When is it OK to splurge? A lengthy post detailing my internal conflict about purchasing a car.

[Karma]

If you get married GTI's and condo's are out the door.

No they don't. Or you married the wrong person.

[LuckyDogg]

OP put something down on a condo first, see how things work it then grab the GTI.

To me, your post is about guilt.

If you get married GTI's and condo's are out the door.

Of course my post is about guilt -- wasn't the 'internal conflict' a giveaway.


I'd like to say my priority is owning a home, but it's not. I live in downtown Chicago and while I love it here, I cannot confidently say I will be living here in five years. In my opinion, that makes purchasing a home a very poor decision at this point. Yes, the market is in a great place, but that still doesn't justify it. Now, without a doubt I should be saving toward a home, and I am, but there is no need for me to purchase one if I don't know where I'm living in 2015.

And to boot, my S/O loves the GTI.

[realpower]

[dunhamjr]

OP put something down on a condo first, see how things work it then grab the GTI.

To me, your post is about guilt.

If you get married GTI's and condo's are out the door.

OP already bought the car.

And if you marry the correct person then NOTHING is out the door. I had 1 car and was renting when I met my wife. Now we have two houses (primary and rental) and have 5 cars. (two on loans cause DUH at 0% and 2.9%)

As long as purchases don't affect quality of life/savings/retirement planning/etc, why they hell would it matter if you spend $30k on a GTI or $30k on a Camry...?

[maskedSONY]

I'm glad to see you splurged. It's good to do this because if you never exercise your sweet tooth and spend a bit, you'll just keep it pent up inside and then snap at some point later on. I actually purchased a 2007 Accord, CPO, in Nov 2010 because I wanted to rid myself of my old Protege, which was constantly needing repairs. With the Accord I've gotten a tremendous value and I'm looking forward to driving it for the next decade. I simply won't get rid of it and plan to extract every penny out of it.

I hope its not too late to say this - but don't sell your stock positions. Seriously, let those grow, because if they are properly placed, even after the hit you will take in taxes, they will be a boon that you can use as you continue onwards into your 30s. It nice to have money to sit on, and to manage your debt properly, but as long as you are getting money loaned to you at a very good rate then you may as well be patient and put the money to work elsewhere. Just don't miss a payment, but don't overpay as well.

Enjoy your car - I don't know what your priorities are, but if you do want a family and a wifey, your car choices will be extremely crimped in the future. Consider this one your pride and joy.

[unintended acceleration]

Buy a used car that isn't a VW. For example, I am money savvy as well and don't want to spend a lot of a car so I bought 2 cars.

Sounds crazy I know, but.

2004 Accord - Paid 8G cash.

2002 S2000 - Paid 14 cash.

Will drive both for 2 - 3 years, then sell the Accord for 6 - 7K and the S2000 for no less than 12K. Total cost of ownership is the key, when you have money the monthly's do not matter or the initial lump sum, just TCO.

I can have these two cars for 3 years and spend a total of 4 - 5K maximum. Use the crazy high resale value of certain cars and strong used car market to your advantage.

New cars are for suckers. My S2000 I picked up from an old man and it is almost mint and drives like new. Accord same deal, bought from old man still looks and runs new.

If you buy that GTI for 30K, it will cost you about 10K to own it for 3 years. Buy something a little older that has taken 80% of its depreciation already, drive it for a few years and walk away.

This is of course if you want to drive anything other than a GTI, which should be too difficult to get over. It's a nice car but I don't know anyone who would dream to own one. I get not wanting to drive an older German car, it would scare me too but there has to be something else out there that won't nickel and dime you yet something you can really enjoy.


I see I am late to the party, but what I typed above stands as general rule that I don't think enough people use to their advantage.

[Vision33r]

If I was 27 again, I would invest, invest, and invest. Take risks and this is a great time to invest and I seriously don't think you should be splurging yet.

Have you made an investment yet that paid dividends yet?

I bought Apple stocks at 50 and people at the time were saying Dell would kick Apple to the curb. Look where the 2 companies are now.

I never splurge unless one of my investments popped and give me a small windfall.