Time to buy British Pounds

[tony barnhill]

Banjo - been there, done that....the first thing is to recognize the situation & decide to make it better...lemme tell you what I did way back when (remember, I'm much older than many of you guys).

I started out by "paying myself first"...everytime I got a paycheck, I put 10% of my GROSS in a savings account - yep, GROSS...then, I paid my necessary bills & when the money ran out, I minimized my lifestyle by doing without.

I remember taking my lunch to work...I remember when we only owned 1 car...I remember taking Jerri & Shannon to McDonald's for a 'big night out' & ordering 1 hamburger for myself because I knew Shannon was too small to finish hers & I'd get it as part of my meal.

Then, I started looking for additional ways other than my Army salary to make money (ergo, theAutoist)....everytime I got a promotion, I took the majority of my monthly salary increase & bought a Series E savings bond...when I retired from the Army 20 years later, those savings bonds paid for our current house!

I've only bought 4 new cars in my life (I'm 62 & have owned a car since I was 15), & the 'new' cars - non-MG - that we buy are for her to drive....I always buy cars that are a couple of years old & have been traded in by the guy who buys a 'new' one every year, fool that he is....& I never make car payments to a dealership - I make them to myself! Still today, I have a savings account that is solely for buying a 'new' car & every month deposit into it so that when Jerri is ready for a 'new' car, we have the cash.

As my savings account grew I did put into another account 1 month's gross salary for emergencies, & then started looking for other investments beyond the savings account starting small at first & growing as I could afford to. Now, at retirement, I keep what, to us, amounts to a year's expenses in a savings account to cover emergencies (its grown over the years from a month's salary to a year's worth of expensies)...if I have to replace my HVAC like we had to earlier this year, I dip into that emergency account & then work to replace that amount over time.

I never considered a house as part of my investment plan (maybe that's because I always lived in Army housing on post) and even now I consider it a place to live & an endowment to my daughter after I die.

I could go on talking about developing a stock portfolio, 401K & 403B (I actually focused on 403B's more than 401K's) but you get the idea...

Frugality, paying yourself first, not trying to keep up with everybody else, reading, studying, learning are the keys to my success

 

[angelfj1]

Don't forget that a dollar that's too strong makes it harder for folks in other countries to buy stuff from us

Right! And we haven't had to worry about that for some time, have we?

 

[angelfj1]

Frugality, paying yourself first, not trying to keep up with everybody else, reading, studying, learning are the keys to my success

Unfortunately these concepts are not compatible with the "me" generation. I had a good laugh the other day. My cousin has a small business of house cleaning. Maybe 10 - 12 ladies working part time to earn a few extra bucks. They tend to work in the burbs, cleaning mcmansions. She was telling us how she dreaded the colder weather that's coming soon and I asked why. She said that most of these home owners don't heat their homes during the day and it gets so cold that they have to wear coats while working. She also mentioned that most of these 4 - 5 bedroom homes have very little furniture beyond the kitchen and maybe living room. I asked her how they can aford having their houses cleaned and she reminded me that anything that is a status symbol takes priority. I guess that also includes the leased german cars in the 3-bay garage. I guess I just don't get it. What's the point? :crazy:

 

[angelfj1]

Dale: don't burst a blood vessel. Change is coming but I believe we all have to be patient. We all know that fixing something always takes longer than screwing up something!

 

[Steve]

Tony, durnit man, you ought to write a book!

Wise advice.

 

[tony barnhill]

I could, Steve...there was so much more I wanted to say!

 

[Steve]

Like Tony, I have only ever had two new cars (SWMBO has had three, but those were for professinal reasons) and I'm 52. All others have been used, and not even nearly new! My daily driver is a 1992 BMW 525iT (the wagon) which is paid for, cost little-to nothing to run and is a great car. I have no plans to swap it for anything newer until it dies.

