2.5 Million Families on £100k/year Don't Feel Rich

silvercar

Cleaver wrote: »

That was a good chapter.

The author also suggested that if you wanted to bring deaths on the road right down then you would, logically, remove all seatbelts from cars and fit a giant, sharp spike to the middle of each steering wheel which pointed right at the driver's chest. The theory is then that everyone would drive very, very slowly and carefully so as to not get impaled on the spike and die. He was making an interesting point - the more saftely devices you have in a car, the more wreckless a driver you often become, because you subconsciously rely on them. Obviously he wasn't serious about the policy of the spikes, but he was very serious about his assumption that this would reduce deaths on the road.

The problem is not only your own driving but the driving of every other potential nutter on the road. Airbags and other safety features cushion you from the effects of others as well as yourself.

JonnyBravo

mitchaa wrote: »

My childs safety is paramount to me as im sure is the case for all parents.

Paramount? Really? :rotfl:

So you've chosen an Audi TT and a BMW Mini to carry your kids around in as their safety is "paramount"???

I'd suggest you've done exactly what NDG has done but on slightly different criteria.

For you appearance and "cred" has played a part in your decision, in NDG's it was saving money presumably.

Either way the "holier than thou.... I chose my car for my kids" stuff ain't washing.

Harry_Powell

JonnyBravo wrote: »

in NDG's it was saving money presumably.

...which is something I find really commendable. I never understand the point of buying a car that you can't afford (in my book, if you get credit for anything then you can't afford it) just to give a false impression of how wealthy you are, and then have it depreciate at a huge rate of knots. It seems like a poor return on your investment.

lostinrates

Harry_Powell wrote: »

...which is something I find really commendable. I never understand the point of buying a car that you can't afford (in my book, if you get credit for anything then you can't afford it) just to give a false impression of how wealthy you are, and then have it depreciate at a huge rate of knots. It seems like a poor return on your investment.

Personally I agree, however, if it is someones passion and hobby and they are, by necessity of covering finance, are forgoing something else to pay for this then so be it, I'm sure most people wouldn't spend money on things I do too! If its ''within affordability'' to cover the finance monthly its no different I suppose, to some one who enjoys fine wining and dining, or going to gigs, or holidays, or has a book addiction or.......

Harry_Powell

lostinrates wrote: »

Personally I agree, however, if it is someones passion and hobby and they are, by necessity of covering finance, are forgoing something else to pay for this then so be it, I'm sure most people wouldn't spend money on things I do too! If its ''within affordability'' to cover the finance monthly its no different I suppose, to some one who enjoys fine wining and dining, or going to gigs, or holidays, or has a book addiction or.......

I think I'd have the same aversion if they were using credit to buy a depreciating asset, whatever that asset was. Buying holidays on credit seems to me to undermine the point of having a holiday. I certainly couldn't enjoy one if I knew I was going to be paying for a 2 week break for the next 3 to 5 months or more.

I guess I'm just adverse to credit for anything other than essentials. If people with car finance, long-term mobile phone contracts, Sky TV subscriptions, etc. lose their jobs they would still have to find money to pay these, as well as the usual costs of mortgage, bills, food, etc. It's one thing to indulge in hobbies and passion with disposible income, but quite another to risk your family's financial wellbeing by indulging yourself with disposible income that you haven't earned yet, and may not earn for years and years.

the_ash_and_the_oak

Can't really justify a car. Find cabs cheaper imo

[Deleted User]

If you pay for a holiday on credit card over a few months then you're basically just accepting that it will cost you a bit more to pay for it than had you the funds available immediately. If the repayments are affordable then I don't see the issue.

If I lived my life like my job was at constant risk, i'd probably be very stressed. I use to be very stringently against credit of any form - finding a 0% credit card has really eased this worry and enabled me to pay for things before I could afford them from my 'disposable income'.

mitchaa

JonnyBravo wrote: »

Paramount? Really? :rotfl:

So you've chosen an Audi TT and a BMW Mini to carry your kids around in as their safety is "paramount"???

I'd suggest you've done exactly what NDG has done but on slightly different criteria.

