Originally Posted by SeattleMike

I'm not trying to be "holier than thou" here, I'm just pointing out that saving is cheaper than financing. Socking away that same car payment will eventually result in a new vehicle, but without paying interest, without finance charges, and without further concern about "affording the payment" should something happen like losing a job or sudden illness. If you are saving up, you can delay the purchase. If you are making payments, you end up hiding from the repo man.

And everyone can do what I did, it's just that most people want it right now and choose debt slavery over delayed gratification. It's not that they can't, it's that they won't.