Save for my children's education, save for retirement, save for travel and cool vacations, save for emergencies, save for all sorts of things.

I thought the book was great and hit on some fundamental truths. I don't think it means you have to live like a pauper, but you do have to avoid making major mistakes -- and the two biggest ones Americans make are buying more house than they can afford (we're now seeing some repercussions on that front) and constantly buying new cars. I know many folks (including people close to me) who have no money in the bank, a huge mortgage, large credit card balances, and newly leased cars in the driveway.

The excuse for getting a new car is always the same -- the old one needs, or will need, a major repair, which ignores the fact that a major repair might happen once a year and will cost as much as just one monthly car/lease payment on a new car. There is obviously a point of diminishing returns, but a well-built car should certainly last and run well long after the initial leasee has run out.

Of course it is a personal decision as to how someone wants to spend his or her money, and not everyone has the same financial goals. I love cars, and love BMWs in particular, but I now pay cash for my cars and hold onto them for awhile by maintaining them meticulously (and on a schedule more frequent than BMW's). So it is more important to me than others that cars are well built, and my 2001 330i has generally done well so far.