What type of vehicle do you have ??

I think it is such a pity that there are so many people out there who never have the benefit of having really struggled financially.  When my now husband and I first moved in together we lived in a country 2 bed cottage with no power, no washing machine, no gas.  I washed everything by hand.  I cooked on a wood combustion oven.  Hot water was generated by the wood oven.  I had to budget the groceries down to the last cent.  We frequently could not afford to put fuel in my car.  I only bought seconds fruit and veg.  I grew quite a bit of fruit and veg and we ate our own beef, and reared our own pork.  All our clothes came from St Vinnies or similar and the furniture was largely supported by old phone books.  I earnt a bit of cash horsebreaking, mustering, or picking and packing small crops.  We made home brew and I sewed useful things from scraps.  We had a small kero fridge and no freezer.  We caught and ate mullet.  At one stage we could not afford to have lunch.  My husband would take a cucumber from the garden and have that for lunch with salt and pepper on it.  $10 was alot of money to have spare.  We'd keep our eyes open at the tip.  This was 1995.
That was such a formative and important time.  I'm so very grateful for the experience.  I've a much keener sense of what makes life happy.  We were quite poor, but we were happy.  We still loved each other (and still do) and had a fire in our belly – which sees us now in a vastly different situation. 
Recently, it was brought to my attention just how lucky I was to have this experience when a young married woman that I know was quite distraught at the fact that her husband could not provide enough money to immediately furnish their house with brand new appliances and furnishing.  She seemed to think that they should both be driving current model vehicles, the house should be immediatley fully furnished, they should be eating gourmet food and takeaway frequently, going out all the time and purchasing things at will.  She was quite unhappy that life wasn't turning out that way.  By contrast, my past means that I am simply overjoyed at my recent purchase of a set of quality saucepans to replace the second hand ones that I have used for the last 10+ years.  Aren't I lucky?
I'm wondering how many similar stories there are out there.
S

Hang on; when you first mentioned the Commodore it was $110k.

So, when are you gunna sell it?

Hasn't it been for sale for a coupla months now?

I love a nice daily driver.I purchased mine for this reason but as the value climbed i became worried about it and the pleasure of driving it has left. So now it is unregistered and stored away safely until it is sold( Hopefully soon)
I am toying with the idea of purchasing a hk/ht/hg monaro for a bit of a long term project but there values are so high now too i might wait to see if they correct in a year or so.

Tell us more.

I guess you could do the auctions thing; go to the auctions, pay a bit less than the car dealers buy them for and then sell them on ebay or whatever.

Does anyone do/has done that?

Were those vehicles you mentioned appreciating in value each year?

I hear that all the time from people with no money.

It's a cop-out; they're saying that they have given up trying to get rich.

Having been on both sides of broke, I can tell you that it is MUCH better being happy with money than without.

Being poor sucks.

And it's a myth that rich people "aren't really that happy".  They are. This is just another saying invented by poor people who have given up, trying to justify their poverty to themselves.

Hi LA,

I have the advantage of living in a country (Japan) where certain cars are a lot cheaper than OZ.
Basically I look for a car that is reasonably priced here but worth a lot more back in OZ.
Personal imports allow a number of breaks that you can't get when trying to buy an imported car from OZ.
Also most the cars I own in Japan a sort after in OZ and although I have the same car/models they are basically different cars.
For example, this is my third Delica Space Gear 4WD. 
People like the cars I get and normally make offers that are hard to refuse.

Theres no real need to go to the auctions here but I have access to them and visit occasionally.
Prefer to get cars from clubs where you know the owners have looked after them.

ZB,

Roller is a late model Silver Spur 111 and will be on the market in about 6 months.
Definitely appreciating in value once it hits Ozzie shores.
Also a good money earner here.

No, sorry  if it came across as a direct swipe at you ZB. It wasn't.

The fact that you are on this forum is a great sign; the majority of the population not only don't invest, but they don't even know these forums exist.

I agree that you can't buy happiness, but it certainly is better to be happy with some dollars in your pocket than with none.

It was a general comment about the poor, and how often they adopt a victim mentality, and have lots of back-handed reasons why they haven't/shouldn't/can't get rich.

They often like to make comments like they do to "let themselves off the hook" because they haven't accumulated any wealth. It's an excuse that makes them feel better.

Ouch, guys – why do you have to get so personal???

Happiness is a state of mind; you can be rich and unhappy, and poor and happy. History is full of examples of miserable wealthy people, and very content poor people. And yes, also many happy rich people and miserable poor.

I'm convinced that whether you're happy or not actually has very little to do with circumstances (events, wealth, etc), but on your perceptions of those circumstances. Some people are fortunate to be blessed with a "naturally sunny disposition" – kind of like the opposite of a tendency to depression. Conversely, some people are very unlucky to be inclined to be depressed and unhappy.

For the majority who are somewhere in-between, happiness can be cultivated. It's a matter of choice.

A great exercise that I read in a Dale Carnegie book is that if you're feeling miserable, force yourself to walk around with a big smile on your face, even if it feels insincere at first. What you'll find is that people will interact more positively with you because of your smile (if it's even marginally convincing), and after a while, you'll naturally begin to feel happier – like your thoughts change to become more consistent with your expression. I found that this worked a treat.

So, all of you plaster on your smiles and try and speak more civilly to each other!!!!

Best wishes, Tracey in Brisbane

LA ok no worries mate. Understood, and i must admit I enjoy my car much more without worrying about how I am going to fuel its enourmous thirst…

C2 I have a car for all occasions too, sport luxury and camping, Of course its a Fairlane!! Ok i think you beat me on the sport, maybe the camping too…. Oh and with that roller, Luxury also. Doh!

How long have you owned the Motto Guzzi?