Originally Posted by
Propofol
The "added expense of interest" only makes sense if you can use it to your advantage. If you have $10k in hand and finance a $10k bike at 0% interest, you can take that $10k and invest it in something with a 5% return and end up paying less than $10k for the bike. But it doesn't work if you don't already have that cash in hand. Paying interest just to "have it now" is not a valid justification for any luxury item.
But what you're missing is many people get enjoyment out of an expensive bicycle (I won't use $10,000 as an example though). To them the excitement, joy and thrill of having that new high end bike right now is worth the added interest. Or the couple that has just gone through difficult times and sees a vacation in Hawaii right now is worth it. Or the couple that wants to buy their child a graduation gift.
Those expenditures may not make sense from a purely financial planning perspective but they may add lots of value to their lives. Again they are decisions people need to make based on their own circumstances.