating out to going into debt $16K on a new car (when still in school) are really different kettles of fish.
"making do with the minimum required is an artform unknown to the present generation".
Your words, your philosophy...your life
"minimum required" sure seems to fit some of the items I listed.....
Your words, your philosophy...your life
"minimum required" sure seems to fit some of the items I listed.....
The car is great.
Older generations could come out of high school and get a job/raise a family. College was like having a Doctorate today. Cost of education was lower as well. School inflation has gone up significantly.
..........i find it funny that most of the people I know that are most obsessed about money, are miserable...???
Patman
Staff member
There is nothing wrong with being a little bit in debt if it means you get to enjoy life a little bit better. My wife and I have quite a huge mortgage, and admittedly we've spent a lot more money in the past few years than most people would be comfortable with. But we've also got a lot of very nice things that make us happy, such as me with my Corvette, a nice big screen TV, and we go out for dinner every weekend as well. If we didn't do all those things, and instead just put all our money towards paying off our debt, we'd be more miserable since we would always be waiting to get the things we like. Eventually we will be out of debt, sure it'll take a little longer, but along the way we'll continue to enjoy life.
My philosophy has always been that it's better to go a little bit in debt in order to get the things you want sooner, as you never know what can happen in life. Being in debt in order to have nice things simply means you get to enjoy those nice things longer!
My philosophy has always been that it's better to go a little bit in debt in order to get the things you want sooner, as you never know what can happen in life. Being in debt in order to have nice things simply means you get to enjoy those nice things longer!
Its tough for me just starting out to avoid debt.
I'm 24, got my degree in computer science. Trying to earn my stripes doing meager IT jobs, to work my way up to something decent.
My girlfriend is 21, she is looking at a masters program out of state. We are in Western New York, our earning power is not that hot here, and there aren't many IT jobs, or jobs in her career either. We are looking at moving to Phoenix this year, so that she can attend a graduate school.
I want a newer car, but i'm driving a paid off 98 f150. She desperately wants a new car, but shes driving a 2000 plymouth neon.
Its tough for us to wait, but with student loan debt creeping up on us, we have to until we get more secure jobs.
I was just running the numbers on getting a 06-07 PT cruiser for myself, or a 07 dodge caliber. No matter how I crunch it, its cheaper to drive around a 15mpg f150 thats paid off.
Same goes for her neon, its a good running, kept up vehicle. The resale on that thing is absolutely zilch, but it gets her to and from school for now, and thats whats important.
I want a new plasma television, a new mountain bike, a home gym, all this stuff.
In this modern day with easy credit for anyone, I could have all this stuff sitting in my basement right now. Its tough, but I have some pretty strong will power.
I'm 24, got my degree in computer science. Trying to earn my stripes doing meager IT jobs, to work my way up to something decent.
My girlfriend is 21, she is looking at a masters program out of state. We are in Western New York, our earning power is not that hot here, and there aren't many IT jobs, or jobs in her career either. We are looking at moving to Phoenix this year, so that she can attend a graduate school.
I want a newer car, but i'm driving a paid off 98 f150. She desperately wants a new car, but shes driving a 2000 plymouth neon.
Its tough for us to wait, but with student loan debt creeping up on us, we have to until we get more secure jobs.
I was just running the numbers on getting a 06-07 PT cruiser for myself, or a 07 dodge caliber. No matter how I crunch it, its cheaper to drive around a 15mpg f150 thats paid off.
Same goes for her neon, its a good running, kept up vehicle. The resale on that thing is absolutely zilch, but it gets her to and from school for now, and thats whats important.
I want a new plasma television, a new mountain bike, a home gym, all this stuff.
In this modern day with easy credit for anyone, I could have all this stuff sitting in my basement right now. Its tough, but I have some pretty strong will power.
I say dump the money wasting VW and put her in a new shiny ride now before you are married. Tell her you are so attracted to her that you would buy her anything....get some roses and a bottle of champagne the day she gets the new car and go to dinner in it. Have sex in the back seat. Make her feel like a million bucks now.......because later on you will have the chance to feel poor and lonely once you have a couple of kids and they suck the life and money out of both of you.
BTW....don't ask me how I know this.
That F150 will be useful when you move to Phoenix. Load it up, and maybe even tow the Neon. (Or maybe not.)
This topic has diverted off topic and more interesting.
I have to say some people are very happy with material items while others happy with knowing they have no debt to speak of. I make no judgements that one is better than the other. Some people come off on this board as if one is better than the other, especially little debt folks. I think sometimes they feel better about themselves touting their lifestyle.
I have to say some people are very happy with material items while others happy with knowing they have no debt to speak of. I make no judgements that one is better than the other. Some people come off on this board as if one is better than the other, especially little debt folks. I think sometimes they feel better about themselves touting their lifestyle.
As someone who is adverse to debt, I believe it's my obligation to warn folks about what debt can do if it goes unchecked.
Debt can destroy lives. One of the prime contributors to my divorce was debt. I was debt free before I married, and now two years after it was final and 3.5 years since the seperation began I am once again debt free, save for a mortgage and a modest loan on the Scion tC.
