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people who own lots of toys... how? (1 Viewer)

mr. furley

Footballguy
without getting in to the financials here, how do some of you afford the extras?

wife and i do OK. we live in a nice suburb. nice house. we both drive cars. we save money. we take one vacation per year. we're certainly not suffering (for now).

then i look at families who i know to be roughly in the same position (seemingly) and they have a cabin, a boat, 2 sea-doos, his & her ATV's, plus one each for the kids... who also have their own motorbikes... kayaks... and snowmobiles, an RV, a pop-up camper.. they just dumped 30k in to a kitchen remodel, and 15k for a new roof, then they're re-doing the driveway once they come back from Mexico for vacation.

what in the ever living #### am i doing wrong? 

are you people leveraged up to your nipples? did your parents buy your first house? did you win the lottery? muling yayo for the cartel?

talk to me because i want to be like you

 
"If I can afford the payments, I can afford it."

I'm with you, @mr. furley . I just shake my head seeing some dude with his five ton HEMI powered truck pulling his $50k wake boat as he returns home from the lake cabin on Sunday night in preparation to return to his...janitorial job at the local high school? I don't know what they do, really. I just know they're leveraged to the hilt. 

 
without getting in to the financials here, how do some of you afford the extras?

wife and i do OK. we live in a nice suburb. nice house. we both drive cars. we save money. we take one vacation per year. we're certainly not suffering (for now).

then i look at families who i know to be roughly in the same position (seemingly) and they have a cabin, a boat, 2 sea-doos, his & her ATV's, plus one each for the kids... who also have their own motorbikes... kayaks... and snowmobiles, an RV, a pop-up camper.. they just dumped 30k in to a kitchen remodel, and 15k for a new roof, then they're re-doing the driveway once they come back from Mexico for vacation.

what in the ever living #### am i doing wrong? 

are you people leveraged up to your nipples? did your parents buy your first house? did you win the lottery? muling yayo for the cartel?

talk to me because i want to be like you
:lol:

My wife and I talk about this ALL the time. We make decent money. We have one car payment - no credit card debt. Our house is lower middle class probably. We save what we can but damn it feels like we are losing ground. 

 
kids?  mortgage?  those 2 things are the difference between me and most.  many people refi after refi after refi.  
Yeah you wouldn't believe how many cash out refinances I do to consolidate credit card debt or for people to buy boats/RVs. It's insane. 

 
Man that sure would suck to live life while you can.   I mean who wants to spend their hard earned money on fun stuff and spending time with their family.  Eww.  I would much rather be like me Dad who squeezed every penny and was waiting till retirement to "live."   My Dad passed at 63.    Sure wish I would have had a Seadoo, Cabin, or Boat memories.   But those guys who leverage everything to have fun are losers.

 
My circle of friends includes a guy whose entire life revolves around various "adult toys." He seems to have at least one of everything – motorcycles, ATVs, boats, jetskis, even a custom golf cart. He makes decent money, but not significantly more than the rest of us. So how does he afford it? The answer:

1. no kids.

2. no alcohol or drugs. His addiction is adrenaline.

3. no 401K. He wants to have fun now. He has no intention of having a comfortable retirement, or even a retirement. I don't think he expects to live much past 60.

 
they are mortgaged up to their eyeballs.  

lenders are slihjtly surprised when i give them my ltv, when discussing possible refis

 
1. Debt

2. Good money management early in life

3. Work to find good deals on used equipment

4. Inheritance

5. DUNKs - but I'm assuming you mean people with kids.  The DU helps a lot of people

6. Debt

 
i will add this though..i ski.  a lot.  it's an insanely expensive sport.  but, one can mitigate some of the costs, by being a savvy shopper/traveller..

 
This is probably not true the majority of the time, but some of it simply depends on what you spend your money on.  My daughters take competitive dance and its very expensive.  We could have spent that money on a boat or RV etc to spend our time together..and I don't think either answer is right or wrong.