Otherwise, I have some catching-up to do to get near Tony! :laugh:

 

[tony barnhill]

Part of my long range investment plan was how I would provide transportation for Jerri and me...I knew I didn't need to throw money away on cars & could actually save money by the way I bought cars. Here's what I've done with non-British cars:

I bought a new Chevy Vega back in '71...took it to Europe & traded it in even on a 1970 Mercedes 230 sedan (our 1st Mercedes) - another story on how I traded that Vega straight across to the Mercedes dealer (my little American sports car...hehehe)! The Army shipped it back to the US for free. Then, I bought Jerri a new Buick in '80 when the Mercedes caught fire & was totalled by the insurance company (rather USAA bought her a new Buick so it doesn't count)...kept that Buick until we bought the 2 year-old 280SE....& I bought myself a new GMC Sonoma in '92 as I was about to retire from the Army (still have it & drive it daily).

I don't count my '79 MGB that I bought new - its more than a car & has actually increased in value from when I paid for it!

Since we've been married (39 years), Jerri's had the VW she brought to the marriage, the Mercedes 230, a Mercedes 280SE, a Mercedes 190E, & now her Mercedes C280 - all bought when they were 1 or 2 years old & all kept for 10 to 12 years unless wrecked like the 190E the drunk hit or otherwised totalled like the 230...I did buy her a BMW once between Mercedes' but she didn't like it so it was short lived & I swapped it for a Sunbeam Alpine which I sold for a huge profit.

I think its better to buy a 1 or 2 year old high end auto like a Mercedes & keep it for 10-12 years rather than buy a new lower quality car every few years unless you have a reason to do so (We were being stationed in Alaska & didn't need a Mercedes there so I sold the 280SE for enough to buy a new Dodge Colt with $$'s left over...when we returned from Alaska, I sold the Colt & bought Jerri a new Pontiac LeMans with the money from the Colt & the extra from the sale of the 280SE to use until we retired from the Army.); we sold the LeMans just before retiring & got the BMW which she didn't like but I sold it for almost enough to buy another Mercedes....in the end, I think I've come out on top.....my auto savings account always has more money in it than I need to buy whatever family car we're looking at!

My '98 Dodge truck was bought when it was 2 years old but still under factory warranty by Jerri as a Christmas gift for me...nice gal, huh? It wasn't planned or programmed, she just did it but the money was there in the car savings account.

....and every car listed above was paid for when bought! No auto loans for me - they're one of the worst purchasess a person can make: a car on monthly payments - no way! I'd rather earn the interest myself rather than paying someone else interest; my way makes the car less expensive to me as part of the money I use to pay for it was earned interest!

I can continue with tips if anybody wants.

But, the tip from this post: open an auto savings account & make monthly payments to yourself until you have enough to buy the family car you want. & do not buy new! Buy a 1 or 2 year old high quality car from the original dealer, not a used car lot....you'd be amazed at the deals you can get from places like a Mercedes dealer on cars folks have traded in to them!

& I won't even talk about all my British car deals.....

 

[Tinster]

Dale - the sky isn't falling, !!}

But, the tip from this post: open an auto savings account & make monthly payments to yourself until you have enough to retire <span style="color: #006600">at age 50!!

We did that Tony--20% off the top went into retirement investments
for over 30 years. All wiped out now.
Damned crooks in DC and Texas.</span>

<span style="color: #CC0000">For us, Tony, the sky has fallen.
We now own an almost worthless house, three worthless paid
off cars, a worthless paid for boat, two empty 401K accounts,
a retirement account reduced by 70%, pounds Sterling reduced
by 30% and no income to pay our bills.

And the totally, really funny, ironic aspect is me and the Mrs
have spent 20 years together-------living debt free.

No government handouts for us.

Busted flat in Bayamon and pizzed off!!</span>

 

[TR4nut]

Amazing how a nice note from Frank about possible good savings on parts for us has morphed into this!

Randy

 

[tony barnhill]

Dale - the sky isn't falling, !!}

But, the tip from this post: open an auto savings account & make monthly payments to yourself until you have enough to retire <span style="color: #006600">at age 50!!

