What do you do to afford your cars...? If it's not too rude.

[ChemicalChaos]

Currently a student In chemistry. Previously a student in engineering.
Currently have an 05 Range Rover.
Looking to move up into a Maserati QP after 9-12 months in a graduate job.

A) I prefer to buy luxury barges at the bottom of monumental depreciation curves than a nearly new small cheap car for the same amount.

B) I don't go out nightclubbing and drinking, which saves me a huge amount of money.

C) I had a well paid internship last year at a big Pharma company that enabled me to really move up the ladder car wise

Combined with the above, D) I'm very very fortunate to have a hard working wealthy family who can give me "interest free loans" to temporarily bridge funding gaps when moving up a car.

E) I have been canny in buying, enjoying and selling various man toys for a decent profit - I made 1.5k profit on a miniature steam engine I'd spent my life savings on buying. Could have made more if I'd thrown a little money and effort at fixing a few niggles with it before sale.

F) Combined with D, Im fortune to have the option to live at home for a few years after graduating, which will save a fortune in rent and allow me to save for a nicer first house

[NickCQ]

turbobloke said:

NickCQ said:

JeS10 said:

I'm going to be totally un-PH and admit that I'm public sector. Even worse, I'm a teacher. 26 years old and £49k p.a though. My friends that work in the usual suspects - finance and the like - don't enjoy their job as much as me or earn as much. Then again I drive a leased Skoda, so I guess that's not desirable. I could afford to spend my disposable income on something PH-worthy. All of my friends that drive nice things earn £20-30k and are either leased or financed out their tits.

Interesting numbers. If you don't mind me asking, is that the going rate for teachers these days or do you do something particularly specialised? Does it vary geographically (i.e. a London premium)?

The qualified teacher pay range goes from mid 20s (£k) lowest outside London on the main (lower) scale, through to high 40s (£k) inner London on the upper pay scale.

There's a 'Leading Practitioner' scale running from high £30k outside London to mid-£60k in inner London.

In addition to the basic salary there are additional payments (TLRs, SEN) which can add extra k, from a few £k to over £10k.

IIRC the average teacher salary is somewhere around £38k.

School senior leaders e.g. Headteachers, Deputies and Assistant Heads are paid on the Leadership Spine which peaks at over £100k (or over £110k for inner London) for Headteachers.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a good way to get high-quality candidates to consider it as a career path, just need to change social perceptions of teachers I suppose.

[ChemicalChaos]

NickCQ said:

turbobloke said:

NickCQ said:

JeS10 said:

I'm going to be totally un-PH and admit that I'm public sector. Even worse, I'm a teacher. 26 years old and £49k p.a though. My friends that work in the usual suspects - finance and the like - don't enjoy their job as much as me or earn as much. Then again I drive a leased Skoda, so I guess that's not desirable. I could afford to spend my disposable income on something PH-worthy. All of my friends that drive nice things earn £20-30k and are either leased or financed out their tits.

Interesting numbers. If you don't mind me asking, is that the going rate for teachers these days or do you do something particularly specialised? Does it vary geographically (i.e. a London premium)?

The qualified teacher pay range goes from mid 20s (£k) lowest outside London on the main (lower) scale, through to high 40s (£k) inner London on the upper pay scale.

There's a 'Leading Practitioner' scale running from high £30k outside London to mid-£60k in inner London.

In addition to the basic salary there are additional payments (TLRs, SEN) which can add extra k, from a few £k to over £10k.

IIRC the average teacher salary is somewhere around £38k.

School senior leaders e.g. Headteachers, Deputies and Assistant Heads are paid on the Leadership Spine which peaks at over £100k (or over £110k for inner London) for Headteachers.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a good way to get high-quality candidates to consider it as a career path, just need to change social perceptions of teachers I suppose.

A coursemate of mine who graduated last year went into the teacher training scheme. He was mad keen on doing it and the tax free 20k PA grant on lieu of a salary whilst training certainly looked attractive.
9 months later he's quit as he was fed up of working 6am-11pm every day and still barely keeping up on paperwork abd marking, planning etc.
Kudos to you if you're still able to enjoy it!

[pod1]

started my own business 19 yrs ago, nearly went bust 3 times, saved by generous friends and family, still here now semi retired and making plenty of cash as other people far more talented than me are running my business..I'm 58 drive an amg S 55 (02 plate bought in 03!) The roller coaster ride is fun, scary and makes you go grey overnight....BUT if you have an inkling to do your own thing then start your own business soon as you can. The rewards in so many ways are worth it. Never give up.

[twoblacklines]

sealtt said:

It's still having a lot of money, or rather net wealth.

You don't need to be rich to have a good lifestyle though, not that anyone was suggesting you do... but it does certainly help with purchasing a fleet of very expensive vehicles - which is what the thread is about.

Is it though?

Money comes and money goes. You can have none of it or you can have a lot of it.

Time however you cannot get back no matter how hard you work.

Material stuff is exactly that..material and not what is important.

And if you get stuck in the ego trap of always having to get something newer or better you will never be rich and therefore never happy.

Rich to me equals happiness not material wealth.

[Scott-R]

I'm 26, and drive a PCP'd 640d Gran Coupe, which was brand new when my lease started. I've also just bought my first flat for £152k

I'm an iOS App developer for a large investment bank. I did computer science at uni, got into a grad scheme in 2012 at another employer, who taught me iOS development.

