anonymous

I was educated in the University of California system, but I find it pathetic that in order to make your point you had to disparage Chico grads.

Dawn/FFL

When I saw that picture the first thought I had was.. “I hope those cars won’t have mechanical trouble after sitting around so long”…. Then my next thought was the same as yours.. “great discounts!”

Sergio

too bad those “who are prepared” are in such small number they don’t really matter much for “the economy”. As my latin teach would say: “Una hirundo non facit ver”. [One Swallow does not make Summer - Horace].

Beth

Okay, I realize my comment was very snarky I do apologize.

I don’t think this is the place for me anymore. Best wishes with your future endeavors.

Aaron

Hmm..I too have seen great deals in almost every market sector. Taking advantage of a great deal can be very satisfying, but you know, those with money to spend shouldn’t be rushing out to buy things they don’t need just to get the deal. And on the housing front, buy what you need at the discounted price rather than spending what you would have spent 2 years ago and getting more with it. That is my outlook on these issues in general.

Bill

I’ll defend the Chico State comment to the death. While a pair of Chico guys saved me from a miserable time when I was traveling around Europe at age 17, every other experience of the species has fit the stereotype Ramit was invoking.

I have the exact same response to news about housing prices continuing to collapse here in Southern California. I don’t even have the twinge of guilt that I used to feel.

Luci

Yeah, I think this is my stop, as well. I’ll stick to reading bloggers that don’t have to insult others in order to feel good about themselves. Best of luck with your book.

F

Does anyone have a (motivated) idea of when would be the best time to buy a car?

lordskip

reminds me of that old warren buffet maxim about fear and greed.

in addition to loving it when econ majors think they know personal finance, i also love it when people without financial backgrounds like to blog about personal finance. (that’s a jab directed at frugality sites).

Cathy

I’ve been saving money to replace my car for a couple of years. This is a great time for me to buy. It’s called capitalism – buy low, sell high. Last year I was trying to buy a car and the salesmen absolutely refused to negotiate with me. They were trying to charge over MSRP and wouldn’t budge. I walked away because it was more than I wanted to pay. Now they’re falling all over themselves, I’m looking for the best deals for my money.

Alison

I went to Kent Read, Kent Write, Kent State in Ohio. I’m just glad the Chico grads get hassled as much as we do.

Fortunately I went to a state school that didn’t cost an arm and a leg, I have a decent job, and since I owe practically nothing on my student loans, I’ve saved up a year and a half of salary since I’ve been out of school (just a few years). The economy sucks and the world is my oyster. Now if only I wanted to buy something…

Ben

This site just keeps getting more personal, unprofessional, and elitist. I’m going to GetRichSlowly. See ya.

Matt

I do not agree with you here. I think you are simplifying this too much. You narrow the buying decision to just the price of the car. But, a lot more should go into that decision–including your ability to afford that car. The majority of the time, this is directly influenced by the overall economic outlook. I think it is difficult to separate the two.

lordskip

@Battra92: It’s not a feeling of hatred or elitism regarding college. I took a jab at finance blogs written by people without finance backgrounds (not necessarily college degrees… you used to be able to become a certified financial planner without a college degree). A lot of times they don’t fully understand a lot of the nuances of personal finance, so all they can write about is frugality. Personally, i’d rather read a personal finance article written by a CFP or PFS than the cashier at the supermarket. (no offence to cashiers…i used to work as one too)

the econ major thing is ramit’s pet peeve. although i would rather read an article written by an econ major than a cashier.

Delirium-Zer0

Ramit, you’re awesome. Your occasional snark is one of the reasons I read this blog. When you’re too worried about offending readers, you lose readers because you no longer have any personality. I’d rather be offended & entertained than bored by reading something “safe”.

And this post makes a great point about being optimistic when things look grim – which is what the point was really supposed to be. This isn’t saying that cars are cheap so you should go grab a bunch of them, but if you need a new car, then the downturn of the economy has a silver lining for you. I AM going to need a new car pretty soon, and seeing posts like this makes me feel much less nervous about the purchase.

We’re also moving later this year, and property values in our future hometown are down – that means we’re gonna find a decent place to live for much less than we would have paid 2-5 years ago. We’re at a point in our lives where alot of changes are being made, and these transitions are being made much easier by the fact that things are less expensive than they used to be.

So thank you for this post, Ramit. I’m sorry to see so many readers not understanding it.

Chris

If you went to a state school, there’s no need to get offended at Ramit’s comments. You have to understand that he’s a typical Stanford elitist.

mike

Ahh… Chico State. Where the average student’s B.A.L. is twice that of his G.P.A.

People, take a joke… for once. Dang, I went to a state funded primarily agricultural school, though I got my degree in engineering. Regardless, we’re called hicks, farmers, etc. by the neighboring schools. It’s just a rivalry thing. Get over it.

Ramit, if you want more fodder, I’m quickly approaching middle age, shorter than the average American male at 5′ 5″, and balding at warp speed. Oh, and I was raised in the South. Feel free to poke fun… I promise not to lose sleep over it.

Damn, people. Lighten up.

rackgen

sorry to be OT – but this is same as what is good for a community/corporation is bad for you. For example, the more you work the better your company is.. but you will be more exhausted.

And we all know how politicians have been “protecting” us.
The best thing is to plan your activities accordingly and tune them when required. For example, an investor in a third world country might find great deals[same goes for US of A - which is the theme of this post].

david

it seems everyone is upset around these parts because their index funds are crap now.

cheer up. there’s more to life than money.