This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
Was the purchase worth it?
A friend of mine made fun of me, “My car is better than yours.” and started laughing, but I laughed with them because I knew they were almost 100k in debt with their new fancy car.
You can laugh at someone who drives an older car, but if they’re doing everything right with their finances, there is nothing to hate on.
The new car looks nice, but it still does what my car and everyone else who continues to keep their “old” cars do:
Every car gets a person from point A to B. The extra features at the end of the day don’t change what the primary function of a car does for you.
Even when cars successfully drive us from point A to B without us physically driving them, they still will do the same thing: get us from point A to B, just with less work required from a human.
Think about that next time you gloat about your car to someone. As long as your car gets you safely from point A to B, you’re doing just fine.
The Most Popular Social Media Post: Cars & Houses
If you’re on social media, you’re all too familiar with people posting their new house or car to show the world they made it!
My first thoughts are:
How much extra cash flow do you have leftover monthly?
What’s your debt-to-income ratio looking like?
How much do you have in investments?
How much debt do you already have?
How many expenses do you have?
I was making double what a friend was making, and they were buying new cars while I kept my old machine that functioned great.
People make fun of me, but they’re also stuck with those extra bills every month.
The more expenses you have, the less freedom you have unless you have unlimited or out-of-the-ordinary income, which most people don’t have.
Hold Off As Long As You Can
I could’ve bought a new car long ago, but I didn’t. Then I challenged myself to see how long I could hold out.
As I continued to wait, I started to create some stringent requirements that I had to be fulfilled before I was eligible (by my rules) to buy a new vehicle.
The rules included:
Reach at least 200,000 miles on my car.
Pay off my car, which I did over seven years ago.
Maintain ownership of my car for at least ten years.
Maintain a positive net worth with my planned car purchase.
Don’t buy a new car for at least five years after paying off my car.
I also write about cars frequently to continue convincing myself to hold out as long as possible from retiring my ten-year-old car. 🙂
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.