With the real estate market currently in a big mess, I know the conventional wisdom that buying is better than renting has been turned on its head. These days, a lot of so-called experts are telling us that renting may actually be the smarter financial decision, mostly because it will take many years for the housing market to rebound and for homeowners to recoup their cash.
But even though the experts are touting renting, it’s hard for me to get behind that philosophy. I’ve always been taught that renting is simply throwing away money because once the lease is up, you’ve got nothing to show for the dough you’ve spent. I mean, I can understand wanting to rent an apartment instead of buying a house if you don’t have enough cash for a down payment or whatever, but I don’t understand why you should rent if you can buy instead.
The same holds true for transportation. Leasing a car is one of the biggest money traps that you can get yourself into, so I wouldn’t recommend doing it. Instead of insisting on driving the newest vehicle on the lot, why not buy a used car to save money? Better yet, check out used Harleys to get an even better deal and save money on gas expenses to boot.
Personally, I would always choose to buy, but then again, I’m not much of a financial expert, so what do I know?!