Being Able to Afford Something Is Not The Same As Being Able To Maintain It

[mirakal]

Reality is, most of the people do not think what will be the consequences for today's action and decisions because they are more focused on what they can do at the present than think of tomorrow. They buy their dream cars, dream house or dream business without even thinking if they can truly afford the maintenance cost within the next months and years after purchased. And that instantly put their finances at risk because of wrong decision making that will brought long years of sacrifices in their lives.

Affordability isn't focused on the price alone, but the maintenance cost matters more than that.

[Alvin_talk]

Do you think people pay enough attention to the cost of maintaining what they buy or do we focus too much on the initial price?

No. Trendy things are the order of the day. Most people buy liabilities just because they can afford it momentarily without considering the consequences of their decision along the line. One of the major reason for this is that everyone has an urge or desire to be included. No one wishes to be left behind, beside an average Joe don't even care to keep record of his income and expenses. They will spend beyond their means and end up in debt. Such a sad reality

[Tamaperdana]

Snip

Do you think people pay enough attention to the cost of maintaining what they buy or do we focus too much on the initial price?

It's certain that when buying something like a car, not only do we spend money on it initially, but after that, sooner or later, other maintenance costs will also arise. Such as changing tires, changing the oil, or servicing the brakes. Because these three things are clearly common for people who own cars. But even so, it's also certain that if we buy a new car, it will be a long time before our car really needs a major service. So I don't think the maintenance costs are too high if you look at it.

Because basically, changing the oil, or replacing the brakes, obviously won't cost much money for standard cars. But for luxury cars, the price is definitely much more expensive for oil changes and brake replacements. But yes, I don't think we need to make this a headache, because I'm sure if someone can afford to buy a car, obviously he must have thought about the future and maintenance costs as well. Maybe a small number of people are not like that, but clearly they are only a minority.

[viljy]

Sometimes people make certain purchases solely to look no worse than others or to impress those around them. Moreover, sometimes such purchases are made on credit! Not to mention that they will then have to bear the costs of maintaining their purchase. For example, a car is often such a fetish. In reality, this ultimately only worsens their financial situation if it is not initially adequate to cover both the expensive purchase and the subsequent maintenance costs.

[henmark]

An uncle of mine sold his smaller Toyota Camry, and then bought a Lexus 350, I'm not sure if it was a 350 but one thing I am sure of is that the new care is more expensive to maintain and burns through more fuel than the previous one, now he is always complaining about how what he used to spend before is nothing compared to what he is spending now.
Why did he buy the new car? Because he wanted to drive something bigger and flashier and because at that point in time he could afford it, he did not consider the price for petrol that has skyrocketed in the past few years here, he did not even consider that parts for the new care would be more expensive than the ones he used to get for the former one.
This is the same thing a lot of people do, they make serious life decisions based on what their emotions tell them at that point in time without considering how the future will turn out.

Owning a utility asset should either save you expenses or improve your finances. Since a car is used, for example. Most people own cars because they want to up their game.

Society now measures wealth by owning a car, house, and business. If you own at least one, they won't look at you less in the society. It is the reason why a few buy a car so that they can be able to land a job, contract, meet business partners, and do logistics with ease. The other few buy their own car due to peer pressure and to show off. If owning a car and a house won't save expenses on transportation, logistics, and rent, don't rush into owning them.

But also let's not forget how important a car can be sometimes. Without a car, one might end up spending more money in travelling. It's not just the money but also time. It would take way more time to travel the same distance without a car. So for people depending on travel, car is a necessity and they will have to purchase a car at some point. As these people rely on travelling, they can definitely afford to spend on maintenance. Time is something really important for me and if I could save even a few minutes, I won't mind paying a premium price to do so because I can make better use of that time.

Buying a car simply because you want to show-off is something that will bring financial burdens. Without the actual need, car is just a luxury and in order to be able to afford luxuries, we should really have a strong financial backup. Lower or middle class can hardly afford to spend on such luxuries so buying a car should be off the table at least until we can add another income source.

[bakasabo]

It's certain that when buying something like a car, not only do we spend money on it initially, but after that, sooner or later, other maintenance costs will also arise. Such as changing tires, changing the oil, or servicing the brakes. Because these three things are clearly common for people who own cars. But even so, it's also certain that if we buy a new car, it will be a long time before our car really needs a major service. So I don't think the maintenance costs are too high if you look at it.

Because basically, changing the oil, or replacing the brakes, obviously won't cost much money for standard cars. But for luxury cars, the price is definitely much more expensive for oil changes and brake replacements. But yes, I don't think we need to make this a headache, because I'm sure if someone can afford to buy a car, obviously he must have thought about the future and maintenance costs as well. Maybe a small number of people are not like that, but clearly they are only a minority.

Some people think that new car does not break and warranty covers everything. That is one of the traps especially car buyers get into. Being crazy happy with purchase, they dont listen to what manager tell them. Then they get confused why change of brake pads and disks are not warranty claim. Or that oil and filter change cost that much, when on their old car it cost almost nothing. They have been playing small amount for maintenance and local garage, and they get shocked how much maintenance cost at official dealer even for a regular new car (or they will lose warranty if they do maintenance elsewhere).

