"My" Friend Paul Redux

As I was considering my reply to the latest angry post by Paul, I was reminded that this very subject had been addressed previously, although this time, at least the poster was willing to put a first name down.

Paul wrote:

"You are missing the point. A $40k car is not a necessity. A place to live is."

I would like to address this in two ways. (1) Please read my post on my views on debt versus saving, which was posted previously to an anonymous comment along the same lines. (2) I would like to point out that by your logic, an apartment is also not a necessity as my parents are providing me a free place to live as it is.

So let me separate your concerns into 3 categories:

1. Critique of spending habits
2. Critique of goal progress
3. Critique of title "Personal Finance Blog"

Now (1) and (3) I have addressed already in my linked post. But I would also like to add that my spending habits and how I deal with my finances are not the typical "Save money!" and "Don't spend" as these are unrealistic mantras to hold. Instead, I present a glimpse into my life, as I deal with desires, and not necessarily needs.

And also, I would love to see your reaction when I ask, "Have you considered a $40K car is necessary in my line of work?" Just as much as a nice suit and tie and a clean-cut image, the car is another part of being in the finance world. So much of finance is about meeting new people and building relationships, and the best way to do that is to dress and act the part.

The interesting thing about finance is that a place to live is actually NOT a necessity, as most financial positions take between 10-16 hours of your life per day. Frankly, (finance) people would be more impressed that you slept in your office than that you slept in a castle.

Now on to my goals, I do acknowledge that my current networth is negative. But so what? I have allocated the next 7 years of my life to achieve my goal. Consider that with all the purchases I have made in the last month, my networth did not actually decrease. Perhaps I do know a little something about managing my finances?

Consider also that from this month on, only 1 big ticket item is left, and the rest will begin to accumulate in savings and investment accounts.

Now, if you haven't been able to glean any personal finance from my posts, I apologize. However, I believe in general, the posts I make describe the average person's decision-making process which is then backed up or refuted by financial analysis.

Also, while I appreciate your comments, and you are welcome to continue posting yours, this will be the last post to address your concerns.