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In Brazil, paying by installments is a culture thing.. for instance, most people really don't calculate how much a smartphone will cost as long they can afford the installment. Even pharmacy.

I read sometime ago that Brazil was the only country where certain luxury brands would accept installments. ( Jewelry, watches, etc ),

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This is a problem in the US with cars as well. People focus on the monthly payment they can handle, and financing department extends loan term and plays other games to make it work, despite ballooning overall cost

It took moving to Germany and then becoming seriously involved with a German whose family had always paid for lightly-used cars in cash (and have a general horror of consumer debt) to break me of the assumption that car payments were just part of adult life.

I don't think this is as universal as people assume it is in the US. I'm from the SF bay area, and in my family and among many peers it is normal to pay cash for used cars.

I'd be interested to see the data on this and learn how normal or weird my opinions are.

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