Lifestyles of the Rich and Self-Pitying

I'd agree with Felix Salmon that the couple in Tennessee whining about an income of a mere $260,000 deserve all out sneering contempt (for the whine, not for the income). And the commentators are quite right to point out that "nothing left over" in this case is just an accounting equality. Of course they have "nothing left over" once you count what they spent and what they saved (= did not spend)--that's called "arithmetic." But what gets me is the line about the "car payment." Say, what? On the one hand, I thought they were driving a 10-year old Infiniti. How could they owe any car payment on so old a car?

But supposing it were a new car--my guess that any car payment at all is a sign that they are bad managers. I know that anything is a bargain at the right price, but my guess is that the cost of self-financing is almost always going to be lower than anything they can get in the car market. Along with their 401ks, their college savings plans and their mortgage principal payments, I would think it would think they might want to set up at least a little bolthole against the eventuality that they might want to buy a new one someday.