We are getting nickel and dimed to death.

[highfigh]

Is a house a luxury item?

I specified to never finance on luxury items. If you can manage a house on cash, that is awesome, but few can. But, a car can be purchased with cash if you follow other rules of good money management. And, along with what you are saying, buying a new car is not a good financial decision due to rapid depreciation, let some other sucker take that depreciation hit.

Depends on the asking price. Most of the places where I do my work are north of a million, so I wouldn't exactly call that a 'hovel'.

Cars- yeesh! Drive it off the lot and take a 40% haircut. And the freaking prices? $50K for a pickup? Why? Most people who drive those and SUVs don't really need to haul anything, anyway.

FWIW, I loved having a pickup and even when my van isn't needed for business, I may keep it because it's really convenient for hauling things.

 

[panteragstk]

Financing a luxury item is never a wise money decision. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it.

Boy do my finances wish I was that way.

I used to, but kids and everything else threw a wrench into that

 

[panteragstk]

Depends on the asking price. Most of the places where I do my work are north of a million, so I wouldn't exactly call that a 'hovel'.

Cars- yeesh! Drive it off the lot and take a 40% haircut. And the freaking prices? $50K for a pickup? Why? Most people who drive those and SUVs don't really need to haul anything, anyway.

FWIW, I loved having a pickup and even when my van isn't needed for business, I may keep it because it's really convenient for hauling things.

That's the main reason I still have a truck. I can haul something like 25K lbs, but I never will. I do use it a LOT for all sorts of things though. Having an 8' bed is great for the stuff I do. I can fill it up easily, but it's so much better than trying to pull a trailer full of crap.

 

[slipperybidness]

Depends on the asking price. Most of the places where I do my work are north of a million, so I wouldn't exactly call that a 'hovel'.

Cars- yeesh! Drive it off the lot and take a 40% haircut. And the freaking prices? $50K for a pickup? Why? Most people who drive those and SUVs don't really need to haul anything, anyway.

FWIW, I loved having a pickup and even when my van isn't needed for business, I may keep it because it's really convenient for hauling things.

I'm in TX, therefore I drive a pickup truck

I want a big sticker across the back glass that says "I Got Mine".

In all seriousness, I own my home, so a truck is a necessity as far as I'm concerned.

 

[cpp]

I'm in TX, therefore I drive a pickup truck

I want a big sticker across the back glass that says "I Got Mine".

In all seriousness, I own my home, so a truck is a necessity as far as I'm concerned.

Had my truck since 2016 and recently when my truck was in for sevice, the dealership owner who I've known for 20 years wanted to offer some crazy price for it. I said, nope, as I don't have a truck payment and to replace my truck its going to cost me way over $50K. I'll just drive and enjoy my truck a few more years.

 

[slipperybidness]

Had my truck since 2016 and recently when my truck was in for sevice, the dealership owner who I've known for 20 years wanted to offer some crazy price for it. I said, nope, as I don't have a truck payment and to replace my truck its going to cost me way over $50K. I'll just drive and enjoy my truck a few more years.

Right!

The only way I could consider that kind of $ for a vehicle is if I NEEDED it for work (pulling trailers, etc).

And....it's a truck! Which will get dinged and beat up and USED LIKE A TRUCK. On the other hand, I'm of the opinion that a good truck is always worth repairing.

 

[cpp]

I don't live close enough to a Costco to make it a reasonable trip but buying in bulk comes with requirements- specifically, storage space for everything.

Wait- "not particularly well priced"? It's the Dollar Store! Everything is a dollar!

"Price check on aisle three".

Costco for me is an hour away. Not even a SAMS

 

[cpp]

Right!

The only way I could consider that kind of $ for a vehicle is if I NEEDED it for work (pulling trailers, etc).

And....it's a truck! Which will get dinged and beat up and USED LIKE A TRUCK. On the other hand, I'm of the opinion that a good truck is always worth repairing.

Well the only things I use my truck for ( non 4 WD) is driving around as my transportation, pulling my boat, heading to the golf course and we load up and head off on vacation since it rides pretty darn good and we can fit more in the cab and bed under the hard cover than we can in my wife's car.

 

[panteragstk]

Right!

The only way I could consider that kind of $ for a vehicle is if I NEEDED it for work (pulling trailers, etc).

And....it's a truck! Which will get dinged and beat up and USED LIKE A TRUCK. On the other hand, I'm of the opinion that a good truck is always worth repairing.

Damn right. My truck gets beat on, but it's paid off. Any repair is done by me unless I just can't do it.

I'm about to rip out my evaporator core and blend door cause they both are toast. Only part of the AC that hasn't been replaced yet.

Labor on that job would be insane. It'll cost me less than $200 for parts and a weekend.

 

[cpp]

evaporator core

Had my replaced under warranty, 2 years ago.. And it just stopped functioning.

 

[panteragstk]

Had my replaced under warranty, 2 years ago.. And it just stopped functioning.

That sucks. My truck has been out of warranty for about a decade so I'm the warranty station. It's an involved job, but it isn't difficult from what I've read. Mechanic replaced my compressor 4 times before I told him that probably isn't the issue. I didn't have to pay for the replacements since they were under the shops warranty, but it sucks having a great AC for 6 months. It's hot all 12 in TX.

 

[highfigh]

Right!

The only way I could consider that kind of $ for a vehicle is if I NEEDED it for work (pulling trailers, etc).

And....it's a truck! Which will get dinged and beat up and USED LIKE A TRUCK. On the other hand, I'm of the opinion that a good truck is always worth repairing.

I bought a truck because I have a duplex and a business but I eventually found that whenever I needed cabling, I had to remove just about everything behind it because it all fit so well a the front of the bed. That would be OK in good weather, but that wasn't the case, even though I had a hard tonneau cover. I decided to buy a cargo van and that's what I'm using now- I put van racks in it, removed the ladder racks (made WAY too much noise when I drove on the freeway) and added a hanger for the main ladder on the face of the rack on the driver's side. The '90 Silverado must have had close to 350K miles when I sold it and it still ran great. I got a smokin' deal on servicing the rear axle seals and a rear brake job but it really didn't need much service in the time I had it (2001-2013) and the engine only needed valve seals & maintenance (water pump, alternator, hose fitting because it was a really stupid choice of metal, tune up parts) and the transmission needed to be rebuilt, but even that was only $700 and I had it done in 2003.

Next vehicle is likely to be another pickup- the engine in the van is a royal PITA to service and with the Silverado, if I had needed to do anything major to the engine, I could have opened the hood, crawled in and stood on the inner fenders.

I wouldn't mind finding an old pickup and slamming a nice engine in it.

 

[cpp]

That sucks. My truck has been out of warranty for about a decade so I'm the warranty station. It's an involved job, but it isn't difficult from what I've read. Mechanic replaced my compressor 4 times before I told him that probably isn't the issue. I didn't have to pay for the replacements since they were under the shops warranty, but it sucks having a great AC for 6 months. It's hot all 12 in TX.

Just make sure they get all the firewall rubber grommets over the holes and through the firewall wire connections secure , as little mice can get in there, been there done that and I'm thankful for good insurance as it covered that mice damage.