Your M3 price vs. your disposable income

[jbcarioca]

In chatting with my wife about this thread we realized that there’s another significant variable that contributed to our financial situation: neither of us chose to have children. I suspect number of children someone is responsible for has a much more significant bearing on their financial situation than whether they choose to finance their car!

We forgot! I'm quite certain that children are a major factor. There is a given socioeconomic cohort that family has high disposable income low debt and high net worth. DINK, incorporating several major modes. I'm chagrined that I did not mention that here.

 

[Tummy]

I think a better measure is percent of net worth. Our rule of thumb is to never spend or have more than 5% of net worth tied up in cars at any one time.

 

[206er]

We forgot! I'm quite certain that children are a major factor. There is a given socioeconomic cohort that family has high disposable income low debt and high net worth. DINK, incorporating several major modes. I'm chagrined that I did not mention that here.

Yeah, kids are a sizable expense. Our toddler's part-time nanny alone costs over $1700/month. And then there's the cost of feeding, clothing, booking, and toying him... all worth it of course but I will admit that I vastly underestimated how expensive having a kid can be.

 

[SageBrush]

In chatting with my wife about this thread we realized that there’s another significant variable that contributed to our financial situation: neither of us chose to have children. I suspect number of children someone is responsible for has a much more significant bearing on their financial situation than whether they choose to finance their car!

Godwin's corollary sure to pop up here.

 

[SageBrush]

I think a better measure is percent of net worth. Our rule of thumb is to never spend or have more than 5% of net worth tied up in cars at any one time.

This has pretty much been my behavior, although I have to admit that a Tesla could have been different for me since I consider it as much a social contribution as a car.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

To be clear, financing is being used here in the context of indebtedness.

Debt is a harsh master. You take from your future; and if you are unlucky and lose your job and income stream you may have little separating you from a life on the street.

And you have no savings to fall back on, and you aren't willing to change your spending habits, and maybe something else I haven't thought of. Having said that, I agree that everyone should be concerned about their finances, be it spending, investing, or accruing debt.

 

[EVNow]

Yeah, kids are a sizable expense. Our toddler's part-time nanny alone costs over $1700/month. And then there's the cost of feeding, clothing, booking, and toying him... all worth it of course but I will admit that I vastly underestimated how expensive having a kid can be.

We pay $3k+ a month. That is like financing 3 Model Ss. More than I ever paid on mortgage.

 

[Thomas Edison]

Bump: because a new thread that's pretty much the same was started.

 

[voip-ninja]

Bump: because a new thread that's pretty much the same was started.

No, the threads are different.

One is asking how many months of disposable income it will take to pay for your M3 configuration... which says nothing of what that disposable income is, which definition of disposable income is being used, or how much the M3 configuration costs.

The other/newer thread is simply asking what household gross income is for M3 reservation holders.

 

[david_42]

Depending on my wife's next job, it could be anywhere from four to seven months. Irrelevant in any case, as it will be paid for out of capital funds, not income.