Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Can't come up with $400 but they walk around with a $700 phone? They can come up with the money, they just haven't faced starvation yet to motivate them
Can't come up with $400 but they walk around with a $700 phone? They can come up with the money, they just haven't faced starvation yet to motivate them
I think your post is spot on. Its called priorities. What do you spend your money on. If I bought my dream car I may have some trouble coming up with an extra 400 bucks. Lol. So I can't buy my dream car. Some people don't care and will buy the item anyway.
Can't come up with $400 but they walk around with a $700 phone? They can come up with the money, they just haven't faced starvation yet to motivate them
At what point are we responsible for our own decisions?
I'll be honest...I was poor from age 12 (when my parents got divorced) until I was 22-23. I'm 27 now...28 next week, actually.
I was approved for a $225,000 mortgage but bought a $35,000 fixer-upper -- which I had to finance in an alternative way (with a 48 month, 0% interest loan) versus a mortgage because mortgage lenders don't like lending such small amounts.
I thought about buying a cheap Mercedes because I thought I might get quality on their 35k model...even posted a thread here on C-D to get opinions about it...but chose to buy a 2013 Hyundai instead.
I didn't fall for the smartphone trend until I really needed one for my freelance work...and still, I bought a reasonably-priced Samsung and not an iPhone.
We had a 13" flat screen ($50 at a pawn shop) for a long time before I found a good Black Friday sale and got us a big flat screen.
My now-husband and I decided to get married (and to honeymoon) in Las Vegas instead of throwing some huge, ridiculously expensive event. Even if I won the lottery tomorrow, I don't think I would ever be able to forgive myself for spending $30,000+ on a wedding.
There are a lot of money-related issues in this country, but one is that everyone thinks they "deserve" to have the best of the best. Everyone is supposed to have an expensive vehicle, a brand new 3k-square-foot house, an iPhone, Starbucks every day, blah blah blah.
It's stupid. I make good money and make my coffee at home 99% of the time...if I buy a $4 coffee, it's because a friend really wanted to meet there or something. My husband and I don't need a $225,000 home and don't want the debt that goes with it. I kinda liked the Mercedes I saw and thought the quality might be worth it (I would have driven it til it died, just like I will my Hyundai), but realized otherwise and chose against it. People spend stupid amounts of money on stupid crap that they don't need, then start crying about the economy or that their job doesn't pay enough....wah wah wah.
ETA: I guess my point is that I know people who borrowed the max the bank would let them borrow on a house, then bought a $50k SUV, etc. etc. Should I feel bad for them when they can't handle an emergency? When they make what I make but made poor choices? I certainly sympathize with people in certain situations (unexpected illness, etc), but...who else is responsible for preparing for one's future than the person himself or herself?
I know people like this, always asking to borrow money. Yet they always seem to have money for new tattoo. And tattoo parlors are not cheap anymore as they are capitalizing off the trend. Sure there are people who have legitimate struggles with money. But then you have those who simply can't or won't manage their money.
Can't come up with $400 but they walk around with a $700 phone? They can come up with the money, they just haven't faced starvation yet to motivate them
Technically they can sell the phone and get 200-300 out of it and sell something else to come up with the money. So its not all lost cause. I know if today i needed to come up with some urgent money that is not covered by my saving, I might go out and pawn off my jewelry or even sell my car.
Bull. They all seem to come up with plenty of money for cell phones and big phone bills. Seems to me it's more a matter of financial ignorance.
You need to consider the whole psychology of being poor. An iPhone on a 2 year payment plan is $20/month. Sprint and T-Mobile are fairly inexpensive. Poor people pretty much never have AT&T or Verizon plans because they get slaughtered on the data overages.
If you're living paycheck to paycheck, that current generation iPhone or Samsung in your pocket is the symbol that you're not poor. If you had some cheap flip phone and prepaid plan, you're announcing your poverty level to the world. I don't run my life that way but I can certainly understand the mentality.
I was unemployed for 14 1/2 months at the Great Recession. I have a very large emergency fund but I didn't dip into it for that unemployment period and made a game of living off my Obama-extended unemployment check and the Obama assist on my COBRA health insurance premium. I had no mortgage. I had no car payments or credit card debt. I slashed expenses. The Blackberry (remember those?) went in a drawer and I dug up an old Motorola Razr flip phone and switched to the cheapest voice-only plan. I don't need the status symbol. I needed to preserve capital.
Bull. They all seem to come up with plenty of money for cell phones and big phone bills. Seems to me it's more a matter of financial ignorance.
How about personal preference???
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How about personal preference???
