4 ms·

Well, when you put on a 4WD SUV as 'essential' and the payment/costs is approx. 65% of housing expenses, either the numbers are padded or someone doing that is

by BSousa 12y ago

Well, when you put on a 4WD SUV as 'essential' and the payment/costs is approx. 65% of housing expenses, either the numbers are padded or someone doing that is a fucking idiot. 4k education expenses also seems excessive but I won't comment on that since I don't really know much about the US education system costs but apparel 2.6k? More than Utilities? WTF? That comes to around 200 dollars on apparel per month.

pessimizer 12y ago
Do you have a more realistic automobile for a family of four? IMO, it's more realistic to have two cars, because it usually takes two incomes to make 130K, and 275K houses aren't near good public transportation.
- jmillikin 12y ago
  How about a car (or two)? Let the rich parents buy an SUV to haul the entire soccer team.
  - pessimizer 12y ago
    And that's going to cost you less than $900 a month, including insurance, repairs, and fuel?
    - jmillikin 12y ago
      Yes, easily.
    - phamilton 12y ago
      2013 Mazda 5, $333/month payment, $50/month for 2 tanks of gas, $80/month insurance, service averages less than $50/month. Total: ~ $500/month. Fits our family of 4 nicely.
- BSousa 12y ago
  We are a family of 3, plan on another one soon. We have a Toyota Auris (Corolla over in the states). It will last us many more years (unless it fully breaks down) and it is more than enough. Sure, would it be nice to have more space for when vacation comes and need to bring a few more things, sure.. but not 1000 bucks per month worth. We are now a 1 car family, but when we had two, the other one was a 10 year old Toyota Yaris that whoever didn't had to drive our kid used to go to work/errands. As someone else in the thread mentioned, this isn't the "America Dream", this is the "I want shit and have fun dream".
- eitally 12y ago
  I don't see why either a minivan or mini-mini (like the Mazda CX-5) or crossover (Toyota Highlander, Kia Sorento, Hyundai SantaFe) wouldn't be a good choice. I am living the proverbial American Dream and love our Odyssey to death. Guess what, though: it's not new (a 2008), and it costs nowhere near the article's projected annual cost, especially if you do your own oil/fluid changes. I drove a VW GTI and my wife had a Golf TDI when our first child was born and there was no conceivable way to fit his car seat rear-facing behind me, so we sold my GTI and bought a bigger vehicle. Minivans are awesome. :)

by BSousa 12y ago

pessimizer 12y ago

Do you have a more realistic automobile for a family of four? IMO, it's more realistic to have two cars, because it usually takes two incomes to make 130K, and 275K houses aren't near good public transportation.

jmillikin 12y ago
How about a car (or two)? Let the rich parents buy an SUV to haul the entire soccer team.
- pessimizer 12y ago
  And that's going to cost you less than $900 a month, including insurance, repairs, and fuel?
  - jmillikin 12y ago
    Yes, easily.
  - phamilton 12y ago
    2013 Mazda 5, $333/month payment, $50/month for 2 tanks of gas, $80/month insurance, service averages less than $50/month. Total: ~ $500/month. Fits our family of 4 nicely.
BSousa 12y ago
We are a family of 3, plan on another one soon. We have a Toyota Auris (Corolla over in the states). It will last us many more years (unless it fully breaks down) and it is more than enough. Sure, would it be nice to have more space for when vacation comes and need to bring a few more things, sure.. but not 1000 bucks per month worth. We are now a 1 car family, but when we had two, the other one was a 10 year old Toyota Yaris that whoever didn't had to drive our kid used to go to work/errands. As someone else in the thread mentioned, this isn't the "America Dream", this is the "I want shit and have fun dream".
eitally 12y ago
I don't see why either a minivan or mini-mini (like the Mazda CX-5) or crossover (Toyota Highlander, Kia Sorento, Hyundai SantaFe) wouldn't be a good choice. I am living the proverbial American Dream and love our Odyssey to death. Guess what, though: it's not new (a 2008), and it costs nowhere near the article's projected annual cost, especially if you do your own oil/fluid changes. I drove a VW GTI and my wife had a Golf TDI when our first child was born and there was no conceivable way to fit his car seat rear-facing behind me, so we sold my GTI and bought a bigger vehicle. Minivans are awesome. :)