@fire: for the record, i'm still driving the same bright yellow 1.3 2001 ford ka which has a current commercial value of around, say, 4700 euros (and a bad bumper). i'm not someone who spends money on cars and i'm not even a "big spender" in any sense, except where wine is concerned (but i'm not drinking much these days so it's not even expensive). i was just cracking a joke on the "you should be happy without material things" kind of approach. but enough of me and jokes then.