To me, even a $600k home for a family that only make $130k is a huge stretch already. So, we’re basically saying the same thing, in that one have to actively think about what they spend on and not try to keep up w/ the “Jones”.
I don’t see why that’s not a fair comparison. A $40k new car can be bought for around $14k if it has around 80-100k miles. Given an average driving of 10k miles a year, a new car would reach 200k miles in 20 years and the old car will reach that in 10 years. That’s just an example. I know that people who buy new expensive cars tend to constantly upgrade to newer cars. But that’s not always the case. I for instance, will be keeping my car until it break down. Since it’s a Japanese car, that’s be a long long time from now. In my case, I’d rather not eat out once a month and buy that new car than eat out one more time a month a drive an older car, it’s a personal preference. But the point is, I actively made the calculation and made the conscious decision. So there’s no real surprise.
When one goes out a lot that’s when they get surprised at the end of the month. A dinner out w/ friends probably be around $100 (for 2). Do that 8 times a month (every Friday and Saturday night) and it’s more than most car payments.
