Who thinks I made a very bad move on December 30, 2000?

Question

I had $11,000 of my own money saved up with no debts whatsoever and I needed a car to get me to and from my college classes.

I spent ALL MY $11,000 on a $12,000 1998 white 6-cylinder Camaro Coupe with 24K miles and the other $1,000 had to be from my parents.

I was flat broke just like that and I even truly wanted the car in the first place. I was just rushing into it too fast. I went from $11,000 all the way down to having literally nothing left. AND I WORKED MY AS# OFF AT A MCDONALD'S FOR A YEAR RIGHT BEFORE MY PURCHASE AND SPEND ALL OF MY TIME SAVING UP MONEY FROM WHEN I WAS 11 ALL THE WAY TO WHEN I WAS 21 WHEN I MADE THIS BAD PURCHASE.

My parents and sister said I made a good decision, but I know I didn't. When you have a golden opporunity to have over $10,000 saved up in cash debt free at 21 years old, you should make sure you still have money in the bank.

I should have spent no more than $4,000 on car, at least I would still had $7,000 saved up. DON'T YOU AGREE??

Answer 1

I think you should have got a cheaper car and still saved money for a rainy day. However it is a good lesson learned!

Answer 2

You might not still have the $7,000, as a $4,000 car would have been a piece of junk, and would have needed more maintenance. You would have probably replaced it long before now, and how would you have done that? By using some of the money you had left!

I agree that cars in general are depreciable assets and are not good investments. Having said that, you presumably needed to have a vehicle to drive to work, and/or school, so it might have been a necessary cost.

It has been over 6 years! Stop moaning about your spent money and use the vehicle to go out and make more of it!

Answer 3

Had you spent $3000 on a "clunker", and put the rest in a very "average" growth-oriented mutual fund, your remaining $8,000 would have become $1,251,799 by the time you were 66 (assuming a perfectly reasonable average 8% compounded return).

Oh well!

But at least you are learning that lesson while still in your twenties, which is young enough to repair the damage...

Far too many people (including, apparently, your sister and your parents!) don't learn this lesson until it's too late!

Just start saving again, and NEVER forget the power of compound interest, or the power "instant gratification" has to destroy long-term success...

Best wishes!

Answer 4

It may not have been the wisest decision, but maybe it wasn't bad at the time. It seems your intentions were for good, but maybe things didn't turn out as expected. In life people make decisions that affect their future. The key is gathering the lesson from the decisions you make. What did you learn from the decision and how will you analyze before making a similar decision in the future? Did you gain wisdom from your decision and how will you use what you learned to benefit others in similar circumstances?

Welcome to life! Best wishes...

Answer 5

no you made the best decision with what you had at the time.think of it this way,if you had bought another car for 4000 and it broke down or blew up then you would have had to spend more anyway,don't cry over spilled milk,stop looking in the past,we have all made what we believe to be mistakes ,but that is only because we will never know what might have been ,there are to many things that could have happened ,so stop pirking over something that happened so long ago

Answer 6

We've all made decisions that, in hind sight, may not have been the best choices in the long run.

In my opinion, you're currently investing an awful lot of energy in the past. And that's most definitely going to have a very poor return on investment, because no one can change the past.

You live, you learn... and if you're smart, you MOVE ON.

Answer 7

No it's a pretty good decision I think. Car's are necessary and if you'd gotten a cheaper car you would have probably had to use up your money to fix it or get a new one. Try not to reminisce. Just save up and you've got a car and a pretty stable life. Just count you blessings.

Answer 8

I hate to tell you, but you should have bought a cheaper vehicle. You can either learn from your mistake and move on. OR, you could sell it now before it depreciates anymore and buy a moped. You will still have money left over if you do that. Good luck!

Answer 9

I MUST SAY I AGREE WITH U,u should have just bought a car for like 7 grand and kept a lil extra for other emergencies,but hey look at it this way u got aco ol ride though right and it is just money,but dont sweat it.

Answer 10

I agree. Hindsight, unfortunately, is 20/20.