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Young Adults Sinking Into Debt
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LordMorpheus
Diamond Member
stupid. New car = MINIMUN 15k, for cheap ass crap mobile.
Used car = 15k for nice ass mid-late '90's awesomeness.
Used Old car = 5K for early-mid '90's vehicle thats better than the new car for 15k.
used > new.
Lithium381
Lifer
I'm in college, set to graduate in another three years, i carry CC debt for no more than a month at a time and have a bit of savings, i have a car of my own, albeit i bought it used, it's reliable and gets me to school and back. My mother tought me financial responsibility, at least more than most
SearchMaster
Diamond Member
After going through a couple of unreliable POSs right out of college, I bought a new car - a 91 Eclipse Turbo in Oct 1990 for ~14K. I don't regret it a bit. It's now my secondary car with about 180K miles on it, but still goes strong and is way more fun than my used Maxima. I'll never buy a new car again, but I think everybody should have one once. Just be smart about it - I paid mine off in 3 years and never accumulated any other debt.
To Pliablemoose - outstanding work, my man. To have your retirement funded in your 40s is an incredible accomplishment that you should be very proud of. I'm getting there - my house will be paid off in about 7 years, and should be worth about $400K by then...retirement is still lacking but I shouldn't have any problems reaching my goals.
To Pliablemoose - outstanding work, my man. To have your retirement funded in your 40s is an incredible accomplishment that you should be very proud of. I'm getting there - my house will be paid off in about 7 years, and should be worth about $400K by then...retirement is still lacking but I shouldn't have any problems reaching my goals.
HAH!
I can't believe you added my thread to the list Ornery.
Just to clarify my situation, I am a junior in college. Yet, I work full time as a Network Engineer. I am on salary, plus I have no debt, I'm single, and I can afford basically whatever I want to. Now, I can't say that this is the same situation for everyone; because I had a lot of experience in my field.
I can't believe you added my thread to the list Ornery.
Just to clarify my situation, I am a junior in college. Yet, I work full time as a Network Engineer. I am on salary, plus I have no debt, I'm single, and I can afford basically whatever I want to. Now, I can't say that this is the same situation for everyone; because I had a lot of experience in my field.
datalink7
Lifer
I'm a college senior, and I just bought a new car (first car purchase).
Was this probably stupid? Yes. However, it was my decision and I accept responsibility for it. Nobody is "preying" on me. I bought it because I am going into the military (as an officer) and will be on a military base or deployed for a while, and so will have nothing to spend my money on and will be easily able to pay the loan off.
Stupid over the long term? Yes, but it won't kill me. I've been totally debt free up to this point.
Was this probably stupid? Yes. However, it was my decision and I accept responsibility for it. Nobody is "preying" on me. I bought it because I am going into the military (as an officer) and will be on a military base or deployed for a while, and so will have nothing to spend my money on and will be easily able to pay the loan off.
Stupid over the long term? Yes, but it won't kill me. I've been totally debt free up to this point.
You do not "need" a new car. You need A car, but you WANT a new car. Since you WANT a new car, you are now rationalizing purchasing one, so it makes you feel you are right.
But you're wrong. Sure, it's okay to buy a new car if you want one; Just don't sit there and try and covince people you NEED one.
Very few people need a new car.
im 25 and im just now crawling out of credit card debt created by me from the age of 18 till now - granted i didnt work for nearly 4 years between 18 and now due to a bad car accident that wrecked my back.. i did use several credit cards for instant gratifications and to buy dumb things all the time
ive since learned my lessons and have for the most part stopped buying dumb stuff for the sake of buying it - and at the rate im going, all my CC debt will be gone in 4 months and my student loans will be paid off shortly after that
i drive an 89 civic si h/b - my 11th car overall (most wrecked by other people, some sold) which is paid for - not my ideal car, but i like it, its only got 78k miles on it and gets 32+ mpg and costs nearly nothing for insurance yearly. it is paid for. i also own an 03 yamaha r6 w/ some decent mods - that is paid for as well as the $500 msrp suomy helmet and $500 jacket - hate me for spending so much on a helmet and jacket but i only have one head and want to keep the skin i do have attached to my body
as for other dumb stuff - ive pretty much cut it all out - id like to buy some new lenses for my camera's - as i do make some income from photography - but im letting the income i generate from photography pay for the lenses
i try not to eat out often
i dont have a flashy watch
i do have a photo ipod but thats because it was free (freephotoipods.com) and i did buy a $30 skin for it - but thats just protecting the item i got for free
i dont have a flashy computer - hell its a pIII 733 w/ 768megs of pc133 ram in it and an ati all in wonder 7500 vid card - seagate 200gig 7200 ide drive - it does my needs, does bog down sometimes when im in photoshop working on a large number of photos - but i dont game, and on a whole its been a steady for me since i built it in 2000. i also have a 21" crt sun monitor i got off ebay for $300 shipped when my other crt died.... i needed to have a large workable area for editing photos and didnt want an lcd - it has worked out well in the nealry 2 years ive owned it
ive learned that flashy watches, flashy cars and new sneakers every day of the week are not needed to make me happy - id rather travel more and enjoy time w/ friends then try to impress them w/ physical items
