Too Much!

I went to the Chicago Auto Show today to check out the new cars on the market. Not that I'm in the market for a new car myself especially considering I finally paid off the used car I have. I'm looking forward to NOT having a car payment for a while and I intend to drive my heap until the wheels fall off. But I digress. At the auto show, I saw one car after another priced so high that I don't know who could afford such a vehicle. Only rarely did I see a car that started under $20K. Most of the small crossover vehicles were $30K and up. No wonder the kids are calling for Uber and Lyft. They can't afford to own a car! And, once you get the car payments taken care of, what about insurance and maintenance? People are financing cars for 7 years now. That's crazy. I'm all about used cars these days. If I had to get another one, I'd get a used car again. One of my coworkers made fun of me for buying a used car, but I'm beyond that kind of nonsense. I buy what I can afford. So while he's digging deep to make payments on a new Mercedes, my Volkswagen was financed at a monthly rate I could afford and now that baby is paid for. In my old(er) age, I've stopped caring about what people think of my financial situation. I buy what I can afford and I'm not ashamed to tell anyone I don't have the money for something when I don't. Now that my car is paid off, I'd like a new refrigerator so that's what I'm planning to purchase this year. And they're crazy expensive too! I'm not even looking for some fancy, stainless steel model. I just want an old-school freezer on the top white fridge to replace the cutesy one I have with the freezer on the bottom that holds NOTHING. When I bought my place from the previous owner, the appliances came with it, so I didn't purchase them. I was glad to have them, but the fridge is not my style at all. In due time, it'll be replaced.