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Comment by nickelcitymario | Hacker News Reader

Anecdotally, as a Canadian, I've long wondered how so many people seem to be able to afford home ownership, multiple vehicles, often a skidoo or ATV or two, a camp or trailer, a boat, annual vacations overseas... Statistically speaking I earn significantly more than the average, yet looking around it seems like most people are living way beyond my means.

So is the culture about debt? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case.

My partner and I, when we see people with all these expensive things, have stopped looking at them with envy. Instead, we just think: that's a whole lot of debt right there.

I mean, who in their right mind spends $80k on a truck? Yet we see them EVERYWHERE, at least in our neck of the woods.

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I mean, who in their right mind spends $80k on a truck?

I have the same sentiment, a lot of people buy a payment and auto loans are now 7 (or more) years long which is a lot of the reason you see that. Trucks, at least in the US, are considered work vehicles for tax purposes in some professions such as farming or construction.

It’s all about the size of monthly payment. Total debt, be damned.

I know what you mean. I regularly see fast food or other low income workers wearing $1000 worth of designer clothing while carrying a brand new iPhone or something, while taking the bus. I see people in my income bracket overspend all the time without really seeming to be bothered by it. Constant vacations, expensive tech, fancy cars things like this.

I know as far as vehicles go, a lot of people here seem to lease rather than buy. I know a few people on modest wages who lease brand new cars for a couple years rather than buy an older one or a used one. I also know quite a few people who pretty much live off their credit card.

Then, at least in Vancouver here, you get a lot of young people with family money so they'll just kinda bum around on the streets or float from job to job while their parents are paying their bills for them. It's not even just the wealthy people, a lot of middle class or even income families seem to be like this.

I remember one day in particular in a corner store, a lady came in behind me from where she'd been panhandling and tried to buy a pack of smokes. She didn't have enough change, so she tried a debit card, that didn't work. So she pulled out a cell phone and called her mom and started screaming at her in the middle of the store about how she hadn't put money in her bank account yet and that she needed to buy something. I left about that time, but it sounded like her mom was about to rush down to the bank for her.

> I regularly see fast food or other low income workers wearing $1000 worth of designer clothing while carrying a brand new iPhone or something, while taking the bus.

I always found it interesting that I see more younger people wearing Canada Goose (not during winter), Comme des Garćon, Y-3, etc. in Toronto. Yet this is the city I hear the most from in terms of indebtedness, rising cost of living, being priced out of the city, tough for millennials, etc.

It's the same way here. Those hunter boots are really popular. I couldn't believe it when I found out how much people pay for a pair of those rubber boots.

> I mean, who in their right mind spends $80k on a truck? Yet we see them EVERYWHERE, at least in our neck of the woods

No small part of that will be because they’re written off as a business expense for mining contractors, assuming Nickel City means you’re near Thompson

Same reason Northern Alberta is crawling with F350s

Sudbury, but same point. You're probably right about a lot of them being written off for work.

Written off != free

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