Do you ever get bitten by the ugly green monster of jealousy? It doesn’t happen to me very often but when one of my co-workers recently upgraded to a brand new Cadillac Escalade, I felt jealousy wash over me.
How can she afford such a car? I thought. Wow, she must make a lot more money than I do.
Then it hit me. It wouldn’t take that much more of an income than mine to be able to pay the monthly payment on a luxury car like a Cadillac, a Beamer, or a Jaguar, but it would take a new dream.
Rather of dreaming of things like working from home, getting paid to write for blogs in my yoga pants, setting my own daily schedule, and more financial independence focused dreams, one would have to dream of owning a luxury car instead.
That luxury car would have to be the sole focus of your extra money. Not only would you have to pay large car payment, or fork over a wad of cash if you paid for it in full, you’d also have to worry about the luxury price of caring for the car too.
That’s the thing about cars – they aren’t just a one-time expense. That’s what people tend to forget about.
Sure owning a new luxury car might mean less breakdowns and less repairs in the near future, but it might mean more costly repairs down the road. Plus there’s the fact that depreciation off of a new luxury car is going to be vastly more than the depreciation of my 2007 Chevy Malibu.
Before you decide to shell out for a new car, luxury or not, here are some things you need to consider:
- Can you afford the monthly payments, maintenance, repairs, up-keep, etc. for the new car?
- Will the new car be costing you more than your current car?
- How much of your budget are you willing to devote to owning a new car?
- Do you have other priorities that are more important to you than owning a new luxury car?
If your answers were conflicted, it may not be time to buy a new luxury car yet. Instead, perhaps you can opt for a newer, but still used, car if you feel the need to upgrade your current vehicle, one with payments and maintenance you can easily afford. Better yet, you could hold off on getting a new-to-you car until you have the cash in hand.
I’m not here to discourage you from getting new luxury car if you can afford it and that’s your dream. The fact is that it’s not everyone’s dream even though we may all get a little jealous from time-to-time.
Do you dream of a luxury car? Come on and tell us, we won’t judge. 😉
