[Z-man]

two-bone - I too, am just north of 40, with my birthday coming up in a couple of weeks, as a matter of fact.

I too, believe you are on the right track. You are living with the old-fashioned way of managing your finances: if you can't afford it, you don't spend on it! That is the mantra I try to live by.

That doesn't mean I can't spend on some frivolous stuff -- just ask my wife about the techno gadgets and such that I've amassed over the years! However, especially when it comes to stuff like that, it is the LAST thing that I spend on -- ie: when all the bills are paid, when all the savings are put aside, if there any anything left in the kiddie, spend some of it on unneccessary items.

Keep out of debt is part of this old-fashioned way of thinking. To that point: last summer, we re-did our kitchen - it was a huge expense, yet we didn't incurr any major debt! (I took out a zero-interest loan for the appliances.) This fall, we had to do rip up and replace our garage floor, and again - we didn't take out any loans for that project. How did we manage to do that? Well, we skipped a couple of vacations, and focused on saving up $$ for these bigger ticket projects. Matter of fact, after finishing the garage last month, I had some saved $$ left over to pay off my truck (owed about $4000.00 on it.) BTW: When I bought my 944 ten years ago, I paid cash. When I plan on updating to a (used) Cayman S next year, I will most likely not take on a loan for it.

Now some may say "Take out a loan and invest that $$ in something that yields a higher interest rate than the loan does." I do NOT adhere to that type of thinking -- the market is too volitile right now to guarantee a higher ROI than your interest rate. I think that type of playing with money is too risky -- kinda like those folks who got caught when the housing bubble burst. Besides, these are the same people who SAY that, yet instead of actually DOING that, they are too tempted with that money, and start spending on toys they really have no business buying.

Sorry for the soapbox sermon -- but I get tired hearing too many people over-extending themselves and then complaining about not having play money to buy the latest Mercedes, or the biggest house on the block, boat on the dock, or the latest iPhone 4S...

-Z