[2011ninja]

Originally Posted by Likeanowl

I make $5 annually. Can I afford a bmw?

Nice you make more than me…

I'm guessing $5.00 before taxes

I have no income

My parents pay for my car.

I'm a senior in High School

[KillerExcessive]

Originally Posted by 2011ninja

Nice you make more than me…

I'm guessing $5.00 before taxes

I have no income

My parents pay for my car.

I'm a senior in High School

Living the dream, man. Living the dream.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by 2011ninja

My parents pay for my car.

I'm a senior in High School

Pfffft.. your parents must be poor.







/s

[Gfit]

Originally Posted by themnmd

Who resurrected this thread?

Haven't you heard? This is the thread where virtue signaling and humble bragging meet up.

[Vishal50028]

I shine shoes at the airport

[Spykexx]

Originally Posted by m3g80alloc

Sounds like we both frequent the FIRE subs a bit too much haha. You could certainly pay for the car if you make sub 100k. I just don’t think you would be contributing to your retirement or investing at all at that point. Retirement may not be what people are concerned about anyways.

Not true depending where you are in the sub 100k. If you made good choices and live in an area with decent COL, still doable. Such as the Midwest, you can find a plethora of houses for under 100k that are pretty decent. For example excluding our 2 BMWs from our bills, our monthly total in bills is only about $1200. Throwing an M on top of that doubles bills but still very manageable if it's a priority to someone, and could still put a nice chunk aside.

I grew up incredibly poor, made good life choices and man is it still a hard pill to swallow even though we can easily afford it. But we both worked our asses off to be where we're at, at 30. Cars are both of our passion, and these are our track cars. Racings takes up most our summer so we don't have a lot of other things we spend money on such as vacations.

[vaneesaj]

nice one,thanks for sharing this

[Salespunk]

Originally Posted by Spykexx

Not true depending where you are in the sub 100k. If you made good choices and live in an area with decent COL, still doable. Such as the Midwest, you can find a plethora of houses for under 100k that are pretty decent. For example excluding our 2 BMWs from our bills, our monthly total in bills is only about $1200. Throwing an M on top of that doubles bills but still very manageable if it's a priority to someone, and could still put a nice chunk aside.

I grew up incredibly poor, made good life choices and man is it still a hard pill to swallow even though we can easily afford it. But we both worked our asses off to be where we're at, at 30. Cars are both of our passion, and these are our track cars. Racings takes up most our summer so we don't have a lot of other things we spend money on such as vacations.

With remote work this becomes a realistic possibility for a lot of people

[madpistol]

Single Male (divorced), no kids, minimal bills to pay, minimal spending outside of necessities, no debt (outside of a car payment).

My barometer is simple: There is around $1000-2000 going into my savings each month (my work offers 401k, insurance, and all the benefits most places offer) after all of the above is paid, including my current car payment. Because of this, I can afford a payment on an M3 and still maintain a level of comfort that is actually pretty nice. I keep a very tight leash on what is an acceptable price for goods, and I stick to it.

It's all about priorities. Do you prioritize multiple high-end vacations each year? Then an M3 might be a bit more difficult to justify as your social spending is probably best used elsewhere. Personally, I want a nice car... so I'm going to get a nice car.


Also, my base salary (at the moment) is under 6 figures (after bonus, it's well over, but I don't factor that in because it's not guaranteed).

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Salespunk

With remote work this becomes a realistic possibility for a lot of people

I just hope it's permanent. I know more than a few colleagues who moved out of state that still work in the same "office" as me. Some are even on the other side of the world.

[yami sukehiro]

Originally Posted by madpistol

Single Male (divorced), no kids, minimal bills to pay, minimal spending outside of necessities, no debt (outside of a car payment).

My barometer is simple: There is around $1000-2000 going into my savings each month (my work offers 401k, insurance, and all the benefits most places offer) after all of the above is paid, including my current car payment. Because of this, I can afford a payment on an M3 and still maintain a level of comfort that is actually pretty nice. I keep a very tight leash on what is an acceptable price for goods, and I stick to it.

It's all about priorities. Do you prioritize multiple high-end vacations each year? Then an M3 might be a bit more difficult to justify as your social spending is probably best used elsewhere. Personally, I want a nice car... so I'm going to get a nice car.


Also, my base salary (at the moment) is under 6 figures (after bonus, it's well over, but I don't factor that in because it's not guaranteed).

I would also say this all heavily depends on how much cash you can put down. Depending on how much cash you have at your disposal, you could always fit the financed amount to your budget

[s58]

Originally Posted by Likeanowl

I make $5 annually. Can I afford a bmw?

