Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

[JRJ]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I didn't know I couldn't afford every new car, truck, motorcycle, and quad I've bought over the years, but I sure enjoyed them. Now, had I known Buffett was going into BofA with $5 Billion a couple days ago, things might be different

 

[skargo]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I agree with most posts and think it's great if DR stuff would be taught to kids in school. we do our kids a serious disservice via the education system, financial education is very important, and took me many years to learn. I think MAYBE I learned to balance a checkbook in school?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I can understand people that get loans on cars because more often than not a car is a necessity but what amazes me are people that finance boats, motorcycles, ATVs...

 

[skargo]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I can understand people that get loans on cars because more often than not a car is a necessity but what amazes me are people that finance boats, motorcycles, ATVs...

I agree for the most part. But if you buy a large boat you can write of the interest as a 2nd home. I wouldn't do it, but I can see some doing that.
But we need people to buy new, so we can get used deals down the line

 

[raymondpickens]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I wish I would have found dave's teachings in school, I am doing great in life now but sure would be nice to have been taught about finances and investing instead of learning it all the hard way. I am 28 and in MUCH better shape financially than anybody my age that I know. I has been really nice to be able to help friends when they are down. To heck with the haters. Dave Rocks You dont have to do what he teaches but it sure was nice to have learned enough to make my own informed decisions.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

Humm... there are more ways than one to skin a cat. Thinking otherwise is foolish at best.

I have roughly 1.5 times my yearly salary in motor driven vehicles. I buy a new car / truck every 3-4 years and I financed all my toys and somehow still managed to build a pretty hefty 401K balance. Total debt including the mortgage on our home is less than $40K so obviously you can go against all his preaching and still be financially successful

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

Total debt including the mortgage on our home is less than $40K so obviously you can go against all his preaching and still be financially successful

There are exceptions to every rule especially since you only have $40k of debt. You also seem more intelligent than the average person out there.

I have 3 houses of which 2 are rentals and doing my best to pay the loans down. Having no car payments helps immensely.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I don't necessarily agree with the point on new cars. I beleive it has more to do with living within your means and being able to absorb financial "events", whether that being job loss, health, unseen expenses.

I bought a 2004 Suburban in 2004 and wheeled and dealed down to 26K from a start of $43. It is paid off 3 years ago, my interest rate was 2.5% or something like that. The payment was well within my means and is the only non-real estate debt I had. Don't see how this was a bad decision. It has 145K on it and I plan to drive it at least 4 more years. If I drive it 11 years, I am essentially paying $2300/yr for the use of this vehicle. For what it has given us, this has been more than worth it.

Now If i had sold this at 5 years, or $5200 a year, I am not so sure. In this case I could have paid less for a used knowing that I was not in it for the duration.

 

[skargo]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

There are exceptions to every rule especially since you only have $40k of debt. You also seem more intelligent than the average person out there.

I have 3 houses of which 2 are rentals and doing my best to pay the loans down. Having no car payments helps immensely.

I just bought my 12th rental, the last 2 paid for in cash. Cheap properties that cashflow extremely well. Baltimore is a gold mine, glad I live fairly close to it!.
401k's are a bad investment for people that are financially educated IMO.

 

[Red_BOFUS]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I listen to Dave as well, follow his advice in buisness and in my own life. It is easy to "reason" the purchase but in the end it is about your own view. I feel debt is bad no matter what form it comes in. I've missed some chances in buisness because I like to cash flow, but it has worked for me thus far and I have no intention of changing it.

 

[skargo]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

I listen to Dave as well, follow his advice in buisness and in my own life. It is easy to "reason" the purchase but in the end it is about your own view. I feel debt is bad no matter what form it comes in. I've missed some chances in buisness because I like to cash flow, but it has worked for me thus far and I have no intention of changing it.

There is such a thing as good debt. DR would have you believe otherwise, but if it makes cash flow for you, it is good.

 

[Red_BOFUS]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

What is an example of a good debt?

I was rasied by depression era grandparents and debt free living was built into me at a young age so it isn't the DR conversion that got me this way.

 

[skargo]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

What is an example of a good debt?

I was rasied by depression era grandparents and debt free living was built into me at a young age so it isn't the DR conversion that got me this way.

