Quote from Sam Mcgee:
I don't mean to be offensive, just to point something out. You imply that Americans are wasting too much money on expensive cars.....what about yourself? You're wasting 500 hours a year commuting. If you value your time at $25 an hour, that's $12,500 a year. More than buying a new $30,000 car every three years.
Why don't you move to a nice apartment nearer to your job? I think home ownership is way over rated if that's your current situation. You end up spending way too much money and time on taxes, utilities and maintenance for a house. You tie up hundreds of thousands of capital that could be earning a positive return.