Can you come up with $ 1000 in an emergency?

[MechAg94]

You can also save a lot of money just buying a nearly new vehicle that is a year or two old.  Often with a decent warranty. 

[tokugawa]

"Raise rates to 16%, it will reward the honest people.
-Not sure that I could disagree."

Until you realize that that would kick the living hell out of a lot of honest people, too, in the form of skyrocketing loan interest rates.

That coin has two sides- the other is that ultra low interest rates are destroying pension funds-that also kicks the hell out of a lot of honest people. 

 I don't think the government is willingly going to raise rates- they may be forced to by debt buyers but they (we) are truly between a rock and a hard place- keep rates low and no one wants to buy it, and raise rates and blow up the ability to pay the interest. This situation is not going away and there is going to be a lot of heartache before it is done. All the papering over since 2008 has just made a bad situation worse-and we have nearly doubled the debt since then.

[tokugawa]

You can't out earn your own stupidity.  (Universal you, not just Mike)

There is a regionally dependent minimum income to survive.  That number is a LOT lower than most think it is.  But mostly people just have a hard time figuring out how to live on less than they make.

The one wierd trick that actually works is to budget and reduce expenses to well below parity with salary.

 There are lot of people who have never known hard times, who spend a lot of money on things they don't need.
  Expensive cars. Tattoo's. Cigarettes. Beer. Night clubs. Restaurants. Clothes. Expensive cell phone plans. Then they suddenly can't make ends meet. They have grown up with the idea someone (Mom, Dad, the Gov, a credit card, etc) will always bail them out if they get in trouble.
  I bought my property, raw land, when the interest was 14%.  "Going out", was once every couple of weeks, to Skippers, for a two for one fish and chips for $ 1.99.  I have never had a new car.  But somehow there was always an extra $100 a month to go on the principal.

 Constant complaints out there about how it takes two incomes to make ends meet, etc, and it ain't like the old days- people must have forgot about that 1000 sq ft house and one car and no TV and Mom at home- now they want a 3000 ft home, two Lexus's in the drive, an RV and bass boat and all of a sudden there is no money left.
 People don't know how to fix things anymore- every time there is a minor problem, they have to call a pro at $100 bucks an hour to change a leaky toilet valve, or nail up a porch railing.
  I hired a kid (20), he was a sports player and the team wanted summer jobs. He could not get the nut loose on a piece of lawn equipment. My wife handed him a ratchet and a socket and started laughing at him ten minutes later when he could not get the part loose. There was this odd clicking sound and the ratchet just kept going around and around....hmmmm.

 IMO, borrowing makes sense when there is a return on it it- borrow to increase your productivity. 

   Having parents who lived through the depression, and a frugal wife have been two great blessings.

   And leave the waitress a decent tip.

[Firethorn]

You can also save a lot of money just buying a nearly new vehicle that is a year or two old.  Often with a decent warranty. 

"Can".   I've found that the discount in many cases is insignificant, especially if you're having to get a loan for it.  Also, I always wonder if those vehicles were heavily abused.

[Angel Eyes]

"Can".   I've found that the discount in many cases is insignificant, especially if you're having to get a loan for it. 

The discount is noticeably less than it used to be, thanks to Cash For Clunkers.

[lupinus]

Also depends a lot on the vehicle. Some makes hold their value so well the difference can really be small on a relatively new  one


Sent from my iPhone. Freaking autocorrect.

[MechAg94]

"Can".   I've found that the discount in many cases is insignificant, especially if you're having to get a loan for it.  Also, I always wonder if those vehicles were heavily abused.

My boss bought a new-to-him Toyota Tundra.  It was a year or two old without a lot of mileage and he saved a lot compared to buying new.  It isn't half, but saving $10K or more off the new price might be worth it.  Makes it easier to get a shorter loan and pay it off fast.  He ended up with a warranty on a pretty reliable vehicle. 

I don't know if I would do that on an economy car.

[brimic]

Also depends a lot on the vehicle. Some makes hold their value so well the difference can really be small on a relatively new  one


Sent from my iPhone. Freaking autocorrect.

When I bought my Subaru, year old models, if you could find them, cost only about $1500-2000 less than new....

[Firethorn]

When I bought my Subaru, year old models, if you could find them, cost only about $1500-2000 less than new....

My experience was that the price difference for my new truck vs a 1 year old used was only $500.

My previous vehicle was rendered kaput unexpectedly, so I had to get a loan.  A 5% difference in loan rates makes up that $500 difference fast.

[41magsnub]

When I bought my Subaru, year old models, if you could find them, cost only about $1500-2000 less than new....

Yep, that pushed me into new when I bought mine as well.

[Firethorn]

Can we agree on the conclusion that when you go vehicle shopping for a 'new or newer used vehicle', that you don't automatically discount one or the other?

If you restrict yourself to used, you may end up paying more.  Restrict yourself to new, end up paying more.

Make the new & used dealers compete?  Get a better deal.

Then, in either case, treat it well and drive it until the wheels fall off, put the wheels back on, and drive it some more before buying another.

[MillCreek]

When I bought my Subaru, year old models, if you could find them, cost only about $1500-2000 less than new....

Exactly the reason why I ended up buying the new 3rd generation 2016 Toyota Tacoma.  I was astonished at how much the used 2nd generation ones sold for.

[Monkeyleg]

I keep a couple of thousand cash in my safe. If that weren't there, I can come up with a few thousand when the banks are open. And I'm poor.

If absolutely necessary, and for extremely good reason, I should be able to get a couple of thousand from my  brother quickly.

[MechAg94]

I thought I heard Tacoma's have a really high resale value.  My boss got a good deal on his Tundra and it may have been 2 to 3 years older than current new models.  He told me the price and it was a good price compared to new.    

I looked at used GMC trucks before I bought my current Ford and I saw similar issues.  The newer used trucks usually had a bunch of fancy options that upped the price and the price was pretty high.  The people saying they lose half their value driving off the dealer lot are incorrect.  I didn't like what I saw and I found I wanted some of the features on the new trucks.  You really just have to find what you will be happy with and don't mind paying for.  

[Firethorn]

The people saying they lose half their value driving off the dealer lot are incorrect.

Well, a large part of that is that there's actually 3 prices for a used vehicle.
1.  What a dealer will sell it to you for
2.  What you can sell it yourself for
3.  What a dealer will pay for it.

In descending order.  When you're going from #1 to #3, there's a steep drop.