Originally Posted by sgtpatiolantern

I remember my father telling me never to buy anything I couldn't afford. To save up and pay cash for it. I watched him living his life without ever really buying anything. No hobbies, no interests, because he couldn't pay cash at the time. So he saved and saved his entire life. He retired at 67, and finally decided he liked woodworking. Started spending the money he saved over a lifetime on power tools. Then he died a year later.

I'm not going out that way.

I bought my Lariat at 0% financing. It's like borrowing the money from my rich Uncle Henry Ford, and paying him back exactly what I borrowed. This truck is my dream truck. I absolutely love it. Now if I would have saved up to buy this truck, it would have taken me around the time of the loan, and Ford would certainly not be making this generation anymore, possibly being two generations ahead with their average change up of five years. I find it funny when "financial geniuses" (pompous narcissists) have questioned and ridiculed this decision of mine. My favorite example is a guy I work with telling me how stupid it was, yet defends his weekly bar visits which cost him a minimum $200. I don't think he realizes that the term liquid assets doesn't mean turning your paycheck into urine. But I don't care. It's his cash, and it makes him happy.

But buy a truck on an instalment plan, and the world becomes your financial advisor. Every aspect of your purchase is wrong apparently. My advice is this. Before any purchase, you have to decide what your needs are, what your wants are, and can you afford it. Getting a loan doesn't mean you can afford it. A monthly payment doesn't mean ****. Vehicle payments, plus fuel, plus maintenance, plus a possible catastrophic failure for good measure. If you can deal with that, perhaps you can handle it. A vehicle is the second largest investment after a home. To some of us it's the largest. In almost every case it's not the wisest. Sadly, owing to necessity it's something many of us don't have the liberty to opt out.

Because it's so large, it requires plenty of thought. But depending on your passion for vehicles, your mind can easily be clouded by the excitement of the purchase, and you get lost in details. Sleep on it overnight. If you still wake up with a hard on for the vehicle, (not because you have to pee) and you are comfortable having reread the terms of the agreement several times, then enjoy your vehicle.

If not, take a deep breath and try again.

Originally Posted by Rnlcomp

I agree with almost everything you said, this part " A vehicle is the second largest investment after a home" is where I will argue that you are VERY wrong. Homes appreciate in value, vehicles do NOT, never consider a vehicle an investment other than if you buy new with a warranty, then you have an investment in NOT walking. .

Originally Posted by Wanna Ride

That's a retarded statement, on at least two points....
- EVERYONE should consider the payment amount before they commit to ANY large purchase.
- who assigned you as the forum financial counselor?

And for all the other self-righteous members who brag about paying cash for new vehicles.... go sip your tea and eat your crumpets while us working stiffs wash our trucks ourselves.... by hand.

To the OP - don't listen to these moronic trolls. They hover the internet masqueraded as know-it-alls, scolding you like a child, while half of them are sitting in their mom's basement, in their tightly-whiteys. Go talk to someone with real credibility... like the loan officer at your bank, or credit union.

Originally Posted by Wanna Ride

Calm down Pete and Repete. I didn't say the purchase should be based strictly on the monthly payment. There's many factors that go into the consideration of a large purchase, financed or not. But the monthly payment also has to fit into the monthly budget.

I'm just glad you guys are here to calibrate everyone's moral compass, and slap knuckles with rulers. So please come over, and help me sort through my finances. I've been doing it wrong.

Hear that? I think your mom's upstairs, calling. Run along now.

Originally Posted by sgtpatiolantern

But for the record, a vehicle is an investment.

Originally Posted by Rnlcomp

Yeah an investment in an empty wallet. [MENTION=177662]ZBoater[/MENTION] nailed it. .

Originally Posted by KMAC0694

Oh boy You do realize that most of the people of this forum are real guys that work, have jobs, are well-established, etc.? The people you're referring to are on the model action figure-making forums. You're probably the ***got in a basement.

The vast majority of people in this country cannot successfully handle their finances and make fiscally-poor decisions on a frequent basis. That's why the government thinks it needs to handle everything for us. It's also why our economy collapsed, why we're owned by China, why our national debt will soar into the 60 Trillions over the next 20 years, and why our economy will re-crash, much worse, when our dollar is removed from its glorious "world's currency" title because it's worth less than a peso.

Originally Posted by KMAC0694

Oh boy You do realize that most of the people of this forum are real guys that work, have jobs, are well-established, etc.? The people you're referring to are on the model action figure-making forums. You're probably the ***got in a basement.

Originally Posted by zacharyz

USA is owned by far more countries than China now! The economy crashed because of war spending, high oil prices, and rising real estate with falling pay. There is only one group of people to blame for that. Politicians. And one problem. Overspending.