I'm kinda struck by the apparent amount of 'Disposable Income' some of the S owners seem to have. I know that with a pretty good job and all the bills that everyone has to deal with, I don't have a slew of cash for items like rims, rubber, turbo kits etc..

Some of the paint jobs and detailing alone..!

I'm glad you guys are in such great shape that way and continue to be successful in your chosen areas.

So this wasn't so much a question or anything... Just an observation

 

It's all relative. Others of lesser means will consider you as having "disposable income" for purchasing an s2k, let alone mods.

 

You might be surprised to find that quite a few of the people that have "disposable income" don't have the "bills that everyone has to deal with". Many of them live at home or have living arrangements with very low costs, and probably don't have many other expenses either (i.e., maybe they're in college and they do not have to pay for tuition/housing because it's paid for by parents/scholarship/trust fund/whatever). Also, there are some people that choose to spend money on toys rather than saving money for retirement or investing in other things. Personally, after taxes, savings, investments, etc... I bring home less than 50% of my gross salary. If I wasn't investing/saving, I could bring home 65% of my salary and spend that other 15% on toys. Some of the people that are driving highly modified S2000s may still be driving highly modified S2000s years down the road, while people that make the same amount of money and are driving stock S2000s and investing/saving at the same time may be driving Porsches/Mercedes/Ferraris, etc. Or, if not, they may just be sitting on a big pile of cash, and that may make them happier than any exhaust/intake/turbo could.

... and then there are those that just flat-out have a lot of money. Maybe they made a fortune during the dot-com era (and managed to hold on to it), or maybe they've scrimped & saved & invested wisely, or maybe they just got a great, high paying job, or maybe they inherited the money from parents, or maybe they won the lottery... but the fact remains that their are quite a few people out there that just have a lot of money.

Anyway, my advice would be simply: Don't focus on what others have. There will always be someone that has more than you. Just focus on maximizing your enjoyment from the things you do have, and don't forget to plan for the future.

 

there will always be people with more money than you...

unless your like bill gates or something.. then the list or people with more money than you gets smaller heheh

 

actually when you have Bill Gate's wealth the only 'people' that have more money that you are actually COUNTRIES IIRC, there are only 7 countries in the world with a wealth greater than him.

 

Really depends on age as well. Right now i'm not looking to save any of my money or anything of the sort. No need for a retirement plan, no kids to feed, no wife to buy crap for to make her shut up, no real worries. There's a lot of conditions that determine how much money you'll have left over for yourself. Maybe you have certain things that others would wish they have for themselves. I know if this was a couple years back I would be envying you guys for having S2000's cause I'd never see any way to afford one.

Also helps to just be really good at managing your money

 

I agree...it's all relative. I for one don't have a lot of money but I enjoy life.

 

Or you can do it the good ole American way - "If you cant get rich yourself, sue!"

 

or in the UK you play catch up and work 80 hours a week.

 

I have no mercy for those who get 5 weeks vazcation per year to start.