My 22 year old step son was wanting a new car because he was tired of his 2010 Hyundai Accent. I told him it may not be the coolest car in the world but it gets 40 mpg and has a 100K warranty and he might as well keep it and pay it off. He didn't do the college thing and works at a restaurant while he is supposedly saving his money so he can move out on his own. I told him everyone loves new cars but they are a BIG expense and he is better off keeping what he has and saving his money. Well, he didn't take my advice and he comes home with a 2008 black Mazda Miata and he is so happy he was bouncing off the walls. He said "look what I bought", and I said that's really nice, what did you pay for it? He said "I dont really know..Uh...we just kind of traded even". Then he said "but my payments went up $65 per month. I asked him, how long is the loan for and what is the interest rate? He said "four years and I don't know what the interest rate is". I find out later his loan was for seven years and his total payments will equal over $23,000 for a six year old car.
I try to teach him things but I can see in his eyes he is "hitting an internal mute button" and is not hearing a word I am saying, but he will spend hours on the internet and gets all the knowledge he wants. My wife says "sometimes kids need to make their own mistakes", so I am staying out of it now. I just remember when I was a kid my dad and my older brother-in-law would tell me things and I would listen hard because their was a lot of wisdom behind what they were saying.
I try to teach him things but I can see in his eyes he is "hitting an internal mute button" and is not hearing a word I am saying, but he will spend hours on the internet and gets all the knowledge he wants. My wife says "sometimes kids need to make their own mistakes", so I am staying out of it now. I just remember when I was a kid my dad and my older brother-in-law would tell me things and I would listen hard because their was a lot of wisdom behind what they were saying.
