Buying A Car
In
the U.S. buying a car is a big purchase
- something that you don’t do very often.
But a car is VERY useful in the United States. It’s difficult to live without a car unless you live in the middle
of a big city with good public transportation.
Do you own or drive a car in the United States or in your native
country? If not, how do you get from
one place to another?
What
is a BIG purchase for you? What is a
routine purchase? Do you carefully
consider every purchase, no matter what the cost - large or small? Do you like to shop carefully at many
stores, comparing prices and quality, and then make a decision after a lot of
research? Or are you an impulse buyer?
What
is the normal way to decide a price in your native country? We use the words dicker or bargain or
negotiate for the process of deciding on a price. In the United States, most stores show a fixed price on every
item. However, if Americans go to
garage sales, they can bargain. When
buying a car, there is usually room to negotiate. Do you like to negotiate?
Have you ever bought something BIG like a car or a house? Are individual prices negotiated by the
buyer and the seller in your native country?
In
the United States, it’s possible to hire someone to do your shopping for
you. Do you enjoy shopping or would you
be very happy to let someone else do the shopping for you? Do you enjoy buying presents for
people? Why or why not?
When
you buy clothes, what is important to you?
Price? Fashion? Comfort? Ease of care?
Durability?
Many
people buy things on credit in the United States. Some people have many credit cards. What do you think of buying on credit? Useful? Risky? Is it common in your native country? Please describe the usual way of paying for
purchases in your native country.
Is
it common to buy used things in your native culture? Would you be happy to wear clothes or use dishes that someone
else has used before you? Why or why
not?
700 years before Jesus lived, the prophet Isaiah said this. How do you answer the prophet’s question?
“Ho, every one who thirsts, come
to the waters; and you who have no
money come, buy and eat.
Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good.” Isaiah 55:1-2