What does afordable mean to you?

I believe that when I say I can afford something that I can purchase it and it not have a detrimental effect on my bottom line. However, for most people it means that I can pay for it and not go into the red.

No most will look at these two statements and say the are just about the same thing. they are not. Being able to make the payments does not mean that it is not affecting your bottom line.

Lets go to the extremes to show what I mean. If I wanted to by a candy bar (one time only) for .50 I could easily afford it. After all being the type of person I am I have a budget for such items. Now lets take the same candy bar and buy one everyday for a year. I can still pay for that expense but it will effect my budget. Will I go broke, no but it will reduces the amount of room I have to play within my budget.

Now replace that candy bar, with any number of things that come up into a conversation about weather you can afford something. Like that new smart phone, that car note that's only 400$, or any other item that you hate to see the bill. You don't need to put yourself in the hole for material possessions.