What We Spend on Our #&!!# Cars
These eyebrow-raising statistics about how much we spend on our cars were released by the Census Bureau. They show the average yearly expenditure, based on annual income. The totals include purchase, finance charges, insurance, and all the other bags of cash we sprinkle over those four-wheeled deities, our automobiles:
Annual Income: / 2005 spending:
Less than $19,179: $2,742
$19,179 to $35,999: $5,330
$36,000 to $57,659: $7,437
$57,660 to $91,704: $10,504
More than $91,704: $15,691
All households: $8,344
The shocker is that five grand spent by people in the 19-35k income range. Given that you can buy a 2-year-old Toyota with low miles for 12-15k, and it runs for 10 years, there are ways to get by on less.
As for the folks in the 91k+ income bracket who spend more than 15 large a year…damn. In excess of $1,000 a month for four wheels and a cup holder. I hope they’re enjoying the cool luxury of their mobile money pit…
Comments
Hi James:
I'm not sure I've ever posted here, I love what you've been doing to the site.
Does the figure you're looking at count the operating costs of these beasts. I'm in-between jobs looking for new full-time employment. The longer I go, the more far afield I look in the job hunt. I'm now interviewing at jobs sixty miles away. The IRS comes up with an annual figure that counts gas and wear-and-tear costs. At the current 44.5 cents/mile rate, that commute would cost me $12,600/year. It's the best paying job I've looked at so far but I'd be just as well off (and just as happy!) to find a local job that paid $15k less. Until last year I could claim that I'd never even owned a car but now economic pressures might well mean I'll be the guy helping to push the next round of Census Bureau figures even higher!
Martin
Posted by: Martin Kelley | January 31, 2007 08:57 PM