Murano household income......

[Kris]

Originally posted by darrick04
I am 21 (still live with parents) but make several different payments a month, including a loan... and credit card. I was approved for a 2003 Murano "certified" at 7.5% interest. I only bring in 16,000/yr yet I have never missed a payment on anything ever... guess not everyone has to be 30+ making more than 50k/yr??

You are my kind of guy! And I thought "responsibility" was a foreign word for young these days...I guess I was wrong!

[darrick04]

I appreciate that.... responsibility comes with life experiences... some people choose to turn them into reasons to be wild and crazy and do nothing with a conscience. fortunately i am not one of those!

[GripperDon]

Hope you are kind to your parents for the $800 / mo subsidy. (my low estimate of value of living at home) That raises you salary to almost double. They are wonderful for doing it and I am glad you are acting so responsible by spending wisely.

[darrick04]

Originally posted by GripperDon
Hope you are kind to your parents for the $800 / mo subsidy. (my low estimate of value of living at home) That raises you salary to almost double. They are wonderful for doing it and I am glad you are acting so responsible by spending wisely.

Well my college tuition is paid in full, thanks to scholarships, and I plan on living with the parents for as long as I can (yes the time will come when I NEED to move out).. but nonetheless I have a Murano which I love... and I am the one with my name on the payment. Thanks, have a good one!

[sobamanismo]

I applaud you, I started making payments on cars (albeit cheaper ones) at the age of 15 and was out of the house by 18. But I love to hear of someone learning to have to pay for thier toys themselves.

......On the original subject, I moved from S. Fla some years ago to S. Alabama, it's AMAZING how much nicer of a house, car, etc. someone can enjoy making the same salary in a different area! (Didn't hurt that I also went from a single guy in S. Fla, to happily married to a professional woman here )

[Phatty McPatty]

Pullin this thread out of the dust, but wow I was surprised by the graph listed above. And looking back, that was at the top of the bubble! Anyway, I live 15 miles outside of DC and to own a home and a relatively new car, your household income must be more than $100K. Compared to the rest of the country the cost of living is 43.54% Higher in my city than the U.S. average. And the closer you move toward the city, the higher it gets. Anyway, it's interesting to see the differences from one city to the next.

Patrick

PS- In terms of vehicle traffic, we bounce between 2nd and 3rd worst in the nation. At least I have a comfortable MO to ride in!

[kartl]

I envy some of you guys for spending a lot of money just for household.

[Vladmurano]

We rent from my in-laws. But I also work for my uncle as a part-time bookkeeper which adds a few more grands/year to my salary. However the wife is loaded w/ school loans and my younger brother who's in college lives w/ us. Thank God my dad pays his tuition though :-) . We recently got married so a house is in the "near future" plans but not now.MA is definitely not a cheap state to live in but we make it work!

[nafddur]

Originally posted by Vladmurano
MA is definitely not a cheap state to live in but we make it work!

Just remember, Vlad - generally in life you get what you pay for. MA is comparatively expensive and (most) red states are cheap to live in for a reason.

As for school loans, they too work out for the better in most cases. Tons of old grads out here (like my wife and I) are glad we took those loans, that we faithfully paid off long ago, out so we could go to college.

[Vladmurano]

Yea you're right Naf, you know what maybe I will take a loan and go get my MBA.Thanks for the words of wisdom!

[nafddur]

Originally posted by Vladmurano
Yea you're right Naf, you know what maybe I will take a loan and go get my MBA.

That sounds wise, Vlad - especially with our economy on the cusp of a big (anticipated, of course) recovery. A Masters won't price you out of a job (as a PHD might), and could even enhance your initial salary. That can pay off big time for you over the long haul.

When I got my BS at RPI in the early 70's, the engineering market was at an especially low point. Out of necessity (lack of a job offer) I took advantage of a one year, teaching assistant master's program (also at RPI) that cost me nothing. I actually made a few bucks since I got paid to teach undergrad labs in my major while getting my ME. When I got my degree, I found I was more marketable plus the engineering market had opened up in just that one year. I had multiple offers to chose from, and I also know the masters got me a few more $$'s in my starting salary. Early investing - thanks in part to the higher starting salary - is one of the reasons I was able to fully retire at 49 (over 10 years ago).

Getting an MBA coupled with the Bush recession being in the past (especially here in MA) might work out for you similarly. Good luck.

[Pilgrim]

I work in continuing education at Colorado State University (where incidentally, we have one of the best distance MBA programs in the country...)

The recession has been good for continuing education, because everyone wants to be competitive in getting that next job - or advancing. Education is often one of the keys to meeting that goal, so education tends to be counter-cyclical; enrollment goes up as the economy softens.

Income isn't necessarily a huge factor in Murano ownership - because many of us bought them used.

I've bought ONE new car, a 1977 Chevy Monza Spyder with 305 V8, 4-speed and positrack. It cost me $5400 ordered from the factory. Great car, a blast to drive, and it stayed in my family for more than 20 years before being sold to a collector.

I haven't bought a new car since, and am highly unlikely to do so. I sold cars for a couple of years while doing my master's work, and I learned that the REAL values are 2-3 year old used cars with under 50K miles. Those are a big sweet spot in terms of price and value.

I'm always grateful to the good folks who buy new cars, because we used car buyers need them to take the depreciation hit for us and trade in a few years. It makes for a nice used car market. I bought my Murano 3 model years old with 45K miles, and I'm really enjoying it...for about 2/3 the price of a new one.