Comments on: Why Only Thinking About Affordability Makes You Poor

By: marci

marci — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:25:15 +0000

And about the lure of advertising….. Disconnect the TV and the magazine subscriptions…. sooooo little advertising will get into your life
Luv it!

By: terry

terry — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:02:45 +0000

Fascinating how many people think. I think its the basic fundamental thinking that is embedded in everyones back of their minds. What is not right and what is right. Todays society projects a way of living to the public that creates and distorts out way of thinking. Picture a world with no advertisement. Now for those of us that want to succeed financially. It’s simple. Educated yourself on the true powers of advertising.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 22:35:32 +0000

I agree with the skewed thinking of affordability. Back in high school, my friend and I got into shopping for deals. We knew how to find the best sales and the best bargains. Unfortunately, such single-mindness resulted in a closet full of clothes that I don’t really enjoy. I bought many item simply because they were relatively cheaper. This is the pitfall of affordability. Just because something is affordable, certain doesn’t mean it is a bargain. Good post David.

By: Andrea@foolsandsages.com

Andrea@foolsandsages.com — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:03:36 +0000

PFAD – Totally agree. The whole “Secret” and “abundance” thinking is great and all, but maybe we need to dial back what we consider “abundance” – and compared to most of the people in the world, the fact that you have a car AT ALL makes you wealthy.

I don’t like to make those comparisons often (the “hey, it could be worse” ones) but darn it … we’re kinda spoiled.

Drifting off-topic, probably …

By: PizzaForADream

PizzaForADream — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 23:57:34 +0000

Robert Kiyosaki says that saying “I Can’t Afford It?” immediately shuts off one’s brain to the possibilities that saying “How Can I Afford It?” allow for. While I prescribe to his thoughts, I think timing is also an important part of this process. There are many things we cannot afford now because we choose to get out of debt, buy a house, and have an emergency fund. Once these are taken care of then we can “afford” alot more even if we’re making the same money.

As far as cars, we haven’t had a car payment in over 10 years and cannot imagine living any other way. A friend got in my car the other day and said “Does the odometer really say 251,009 miles on it?!!” Yep and I plan plan on driving it until at least 300K. If you don’t have your “self worth” tied to cars and other things, life is so much cheaper.

By: Susy

Susy — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:39:41 +0000

I think people fall into this trap with the “I deserve it” mentality. Then can afford it and they deserve it so they do it. They never bother to think that they deserve a good retirement and only they can provide that for themselves. You deserve your salary for working (most of the time) but you don’t deserve to waste money on crap you don’t need at the cost of your future financial security.

The thing that makes me mad is that these people all think they need to be bailed and that it isn’t their fault that they’re in financial hardship.

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:39:41 +0000

Just the past couple of days, similar thoughts have been going through my head, as I related in On being prepared. I think many of us are too quick to spend and too slow to save. I'm just as guilty as the next person, many times, but articles like yours really helps me to refocus on what's needful. Thanks!

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:55:33 +0000

This post brought up a lot of feelings. A friend thinks I drive a “pile” (car). This car is 9 years old and has never had any major problems and it looks like most of the other cars on the road. It was paid off years ago and I have peace of mind. My prior car was a really nice car that I could afford in the beginning. I had to borrow money from my dad when I quit a higher paying job (long commute) and took a lower paying job (no commute) and couldn’t make the payments. Life felt oppressive until this debt was paid off. A fun car to drive, but not affordable after all. Though I kept it for 17 years. Life is better without monthly car payments.

By: Andrea@foolsandsages.com

Andrea@foolsandsages.com — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:22:28 +0000

It’s sometimes tough to drive my paid for 9 year old car and feel like people are looking at me with pity, but it passes quickly as I remind myself that I really care about their shows of wealth about as much as they care about mine (hint: not at all).

So much of the “can I afford it” is really “can I impress other people with the fact that I can afford it” and as I was reminded this week when I saw a $7 MILLION home in the foreclosure notices, a lot of that is just smoke and mirrors.

Our own little “can we afford it” moment – we recently had a Lifetime Fitness franchise open in our town. This place is truly impressive, quite the hangout spot, but would cost us almost $200 a month to join vs the $17 a month we pay at Fitness 19. We actually thought about joining, but only in the context of “if we were going to forego a family vacation in return for having a year of dues at a place with a pool and gym and sauna, we could justify this.” We could afford it either way, still go on the vaca even, but in the perspective of whether or not it was worth trading off something else for it? Not so impressive. Many of my friends who are seriously on the ropes financially are members … desperately trying to prove to their “friends” that they’re doing OK. Why the desperation to keep up with the Joneses?

By: Steve C @ MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

Steve C @ MyWifeQuitHerJob.com — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:58:21 +0000

Unfortunately, the education system in the United States doesn’t teach kids how to avoid this pattern of though. Great article!