ive since learned my lessons and have for the most part stopped buying dumb stuff for the sake of buying it - and at the rate im going, all my CC debt will be gone in 4 months and my student loans will be paid off shortly after that
i drive an 89 civic si h/b - my 11th car overall (most wrecked by other people, some sold) which is paid for - not my ideal car, but i like it, its only got 78k miles on it and gets 32+ mpg and costs nearly nothing for insurance yearly. it is paid for. i also own an 03 yamaha r6 w/ some decent mods - that is paid for as well as the $500 msrp suomy helmet and $500 jacket - hate me for spending so much on a helmet and jacket but i only have one head and want to keep the skin i do have attached to my body
as for other dumb stuff - ive pretty much cut it all out - id like to buy some new lenses for my camera's - as i do make some income from photography - but im letting the income i generate from photography pay for the lenses
i try not to eat out often
i dont have a flashy watch
i do have a photo ipod but thats because it was free (freephotoipods.com) and i did buy a $30 skin for it - but thats just protecting the item i got for free
i dont have a flashy computer - hell its a pIII 733 w/ 768megs of pc133 ram in it and an ati all in wonder 7500 vid card - seagate 200gig 7200 ide drive - it does my needs, does bog down sometimes when im in photoshop working on a large number of photos - but i dont game, and on a whole its been a steady for me since i built it in 2000. i also have a 21" crt sun monitor i got off ebay for $300 shipped when my other crt died.... i needed to have a large workable area for editing photos and didnt want an lcd - it has worked out well in the nealry 2 years ive owned it
ive learned that flashy watches, flashy cars and new sneakers every day of the week are not needed to make me happy - id rather travel more and enjoy time w/ friends then try to impress them w/ physical items
silverpig
Lifer
My parents bought used 3 or 4 times in a row and each time they had weirdness with it. Quite a few repairs on all of them, even on the 1 year old, just came in from the leases. They each have cars they bought new now (albeit not new now of course) and have never had problems, and love them both. You don't know what you got when you buy used.
Of course they didn't run out and get the brand new model either. My dad bought a 2000 silverado when they were just brining the 2001s in so he got a great deal on it.
Engineer
Elite Member
Me too! :Q
Graduated with a little over $16,000 student load debt and about $3,500 credit card debt. Add about $6,000 car debt and you get ouch. That was 1993.
Pay off the cards ASAP and then the rest to follow. Only use cards in emergency or if you are responsible enough to pay them off each month and want the reward (i.e. 1% cashback, etc).
Oh, and sometimes, depending on your situation (employer, etc), you can get a new car as cheap or even cheaper than a used one (example, working for an automotive supplier and reaping the huge perks available on autos right now).
sniperruff
Lifer
OMG1Penguin
Senior member
I am 20, with a 13k car (with a lien), 200k house (with a lien of course), about 1k credit card debt, and a 5k stock portfolio (had to take quite a bit out to put a down payment on my house). My parents give me no financial support; I left their house with $0, and I make a little over $30k a year as an E-3 in the Air Force. I have no problems managing my money, nor do I live poorly by any means.
The key is, I don't fritter. Aside from food and utilities, pretty much everything I spend my money on I have something to show for: appliances, computer, professional certifications.
And yes, I made bank off of Google's IPO 🙂
The key is, I don't fritter. Aside from food and utilities, pretty much everything I spend my money on I have something to show for: appliances, computer, professional certifications.
And yes, I made bank off of Google's IPO 🙂
I graduated in 2001 with about 17k total of student loans (no credit card loans though) - those paid for tuition, books and most importantly, apartment I lived in. I never had to take money from parents, and worked part-time while in college. Out of those 17k, 10k were interest free, and I have about 1k left to pay off on that. Since it's interest free, I maintaiend payments and never accelerated them.
As for the other 7k, those are Stafford direct loans, which amounts to about $70/month. I didn't accelerate these payments either. If I started to pay extra every month, that would have made a pretty sizeable hit to my budget. But now, that I will be done with the first loan, I'll switch over the allocated sum to pay off the second one faster. So far, the total interest on the second loan over these years is in the range of $700. Big deal.
On the other hand, I didn't have to eat maccaroni every day even after college, just to pay off the debt faster. I did get a new car (because my old '89 Dodge Colt finally died), and overall, enjoyed life after college. It's all about the balance in your debt, your interest and what you have left for daily expenses.
As for the other 7k, those are Stafford direct loans, which amounts to about $70/month. I didn't accelerate these payments either. If I started to pay extra every month, that would have made a pretty sizeable hit to my budget. But now, that I will be done with the first loan, I'll switch over the allocated sum to pay off the second one faster. So far, the total interest on the second loan over these years is in the range of $700. Big deal.
On the other hand, I didn't have to eat maccaroni every day even after college, just to pay off the debt faster. I did get a new car (because my old '89 Dodge Colt finally died), and overall, enjoyed life after college. It's all about the balance in your debt, your interest and what you have left for daily expenses.
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