Don't feel bad, I don't particularly like my in-laws either! :lostmarbles:

I would interpret this as he is making this statement to indeed show his financial responsibility and good habits. You build credit by making good debt purchases and timely payments, as most know. Not running up bad debt.

I guess the OP can straighten that out for us. :)

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

I don't see any reason to ever have debt. Period.

Did you buy your house with cash?

Buying a home, a vehicle, or having student loan debt are all "good debt" as Dave is trying to point out. A very small percentage of people are completely debt free.

Lifestyle debt is a foolish thing to take on. Buying a house is not but puts you in debt as well. Some debt is acceptable.

OP, just stay grounded and not get caught up in trying to out do the next guy. Curtis' post has some excellent points. While I didn't write it all down, I put in a lot of thought on my build and what items will truly cost and is it worth it to me. I've decided against many high dollar parts that were must haves before I started building. I've also realized it's not a race, and it's going to take me a while to build this thing. So, I save my money as I go keeping my eyes on good deals along the way. Patience, having a plan, and being very realistic and honest with yourself is what I recommend. Also, make sure you enjoy the ride along the way as that's will be very important.

Something to think about....


I built "Blue Hour" and it wasn't "cheap" and I had a ton of fun with it. It handles great, great power, felt strong and I loved that car. But if I were on a budget and wanted to have some fun with cars... Why not buy a spec miata and go club racing? You'll learn how to drive well and fast and not break the bank!

I've thought about this many times as I'm elbows deep in a project.

Something else to think about. I'm at the place with my low budget car where the car is already better than my driving. No amount of high dollar parts thrown at the car are going to make it faster without me improving as a driver...which I'm steadily working on. And I'm able to work on that now because I'm out driving and racing the finished (for now) car.

Unless you are just building a car to look at in a parking lot, there is more to the equation than just high dollar parts and paint.

Well said

Haha, great post Dave...you left out those 2 kids have a boat load of talent!!!

Someone just tell the guy to stay away from this hobby....screw this crap. :lmao: :lmao: But, seriously, it's all relative to what you want and can afford. Everyone's different in all aspects. Like other's mentioned...you can buy a $30k car cash or you could build a $300k. We don't know what you earn and can afford. But, yes and no!! Yes, some guys are rich/wealthy and no some guys cannot afford this hobby at all and should never have gotten in it. Take me personally, guys may ask why am I taking so long to finish my car. Well, I'll answer that for some. I can finish my car ASAP if I wanted to and wanted to put myself in debt, behind on bills or just simply void myself of all fun. The latter that I just stated...void myself of all fun. NOPE!! What I mean is, this past summer I traveled a lot. I mean extensively. I went to Dominican Republic, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Rico, Chicago, North Carolina. All trips were purely leisure and for fun. I spent a lot of money that could have been used on my car. But, I refuse to not have fun over a car just as I refuse to not go into debt. Right now I'm gearing up to go to Canada on a ski vacation in January and Brazil next June. That could be car money. It will be finished when it's finished. Rather that be 6 more months of 4 more years. I don't live my life trying to be like everyone else. Because at the end of the day, those same guys who you are trying to be like and impress will still be who they are and you'll be the one in debt, with bad/poor credit, broke and worst of all...DIVORCED!!!!