Where I am from my salery is quite okay to be honest. I get about 3700 € after taxes (state insurances, health care etc.) each month but I don’t see me affording a car anytime soon.
I pay about 1200 € a month on my debt for my house, so I have about 2500 € left. Another 600 € go away for electricity, water, trash, internet, phone provider etc…
Leaves me with 1900 € left for the month. I’d say I spend about 900 € for food and household supply a month.
1000 € I save 500 € for my house for later. 250 € for vacation (3000 € in total a year) And 250 € for car.
It is going to take me about 5 years to save for a 15.000 € car. I don’t know how people buy BMWs, etc. I know I don’t earn that much but I need a car somehow my current car is breaking down and I got no money saved yet. Only about 1500 € cause I spent all my money on paving (had to be done) and my emergency saving wasn’t enough for the bill of the paving and other work on that area around my house.
I only save since 3 years cause I wasnt able to before.
I am not even ranting about the joke of a car I might get with 15.000 €. In my country I can’t even get the smallest Toyota with that. It’s a friggin’ joke that a Toyota Aigo or whatever it is called is going for 19.000 € (new) but whatever.
I have a BMW. I afford it because I bought it heavily depreciated out of warranty and try to do most repairs myself. I have a trustworthy independent mechanic who will do jobs for cash if it’s too hard to DIY
I learned a while ago that just because someone drives a nice car, doesn’t mean they got it through financially sound means. Way more people are deep in debt than you think.
44.000 €/year is certainly decent money but definitely not “buy a (new) BMW” money. Many years ago I got a little promotional booklet from the guys at Car Talk, a public radio show in the USA. In it their conclusion was the best value for your money is to buy a used car that’s about 3-years-old and sell it after 6 years, assuming average driving (I think around 10.000 miles/year, or around 16.000 kilometers/year). The car will lose its most value in those first 3 years and lose value more slowly after that. The flip side is the car will have increasing maintenance costs and likely lose warranty coverage in that time, and if you have to finance the car the interest rates likely will be higher than buying new.
Is anyone going to tell them?
I’m the last person you ever want to ask for financial advice, but I was shocked at how much food costs for you. We spend a little more than half of what you do on groceries.
Also, I’m not sure how common this is in your country, but here in the US, the vast majority of people finance their cars. Most of the people you see driving around in “nice” cars don’t own them outright; their bank does, and they’re paying off their loan over a period of (usually 5) years.
It costs more to finance than to buy outright. The bank wants to make money in interest, so it’d be more than the cost of saving for the car. The longest loan I’ve seen is 72 months (6 years) and that’s still not going to help OP get a new car.
Oh, you’re absolutely correct. If you can buy outright, that’s the way to go. The only reason I brought that up is because OP mentioned “I don’t know how people buy BMWs, etc.” Some are rich; a lot are financing. Saving first, if you can, is certainly the best option, though.