For example in many places/services in my town, if you buy oil and filter, they will change it free of charge. But doing same at official dealer cost 50-60EUR/h, and as they do inspection during change, they write 2-3h of work in your bill.

[aoluain]

A lot of financial decisions are based on one question; CAN I AFFORD TO BUY IT? but I think another question is just as important; CAN I AFFORD TO KEEP IT?

Very true.

Before I was properly financially educated I fell into this trap - many times, by buying that which
I could afford at a stretch but couldnt see ahead far enough to realise it was unsustainable.

I would throw it out there to say that a good percentage of the average population make this very
basic error in a world where "BUY ME" advertising is everywhere and algorhythms are set to pull
us towards purchases of what we are interested in and dont necessarily need and in turn becomes
either a waste of money are a liability.

[Faisal2202]

A lot of financial decisions are based on one question; CAN I AFFORD TO BUY IT? but I think another question is just as important; CAN I AFFORD TO KEEP IT?

For instance someone may be able to afford a car today but the real cost does not end when the can is purchased. There is fuel, maintenance, insurance, repairs and other running expenses. Sometimes the purchase itself is not what create financial pressure, it is the reoccurring cost that comes after the purchase.

This made me realize that affordability should probably be looked at from two different angles; CAN I AFFORD THE PURCHASE AND CAN MY INCOME COMFORTABLY SUPPORT THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH IT? Something can be within your budget today but becomes a burden 6 months later if the ongoing cost are ignored. I think this is one reason why two people with similar incomes can have completely different levels of financial stability.

Do you think people pay enough attention to the cost of maintaining what they buy or do we focus too much on the initial price?

Of course, I can't just buy a car because I know I have to not just manage it, but I have to keep in mind the damage and repair costs I have to face in the future and be ready for them, so when someone hits me or I hit them, I won't lose my control and do something stupid like people who have no control and then the next moment they are in road rage situations.

But if I have to buy something that I don't have to manage with time, like an iPhone, laptop, or any device that doesn't need repair costs, I will buy them, but then I won't ask these two questions. I will ask what benefit I can get from this. Like right now, I plan to buy a MacBook Pro M5. I can manage it somehow, but I question its benefits first, like what I want to do could be done on an M1 or M2, so I can save more, but then I will look for deals, pros and cons, new technological improvements, etc. Just to convince myself.

[Female King]

If you don't have money to maintain what you can afford it will be more better you never bought it because when you can't maintain it you will sell it at more lower price than you bought. I have seen people who bought car just to show up because they have the opportunity to touch small money along the way they couldn't maintain the car for a long time and they sold regrettably, sometimes people do the right thing at the wrong time, you need to have a stable source of income to be able to buy a car and still maintain it for some one who isn't financially stable it's better to buy the car and use it as a taxi instead of flexing around with it.

[2stout]

Ah yes.  It's like when a person gets a significant other.  Even though there may have been a lot of work and effort involved, the "easy" part was getting them.  The hard part is keeping them/the relationship.  Like when buying a car or house, maintaining is the hard part.  If you can't maintain either, then you really couldn't afford either.  Maintaining should be included when considering affordability.

[Leahized]

No. Trendy things are the order of the day. Most people buy liabilities just because they can afford it momentarily without considering the consequences of their decision along the line. One of the major reason for this is that everyone has an urge or desire to be included. No one wishes to be left behind, beside an average Joe don't even care to keep record of his income and expenses. They will spend beyond their means and end up in debt. Such a sad reality.

Undoubtedly, a person tries to keep pace with another person, but if they are economically weak, the effort is in vain. Literally, efforts can bring any person to the threshold of success. However, must focus on actions that can yield profits in the future. Btw, I disagree with you. Because an ordinary person pays attention to their own financial situation. Because this has been presented from my real life.

To be honest, those who are economically very weak and in real life go through many crises. Because I have seen very few people who present themselves in a luxurious manner. Moreover, a poor person always keeps track of income and expenses, and in contrast there is one percent of individuals.

[Junii]

Do you think people pay enough attention to the cost of maintaining what they buy or do we focus too much on the initial price?

Bro i completely agree with u actually majority of the people just calculate the affordability based on whether they can make the purchase not whether they can comfortably manage the cost in the future. Being able to buy something does not always mean you can comfortably afford it in the long run  especially when maintenance and repairing expenses also needed in that thing. Also i think the affordability depend on the mindset of a person like some people when they have money to buy a car they took a loan for the car on which they buy a car while with there own money they invest it in the business  from where they get a regular return with the passage of time they also have an asset which give them return while a car as well so in the whole story i think financial knowledge is very necessary whether to buy a car or any other thing  because affordability is not just about u have money to buy something  it is also about understanding what that buying will cost you and what you could do with that money too.