I live with a perpetual thought of soon, such as soon, we will be able to afford a new boat, or a new car, for myself. The reality is that although together we have been slowly earning more and more every year, we seem to just barely not be able to afford anything but the basics. Add to that my first setback, which was a pretty hefty paycut and now I am left wondering whether we were chasing hollow dreams that are next to impossible for the common man.
I have wanted a new boat ever since we stopped using ours a few years ago due to us outgrowing it. Our Bayliner was fine when Boy and his friends were all little kids. We could fit the boat with 8-10 bodies, provided 5-6 of the bodies were under 60 pounds. Once they all got into high school, it became next to impossible to include everyone we had once. My dad and I would occasionally fish, but then he has become less and less mobile, so he couldn't really get on the boat, risking hurting himself if he lost his grip and fell over or something. Owning this small boat just became more of a hassle than a fun thing.
I went and subscribed to a Boating magazine subscription so I could familiarize myself with what is out on the market. WOW! I didn't realize boating was only for millionaires and lottery winners. There was a beautiful wakeboarding boat on the cover, it is only good for riding around pulling people. It was not designed for overnighting in it. There are no staterooms underneath, or anything other than cushioned seating and a large motor to make it move efficiently. Anyways, this boat was $161,500. There was a comparison test with other similar boats of this type, as these magazines usually do, and the other boats were all in the $75,000-$186,000 range. This is crazy for a daytime only use toy.
I could say the same thing when I am looking at Car and Driver and all the really nice cars are also over $100,000. I would love to drive a Porsche Panamera, which is their first effort at a four door sedan, but they quickly get over that amount. Forget a Lamborgini, which tend to stay above $200,000. Even the more normal cars like Audis and BMWs and Mercedes, when you look at their flagship vehicle, it will be somewhere in the $80-$100k., which is still crazy expensive.
If I wanted to maybe some day re-do our backyard and install a new pool with a grotto cave and slide, and water features, we would be looking at probably $50-$75k. What are we left with, which is the annoying thing? I already knew we couldn't afford planes, but if boats also fall in there and fancy cars, are we supposed to really just watch television on the weekends. We could maybe afford season tickets to SeaWorld or Fiesta Texas, maybe even Schlitterbahn, with their stupid season tickets going for $120 a head, but then we have to deal with all sorts of crowds and overpriced food.
Is there a whole population that just gets to point at a boat and says "that one", I don't care about the price? Are these magazines like Playboy, showing beautiful sexy bodies the common man can't ever have? I am quite frustrated this summer, not only can I not really venture out to get wet, I have no means of getting in the water if I wanted to.
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