I don't really know if I fit in the "young" category or not at 29. I feel like I had humble beginnings. I bought my first truck in 2001 at the age of 16. It was a 1997 Ranger Supercab. I bought it wrecked and my dad did help both with labor and parts to fix it back. I have always paid my own gas and insurances since I got my first truck. My dad said, "son, if your gonna drive you gotta pay your own way." So that is what I did. I dumped alot of money in that truck. It was a 2wd so I lowered it and put chrome 18 inch wheels on it, monster stereo and the like. I loved that truck and I drove it until about 2006. I sold the truck and bought a 1996 F150. I loved that truck as well although the only mod was a CD Player. It had an 4.9 300 Six Banger and a 5 speed. I drove that truck up until last July. That is when I got hit by a taxi cab and luckily got a decent insurance check. I still have the truck and I am considering fixing it back. With that truck down I bought my first Super Duty in late July. It is an 06 F350 with the 6.0. I got a great deal on it and it is Super Low miles. I have payed my own way and currently I am paying the loan on my Super Duty, and it seems I will for a long time LOL. I am only a teacher, but a teacher in my area makes pretty good money and we have low living expenses. My fiance has a good job and her car is paid off. As far as living with parents, it is kind of the other way around. My parents did give me their house, but now they live in my basement LOL. They have retired and wanted me and the misses around to take care of the home and because they were fearful that they could not make it on their own. They do split the bills with me, but I honestly could probably make it on my own, it would just be tighter.

 

I was 24ish when I bought my SD, but I'm too close to 30 now to call myself young

 

What he said. Im 19, do i live at home? Yes. Do my parents help me? Yes. Do they pay for my truck? Hell no. Hence why i drive a 10 year old truck that i have a loan on and pay a pretty small monthly payment on. My dad did have to cosign the loan for me, but he was happy to as he wanted me to develop credit. Havent missed a payment on it. I have been known to spend quite a bit of money on mods (note the sig), which got ridiculous over last summer but i always have money for things i need that are important. I work at least 40hrs a week as an electrical apprentice (wish it was more, but what can i do) and go to school 3 nights a week for the required schooling. Im not a fan of much of my generation

And i am also curious how guys/girls our age are driving around in brand new trucks, quite a few of them around here. Ive been looking at new trucks but im all set with that huge
payment

And Trey and Russ, can't rep ya but i tried

 

Yup yer still young bro. haha The ole fellas still tease me about being young and I got you by a bunch. Its all in how you feel though.

 

When I was 21...heck, pretty much my entire 20s, I drove beaters.

 

Back in the early 90's I watched all my buddies buying new trucks and snowmobiles while the wife and I had two boys and worked on our masters degrees. We both worked full time and if we had money for a case of beer on Friday to sit in the driveway we were happy.

In the late 90's I started a residential construction company which did very well from then up until 2008 when the housing bubble burst. From 28 to 38 I had money to burn built a great house, three new psd f350's, drag raced 12-15 NHRA events a year driving a 100k motorhome, took luxury vacations and pretty much lived the life very generously making sure all my friends were having fun too.

The wife drove a mildly modded PSD Excursion and I drove a tuned F350 SD without any issue whatsoever to the pocket book.

Well let me tell you that at 45 and just starting to get back on my feet I sure wish I'd put few bucks away. Would I trade it for my 30's, NO. I just have a very different view of what is important now and I no longer makes payments on anything but my house. We never went broke and didn't file bankruptcy, I think my boys learned a thing or two too. I hope to get back to making some real $ and much of it will go towards not owing anyone, anything.

My baby turns 18 in just a few days and my number one goal is spending time with him and helping him find his way. We work on his truck, our race car and brew beer. Life is good! Oh and plan to travel with my lovely Mrs of 20 years some more in the near future.

