this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2024
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I don't shame people for buying unnecessary things. But, I will think you are a little stupid if you are nearly starving but have a brand new car. You aren't responsible for the system you live in, but you can at least try to make it a little better for yourself.
I'm not talking about people that just spend some money for something they like, quality of life is important. I mean people that will literally cripple themselves financially just for a status symbol. Especially if you have people that rely on you.
Brand new luxury car is perhaps more apt for your example.
Can be hard to find a way to pay monthly for used cars, I believe, vs. plentiful options for installments on new ones.
Can you point to specific examples of someone you have encountered in your daily life, someone who is nearly starving... but chooses to spend their money on an unnecessary indulgence? Because it sounds like you're otherwise just perpetuating stereotypes.
Nearly starving is almost an impossible to do involuntary in the United States, so that's poor criterion to use here.
But yes I know many people who fit the description, who go on trips, buy cars, expensive clothes to improve their image, when they don't have the income nor the savings to support it.
You've never ran into that guy who gets temp work in roofing, landscaping, or as a rig-pig, who gets a loan for a six-figure truck?
I used to live in this weird apartment building that once had been fancy, so it had large common areas with fitted carpet; but now was "significantly less desirable", and residents used to let their dogs shit on the carpet. It was the cheapest 1-bed flat I could find at the time. 2/3 of the cars parked outside were recent BMW's or Audi's. Everyone will choose how they spend their own money, but some fall for the glamour of consumerism more than others, and for many young men with jobs but no families that means the coolest car you can manage, even if you have to live in a damp hovel and wade thru dog shit to get to it every morning 🤗
Doesn't sound like someone who's minutes away from starving buying something that was obviously unnecessary though, does it?
And if a guy with shitty credit and unsteady income is able to get financing on a six-figure truck, that's more the banks fault.
The original comment didn't say that you needed to be starving before the purchase, just that you are both starving, and have a new car.
Pig rigs don't go to the bank for the loan, there are moneylenders and car dealerships where the most of their business comes from these guys.
Why do I need to provide personal anecdotes to prove the fact that there have been poor people that make bad decisions? It really is not that crazy of a concept.
If you are going to make a statement about people, generally speaking, we like to have proof.
Have you actually seen this new car welfare person or is this a straw man born of your keyboard?
Yes, I have met people who have ruined themselves financially for stupid reasons. But, that's purely anecdotal. I could be lying and you would have no way of knowing. That's why it doesn't make sense to ask about my personal experience when you're looking for proof. Here's something more convincing: There are many stupid people, and many poor people. Naturally, there will be some amount of overlap. So, it is reasonable to assume that some of these people who are both stupid and poor will make stupid financial decisions.
What if you need a car to get to job interviews? If you don't get the brand new car, you can't get to job interviews, so you lose the unemployment benefit because the government feels you don't deserve it?
Or you need the car to get to the job because the public transport is so shit and unreliable that the car is the only way to get there without fail and if you rely on public transport then you risk getting fired if you are late again?
Sometimes people have reasons that might not be obvious but are there because of the system.
Why would you need a brand new car? Like I agree with your main point but brand new?
A new car is not that much more in a lot of places than a used car, especially right now. Plus, you can earn supplementary income with a new car that you might not be able to in an old car. In some markets you can't drive uber without a very new car.
This is why the advice is basically not to judge so much, especially considering billionaires are literally making record profits off of food and medicine right now.
I was using "brand new" as in they buy a new car to replace the car they have. Not necessarily a shiny new, newest model up to date state of the art car, but a they replace the car they have with a new car.
Believe it or not there are people who would say "How can you say you are poor -- you just bought a new car?" then tell The Daily Mail that illegal immigrants are using tax-payers money to buy new cars.
I'm in a position that forces me to own a car, but I drive a 2008 minivan. Simply get a car that isn't new.
you can buy a new car two years ago when finances were good, and then suddenly, shit hits the fan, prices get fucked, you no longer have a job, and you can't find one trivially. Suddenly you have no money, and a really nice car.
My family recently just traded in both cars for newer models, we're doing alright at the moment, but it's definitely a possibility.
A car is not a very liquid asset. I've know people with very nice cars who experienced a change in their economic situation and had to pick up from the food bank in a brand new SUV. I've known people to live out of a mercedes benz.