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This fact is very easy to forget for most of us here, given the salaries in tech. When you're working multiple jobs or are underemployed and trying to support a

This fact is very easy to forget for most of us here, given the salaries in tech. When you're working multiple jobs or are underemployed and trying to support a family, each dollar is some suffering you can alleviate or a problem you can solve now and that is much more important than long term investment. You can't invest if you can't even guarantee that you can feed yourself for long enough to benefit from it.

ghaff 9y ago
People scraping together a few thousand dollars to buy a beater ICE so they can get to work are not doing TCO analyses. It's also a pretty open question what the cost of EVs looks like long-term. Even if we limit the discussion to new vehicles, you can buy a new ICE econobox for close to $15K which could last you 10 years and 150K miles fairly easily. I sure wouldn't bet on an electric car doing that on its original battery pack.
- ecpottinger 9y ago
  Then you will lose, the good EV cars have 90% of their battery life left after a lot more miles than that. See: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1110149_tesla-model-s-battery-life-what-the-data-show-so-far# https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1110149_tesla-model-s-b...
  - tomxor 9y ago
    For 15k? he wont lose. I think you and the parent commenter have different definitions of "scraping together a few thousand"... A Tesla model s might be sofa money for millionaires but it's unreachable to us filthy peasants thank you very much. Try find a decent EV with a battery for longevity that is also affordable.
- erikpukinskis 9y ago
  > People scraping together a few thousand dollars to buy a beater ICE so they can get to work are not doing TCO analyses Is that something you’ve studied, or are you just guessing? You don’t think there are people with low incomes who budget aggressively?
  - ghaff 9y ago
    The reasons why it can be expensive to be poor have been studied and written about rather extensively. e.g. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-greutman/why-being-poor-is-more-ex_b_9194906.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-greutman/why-being-poo... I do think many people with lower incomes budget aggressively. However, they may simply not be in a situation that they can optimize for a longer time horizon.
    - erikpukinskis 9y ago
      Ok, maybe don’t say they don’t budget then if it’s not true.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
ecpottinger 9y ago
On the other-hand, I have seen lots of people who do not have high incomes spend money on luxuriates that make them feel good but the money would be better being invested into something else in the long run. I am not talking about poor people bringing something into their life to feel good about, I am talking about people who could save thousands of dollars over three months to a year but instead spend on things like EXTRA flat screen TVs, the latest Iphone while they are still under contract to the old one, vacations where they stay in the more expensive rooms, etc. Many times in talking to them I notice they don't spend the time to do the research on where they should spend the money so they often spend more than me for the same thing and way, way too often demand they want something now. Example: My landlady was going to sign for a new furnace for her second rental (Installation charge+ $89 a month for the next 5 years), I talked her out of it and it turned out to just need a $50 new motor + installation charge $100). Last week she had no sound, she wanted to buy a new computer. I backed up her files, used the install partition and reconnected her internet and email. But she thought no sound means you have to buy a new computer!

ghaff 9y ago

People scraping together a few thousand dollars to buy a beater ICE so they can get to work are not doing TCO analyses. It's also a pretty open question what the cost of EVs looks like long-term. Even if we limit the discussion to new vehicles, you can buy a new ICE econobox for close to $15K which could last you 10 years and 150K miles fairly easily. I sure wouldn't bet on an electric car doing that on its original battery pack.

ecpottinger 9y ago
Then you will lose, the good EV cars have 90% of their battery life left after a lot more miles than that. See: https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1110149_tesla-model-s-battery-life-what-the-data-show-so-far# https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1110149_tesla-model-s-b...
- tomxor 9y ago
  For 15k? he wont lose. I think you and the parent commenter have different definitions of "scraping together a few thousand"... A Tesla model s might be sofa money for millionaires but it's unreachable to us filthy peasants thank you very much. Try find a decent EV with a battery for longevity that is also affordable.
erikpukinskis 9y ago
> People scraping together a few thousand dollars to buy a beater ICE so they can get to work are not doing TCO analyses Is that something you’ve studied, or are you just guessing? You don’t think there are people with low incomes who budget aggressively?
- ghaff 9y ago
  The reasons why it can be expensive to be poor have been studied and written about rather extensively. e.g. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-greutman/why-being-poor-is-more-ex_b_9194906.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/lauren-greutman/why-being-poo... I do think many people with lower incomes budget aggressively. However, they may simply not be in a situation that they can optimize for a longer time horizon.
  - erikpukinskis 9y ago
    Ok, maybe don’t say they don’t budget then if it’s not true.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

ecpottinger 9y ago

On the other-hand, I have seen lots of people who do not have high incomes spend money on luxuriates that make them feel good but the money would be better being invested into something else in the long run. I am not talking about poor people bringing something into their life to feel good about, I am talking about people who could save thousands of dollars over three months to a year but instead spend on things like EXTRA flat screen TVs, the latest Iphone while they are still under contract to the old one, vacations where they stay in the more expensive rooms, etc. Many times in talking to them I notice they don't spend the time to do the research on where they should spend the money so they often spend more than me for the same thing and way, way too often demand they want something now. Example: My landlady was going to sign for a new furnace for her second rental (Installation charge+ $89 a month for the next 5 years), I talked her out of it and it turned out to just need a $50 new motor + installation charge $100). Last week she had no sound, she wanted to buy a new computer. I backed up her files, used the install partition and reconnected her internet and email. But she thought no sound means you have to buy a new computer!