I'm with B767Driver on this one. If I can afford to make the payments on a loan, I can afford to save the money
beforehand and pay cash. It will actually be easier and cheaper, since a loan will cost me huge amounts of interest above and beyond the cost of what I am buying. The only downside, if you want to consider it to be a downside, is delayed gratification. Americans have much to learn from other cultures in this area.
Don't think that I'm coming from a holier-than-thou position, either. I made the mistake of going out on a financial limb when I was in my early twenties, and had a nice new Trans Am repo'd when I was laid off from a sweet paying job with General Motors, and had to work at half the wages that I had been receiving. Been there, done that, ain't going back.
Debt is a monster that just continues to grow. The best way to stop it is to never let it in the front door in the first place. After that it takes even more dedication and hard work to stem the tide, and it is all too easy to get overwhelmed.
Flying Ninja, please don't think that I am trying to make an example of your situation, or preach to you about what you should or shouldn't have done. I'm just trying to build on your example and give advice to others out there to help them avoid similar things happening to them. You can search back through my old posts and find where I have said the same thing many times over, and it is probably the same for B767.
Sorry about what happened to you. Thank you for sharing, hopefully it will help someone else.
