Every once in a while, you see something that really makes you think. Hard.
Twice this week, I've seen a Bentley car that is obviously owned by someone who lives locally. Now, Bentley makes a lovely car. A lovely, expensive car. According to Edmund's, we're looking at more than $200,000 for a basic Bentley. That's a lot of money.
I can be a little judgemental when it comes to spending money, but I was trying to think outside my usual small box. I tried to imagine a world in which I had so much money that buying a $200,000 car fell into the realm of reasonable. Obviously, there is some level of income or assets at which that type of spending makes sense, no matter how frugal you are. But where does it lie?
I'm not going to pretend that I have the answer to this question, because I don't. I'm pretty sure that whatever amount of $$ we're talking about is a level that my family is unlikely to reach. But the question is more nuanced than that, because what's reasonable for you might be completely unreasonable to me.
The question here is: how do you decide what is reasonable to spend on any single budget item? It's challenging - on one hand, every person needs to make decisions for themselves. On the other hand, there are some generally accepted guidelines for what might be a reasonable amount of spending on certain categories of spending.
Just today, I had the pleasure of participating in Experian's weekly Credit Chat. This week focused on issues that affect military families, and one of the other guests was J.J. Montanaro of USAA. In our conversation, J.J. said that he uses 10% as a reasonable portion of income to be allocated towards transportation costs. So, let's take a $200,000 car: if you only owned ONE car, and if you replaced your car every ten years, and never had any insurance or fuel or maintenance costs, you'd have to make $200,000 per year for that purchase to fall into a category of reasonable. Except that, of course, very few families own one car, and we do all have insurance and fuel and maintenance. So, let's reckon that you have to be earning at least $400,000 per year before buying a Bentley seems even vaguely financially sensible.
Now, there are probably plenty of people who make that kind of money. I just don't happen to know any, and I have a hard time imagining how it might feel. I'm guessing that your perspective on spending must be a little different at that level of income, especially if you have any confidence that the income is going to continue.
Have you ever made a purchase that might be considered extravagant? Or do you have a regular monthly expense that might seem high to others? Why does that make sense for your situation, or is it completely crazy but you do it anyway? I am fascinated but this subject.
