issue i see with people is they seem to want 50K cars. at least going by the average price of new car purchases, but most car buyers buy like 2x the car they actually need.
Something like 65% of people can’t afford a $1k emergency. NO thry can’t afford a payment on a 25k civic. We are all people scraping couch cusions to get a used car lot $4500 Toyota.
Don’t know about you, but a $4,500 used Toyota in my neck of the woods would be an early 2000’s Toyota with 200k+ miles and in serious need of expensive repairs. And those living paycheck to paycheck wouldn’t have a way to put down the cash to buy even that car.
Not sure why you are going on about 25-50k cars. I read OP’a comment as them not being able to afford a nugget that is worth a couple of thousand at best.
Nope not with kids and a lack of child care. One parent stays at home as their paycheck got devoured by child care and I work. Both of us with degrees in tech too. Once both kids are in school maybe she’ll be able to work part time but obviously someone still has to go pick up the kids. I have zero family support. My parents died of cancer and meth.
I’d love a hybrid civic or corolla. Hybrid mostly to save on gas. I absolutely don’t need a F150 or something
childcare is about 3K a month max in a HCOL. even with 2 kids that’s 6K a month.
if you both have degrees in tech in your 30s, you should both be making like way more than 6k a month. neither parent should stay home, unless it’s a lifestyle choice. i have known a few people who did this. a dual income tech couple should be pulling in well over 200K/yr
and yeah if you are poor because of lifestyle choices… that’s not struggling. that’s you choosing to make less money than you could. or i suppose you could be 24 or something and both be making 60K, but why you had kids so early is against a lifestyle choice and your struggle would again be self-imposed.
and by the sounds of it you very much could afford a cheap least or car payment. a lease on basic hybrid civic is 250/mo or so. sounds you aren’t open to leasing a car though and think you have to purchase it outright.
Got to love when people say 24 is young to have a child and it’s a choice. Not every state allows abortion, and even with birth control and contraception, children occur.
At least in the US the average new car price is now close to $50k. That’s the reason car loans now are going upwards of 7 years. A lot of the car price is more and more expensive safety features being added on cars. Add in, you are quite a lot safer in a modern new car compared to even a 20 year old car.
It’s just that people don’t buy those cars, they would rather financially ruin themselves buy 2x the car for the ‘image’ of it. Just like how many people by unreliable, bad MPG, shitty cars, but whine about the cost… because well they ‘have to have a Jeep’. So now they have a 50K car that is going to need $1000s in repairs just to keep it running after a year or two.
And 99% of people who own Jeeps never offorad them, they’d be better off with a Civic or Corolla, but they can’t get over themselves, they’d rather whine about being poor and broke while paying 4x the cost for a car that they need to.
there are tons of compact suvs and sedans at that price point. almost every major brand makes them.
the issue is people don’t want them because they are ‘too small’ or ‘don’t feel safe’. they would rather pay 50K for a big ass car and whine about it then buy one that’s half the cost and 2/3 of the size. And almost all of them are just commuting to work in it, they will never ever use the extra space or capacity of the larger vehicle. and if you argue with them and point this out, they will tell you what a stupid ignorant asshole you are and how they ‘need’ a 50K car, and they couldn’t possibly ever buy a shitty small car like a Civic. And most of them will go further be like ‘well i can only afford the 50K car, but I REALLY WANT the 80K car.’ Tons of people buy these 80K 3-row SUVs and whine about how expensive they are, when they absolutely positively have no actual need for a vehicle that large. but psychologically they need it because it’s a status symbol and reflection of their ‘pride and value’ of themselves.
you can get a brand new HRV or Civic for 24-26K, but people refuse to buy those cars, they want the Passport which is 45K to start.
fwiw i drive a 10 year old hatchback and people endless tell me shit like ‘you have no self-respect if you drive such a shitty small car’. and i ask them what car I should get then, and they always say ‘audi/bmw 5/7 series SUV’. Because it’s not about the utility or use, it’s all about the fragile image they are protecting by owning a large expensive vehicle.
you can’t afford a 25K civic or similar?
issue i see with people is they seem to want 50K cars. at least going by the average price of new car purchases, but most car buyers buy like 2x the car they actually need.