 
There are a million reasons and everyone has a different situation. Could be all of the things mentioned as well as inheritance. It doesn’t take a huge inheritance to set you well for life. Never happened for me, but simply having parents who paid off their house and left it to you is a magnificent advantage. 
 

My BIL is married to an only child. Her parents have a house and cabin that are paid for. My personal thought is, they would have to make a series of financial blunders for their two kids to not be set up pretty decent later in life, regardless of their personal income or career. 

 
Man that sure would suck to live life while you can.   I mean who wants to spend their hard earned money on fun stuff and spending time with their family.  Eww.  I would much rather be like me Dad who squeezed every penny and was waiting till retirement to "live."   My Dad passed at 63.    Sure wish I would have had a Seadoo, Cabin, or Boat memories.   But those guys who leverage everything to have fun are losers.
You need to find a balance.  Have fun but don't get indebted to the point that one missed check and you are screwed.  It's a fine line but you can do both.  Save for retirement and have fun and some toys.  The key is starting in on the retirement from day 1.  Maxing 401K from your very first real paycheck is a way to not miss the money and save for the future.  Then raises and good management can lead to some of the toys and good times. 

 
This is probably not true the majority of the time, but some of it simply depends on what you spend your money on.  My daughters take competitive dance and its very expensive.  We could have spent that money on a boat or RV etc to spend our time together..and I don't think either answer is right or wrong.
Absolutely. Our oldest son went to private school through high school graduation. I can’t tell you how many people would ask me how I could afford that or why I would waste my money on that. Then they would get in their new suburban and drive away and I would get in my 15-year-old Volkswagen Jetta. Pre-Covid, I knew tons of people that would have no issue spending over $100 every weekend at their favorite local establishment. You can easily buy a boat for less than that $500 a month. 

 
Yeah I see this all the time - assuming they don't save for tomorrow/retirement, have had the benefit of inherting money, or don't mind living in debt.  I sometimes wish I could live like that but my parents blessed/cursed me with the frugal gene....I have everything I need and some nice stuff, but just can't get myself to overindulge in stuff that will pull me off the track of early retirement.  Really want to get a camper van, but the $80-100k price tag and my frugal nature just doesn't allow it to happen.

 
Man that sure would suck to live life while you can.   I mean who wants to spend their hard earned money on fun stuff and spending time with their family.  Eww.  I would much rather be like me Dad who squeezed every penny and was waiting till retirement to "live."   My Dad passed at 63.    Sure wish I would have had a Seadoo, Cabin, or Boat memories.   But those guys who leverage everything to have fun are losers.
There's a balance for sure.

For those not familiar, you might "enjoy" reading some of the FI threads in Facebook or Reddit, or elsewhere, talking about how to get their savings rate from like 52% to 54%. Meanwhile not enjoying life or contributing at all to charities or other worthy causes. 

Then there's the crowd so far in debt they can't manage for a month if they lost a job.

I'd much rather be in the middle.

 
My guess.. Lot's of Debt + No savings for Retirement or saving for College for their kids..

When we lived in town my wife and I knew we made more then the family next to us based on conversations. We had 1 kid, they had 4.. yet they seemed to be living the "high life".. Hot Tubs, multiple vacations, ATV, snowmobile, etc..

We found out years later they saved zero for their kids college funds, and didn't have any investments in Roth's, 401(k), etc.. Guess they Figured they just play it by ear when they retired.. 

Last we heard they were on their 3rd or 4th mortgage and had filed for bankruptcy.

We took vacations and bought our share of "Fun things", but within our means without racking up tons of debt.

We also saved for the future ( College, Retirement. etc..).. Now that our daughter has graduated college and gotten married and our investments are sound, we are starting to look at more "Fun things".

Some figure they'll live the high life now and figure things out later.