We did that Tony--20% off the top went into retirement investments
for over 30 years. All wiped out now.
Damned crooks in DC and Texas.</span>

<span style="color: #CC0000">For us, Tony, the sky has fallen.
We now own an almost worthless house, three worthless paid
off cars, a worthless paid for boat, two empty 401K accounts,
a retirement account reduced by 70%, pounds Sterling reduced
by 30% and no income to pay our bills.

And the totally, really funny, ironic aspect is me and the Mrs
have spent 20 years together-------living debt free.

No government handouts for us.

Busted flat in Bayamon and pizzed off!!</span>

I just find that hard to believe, Dale...I know my portfolio can't be that much better than yours. I could care less what my house is worth! Same with the cars. But I can recoup all my losses within 2 years with aggressive buying right now...& my liquid assets are still making money at their slow, safe pace...nwo, the one thing I may have done different from you was sell a bunch of stuff last summer & keep it in liquid or cash until after the election.

As for empty 401K, like I said, Jerri & I have seen our 401K's & 403B's drop by 10%....again, maybe through better managed firms, I don't know...

Oh, its got nothing to do with crooks in Texas! Yes, I own oil stock (& you probably do also through your 401K) & they've paid me nicely up until now...they're down a bit but so what...they'll rebound....everything does!

I don't know why anybody invested in pounds sterling...seems that's just betting against the dollar & a lose/lose situation for an American.

But, the tip from this post: open an auto savings account & make monthly payments to yourself until you have enough to retire at age 50!!

That's not exactly what I said in my tip, Dale...an automobile savings account has nothing to do with retirement....its only to not pay interest to someone else.

Don't know how I squeeked by - maybe its how I look at things....my income hasn't gone down, actually its gone up....I did divest myself back when I was concerned about the election & went liquid - that saved me a bunch & gives me the liquidity to buy now when the bargains are out there....I've not touched my 401K/403B's & don't see a need to do so before the 70-1/2 mark if even then...I set mine up so they skip a generation & roll to my grandson if I don't pull them.

I dunno, Dale....but I just feel you're possibly overreacting a little....

Amazing how a nice note from Frank about possible good savings on parts for us has morphed into this!

Randy

Frank is right, Randy...now's about the time to buy Euro's or Pounds Sterling for our next trip over....though I'm waiting a bit - I think Euro's will drop lower.

 

[mailbox]

Dale - the sky isn't falling, !!}

But, the tip from this post: open an auto savings account & make monthly payments to yourself until you have enough to retire <span style="color: #006600">at age 50!!

We did that Tony--20% off the top went into retirement investments
for over 30 years. All wiped out now.
Damned crooks in DC and Texas.</span>

<span style="color: #CC0000">For us, Tony, the sky has fallen.
We now own an almost worthless house, three worthless paid
off cars, a worthless paid for boat, two empty 401K accounts,
a retirement account reduced by 70%, pounds Sterling reduced
by 30% and no income to pay our bills.

And the totally, really funny, ironic aspect is me and the Mrs
have spent 20 years together-------living debt free.

No government handouts for us.

Busted flat in Bayamon and pizzed off!!</span>

Dale,
I have heard a quote for several weeks that kinda applys here I think. "You don't get hurt on a roller coaster unless you get off in the middle of the ride." Statistics show the stock market makes money every 5 year period 90% of the time and makes money every 10 year period 100% of the time. I know things seem dire (and they might be for you, I just don't know), but the way I see it, Wall Street is having a once in a 100 year sale. EVERYTHING half off.

 

[tony barnhill]

You don't get hurt on a roller coaster unless you get off in the middle of the ride."

hehehehe....I like that...may I use it?

 

[mailbox]

You don't get hurt on a roller coaster unless you get off in the middle of the ride."

hehehehe....I like that...may I use it?

Heard that one from Dave Ramsey.