Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad K
I drove those cars in the 90s when ABS and airbags were just coming in. The 69 models had shoulder belts and collapsable steering columns, and door guard beams showed up in 72. They had a weight advantage over newer cars. Compared to newer options I considered them acceptably safe at the time. Today, maybe not.
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Sorry to get off-topic and sorry for the digression.
EC is going to preach a little bit high up on my bully pulpit... here's some words of wisdom from an old codger for you young 'uns.
Live modestly and save.
Have only 1 or 2 credit cards... but pay them off at the end of each month... NEVER PAY INTEREST... if you can't pay for it at the end of the month... DON'T BUY IT !
Of course buying a car and a house are exceptions to this rule... but get a modest car and a modest house... and drive the car 10 years or so... and stay in the modest house... no need to get a 2000 to 4000 square foot house.
One of the ways my wife reached the financial security that we have today is because we didn't take expensive vacations every year... we lived in a modest $55,000 for 25 years (1200 square feet)... we would buy a small Toyota Corolla and drive it 10 or 15 years, then buy a new one... this started in 1971... after 20 years of driving the small cars, we decided to splurge and get a midsize 1994 Camry... then a 2003 Camry... the 1994 at 175,000 miles started to cost up money to maintain it... same thing happened in 2017 at 200,000 miles on the 2003... when we bought a new Camry... we just didn't buy a new car every 3, 4, 5 years like many people do... in the late 1980s my wife began to save for a new car... we paid down $6000 down on the 1994... also paid $12,000 down for the 2003 and paid $20,000 cash for the 2017.
Oh, yes, I must say part of our financial success is we never had children... I know children are a blessing from God and I'm glad that all of you got happiness from them... but it just wasn't for my wife and me... we both said we didn't want to have kids when we first started dating... could be we came from broken homes that greatly influenced us in our decision.
We have never regretted our decision.