i know it's fun to talk about more and more hp etc, but do you ever feel like you are already lucky to own the s2k or any car for that matter and think it to be an insane indulgence to even consider a porsche, etc?

esp after visiting other countries where people dont have much, it feels strange that we compete with how much we have.

 

yes dyhappy. The s2k was my first car. I bought it brand new when I was 17, so it's not a big deal for me. I truly love my car for what it is, and the character it has. One of the reasons I haven't upgraded to a cayman or a 911 is that people already envy my material possessions. I hate that look I get when people think I have it good. I work my ass off for what I have, and I don't buy my toys to show off, it's my passion. People just don't seem to understand that.

 

I felt lucky to own my S2000's, but bought a Cayman S, so I'd have to answer no. It's paid for, and I've maxed out my 401(K) contributions for the year, so I'd hardly consider it an insane indulgence.

I've never been into competing for material possessions, and would happily give up all my toys to get my brother, who died a few years ago, back. There's def. a law of diminishing marginal returns - a 2x expensive car isn't going to make you 2x as happy, nor will an addtional car in the garage.

 

I would say I do. I've never owned an S, but plan on buying something as or more expensive sometime soon, and it's something I've never been able to do before, so my capability for buying material things is on the upswing, which I can't be happier about.

But there are other intangibles. I do not care for Phoenix largely, though I do like certain aspects of it. I'd much rather live somewhere else though, even if it meant less cash coming in on the 15th and 31st. It just always seems to work out that the work comes more quickly here than other places, and most of my professional contacts are here too.

Chris S, I very much sympathize with your outlook. I lost a cousin last year to a form of cancer so rare, less than a dozen people on Earth have it. She was young too, so I know what you mean. I've also had other friends around my age with health issues I have been lucky enough to avoid thus far, and am going to try to continue avoiding. That right there pays off more than just about anything anyone could ask for.

There are days where I drive through Scottsdale and think "dammit I want that house" or "...that car", but my life right now certainly doesn't suck, and if I keep my head screwed on straight, that stuff comes eventually. We're definitely all lucky to live here or in like countries.

Another line of thinking though might be that our culture has really trended too much toward material concerns, and that if we suddenly found ourselves without even basic amenities, we'd be helpless to a degree. I admire people who have the courage to live outside the bounds of everyday niceties.

 

There are a heck of a lot worse places to be stuck than PHX, my friend.

 

Not really- I guess I'm in that stage of my life where I feel like I'm getting completely screwed by the man.
I don't feel guilty at all. Here in the great state of MN, we have one of the highest tax burdens in the union (I think state wide it is THE highest, but not as high as some metro areas that have city taxes such as NYC and Philly). In any case, I bring home something like 56% of my paycheck because of taxes and the like. We don't have kids to benefit from schools, can't write off our school loans because we're "rich" (we're talking like 300k of them, and not of the federal, low-interest variety, either), can't contribute to a Roth IRA, don't reap any direct benefit from just about any state programs, etc etc. I'm not complaining because I'm happy and life is good, but I certainly do feel like I'm paying AT LEAST my share. My wife and I work hard and we've taken on a lot of risk and sacrifice to get to where we're at. That's a lot more than I can say about the majority of people who aren't as well off as we are.

 

I felt guilty when I got my Lexus GS400(new) back in '99, it was kinda funny that my father and I had the same car, I was 25 at the time. Looking back, I didn't appreciate the car for what it was. I tried going to lesser car after that (IS300) but I was really spoiled by the GS, now I just have a nice DD and the S, plus a couple others to fill the void.

 

Of course. I'm just saying it's not my first choice.

 

moral of the story - people will complain no matter how well off they are

 

Care to elaborate on that??