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On one hand our economy is suffering from insufficient demand, and if consumers are more frugal, where can we get the demand, government? On the other hand if we repair instead of replace goods more jobs can be created here instead of the money going to China.
On one hand our economy is suffering from insufficient demand, and if consumers are more frugal, where can we get the demand, government? On the other hand if we repair instead of replace goods more jobs can be created here instead of the money going to China.
I just read where the US will actually be considered an exporter of oil/petroleum products for the first time in 62 years! The change in the trade balance was not due to shifting regulatory or government controls but because of the reduced demand by US citizens. We have the power to alter the balance of trade by altering our buying patterns. I'm surprised this story is not a major headline in every news outlet. Again...we the PEOPLE have the power every time we decide how we are going to invest/spend that $.
I just read where the US will actually be considered an exporter of oil/petroleum products for the first time in 62 years! The change in the trade balance was not due to shifting regulatory or government controls but because of the reduced demand by US citizens. We have the power to alter the balance of trade by altering our buying patterns. I'm surprised this story is not a major headline in every news outlet. Again...we the PEOPLE have the power every time we decide how we are going to invest/spend that $.
i would guess the current government doesnt want this to be a big deal because it would encourage more energy production here at home. we should be extracting the natural resources here instead of importing them and we can export them and gasoline.
1. I dont get the basic $1.59 coffee to be frugal ; I get it because it tastes just fine to me. In my retirement, i can afford something more expensive, but im content with what i get.
2. Yes, I do go to Starbucks to use my Laptop , to see friends, wake up with coffee., and plan out my day/week.
3. If you want to get a can of coffee at the store and drink it at home, that is your perogative . I do that as i watch Good Morning America at 7 a.m. on TV , then have my second cup at Starbucks. Isnt America great ?!
4. I would get just as much pleasure out of a $300 k. brick mansion, as i do my conservative looking frame ranch house .
$1.59 for a nice cup of coffee in a nice friendly environment is a lot better than spending $100+ on a therapy session. Coffee out is my treatment of choice.
The people who are spending like there is no tomorrow are living for TODAY. They don't have a future plan. Most likely the folks who live paycheck to paycheck but hey it drives the economy and the stock market up.
Starbucks is a rip off to me. I can make just as good as coffee at home for much cheaper.
Living below your means is common sense. You don't teach anyone to teach you.
Everyone's economy is different. One should have a plan. There are stuff we cannot control like inflation, Cost of living, unfortunate health circumstances, how the market will perform.
The economy can be a boom like the late 90's but that does not mean you have to live above your means like everyone else.
All one has to do is read one of the food stamp card threads here and see that a good % of Americans think that the status quo should be a right. What I mean by status quo are those things that people do that they don't need physically to survive, but do so out of some feel good benefit they receive. I'm frugal, but no where near as frugal as I could be. I could easily be somewhat of a loner myself, and the idea of a compact home, heated with a wood stove if need be appeals to me.
Part of the problem is that people have too much time on their hands, and they fulfill that empty time with sitting on the internet, watching TV, hanging out at bars/starbucks/retail shops, etc.. We no longer have to worry about storing food for the winter, or taking hours to hunt a meal, then hours preparing the kill to be eaten. We don't have to spend hours falling wood, splitting it, and stacking it for use 15-18 months from now. We get our heat from flicking a switch, and can have heat to cook with in the matter of minutes.
I do have a fear that in a true collapse, we could really see a spike in suicides/homicides. There are a lot of people out there who have never, ever been angry or blown up at someone. However, you throw a wrench into how things are now and people can turn in an instant. On another forum I read, a member posted how a they were without power for seven days after a hurricane rolled through. He said that since he was prepared, they were cooking food on a camp stove and had light from lanterns. A neighbor who the person didn't know came over and knocked on the door, demanding to know how they had power. The poster explained camping supplies (gas and/or battery operated lanterns). The poster then said the neighbor smelled the food, and it totally set him off. He demanded food and the stove for his family. He started to make entry into the home and the homeowner, who was unarmed at the time, took a defensive position and put a hand behind his back as if to draw a handgun from the same of the back. He ordered the guy out of the home and the guy left. I guess after things returned to normal the guy was driving buy and apologized for his behavior. He then asked for some suggestions on how to go about getting prepared himself.
It it amazing how automated some people are, and when there are forced changes, that make life harder, they lose it.
I no longer go to Starbucks (*$ as it is known) except if I'm in the middle of a 7+ hour drive (maybe 4 times/year). At that point, I just want black brewed coffee - not the fru-fru drinks that take 25 words to order.
Nowadays, I buy unroasted beans ("green coffee beans") over the internet & roast them myself in a $3 hot air popcorn popper from Goodwill. A pound costs me about six bucks - and I get top quality single-origin beans from specific farms with much higher quality than the mass-market beans purchased by *$, and I roast them to my own liking. It takes about 7 minutes for a batch.
So many people who are without jobs now, depleted their finanical reserve because they lived high on the hog when times were good and didnt save / didnt save much. Tough lesson to learn.
I think it's more so not that they lost a job -- but that they couldn't find ANOTHER one. Clearly a person who lives paycheck-to-paycheck with no/little savings is at risk. But some people HAD more than six months a year or MORE of savings AND 401K and ROTH Ira -- and STILL had to spend it all down. But at least having that helps stretch unemployment or a lower salary or hourly wage.
A person making 70-thousand and living below their means and finds a jobs for 30-thou even with savings may be at financial risk.
Even people who live below their means -- and I think there are lots of them -- may not be able to take a 30, 40, or 50 percent pay cut. I'd say even most FRUGAL people aren't living on HALF or even 3/4 of their income. That's a heck of a hit even for someone who is "frugal."
How much "below your means" are we talking about in order to save money or have an emergency fund?
I think those who can't stop buying the latest car..the latest Latte..the latest XBox...are having a harder time dealing with the "New America."
I realize some buy what they want, when they want...and likely they would feel deprived otherwise..( or they in fact, REALLY have the disposable income to do so...)
But I grew up poor and learned many years ago, how to cut back, cut off, cut up anything that was going to weigh too heavy on me...
So, even if I won the lottery, I would still buy the small size drink, not because I was being cheap but because 8 oz soda is better than drinking 22 oz...on the waist/hips you know....
No irony Friend ; I always get the $1.59 coffee thats on tap ... plus, i can well afford it
Now that's being frugal even at Starbucks !
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