It's so simple really:

Sonshine · #21 08/30/12, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darntootin

I don't know too many people who's wages could pay for any of those things, no matter how long they worked. Prices for necessities are too high and wages are too low. Not too many opportunities for advancement either.

Nice message but over simplified and about 35 years out dated. Most of those jobs and opportunities went bye-bye....outsourcing, illegal immigrants, and new technologies have damaged the job market badly.

Hers's the OP. My response are in bold:

Want a house... work, save, buy it... can't afford a big one...start small work up to it. or learn to make the best of what you do have.

Ours is not payed for yet, but we double and sometimes triple our monthly payments in the effort of paying it off and getting completely out of debt.

Want a new car.. work, save, buy it..can't afford a nice new fancy one... buy one you can afford.. we've all drove clunkers at one time

DH and I have 2 vechicle, plus our RV. All three are payed in full. And this was done with just DH working.

Want luxury items... work, save, buy... cant afford what you neighbor has... life sucks sometimes but you can live without it

Not sure what one would consider luxury items, but guess our RV could fall in this category.

Want college, sometimes we have to work for years before we can afford to go, just makes you more determined to not waste it on silly degrees

I enlisted in the USAF when I was 22 years old. I also enrolled in college at that time. I never had student loans. I didn't earn my degree, but that was my own fault because I dropped out when I remarried and DH got orders to go to Germany and I wanted to travel with him.

Decide to get a loan for any of the above.... pay it back, does your word mean nothing? Nobody forced you to get that loan and it's not the loaners fault you got it.

All of our loans, with the exception of our mortgage, are completely payed off. These days if we can't pay cash for it, we don't get it.

Want birth control... pay for it, can't afford it abstinence works really well or just do without a luxury item and use the money you saved for it. Make your own coffee instead of buying it. Pack your own lunch.

Decide you want an abortion... thats your choice.. pay for it yourself, or start a charity so like minded people can donate and you don't have to worry about the government controlling your choices.

The bottom portion doesn't apply to me personally because I am unable to have children. However, when I was having children I took responsibility for them.

Sonshine · #22 08/30/12, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by watcher

But if people did that they wouldn't have their bass boat, their jet skis (one for each of them), their ATVs (again one for each, can't have someone left out of the fun), their smart cell phones (yeah, one each), total package cable TV with a TV in every room, their computers (everyone has to have one of those as well) and the rest of the "necessary" stuff.

They can if they are wise about how they spend. It's a matter of saving your money for it and not getting into debt and paying all those interest rates and late fees when they can't pay for them.

unregistered168043 · #23 08/31/12, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonshine

Hers's the OP. My response are in bold:

Want a house... work, save, buy it... can't afford a big one...start small work up to it. or learn to make the best of what you do have.

Ours is not payed for yet, but we double and sometimes triple our monthly payments in the effort of paying it off and getting completely out of debt.

Want a new car.. work, save, buy it..can't afford a nice new fancy one... buy one you can afford.. we've all drove clunkers at one time

DH and I have 2 vechicle, plus our RV. All three are payed in full. And this was done with just DH working.

Want luxury items... work, save, buy... cant afford what you neighbor has... life sucks sometimes but you can live without it

Not sure what one would consider luxury items, but guess our RV could fall in this category.

Want college, sometimes we have to work for years before we can afford to go, just makes you more determined to not waste it on silly degrees

I enlisted in the USAF when I was 22 years old. I also enrolled in college at that time. I never had student loans. I didn't earn my degree, but that was my own fault because I dropped out when I remarried and DH got orders to go to Germany and I wanted to travel with him.

Decide to get a loan for any of the above.... pay it back, does your word mean nothing? Nobody forced you to get that loan and it's not the loaners fault you got it.

All of our loans, with the exception of our mortgage, are completely payed off. These days if we can't pay cash for it, we don't get it.

Want birth control... pay for it, can't afford it abstinence works really well or just do without a luxury item and use the money you saved for it. Make your own coffee instead of buying it. Pack your own lunch.

Decide you want an abortion... thats your choice.. pay for it yourself, or start a charity so like minded people can donate and you don't have to worry about the government controlling your choices.

The bottom portion doesn't apply to me personally because I am unable to have children. However, when I was having children I took responsibility for them.

Sonshine that sounds great and was the way to do it 30 years ago. This is a completely new world. The one thing you said that I do agree with is 'learn to make the best of what you do have', which will be less and less as the decades march on.

Sonshine · #24 08/31/12, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darntootin

Sonshine that sounds great and was the way to do it 30 years ago. This is a completely new world. The one thing you said that I do agree with is 'learn to make the best of what you do have', which will be less and less as the decades march on.