Currently I'm on £41k a year, with minimum 10% bonus every year.

In terms of handouts, my parents started an ISA for me before I was born, and very generously donated the money to me when it matured, when I was 25. This was worth about £12k, but other than that, every penny I have earnt or spent has been my own.

I've been lucky in that I was born in Scotland, so I received free university education, and that by sheer luck, my original employer taught me app development just as it was getting popular.

I try to be careful with money, with the very occasional extravagance.

[gigjam]

I'm a product designer in silicon valley. But pretty much any technical job here will allow for some nice cars.

I have this conversation a lot, but there are TONS of jobs in emerging tech here that pay really well right out of University.

Here is a quick breakdown of some of the amazing salaries young people can get here.



once you have 5+ years of experience you can expect some of these salaries to double.

[stugolf]

I am IT Manager at a school, have done this a long time now and enjoy it and it's pretty much 9-5 job.

I don't earn mega money but enough to give me a nice house, the Mrs earns roughly what I earn so makes things a little easier, drive a Panda 100hp as I don't care what I look like and it's cheap to repair and reasonably fun for getting to work and back, have a mint MK2 Golf as a bit of a weekend toy/investment car.

I've had personal loan after personal loan (and credit cards) and what I've realised after all these years is debt is bad, at the end of the day you have to pay it back one way or another and I bork at the fact I'd have to pay £300 for the next 5 years now, debt free (other than mortgage) is utterly an amazing feeling.

It's not how much you earn its how you spend it, keep your aspirations realistic and you won't go far wrong IMO.

Edited by stugolf on Monday 27th February 19:45

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[MyDirtyThirty]

Well... And I was thinking about this today.. Part of how I afford it, is I just accept it has to be done and it's par for the course and so there's some stuff I can't afford. ) My car is gonna cost me a bit of money soon and everyone starts on about it. I love 80s cars and I love my e30. But its not for everyone. I guess if you have a car of a certain age you live with the fact that when one thing gets fixed something else needs doing. I've got to pay out £400 for an issue with my PS rack, oh st that was the money that was gonna sort the split bolster on my Seats..etc. I have, in all honesty, been enabled to buy this car by my mk4 golf which, aside from superficial st like cracks/broken locks has ran like a workhorse. So that's a lot to do with it. I also am given a work car to use so that means again, I don't need to shell out on a daily and it's cash saved is going on another 80s car. (Lalala944...Lala...)

But also, in reality I don't go out much. There are people who spend £100 on a night out. People who spend money on speakers, etc. Trips away.. There are people in my office who just.. Look at me blankly when I'm talking about the car or my hopes for another 80s car.

I don't really go out on nights out where I drink loads of spend loads so sod it. I recognise this makes me sound sad, and boring, I feel like I should be one of the girls in friends or sex and the city or something, not spending nights in front of the tv googling "how much cost to fix sills rust e30?" But you know, any car you love, it's a commitment. My car is worth it when I put my 80s wayfarers on and I drive it. That's when I get the steering sorted.. And the sills, and the seats.. And the..

Social life and holidays are overrated anyway. Who says possessions don't bring you happiness?

Edited by MyDirtyThirty on Tuesday 28th February 09:10

Edited by MyDirtyThirty on Tuesday 28th February 09:31

[dvshannow]

Henners said:

Binary Trading.

you or conning others into a Ponzi scheme?

[dvshannow]

MyDirtyThirty said:

Well... And I was thinking about this today.. Part of how I afford it, is I just accept it has to be done and it's par for the course and so there's some stuff I can't afford. ) My car is gonna cost me a bit of money soon and everyone starts on about it. I love 80s cars and I love my e30. But its not for everyone. I guess if you have a car of a certain age you live with the fact that when one thing gets fixed something else needs doing. I've got to pay out £400 for an issue with my PS rack, oh st that was the money that was gonna sort the split bolster on my Seats..etc. I have, in all honesty, been enabled to buy this car by my mk4 golf which, aside from superficial st like cracks/broken locks has ran like a workhorse. So that's a lot to do with it. I also am given a work car to use so that means again, I don't need to shell out on a daily and it's cash saved is going on another 80s car. (Lalala944...Lala...)

But also, in reality I don't go out much. There are people who spend £100 on a night out. People who spend money on speakers, etc. Trips away.. There are people in my office who just.. Look at me blankly when I'm talking about the car or my hopes for another 80s car.

I don't really go out on nights out where I drink loads of spend loads so sod it. I recognise this makes me sound sad, and boring, I feel like I should be one of the girls in friends or sex and the city or something, not spending nights in front of the tv googling "how much cost to fix sills rust e30?" But you know, any car you love, it's a commitment. My car is worth it when I put my 80s wayfarers on and I drive it. That's when I get the steering sorted.. And the sills, and the seats.. And the..

Social life and holidays are overrated anyway. Who says possessions don't bring you happiness?

Edited by MyDirtyThirty on Tuesday 28th February 09:10

Edited by MyDirtyThirty on Tuesday 28th February 09:31

was thinking about this too, people just don't seem as interested in cars as they used to be particularly the younger generation. You could say they care more about the planet etc. but I dont think that's it, they spend all their money on smartphones and more interested in celeb culture.