LUXURY CARS
Along wealthy, distinctive neighborhoods in any large city exist blocks of luxury. Luxury everything, from designer clothing to shoes, handbags and cars. Especially cars. Jaguars, Maseratis, Bentleys and Rolls Royce’s.
But when I saw a McLaren I asked; what’s a McLaren? I never heard of a McLaren.
The Wall Street Journal recently featured an article about the elusive McLaren. Perhaps the reason I didn’t know about this car before was that not one of my friends, business associates or Uber drivers ever showed up in one. I never saw such a car in parking lots at Costco, Sam’s Club or BJs. There was never this vehicle in front of me at the car wash either.
As I soon learned, the price was not so outrageously terrible: between $230,000 and $300,500, depending on what extra accessories you prefer in a car. For example, are traffic turn indicators really necessary? And why do you need power brakes, when with a little extra strength-building power of pressing hard on the brake pedal you can stop the car yourself! Think of all the extra accessaries we blindly sign up for that we don’t really need.
Believe it or not, when you consider the price you realize that paying for it is not so impossible to achieve.
There are many ways to save money. Here are some suggestions:
Imagine all the money you could save if you eliminated the excessive cost of driving to work. Since you don’t yet own a luxury car why would you want to drive anyway? The distance between New Jersey and New York may seem far at first glance, but look at it in a different light.
How much is a gym membership worth? Does anybody think of eliminating this cost? What if, instead of working out on mostly mechanical machines, you walked from Morristown New Jersey to mid-town Manhattan for exercise? You could reap a number of benefits. First, you would eliminate the high cost of joining a health club. Secondly that short thirty mile walk would give you all the exercise you needed to stay healthy and in shape.
By walking you would also save on the cost of train fare. Eliminating the price of train travel would really help those dollars pile up in your wallet. Trains would become totally unnecessary in the Walk-Work model.
The only expense that might increase with this new transportation ideal is the small price of leather replacement for resoling your walking shoes. But compared to all the other savings you will gain, this price is a small one to pay as your shoe leather wears down.
Another price-cutting idea is heating your home. Surely you could manage to eliminate the cost of artificial heat used in so many homes. Do you think our country’s founding fathers were stronger and tougher than we are? They survived the cold by lighting bonfires, wearing warm scarves and drinking hot tea all day, although it might be tricky preparing dinner while wearing those bulky sheepskin gloves!
Try to avoid the occasional broken water pipes that may burst when you shut off the heat, but that is a minor problem, easily managed by the local plumber and your electric or gas supplier.
Electric lights are another frivolous expense. Abraham Lincoln managed to write by candlelight; what a forward thinking gentleman! Think of the romantic environment he established by candlelight. Try it; everyone in the neighborhood will wish they had thought of the idea first!
You have saved on transportation, gas and electricity, and eliminated the cost of a health club. What about all the money you now waste on food, especially prepared foods, or restaurant meals? Some simple Macaroni and cheese casseroles or peanut butter sandwiches (made on day-old bread, saving 50% on each loaf) would be perfectly filling for a tiny amount of money.
With some of these money-saving ideas you will be in a position to put a down payment on your first McLaren.
The environment will be so much improved! The conservationist movement will praise your name to the skies! And when you tell people that you have a new McLaren they’ll say,”What’s a McLaren? I never heard of it!”
MorristownMemos 