I personally like the way we have done it...  enjoyed life, but not in excess..
Other then 10 years left on our mortgage, we have no car payments, and less then $2,000 in credit card debt. :thumbup:  

 
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without getting in to the financials here, how do some of you afford the extras?

wife and i do OK. we live in a nice suburb. nice house. we both drive cars. we save money. we take one vacation per year. we're certainly not suffering (for now).

then i look at families who i know to be roughly in the same position (seemingly) and they have a cabin, a boat, 2 sea-doos, his & her ATV's, plus one each for the kids... who also have their own motorbikes... kayaks... and snowmobiles, an RV, a pop-up camper.. they just dumped 30k in to a kitchen remodel, and 15k for a new roof, then they're re-doing the driveway once they come back from Mexico for vacation.

what in the ever living #### am i doing wrong? 

are you people leveraged up to your nipples? did your parents buy your first house? did you win the lottery? muling yayo for the cartel?

talk to me because i want to be like you
well, i'm no fun.  ask my wife.

but what you say you want sounds horrible to me.  i'm exhausted already.

i don't have much, i don't need much, and i don't want... anything, other than maybe a really good sandwich.

maybe you're lucky as you are mr. furley.  but i suspect you know that.

 
without getting in to the financials here, how do some of you afford the extras?

wife and i do OK. we live in a nice suburb. nice house. we both drive cars. we save money. we take one vacation per year. we're certainly not suffering (for now).

then i look at families who i know to be roughly in the same position (seemingly) and they have a cabin, a boat, 2 sea-doos, his & her ATV's, plus one each for the kids... who also have their own motorbikes... kayaks... and snowmobiles, an RV, a pop-up camper.. they just dumped 30k in to a kitchen remodel, and 15k for a new roof, then they're re-doing the driveway once they come back from Mexico for vacation.

what in the ever living #### am i doing wrong? 

are you people leveraged up to your nipples? did your parents buy your first house? did you win the lottery? muling yayo for the cartel?

talk to me because i want to be like you
I could buy all that stuff tomorrow if I was willing to liquidate my retirement savings.  My guess is that people you're talking about are living paycheck to paycheck.

 
In AZ things like boats, RV, ATVs, etc. are pretty common. Some people seem to be able to just afford it. Other people, I surmise, are just in debt and leveraged to the hilt. Shouldn't be surprising that some people don't save money. 

 
I could buy all that stuff tomorrow if I was willing to liquidate my retirement savings.  My guess is that people you're talking about are living paycheck to paycheck.
Exactly. There are no 401ks, life insurance policies, etc. for these people. 

 
well, i'm no fun.  ask my wife.

but what you say you want sounds horrible to me.  i'm exhausted already.

i don't have much, i don't need much, and i don't want... anything, other than maybe a really good sandwich.

maybe you're lucky as you are mr. furley.  but i suspect you know that.
My wife and I work, we do well.

Our best friends are all uber successful surgeons and lawyers.  We often feel like we are 3rd world.  Keeping up with the Jones's is a constant struggle to resist.

For perspective.. I have been saving for few years to buy a boat.  I was a couple years out until my surgeon buddy bought a lake house and offered to store my boat at his place.  So I will strut around in my boat I can only responsibly buy because he bought a lake house.  :lmao:

 
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I could buy all that stuff tomorrow if I was willing to liquidate my retirement savings.  My guess is that people you're talking about are living paycheck to paycheck.
Exactly. There are no 401ks, life insurance policies, etc. for these people. 
:goodposting:  Meanwhile I'm over here Thinking..

Finance guy says we are set up well for retirement in 10 to 15 years. 401(k) and Roth, as well as our house investment are looking good.. but is it enough??  

 
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I always wonder what percentage of people that drive Mercedes-Benz can actually afford them. I'm not talking afford the payment. I'm talking about having manageable debt, are fully funding retirement, have 6 months of cost of living saved, etc.

 
My wife and I work, we do well.

