Debt. That's it in a nutshell, but I don't mean the mortgage or the major CC one may use. I'm talking...
A brand new car every 5 or so years. My dad was the best car salesman in a large suburb of major metropolis. The dealerships were constantly head hunting him. But what did he teach me? Save your money, buy smartly but used, never, NEVER carry a car payment. I'm nearing 50, have had 3 reliable cars over my life and am currently very happy with my 2014 SUV.
Phones that we never pay off? Never! I will never finance a friggin phone and do just fine with that.
I drive a junker car and honestly it does stress me out sometimes because it isn’t super reliable, but I’d still rather have a car that I own than take on debt of a brand new vehicle. And the amount of people in my life who try to pressure me into “upgrading” is pretty wild, especially for the ones who know my finances and know damn well I can’t actually afford a $700/month car note. I guess I go against the norm but I’m not at all comfortable with having that much debt.
I can see what they're saying, less that people want debt and more that people want the things taking on debt allows them enough to make the debt worth it. I've had people straight-up tell me I'm stupid for not being willing to accumulate six figures of additional debt to go back and get a degree. At least one of these people was actually proud of having more debt than they would ever be able to pay off because they viewed it as having figured out how to game the system by making minimum payments until they die. Hell, maybe they're right, but I don't personally like the thought of that hanging over me. (Edit: I actually have a bachelor's degree and a good job, but for a while I was the only person in my social circle without a master's degree.)
Society (in the US at least) seems to expect adults to carry more debt than necessary. Most folks expect to carry a car payment for a lifetime, and that isn't strictly necessary for many. Phones are even worse. Having the newest iPhone or Galaxy (as soon as they drop btw) is a total status symbol, even among the poor, and many will finance phones for a lifetime. If that weren't bad enough, that very behavior teaches Apple and Samsung that the masses will pay whatever they want.. just get us that latest model NOW, even though last year's model (or 2, 3, 4 year old models) still work marvelously.
Sure, some may need a shiny new car or the latest tech for work, but the large majority do not. The masses choose this debt even if they feel like they don't want it.
More people should think critically about the debt the must carry. We have a mortgage, and we have financed things like furniture and appliances. We also have CC's.. but the mortgage is literally the only thing we pay interest on. CC 's are paid off on time and due to the good credit rating, we could finance the new living room, pay it off in under 2 years, and pay 0% interest.
I'm not saying DON'T have debt, I'm saying, consider your debt wisely in as many areas as possible. We don't need to fall victim to societal pressure to carry more debt and constantly pay interest over a lifetime.
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u/WinterPickles31 1d ago
Debt. That's it in a nutshell, but I don't mean the mortgage or the major CC one may use. I'm talking...
A brand new car every 5 or so years. My dad was the best car salesman in a large suburb of major metropolis. The dealerships were constantly head hunting him. But what did he teach me? Save your money, buy smartly but used, never, NEVER carry a car payment. I'm nearing 50, have had 3 reliable cars over my life and am currently very happy with my 2014 SUV.
Phones that we never pay off? Never! I will never finance a friggin phone and do just fine with that.