 

I can really appreciate that fact that you spend time with your son. It sounds a lot like my father and myself. We are big car people and we have always had some project going on since I was about 14 or 15. He let me begin driving our drag car when I was 16 and now we have built a Tube Chassis Race Car that we race at local events. My family is much like you describe yours. My dad paid his house off in only 10 years with a lot of sacrifice and hard work. He has always instilled in me the value of being debt free. The main reason I bought my Super Duty (even though it required a loan) was to haul our drag car. I figure that I am only young (and child-free) once and may never be able to afford a Super Duty again, but by all means I am not going broke buying it. I choose to not do really any mods to it but instead just use it. I am currently saving up to build a new garage, but when it is built in the fall I will start paying double payments to get out of debt as soon as possible. With the little mileage I put on my truck I figure that I can probably make it last 20-25 years, especially since it will be garage kept as soon as the new garage is up. If that is the case I will buy a newer (not new) Super Duty as a retirement gift for my self. Even though I have 25 years to retirement I have already been doing some planning and if I go to age 55 I can get $400 more a month which would just about cover a payment at that point on a 4-5 year old truck. I think the younger guys may not all be idiots. Some of us are making future plans. For me, I spend my extra money on my cars. I do not wear fancy clothes or shoes or spend for extravagant vacations. I usually eat at basic fast food restaurants and get by as cheaply as possible in other facets of life. I too wonder how some high school and college kids afford these brand new trucks. I am not hating, wish I could have done it, but I couldn't swing a payment at that age. I will say that several guys that are younger than I am seems legit in how they got there trucks, such as Miles, Matt and AlaskanEX to only name a few. They seem like hard working guys and deserve what they can get.

 

I can relate very much to this. Thanks for sharing!

 

Your business situation sounds similar to many of my friends in the same industry. They literally had money to burn too. Trucks, toys, houses, parties, you name it. Many have filed bankruptcy or have scaled down their operations considerably since that housing mess. I have a friend with a maxed out credit card just in fuel for his truck (tens of thousands), and he just bought a new truck?!?! More maxed out credit cards for expenses. I'm not financially perfect but that is just sheer terror.

I'm also trying to make it so I owe nothing to anyone except my mortgage. At 3% it's almost free money.

Lessons that are hard to teach a young person. Believe me, I was that hard headed once. Damn those older adults were right! Money sitting doing nothing is better than spending it because it's there. Hoping to "dig out" by 2016.

 

I'm with you on this. I just wish I had some of the money back that I spent on vehicles when I was young, no kids. Like tires and wheels that cost more than the whole darned car was worth, and it was only going to go downhill from there. Those WERE my hard lessons, but truth is, I still blow money on stuff that I probably shouldn't.

I see a lot more young people driving new and/or expensive vehicles these days than when I was young. I don't assume they have rich parents, or great jobs, maxed out credit, or run a chop shop. Not my problem. But I do assume they will someday regret their priorities, and wish they had some of that money back. I assume that, because I've lived it. I don't preach about it, because I would not have listened and know they won't either. Preaching it to my own children didn't work either, but they are getting old enough now to know.

 

I heard an old saying once that relates to this thread.

"To be old and wise, one must first be young and dumb."

Will people regret what they spent their money on? Maybe, but at the same time life is to short to not have any fun.

 

No one said to not have fun. Simply was stating "How are you able to have these things at that age?"

If you worked your tail off to have it, great. I think I spent my money on hanging out and fun. I don't regret one of those times. But I do regret the money wasted on stuff that is now sold and gone and held no value. I've sold trucks, motorcycles, trailers, equipment and have some money to at least come back to me. Stereo's, lift kits, lighting, were just a waste for ME, I said ME folks. Now that I have a career and what not spending that isn't so much of a big deal. It was just waste back then.

 

^^ what he said

My dad tells me that all the time. When I do stuff to my truck he usually has a fit at what I spend sometimes, but he also says I was your age once. He had a beater for a first car but then a 68 then 70.5 camaro in his early 20s. Hes told me he spent way too much money as well but my parents are in a good financial situation now. I love having a truck I can shine up and take to a meet/show and say yup, thats mine and im proud of it

 

I get that too. I do like my truck.

 

At least the youngsters around FTE are spending their money on trucks. Which has to be more worthwhile than dropping $10k on a drifting Corolla.