You need a car. You have $1000. You have a choice in between a friend who can get you a car for $1000 and a dealer who can get you a car for $500 and the other $500 he pockets for his service. Who has more value to you? Your friend who makes no money but delivers you a car for $1000 or the dealer who is now $500 more valuable as a person but can only deliver you a $500 car.
One of life's top 5 rules: never buy stuff from friends. Especially something like a car, which at that price point inevitably will have problems tomorrow if not today. Buying things from friends is the best way to ruin a friendship.
Besides, buying at a dealer (given it's a good one) has the benefits you can go back if you have problems. There are good dealers out there; not everyone who runs a business is out there to rip you off. Believe it or not, there are still good people in the world, you know?
Back on topic; I'll admit right away I like nice things. Who doesn't? The thing is that I only go by my own standards.
I love my super-high end hi-fi system every time I turn it on. It had cost the first owner a couple of thousand bucks in the eighties when he bought it new and he put at least a couple of hundred in it through the years maintaining it. They are these huge, heavy, metal separate components. Hooked up are two big tower speakers by KEF, also from the eighties. I spent a couple hundred on it, and it sounds better than the sets pretty much anyone I know has. There are no fancy displays and iPod docks. Just a few industrial-class buttons and a knob for the volume and an "on" light. It's probably no 'status symbol' to pretty much everyone now. But hell am I happy with it.
I drive an Alfa Romeo because it's way more fun than anything else normal money can buy out there. It may not be as practical or as cool as a luxury brand to most people, but hell am I having fun every time I drive it hard. That's the only way to properly drive an Alfa, by the way. They break down if you take it easy on them. Drive the sh*t out of them and have as much fun as you possibly can and they will last you longer that you'd expect. And no, I don't put gay exhausts, subwoofers, big rims, fins or spoilers on it. I'm not insecure about my d1ck size. It's a car from 1997 with faded paint. But hey, it's fun! 130.000 miles and still going. If this one is used up I'll get another 2nd hand one.
When I have enough money I'll probably buy a nice plasma TV, because I like watching movies every now and then. For now, the old crt tube still works fine. My current main computer is a 10" netbook. In a couple of months I'll get home and use my desktop again, which is a nice standard computer. Nothing too fancy.
I have a couple of watches. I inherited from my grandfather the only really expensive one I have. The one I have been wearing every day for over 10 years now is a watch I got for my birthday. It was probably around 200 bucks, if that. I love it and I will probably never replace it. Another favorite of mine is the $15 digital Casio, which I have had for 5 years now. I wear that one if I go do something that could break it.
The only things I spend serious money on are my two main hobbies. Electric guitars and photography. I enjoy this a lot, so for me, it's a good destination for it.
All of this is great. But it's nothing compared to good health. I wouldn't give a sh*t about all of this if I'd hear I have cancer or something.
In the end, the best thing you can do with your money is to travel around. See the world, experience life. When I get out of college and start making good money, I probably won't buy a big house. I don't need it. I'll just live humble outside of the city and travel and have as much fun as possible. My dream is to have a job where I live somewhere for a couple of years, and then move to a completely different place. Who knows what'll happen.
