Wait –You Drive a What?

While at a bar after work with some coworkers, the conversation turned to the cars that everyone drives. Most were Audis, Porsches, Mercedes, etc., and then they came to me. They asked, “Now that you got your promotion, what’s your Band X car?”

[Back-story] A few months ago, I was very fortunate to receive a promotion at work to the next level (aka Band) in IBM’s pay / responsibility scheme. Given the state of the economy the better part of the time I’ve spent working, this is nothing I take lightly. However, this post isn’t about getting a promotion; it’s about my perspective on money, so back to the story (and my car).

So without hesitation, I said, I drive a KIA, which indeed is the truth. Now granted, 5-10 years ago, you wouldn’t hear me saying those same words, because 1) KIA’s design and quality have improved tremendously since then and 2) if you just saw my car and didn’t know what it was, you wouldn’t think it’s a KIA.

So I proceeded to share why I love my car – and I really do. The best way to describe it is to compare it to my former car, a Lexus IS300. My K5 (updated to Korean branding) is roomier, has more horsepower (274 hp turbocharged), gets better gas mileage, has better pickup, looks far sleeker, kills it in storage space, and has nearly every bell and whistle you’d expect on a luxury car like heated and cooled seats, a panoramic sunroof, a state of the art stereo system, keyless entry/ignition, and a backup camera to name a few. The only thing it doesn’t have is an overpriced MSRP.

However, more than a post about cars, I wanted this to be a post about finances. My parents instilled with me a long time ago that just because you make more money, doesn’t mean that you have to spend more money (except on taxes of course L ). But let me be clear, I’m certainly not advocating squirreling away every single cent that you make (perhaps a topic for another post), but I am a firm believer of spending wisely.

In case they are reading this, that’s also not to say or imply that my coworkers aren’t spending wisely. They have their own various incomes and priorities, and can certainly choose to balance those factors however they best see fit for their own financial situations. This post is about me.

So here’s how I look at things; an increase in income shouldn’t necessarily change the way that you approach financial decisions. From my perspective, you still have a finite set of resources at your disposal to allocate to enjoy life now and in the future. So could I afford to get a new car? Yes. But instead, at least currently, I’m quite happy to enjoy my current car and allocate the rest of my income to things that are more important to me like saving for college and retirement, going on vacation with my family, or using it on things that would improve our day-to-day lives – like paying someone to clean our house so we have more time to do fun things together (as well as necessities like day care).

So that’s why I still drive and love my KIA (at least until Telsas come down in price).