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I have never been a 'keep up with the Joneses' type and prefer to live below my means. What I have never understood is why that bothers people. I mean get comments like "you still driving that vehicle" or things like " why don't you have this or that"
I have just learned to respond with a line like. "I am so proud of you, keep up the good work" they usually have a stunned look on their face lol
I'm with you. I do buy things as I need. I did switch from a original I-phone to the 4s. But that was because some of the apps didn't work and the Internet was slow on the Edge network. And the screen started to get gray lines. So it was time to upgrade. I had the opportunity to get a 4s at no cost so I upgraded both mine and my wife's.
I have people saying wow you still have a 4s? Sure why not. It still works fine.
Don't much care if it bothers anyone.
Yes, they do. This is how it affects the rest of us:
--Unpaid bills and bankruptcies, which get passed on to everyone else.
--More stress for people who live this way, which usually leads to worse health and higher health care costs.
--More competition in the labor market for a limited supply of jobs.
--More desperate people living payday to payday also effectively forces wages down as those with minimal or no savings (the majority) have limited bargaining power, which affects everyone.
--More dependence on government programs, a good chunk of which can be prevented if people save more throughout their lives.
--The stress of living payday to payday / in-debt spills over into the lives of those who aren't living this way, for sure....in the assumptions about what is "normal", etc. It makes it more difficult for those who are more conservative spenders because they're always having to go against the grain of what is considered "normal".
I agree with you. People don't understand the detrimental long term consequences of a debt ridden society. The 0% interest and living off of credit cards only lasts so long. Eventually, the loans are called and the bubble bursts. Just like the housing bubble pre-2008, we are currently in a massive consumer loan bubble. When the bubble bursts it will take business down with them.
When this happens, those who are financially responsible can be affected indirectly through layoffs and declines in stock markets and housing prices. Over the long term, when most people have less $ to spend and credit dries up, who is going to shop at stores and buy products/services?
ruin it for the people who are financially responsible/smart?
i was having this conversation with someone who is horrible with money and in so much debt despite the person making $200k per year. obviously some horrible decisions were made and this person lived beyond their means for quite some time. do these situations effect the people who are financially responsible with their money? if so, how? i was trying to make the argument that this person was ruining it for the rest of us but i didn't have any examples to support my argument lol so then i started questioning if that were true. i was just wondering what kind of ramifications this has on the rest of society.
Well, I may be wrong about this, but seems to me that eventually that kind of carelessness leads to things like the housing market crash and depression of the economy. Not sure, but if that's true then that's just one more reason for me to be pissed off at dumb, thoughtless people. If only their actions would just affect them. Unfortunately, they're just so stupid they don't realize how many other people they're affecting. But then, I could be wrong about that and maybe somehow all that debt they're in just affects them and the rest of us are untouched by it; that's what I would like for it to be like.
ruin it for the people who are financially responsible/smart?
i was having this conversation with someone who is horrible with money and in so much debt despite the person making $200k per year. obviously some horrible decisions were made and this person lived beyond their means for quite some time. do these situations effect the people who are financially responsible with their money? if so, how? i was trying to make the argument that this person was ruining it for the rest of us but i didn't have any examples to support my argument lol so then i started questioning if that were true. i was just wondering what kind of ramifications this has on the rest of society.
However those individuals were enabled and encouraged by greedy real estate agents and mortgage lenders and those agents and lenders were enabled by irresponsible and/or greedy and corrupt financial institutions and investors whom were backed by the US government, which was discovered, in the least, to have its hand tied behind its back (Freddy Mac competing with Fannie Mae).
There are several documentaries that helped explain it, but The Big Short was absolutely the best at it.
Me too. I still use my ipod nano from 2006 at the gym and someone commented on it. Im like - if it aint broke dont fix it !
My cell is an iPhone 4S. It still works, though I think it needs a new battery.
I don't see any reason to get a newer phone. If I want a bigger screen, I use one of my iPads. Plus, my 4S is grandfathered into the unlimited data plan because I bought the original iPhone.
When you typed it did it have a squiggly red line under it?
I wish I could blast the music really loud in my office, but it might disturb someone even in one of the neighboring offices. (No red squiggly line there!)
Sort of. They will put a strain on things as many will be much more dependent on the government, stressing out the burdened system. I say "sort of" because many of the government programs are "bubble up" based, which means the money the government pumps out to the people who didn't save for retirement is likely to be immediately spent into local economies. It keeps financial velocity going, the money they spend funds small businesses, keeps things moving, etc.
If the tax revenue comes from hoarded cash, it's not that bad. Hoarded cash doesn't move a spending based economy.
I think ruin may be too strong of a word in this case. I don't think it will ruin my own retirement. It ruins theirs. It makes it different then if everyone I know had plenty. I think it makes friendships with certain people then different. They can't do this or that or go here or there as much. The US just has tons of people financially dependent on the government and choosing to live within those limits. Whose life is really ruined in those circumstances?
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