Reading over my questoin again I realize how subjective it is.. but then again, its those types of questoins that are the hardest! Some things you can plug into a calculator and it will spit out an answer.
You guys say it’s good to have things that make you happy or that you really want that are within your means.. but do you think that’s still true in a time like now? Where there’s almost a silence before the storm? I almost feel like I should be riding a bike and eating ramen.. because you know as they say, when there’s blood on the streets can be one of the best times to buy… Example.. An extra $1000 into Qualcomm 15 years ago, would probably represent $50-100,000 now, and that’s where I’m debating on sacrificing luxuries, and even maybe going on the other side of the coin of sucking it up and maybe even doing some uncomfortable stuff, like riding a bike, staying in my house with no AC on, eating ramen, basket weaving, and collecting cans from neighbors trashcans!
When you guys talk about afforability.. is affordability to you whether you can pay cash for it and still have enough money to live and save with, or is affordability, can you borrow the money to pay it, and still have enough income left over to save and live?
I would be pretty reluctant to borrow much money that I had to pay interest on.. even if I really wanted it, for example the boat I really wanted, but I wouldn’t have borrowed money to get it… I borrowed money to get my truck, but I could have paid cash with it.. I was just hoping that borrowing from Toyota would help remove some of the cob webs off my credit.
Powayseller, I agree with what you say about Zeal.. I follow their investment tips pretty closely, and have done quite well over the 6 months that I’ve been a subscriber. I’m a little concerned about having too much cash in the market, because I’ve lost it all before.. My protection against that now(or at least what makes me sleep at night) is that I’m solely invested in options and gold, with equal amounts in cash.
The economic high that we have had(whatever ‘we’ is, I’ll say southern california) had me pretty bummed out from an investment perspective over the last 10 years.. because I felt like everything was at a peak and finding good investments would require more advanced foresight(that I don’t have at this point) since the only thing most experts were talking about was real estate.. That’s why now I want to make sure I have as much ammo(cash) if the big financial storm hits… because I believe this is one of the only ways to make a class jump(besides inheritance or hard work luck and a good ideas) and help myself get out of the rat race (middle) class!!