For you appearance and "cred" has played a part in your decision, in NDG's it was saving money presumably.

Either way the "holier than thou.... I chose my car for my kids" stuff ain't washing.

My little 1 is barely in my Audi, however when he is, it does have a 5 star rating as does the wifes mini..

http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_108632/title_Five-Stars-for-the-Incredible-New-MINI-in-Euro-NCAP-Crash-Testing/newsarticle.html

When he is a little bigger and out of the baby seats we will get a larger family typed car, probably along the lines of an M3/S4 type.

We would not have bought these cars if we didn't think they were safe.

Harry_Powell wrote: »

...which is something I find really commendable. I never understand the point of buying a car that you can't afford (in my book, if you get credit for anything then you can't afford it) just to give a false impression of how wealthy you are, and then have it depreciate at a huge rate of knots. It seems like a poor return on your investment.

But yet borrow money for a house, it's the same logic you are using

If you can afford the monthly payments, you can afford the car, the house, or whatever it is you are financing. Car should never be seen as an investment, the same way the latest TV or the carribean cruise shouldn't be.

Some get their kicks from going to concerts, some get their kicks from spending their lives behind an xbox controller and some get their kicks from driving nice cars. We are all different, some just see cars as a mode of transport in order to get you from point A to point B. (NDG for example) Me, I am a car enthusiast, I love driving, I love hurtling down the motorway, late at night, listening to music, trapped in my own little world, peace and quiet from the wife and the child without a thought or care in the world. I like racing round a track at silly speeds and the adrenaline rush that gives me. I like having nice cars, come on who doesn't? You dont spot any rich or famous stepping out of beat up old rust buckets do you?

We are all different.

uzubairu

Harry_Powell wrote: »

I think I'd have the same aversion if they were using credit to buy a depreciating asset, whatever that asset was. Buying holidays on credit seems to me to undermine the point of having a holiday. I certainly couldn't enjoy one if I knew I was going to be paying for a 2 week break for the next 3 to 5 months or more.

I guess I'm just adverse to credit for anything other than essentials. If people with car finance, long-term mobile phone contracts, Sky TV subscriptions, etc. lose their jobs they would still have to find money to pay these, as well as the usual costs of mortgage, bills, food, etc. It's one thing to indulge in hobbies and passion with disposible income, but quite another to risk your family's financial wellbeing by indulging yourself with disposible income that you haven't earned yet, and may not earn for years and years.

Our monthly budget includes a standing order payment into a seperate a savings account just for holidays (and associated costs such as spending money), and we use prepaid currency cards when abroad so that we don't bring back any debts.

The thought of coming back from holiday and still paying for it 3/6 months later would just depress me.
I'm usually brought back to reality the minute I go back to work and need to start thinking about the next one to get me through.

I don't see a problem with using finance to purchase things, especially if it is manageable within a budget. If you don't have a back-up plan (e.g savings or an emergency fund), then you have to expect to lose some of those nice things if incomes drop.

I've financed my last 4 cars with SAYE 3/5 years schemes from my employer (2 brand new through brokers, 1 pre-registered with delivery mileage and 1 less than a year old) and never had to get a loan.
I pay up front, get the best deal I can and then all I have to think about is insurance and fuel.

roswell

We had a trip to london at the weekend and this story was printed on the monday read it on the train ride home. a couple of obsivations after not visiting or being in the capital for 12 + years.

If either of us were mugged for our mobile phones they would have taken pitty on us and given us a iphone in its place, we stayed in covent garden dont know how affluent this area is / isnt but everyone was in a rush in thier suits on friday night to mix and mingle with those high and mightys they worked with, it seems such a fake existanct "Tell doris im asking after her just going to XYZ post code to meet peter Xyz"

But i digress, read this story made me look at my own finiancial possition.

income 18 K a year.
Outstanding mortgage just over 10 K
savings about 3 x mortgage.

do i feel rich no not rich, do i feel lucky yes, do i envy the london life style no.
I have my money because i rarely consume as long as my mobile makes a call it will live on, as long as my Y reg astra starts it will be my mode of transport, people that want to be rich try the hardest to show off how rich they arent.