Dave @ Accidental FIRE
I reached financial independence and semi-retired in my mid-40's through hard work, smart living, and investing. This blog chronicles my journey and explores many aspects of personal finance including the psychological and behavioral factors that drive our habits.
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2024 Activity Tracker
Cycling: 4538 Miles
Running: 266 Miles
Hiking: 33 Miles
Paddling: 71 Miles
Climbing Days: 1
2023 Activity Tracker
Cycling: 5400 Miles
Running: 472 Miles
Hiking: 37 Miles
Paddling: 96 Miles
Climbing Days: 6
2022 Activity Tracker
Cycling: 5408 Miles
Running: 321 Miles
Hiking: 43 Miles
Paddling: 40 Miles
Climbing Days: 7
Turnip FIRE! Disclaimer:
Turnip FIRE! is like, real fake news. I mean, there’s fake news that’s meant to be real, and then fake news that’s meant to be fake. The fake news that’s meant to be real is like, actual fake news. Turnip FIRE! is fake fake news…. okay now I’m confused…. Anyhoo, don’t take any Turnip FIRE! stories seriously. Just don’t.
Dave — I appreciate your attempts to show the financial impacts of car ownership with this follow-up to the article you published recently on auto loans!
Not to take away from the message of your graph, but I bet that if you replaced the label of the y axis for something along the lines of “financial solvency,” the idea would resonate with a whole lot of people outside of the FI community.
You could maybe have another viral hit on your hands!
Have a great week-end.
I’m not disagreeing with your assessment per se, but my agent, my publicist, and my designer team thought it best that I “stay on brand”, as they put it, by using the term financial independence. They’re full of business jargon like that and swear that they’re steering me toward blogger superstardom…. we’ll see.
Ha! Sometimes, you just have to demeure to the experts.
y’know i chug on out to the parking lot to leave my j.o.b. and must see about 1/2 a million bucks worth of pickup trucks at 50k each. we get paid decently and those folks could really be making hay and cut down their thankless work careers with sensible choices.
those redonkulous pickups, very often owned by people who’ve never used the bed for anything except their wet dog. Testosterone therapy would be way cheaper…
Substitute a blank for “metal box” and you could apply this to most of the things people buy. I try to rent those toys or bribe their use from a friend.
I used to buy used Honda vehicles, but they became ridiculously expensive for a used vehicle so now I buy new, maintain them well, drive them for 8 years, and then sell them for a ridiculous price.
I buy what I need and add any upgrades. During the height of the pandemic (4/2020) I bought a new, 2019 Honda CRV LX AWD for $20,800 plus TTL. I added an Android stereo and a Garmin Smart Drive 65 GPS to add the features of the much more expensive “touring” trim level of the CRV. Cost was $550 vs. the $8,000 price difference between the two models. AND I added a $16 chrome badge labeled “TOURING” so the average person thinks it’s the more expensive model.
“Substitute a blank for “metal box” and you could apply this to most of the things people buy.” True but cars are probably the biggest culprit of people wasting money. And after becoming FI and having never paid more than $5k for a vehicle I bought a new Subaru for the same reasons yo mentioned about the Hondas – it wasn’t much more than a 3 or 4 year old one.
Not to mention all the ongoing costs of that metal box: insurance, property tax, maintenance, etc. And the risk to your life for time you’re in that box. And the loss to your health (whenever reasonable to be walking/biking instead!).
Although, I might have lucked out by putting my metal box in the garage and then strangely deciding to never drive it since I don’t commute and am too lazy to sell it.
Apparently some of them can appreciate when you buy at the bottom!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMNWchvd3BA
Fun.
Great points, people tend to just conveniently forget all the other costs and the 40,000+ dead people from cars every year. And as far as pollution, it’s not just the exhaust. We’re all breathing in brake dust and particles of tire which contain petroleum every day – it’s everywhere.
Another awesome graphic. I sort of panic bought a nicer car than I should have when my beater died, but paid cash and bought used at least. I do enjoy having a nicer car (not luxury brand, but nice) for the first time in my life, but do as I say, not as I do on that front. As long as you know you’re breaking the rules, I think it’s OK to break them sometimes. Clearly I am still justifying the purchase…
You’re no exception to this. Even some super-frugal people I know fail when it comes to cars. Cars are just to deeply embedded in our society
So true! I luckily got my desire for cars out of my system year so ago. It’s just transportation to me, that’s it.
You’re winning!