I live debt free in my personal life. However, I do use other people's money to purchase and rehab rentals, then refi them conventionally. My requirements are they must cash flow minimum $300 a month on hard money. Some of my properties are approaching $1000 a month positive cash flow after mortgage, and ALL expenses.

 

[Red_BOFUS]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

That is awesome man you are doing super well for yourself.

Everyone in business has a different model for how they run their business and one doesn?t make the other wrong just the preferred method for that operation.

In my business I do not move from one project until the present project has paid for itself and provided the investment capital for the next project. I find that any move that I would want to borrow to make, when I wait is followed by a better deal. While we aren?t huge, we do employ nineteen others and are looking at expanding twice more this year which will double our work force.

 

[skargo]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

That right there is why this country is great. There are many way to create wealth, many opportunities available for any of us!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

There are exceptions to every rule especially since you only have $40k of debt. You also seem more intelligent than the average person out there.

I have 3 houses of which 2 are rentals and doing my best to pay the loans down. Having no car payments helps immensely.

I got any early start when I borrowed $3,500 for a down payment on a townhome when I was 23 years old. We just keep reinvesting the profits from the sale of the homes which has kept our mortgage payments to a minimun.

The area we live in went from a small rural community to very desirable area due to its proximity to both Baltimore and Washington. As a result, property values have soared and we just sold this house for a 400% profit even in this depressed housing market. We?re taking this money and putting 60% down on a much larger home in the same area. Our mortgage payment will be less than most pay to rent a two bedroom apartment.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

After I graduated college with my BS in engineering, I drove crappy old cars while all my friends bought BMWs. I bought a vacant lot and saved my money and acted as the general contracter and built my own 3000 sf house in southern california when I was 29 years old. All my friends were still of course in apartments because of their debt/income ratio and couldn't afford a down payment.

Amazes me when people who currently only make around $50K/year are buying $30K cars or even leasing cars. I still don't understand why people lease cars unless it is for a business.

 

[jkust]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

After I graduated college with my BS in engineering, I drove crappy old cars while all my friends bought BMWs. I bought a vacant lot and saved my money and acted as the general contracter and built my own 3000 sf house in southern california when I was 29 years old. All my friends were still of course in apartments because of their debt/income ratio and couldn't afford a down payment.

Amazes me when people who currently only make around $50K/year are buying $30K cars or even leasing cars. I still don't understand why people lease cars unless it is for a business.

Sounds familiar. I drove crappy cars in college and while everybody was renting, I bought my own house plus put 20% down. Money earned working hard and going to class full time. When I got out of college with my wife whom I married while in college, two full time good paying jobs was like a lottery after living like college kids for those years. We sold that college house for 300% of what we paid plus we had paid a lot down. In our mid 20's then we moved into a 5200++ square foot home in a neighborhood where most were at least 10 - 20 years our senior. But the kicker is I still drive a crappy car and am in my mid 30's. You however need at least one nice car that can hopefully tow the boat too. Many of the people I know buy or lease new cars, but many do it for their owned businesses. I much more enjoy finding a nice used car, and keeping it for a long time. The only thing however is that the safety features of the vehicle start to be much more of a concern sometimes forcing you to break your car buying rules. I was brought up poor and hated it and made sure that would not be the case for my kids. It only takes the smallest amounts of common sense and conservatism to really be successful in life. It only seems to take 30 seconds to figure out why someone is in the financial situation they are in.

 

[sasto]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

We owe nothing on our Caddy, our boat, our home, credit cards.......which is a good thing......'cause I have no money either!

 

[jkust]

Re: Dave Ramsey Car/Boat/Motorcycle Buying Advice

Playing devil's advocate...

I suppose it comes down to if someone lives their life to save money or if they live to enjoy themselves. The old "Live to work or work to live" argument. I mena heck, if saving money was the only goal I could live in a cave and eat any animal I can mange to club to death to save the cost of bullets. I choose to enjoy my time on this old earth and gladly spend dollars to do it. Myself, I just try to strike a happy medium and then take it as it comes. So far, its worked out pretty good.

I think most of us on here are at least close to the happy medium on the medium continuum. I mean we all have boats.