Our best friends are all uber successful surgeons and lawyers.  We often feel like we are 3rd world.  Keeping up with the Jones's is a constant struggle to resist.

For perspective.. I have been saving for few years to buy a boat.  I was a couple years out until my surgeon buddy bought a lake house and offered to store my boat at his place.  So I will strut around in my boat I can only responsibly buy because he bought a lake house.  :lmao:
Tried to PM you but got denied GB.

Your scenario makes me jealous..i so want to luck into somewhere to store the dang thing (the thing being a boat I haven't purchased yet).

Where did you get your boat?  What kind etc?

Thanks..hope you are well.

Oh..I'm in SA too in case you didn't remember.

 
i feel like i'm in a similar situation.  we live below our means.  i think about toys sometimes but don't buy them (finally broke down and purchased a hot tub - medical helped convinced me).  I've never even owned a new car.  do usually go on vacation once a year but that's the splurge i guess.   always shop around for cheapest i can find though. 

have friends in similar and i know lower income situations and they seem to buy toys often.  i think the difference is savings and debt.  besides a mortgage and 1 car payment, we have no debt.  in addition, we've saved money for our kids to go to college and towards retirement that may have us retiring at 60, maybe even semi retire earlier.  i believe the "toy people" don't have that money saved like we do. 

 
If we lived elsewhere, I'm sure we could afford all that stuff.  But I'm paying twice of what the rest of you are to live in SoCal.  At some point we are going to relocate where I don't have to sink all this cash into a rental.  It's excrutiating.    

 
Lots of debts and kid free living makes for a fun adult life. Not my style, but I see it all the time via work.

 
Great thread IMO.

I have been daydreaming about a boat but no way do I feel like I can reasonably afford one.
we saw some folks on the river a couple weeks back. boat after boat after boat. pontoons have always intrigued me. seems like it would be relatively low cost, easy to pilot, good for the kids to relax on with friends, etc.

so i got to thinking what if i could afford one? we have a vehicle to tow it. water is close by. i'd love to kill summer weekends floating.

then i looked at the prices..... and hoooooooooooooooly #### i didn't realize they were that far out of my range. it's silly.

 
My wife and I work, we do well.

Our best friends are all uber successful surgeons and lawyers.  We often feel like we are 3rd world.  Keeping up with the Jones's is a constant struggle to resist.

For perspective.. I have been saving for few years to buy a boat.  I was a couple years out until my surgeon buddy bought a lake house and offered to store my boat at his place.  So I will strut around in my boat I can only responsibly buy because he bought a lake house.  :lmao:
Sounds perfect, if he also buys the scotch.

 
we saw some folks on the river a couple weeks back. boat after boat after boat. pontoons have always intrigued me. seems like it would be relatively low cost, easy to pilot, good for the kids to relax on with friends, etc.

so i got to thinking what if i could afford one? we have a vehicle to tow it. water is close by. i'd love to kill summer weekends floating.

then i looked at the prices..... and hoooooooooooooooly #### i didn't realize they were that far out of my range. it's silly.
Yep. They're crazy.

Otoh, we can rent a bass boat for under $100 / day, $180 for a pontoon.  Once this COVID crap stops (they aren't doing it right now) we'll start doing that. 

 
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I've seen lots of nice boats and trucks parked next to, or on the lawns of not-so-nice houses.  I guess it's priorities...  And debt.

 
I save 10% of my income for retirement, do not have a car payment, a pretty cheap mortgage and while I do not have any toys right now I have had boats, dirt bikes, and 4 wheelers at the same time with no debt in the past.

It is pretty easy to afford if you are frugal in other areas in life and if you do your research. I currently have money saved up to buy my next boat in cash,  and I have been boat shopping for 8 months.

I want to buy a boat that is 140,000-200,000 dollars new, however I have a 20-30k budget. You have to be patient, perform due diligence, and of course buy used, but the exceptional deals are out there.

Not everyone with all of the toys is in debt.

 
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