We didn't do this 30 years ago. My college maybe, but the rest my DH and I did together. We've been married for 26 years, but when we first married we struggled and did run up credit cards and spent money foolishly. We use to be regulars at the pawn shops trying to get enough money to get food. We finally tightened our belts, stopped buying the latest and newest things on the market and started paying extra on the bills. As each bill was payed off that money was put towards another bill. Anytime we got extra money, as in the stimulus money or tax returns or DH's re-enlistment bonuses, it went towards things that would make us more self sufficient like our green house and wood stove. We stopped using central air and installed a couple of window units. We stopped using central heat and heat with our wood stove. We don't go out and buy a new car every few years, just maintain the ones we have. The only groceries I buy are beef, pork, salt, sugar, ect, things I can't grow here, so our grocery bills are very low. The money that use to go towards the higher power bills, now goes toward our house payment. The extra grocery money goes towards the house payment. For entertainment we set up a camp site in our back yard. We have our RV set up out there along with a small pond and my firepit. Better than any campground I've ever been to. We don't buy new clothes, except for DH at Christmas time. In other words, we don't try to keep up with the neighbors and as a result we are now doing much better than the neighbors. No, it's not something that could only happen 30 years ago. We payed off our last credit card just a little over a year ago. Now all we have is a house payment. We just got tired of owing so much and decided to cut back on things to pay off the bills. As a result we have more to put towards paying off our home, which we hope to have payed off soon after DH retires.

akane · #25 08/31/12, 09:45 PM

Except it does me no good if I can afford all that stuff when I'm 80 and unable to enjoy it. I'd like to have a nice little working farm while my joints still function and they started falling apart at 21. Then we don't even want to get in to the other health problems and the $1000/month of pills which are steadily shortening my life and will probably lead to dementia early on. I can work all I want and I'll probably never see my dreams using that method.

Sonshine · #26 08/31/12, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akane

Except it does me no good if I can afford all that stuff when I'm 80 and unable to enjoy it. I'd like to have a nice little working farm while my joints still function and they started falling apart at 21. Then we don't even want to get in to the other health problems and the $1000/month of pills which are steadily shortening my life and will probably lead to dementia early on. I can work all I want and I'll probably never see my dreams using that method.

Um, who said anything about being 80? I'm 54 and DH is 47.

Yvonne's hubby · #27 09/01/12, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darntootin

I guess you're completely ignoring the huge profits that the corporate monopolies are taking from those necessities. What you are paying for these days are corporate profits and Taiwan wages. There is no doubt that the bog corporations are taking record profits and the gap between wealthy and working poor is getting bigger and bigger.

You're model also completely ignores inflation, and who do you think profits from that? Not the average American.

Bottom line is that a much lower percentage of corporate profits are going to pay wages due to outsourcing of jobs, and a much higher percentage of profit is taken as a result.

I am not ignoring those corporate "profits".... they are simply more "wages" divided among those who have invested their money into the company. If you will look, most major companies are showing profits of less than 10 percent. More like 5 to 7 and many are operating in the 2 to 5 percent range. As to inflation... that is basically driven by those higher wages that everyone demands. Lets say everyone gets a 10 percent wage increase this week... how is that going to affect the cost of production of a product? If only one person is involved in the process to get that table and chair set from the forest to your dining room... the cost would go up 10 percent. However, there are usually several people involved in that process... the loggers, the truckers, the saw mill operation, the lumber distributers, the furniture factory, the retailers, right on down to the delivery guy who brings it into your home. With each stage you are adding another 10 percent to your cost while you are only getting a 10 percent raise!

jwal10 · #28 09/01/12, 08:38 AM

My Son is getting everything done without borrowing money. He works at a grade school for $10.00 an hour/4 hours a day. Substitutes as needed for $21.00/ hr. Cleans up and mows properties spring, summer and fall, changes locks and winterizes properties for the banks. He owns 2 properties. Saved and bought. He lives in a 24'x24' cabin, has rabbits, chickens and goats. He built 3 rental properties that give him $1500.00 a month income. He is doing well at 23....James

akane · #29 09/01/12, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Um, who said anything about being 80? I'm 54 and DH is 47.

That's how long it will take me at this rate and even at 60 I'll probably be in a wheel chair. I'll be surprised if I'm capable of much physical activity in another 10 years at nearing 40.

KnowOneSpecial · #30 09/01/12, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TxHorseMom

I have a very cheap method of birth control my mama told me about! I only costs the price of ONE ASPIRIN!!!! Take said aspirin and hold between both knees. Don't let aspirin drop. Works every time!

So you're saying you're not limber or bendy?!

pancho · #31 09/01/12, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KnowOneSpecial

So you're saying you're not limber or bendy?!

Yes, the apsirin trick only works if both people aren't very smart.

Sonshine · #32 09/01/12, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akane

That's how long it will take me at this rate and even at 60 I'll probably be in a wheel chair. I'll be surprised if I'm capable of much physical activity in another 10 years at nearing 40.

I spend most of my time flat on my back these days. The thing is, I'd rather go into the future debt free than spending foolishly and have to worry about paying debts when I'm confined to a wheelchair, which by the way, I was also in when I was in my 40's.