Am I missing something here on car payments?

[Joe in PNG]

At this point, I'm starting to believe that we'd be lucky to only get a Great Depression.

I fear that we're looking at the collapse of our current civilization and the beginning of a new Dark Age.

[willie]

Schools are under local control and reflect the community. Voters put the dumbasses on the board. Some might say that they would like to return to the past and have strict schools, but few would accept having their kids subjected to old fashioned treatment. I would not if I had had children.

I have been in parent teacher conferences and seen kids call their mothers bitch and whore. In jail I have heard sons and daughters curse their parents while on the phone and tell them to get their goddamn ass up here to bail them out. Nothing is like it used to be. I had a juvenile male who killed his grandmother so he could have sex with her. And on and on. None of these examples is typical. However,.........

[Bart Carter]

At this point, I'm starting to believe that we'd be lucky to only get a Great Depression.

I fear that we're looking at the collapse of our current civilization and the beginning of a new Dark Age.

Just another excuse for more guns and ammo.

[RoyGBiv]

Schools are under local control and reflect the community. .

Only in name. Not in reality.

[TexasSiegfried]

Today I was speaking to a young lady who works at the preschool which is a ministry of the church where I work. She is 29 years old, 3 children, just filed for divorce,and last month financed $57k for a Hyundai Palisade. I honestly have no idea how she will make it.

And as has been said before, I am a part of the generation that just can't fathom put that kind of money into a continuously depreciating product.

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[BehindBlueI's]

Today I was speaking to a young lady who works at the preschool which is a ministry of the church where I work. She is 29 years old, 3 children, just filed for divorce,and last month financed $57k for a Hyundai Palisade. I honestly have no idea how she will make it.

And as has been said before, I am a part of the generation that just can't fathom put that kind of money into a continuously depreciating product.

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Just for a fun comparison, mid-1950's vs today, all in today's money:

Average annual wage in the US: $38k

1st year for the Corvette cost roughly $39k.

Buick Skylark convertible was about $55k.

Lincoln Continental II was about $110k.

Somehow I doubt the Hyundai will appreciate like any of those did, but in fairness I'm sure most of the cars back then didn't either.

[Borderland]

I don't have an answer, I just hope it improves soon because my oldest wants to be a teacher. Straight As in HS, AP, Dual Enrollment, Honors, top 10 in her class, etc. Getting straight As so far in college too. Found Physics fun and not hard. Literally lowered her grade in one class by getting a 100 on her final. She *wants* to be an elementary school teacher. Really wants it. Won't consider anything else.


He can't, he's dead.

Chris

One of my wife's grandchildren is in HS with an advanced schedule to graduate. She's my wife's GD so I can't DNA claim her. She will probably go to college on a scholarship and graduate HS with honors. So far she just likes to bake and knit in her spare time. I keep telling my wife she might be the next Rachel Ray. Drives my wife bat shit crazy. Miss V doesn't even want a drivers license. My wife got a masters degree when she was 60. I barely graduated HS but I can cook. I do 95% of the cooking here. I have a CE degree and PLS license but never used either one.

[Totem Polar]

I’m the last guy to talk to about the people in that video. I just don’t get that thinking.

I drove to and from work today in my ‘99 Lexus. No spring chicken, that car, but it runs great, and it’s got perfect-looking heated leather seats and a banging stereo.

In case anyone is wondering how the musician over here is often seen flipping revolvers like hamburgers.

[Jeff S.]

Part of my issue is I want a stick shift, which puts me in TRD territory. That’s a want, not a need but I’ve heard enough bad about the 6 speed auto that I won’t buy one. Between my trade in and cash on my end I’m willing to put down $30K, but that still leaves me with a note over $300 per month on a 4 year loan. I don’t like financing vehicles and now I’m about to put $30 grand down and still owe money on a mid size truck? I just can’t believe that.

I’ve been wanting a manual, but I also want full time 4WD (center Torsen differential), and a lo speed transfer case. There’s only 1 vechile vehicle I can find that has all three: manual FJ Cruiser. I’ve come really, really close three separate times to getting one. Visibility is a deterrent. MPG is a deterrent. Prices on used Toyota is a huge deterrent. But most of all, I keep thinking that I’d be spending all this money on a truck that gets poor gas mileage, and is has less interior space than my current Forester. I can’t pull the trigger.

[MickAK]

Yeah, I think that's what it's going to take: another Great Depression where the current panoply of government benefits and social services are cut to the bone. It's one thing to be irresponsible with money when you have a government-provided emergency parachute. It's another thing to be irresponsible when if you live outside your limits, you're out starving on the street.

If I remember correctly, the last Great Depression is what started the panoply of government benefits and social services, instead of cutting them to the bone. Something about a Deal, or something.

If you do the math, if all the consumers in the country were scrimping and saving and driving 22 year old shitboxes to save for retirement, the economy would completely collapse. It's fun to bitch at the improvident, but at a certain point you have to look at the underlying bones of the system and realize they're growing rotten.

People like to fantasize about watching the grasshopper starve in the winter because they're the ant, but I don't think very many people actually have the stomach to watch people starve or freeze to death anymore. I don't think people ever really did, hence why slums exist and banishment was a thing. Humans are pretty empathetic creatures on the whole.