If you can find a 0% loan at a few hundred years, actually yes.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by s58_MT

If you can find a 0% loan at a few hundred years, actually yes.

I hear Switzerland offers 100 year mortgages...

[androidtopp]

Originally Posted by madpistol

Single Male (divorced), no kids, minimal bills to pay, minimal spending outside of necessities, no debt (outside of a car payment).

My barometer is simple: There is around $1000-2000 going into my savings each month (my work offers 401k, insurance, and all the benefits most places offer) after all of the above is paid, including my current car payment. Because of this, I can afford a payment on an M3 and still maintain a level of comfort that is actually pretty nice. I keep a very tight leash on what is an acceptable price for goods, and I stick to it.

It's all about priorities. Do you prioritize multiple high-end vacations each year? Then an M3 might be a bit more difficult to justify as your social spending is probably best used elsewhere. Personally, I want a nice car... so I'm going to get a nice car.


Also, my base salary (at the moment) is under 6 figures (after bonus, it's well over, but I don't factor that in because it's not guaranteed).

This is effectively my outlook as well. House and property taxes are paid? My 401k, HSA, IRA(s), and brokerage are funded? And I have a few months' pay worth of liquid savings for a sudden expense? The financial advisor isn't telling me that I'm going to starve in retirement? OK, then the rest of the money that hits my checking account each month is safe to SET ON FIRE. And I've chosen to set it on fire with with an M3. And...also a lot of Legos, if I can be honest.

I've watched other people who I suspect made a lot less money buy their expensive toys a lot earlier in life, and I just keep telling myself that my retirement will probably be more comfortable - only once I could tell myself that and really believe it did I feel OK spending this kind of money on a car. When all my other necessities are covered, I'm comfortable with this kind of "frivolous" expense, regardless of what my salary is.

A key factor in my equation is being the opposite of house poor - 11 years in to a very low interest 15 year mortgage, and I owe more on the M each month than I do on the house. And I owe more on the M *overall* than I do on the house. (I refer to this as "the American Dream") I'm not living in a dump, just living WELL within my means - the house I could afford 11+ years ago is much more modest than the house I could afford now, but I'm in no hurry to pay more for something I don't need (Bigger lawn to maintain? Extra rooms to furnish? No thanks.), and that keeps that part of my monthly bills low, frees up M and Lego money.

[themnmd]

Originally Posted by Gfit

Haven't you heard? This is the thread where virtue signaling and humble bragging meet up.

Lmao 👍🏻

[Waterbelly]

Minor detail: what you can afford is dictated by how much you have, not how much you make.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Waterbelly

Minor detail: what you can afford is dictated by how much you have, not how much you make.

but.... but.... This is 'murica!

[Amos1262]

Wife + me = ~500k this year.

[yousefnjr]

I’m 0 and saved 15% on my car insurance by calling that fucking emu

[barryc365]

Originally Posted by Pilla

I’m in software sales. It’s just me and the wife, no kids and never will. 30 y/o and my taxes last year said I made 311k. With stock it’s closer to 550k.

Sports cars are where I splurge a little bit and have never regretted it.

I bought a 89k mile S5 for 25k when I was 21 and it almost bankrupted me. But it was so much fun and absolutely worth it.

Sometimes, When you are young and dumb with no family, it's a not a bad time to stretch yourself financially. It's makes you realise what it takes to earn money and meet your obligations

When I was young I saved a lot and spent a lot on cars. Meanwhile my friends spent their money in bars or just on garbage and had no 'asset' to show for their work at the end of the day. I was then able to sell the cars and put the money towards an apartment at a later point

If you didn't stretch yourself and spend the money on the S5, you would have just pissed the money away on some other crap anyway.

[CanesM4]

I make 450k a year but spend 450k and $1 per year

[madpistol]

Originally Posted by barryc365

Sometimes, When you are young and dumb with no family, it's a not a bad time to stretch yourself financially. It's makes you realise what it takes to earn money and meet your obligations

When I was young I saved a lot and spent a lot on cars. Meanwhile my friends spent their money in bars or just on garbage and had no 'asset' to show for their work at the end of the day. I was then able to sell the cars and put the money towards an apartment at a later point

If you didn't stretch yourself and spend the money on the S5, you would have just pissed the money away on some other crap anyway.

This is my take. I’m definitely not young, but I don’t spend my extra money on stuff like bars and other social venues. It’s just not my thing. I’ve been married, and it didn’t work out. I’ve started dating again and found myself super frustrated with the field being presented to me. Instead of playing the game, I’ve decided to take a more passive approach and enjoy myself while I can.

I don’t make much compared to a lot of people here, but I’m smart about how I spend my money and put plenty away each month, so I can afford to absorb additional expense incurred from M3 ownership.