Something like 65% of people can’t afford a $1k emergency. NO thry can’t afford a payment on a 25k civic. We are all people scraping couch cusions to get a used car lot $4500 Toyota.
Don’t know about you, but a $4,500 used Toyota in my neck of the woods would be an early 2000’s Toyota with 200k+ miles and in serious need of expensive repairs. And those living paycheck to paycheck wouldn’t have a way to put down the cash to buy even that car.
Not sure why you are going on about 25-50k cars. I read OP’a comment as them not being able to afford a nugget that is worth a couple of thousand at best.
Nope not with kids and a lack of child care. One parent stays at home as their paycheck got devoured by child care and I work. Both of us with degrees in tech too. Once both kids are in school maybe she’ll be able to work part time but obviously someone still has to go pick up the kids. I have zero family support. My parents died of cancer and meth.
I’d love a hybrid civic or corolla. Hybrid mostly to save on gas. I absolutely don’t need a F150 or something
childcare is about 3K a month max in a HCOL. even with 2 kids that’s 6K a month.
if you both have degrees in tech in your 30s, you should both be making like way more than 6k a month. neither parent should stay home, unless it’s a lifestyle choice. i have known a few people who did this. a dual income tech couple should be pulling in well over 200K/yr
and yeah if you are poor because of lifestyle choices… that’s not struggling. that’s you choosing to make less money than you could. or i suppose you could be 24 or something and both be making 60K, but why you had kids so early is against a lifestyle choice and your struggle would again be self-imposed.
and by the sounds of it you very much could afford a cheap least or car payment. a lease on basic hybrid civic is 250/mo or so. sounds you aren’t open to leasing a car though and think you have to purchase it outright.
Got to love when people say 24 is young to have a child and it’s a choice. Not every state allows abortion, and even with birth control and contraception, children occur.
Then the dogshit advice to lease… Sure, it might make sense to some, but it’s almost always a terrible choice.
oh who is forcing people to have children? exactly?
At least in the US the average new car price is now close to $50k. That’s the reason car loans now are going upwards of 7 years. A lot of the car price is more and more expensive safety features being added on cars. Add in, you are quite a lot safer in a modern new car compared to even a 20 year old car.
yes, but all those feature are in 25K cars.
It’s just that people don’t buy those cars, they would rather financially ruin themselves buy 2x the car for the ‘image’ of it. Just like how many people by unreliable, bad MPG, shitty cars, but whine about the cost… because well they ‘have to have a Jeep’. So now they have a 50K car that is going to need $1000s in repairs just to keep it running after a year or two.
And 99% of people who own Jeeps never offorad them, they’d be better off with a Civic or Corolla, but they can’t get over themselves, they’d rather whine about being poor and broke while paying 4x the cost for a car that they need to.
If you look, there are very few $25k cars these days, hence the comment, the average is $50k for a new car in the US.
there are tons of compact suvs and sedans at that price point. almost every major brand makes them.
the issue is people don’t want them because they are ‘too small’ or ‘don’t feel safe’. they would rather pay 50K for a big ass car and whine about it then buy one that’s half the cost and 2/3 of the size. And almost all of them are just commuting to work in it, they will never ever use the extra space or capacity of the larger vehicle. and if you argue with them and point this out, they will tell you what a stupid ignorant asshole you are and how they ‘need’ a 50K car, and they couldn’t possibly ever buy a shitty small car like a Civic. And most of them will go further be like ‘well i can only afford the 50K car, but I REALLY WANT the 80K car.’ Tons of people buy these 80K 3-row SUVs and whine about how expensive they are, when they absolutely positively have no actual need for a vehicle that large. but psychologically they need it because it’s a status symbol and reflection of their ‘pride and value’ of themselves.
you can get a brand new HRV or Civic for 24-26K, but people refuse to buy those cars, they want the Passport which is 45K to start.
fwiw i drive a 10 year old hatchback and people endless tell me shit like ‘you have no self-respect if you drive such a shitty small car’. and i ask them what car I should get then, and they always say ‘audi/bmw 5/7 series SUV’. Because it’s not about the utility or use, it’s all about the fragile image they are protecting by owning a large expensive vehicle.