posted on Oct, 16 2008 @ 11:29 AM
Originally posted by AHostileMe
One of these posts said something to the effect of renting being cheaper than buying. Really? I am paying less on a mortgage for a house 3 times the
size of the cheapest rent I could find in my area. If I rented the whole time and tried to save the difference to buy a house in cash, I would get
nowhere. Besides the fact that over time your rent will go up and you will never save enough to buy a house.
I have to agree with this. It costs far more to rent than to buy, and when you rent, you are investing money that you will never get back. If you
buy, at least you can sell and get back some or more of your money.
We bought our first home for 57k at a time when the average cost of a home was 150k. We've been fixing it up ever since. A few short years after we
bought it, the average cost of a home skyrocketed to 250k making it impossible for us to "upgrade" because we refuse to take out more than a 20 year
mortgage. At the same time, my mother, who's in her 50's and has horrible credit, purchased a 300k home with a flexible 30 year loan.........I
couldn't believe anyone was dumb enough to offer it to her and I couldn't believe she was dumb enough to get herself into that. About a year ago
she filed bankruptcy. That right there is the problem I see with most Americans. The "I want it now because I deserve to have it too" attitude.
Luckily my husband and I don't have those same views.
I am all for living credit free, but it is hard this day and age to live on cash. I have a mortgage, and my car will be paid off in 3 months! We
have our money already saved for my husband to purchase a new vehicle, we are just waiting to see where things are going with vehicles...(seem to be
at a crossroads at the moment). We have only 1 credit card and it is for emergencies only....and there is a total balance of $0 on that card right
now....feels good! The last emergency was last summer when our air conditioner broke, and where I live, people die from heat, so we had to replace it
right away. We paid it off as soon as we could.
Credit can be a good thing when used responsibly. We have a savings, several of them actually. But sometimes, there are things that cost more than
what you have saved. It feels good to have a cushion, but you have to know that and emergency isn't needing that new big TV or house full of
furniture. That's where things got out of hand I think. Too many people aren't satisfied with living within their means. It has to be the newest
car, newest house, most expensive furniture, latest electronics, etc.
It seems people have forgotten the difference between what we need and what we want. Credit isn't the problem, its the irresponsible use of credit
by a vast majority of people and businesses that has brought us to this point we are in now.