That's after having $70K of non-mortgage debt. That's right, I paid off over 2/3 of that debt WHILE going through the divorce. I had to re-fi the home to give my ex her share of the home equity, and did put the remainder of that into the loan. However, I've not run the debt back up in the two years since the re-fi.
But the stress that the debt (mostly caused by her spending, but I have to own my enabling behavior) did not bring out the best in me. I was frustrated, tense, angry, and not a fun person to be with.
She had a much better way to deal with it, ignore it and go shopping.
I'm not going to say that debt is all bad or it's all good. What I will say is that you both have to come to an enthusiastic agreement regarding how you are going to use the tool called debt.
Because if you cannot agree, and I firmly believe there should be mutual and enthusiastic agreement before you use debt, and agreed upon spending plan. Not micromanagement, but boundaries that you both agree to follow.
Because if not, it can tear your life apart.
Personally, I choose to avoid most debt, or use it as a tool when it's to my advantage. I try to use cash rewards credit cards, and pay my balances in full. I was able to do a lot of my Christmas shopping on cash rewards this past year.
I bought my generator set on Sams Club's Discovers 6 months no pay, no interest. I keep the money earning interest for me, and pay 1/5t of the balance every month. (Actually, I'm getting about 7-8 months because they made a mistake and when I called them on it, they started the 6 month clock as of the date of correction. It will be paid off in 4 months, or tomorrow if I wanted to write the check.)
Anyway, not to make this about me, or that I'm the all knowing... I'm not. But I can provide my experience as a warning to those who think they can just have individual finances, and each do their own thing. It can go horribly wrong.
Do what it takes to come to a mutually agreeable way to handle money and revisit this 2-4 times / year to see if you are reaching your goals.
That's the last thing. Don't call it a budget, that sounds so restrictive. As Dave Ramsey and the folks at Crown call it, it's a plan. Money is a tool. Call it a money map, a spending plan, whatever.
Ok, I'll get off my soap box. I do hope you and your fiancee enjoy the car. My last bit of unsolicited advice is to spend much more time planning the marriage compared to planning the wedding. The wedding is one day, marriage is supposed to be for the rest of your life.
Oilbabe and I are taking a 10 week course in her church in preparation for marriage. She doesn't have a ring yet. You know why? I'm still saving the cash to get her one
Debt can destroy lives. One of the prime contributors to my divorce was debt. I was debt free before I married, and now two years after it was final and 3.5 years since the seperation began I am once again debt free, save for a mortgage and a modest loan on the Scion tC.
That's after having $70K of non-mortgage debt. That's right, I paid off over 2/3 of that debt WHILE going through the divorce. I had to re-fi the home to give my ex her share of the home equity, and did put the remainder of that into the loan. However, I've not run the debt back up in the two years since the re-fi.
But the stress that the debt (mostly caused by her spending, but I have to own my enabling behavior) did not bring out the best in me. I was frustrated, tense, angry, and not a fun person to be with.
She had a much better way to deal with it, ignore it and go shopping.
I'm not going to say that debt is all bad or it's all good. What I will say is that you both have to come to an enthusiastic agreement regarding how you are going to use the tool called debt.
Because if you cannot agree, and I firmly believe there should be mutual and enthusiastic agreement before you use debt, and agreed upon spending plan. Not micromanagement, but boundaries that you both agree to follow.
Because if not, it can tear your life apart.
Personally, I choose to avoid most debt, or use it as a tool when it's to my advantage. I try to use cash rewards credit cards, and pay my balances in full. I was able to do a lot of my Christmas shopping on cash rewards this past year.
I bought my generator set on Sams Club's Discovers 6 months no pay, no interest. I keep the money earning interest for me, and pay 1/5t of the balance every month. (Actually, I'm getting about 7-8 months because they made a mistake and when I called them on it, they started the 6 month clock as of the date of correction. It will be paid off in 4 months, or tomorrow if I wanted to write the check.)
Anyway, not to make this about me, or that I'm the all knowing... I'm not. But I can provide my experience as a warning to those who think they can just have individual finances, and each do their own thing. It can go horribly wrong.
Do what it takes to come to a mutually agreeable way to handle money and revisit this 2-4 times / year to see if you are reaching your goals.
That's the last thing. Don't call it a budget, that sounds so restrictive. As Dave Ramsey and the folks at Crown call it, it's a plan. Money is a tool. Call it a money map, a spending plan, whatever.
Ok, I'll get off my soap box. I do hope you and your fiancee enjoy the car. My last bit of unsolicited advice is to spend much more time planning the marriage compared to planning the wedding. The wedding is one day, marriage is supposed to be for the rest of your life.
Oilbabe and I are taking a 10 week course in her church in preparation for marriage. She doesn't have a ring yet. You know why? I'm still saving the cash to get her one
Patman
Staff member
True, but they also wait much longer to get those items. There is no right or wrong answer, it's all a matter of what you're comfortable with.
One thing debt will do is delay your retirement. Some people save and save and live like misers so that they can retire early. Some people dread retirement and work well into their 70s. I have no strong desire to retire early, but that is just me. Work is an important part of my life. I would not want to trade it for card games at the club house and golf every other day.
- Status
Similar threads
