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.
I have seen it, like a huge yard sale, the kitchen too. Garage is full she cannot get her car in it.
Boxes of stuff everywhere. Yellow post it notes on everything.
Well organized and clean. I am amazed at the things she find and resells.
I am an antique junkie myself and met her at an auction and she told me she knows nothing about antiques and still makes 100.00 a day on ebay, when I asked he what see sells... her answer.... I know what woman want and I find it!
I cannot laugh, she sold a 1960's lunch box on ebay for 450.00 she bought for 3.99 at a local thrift store, she sold a hand made rug for 300.00 she paid I think 20.00 for. It goes on and one. Last summer she sold little tykes baby toys like hot cakes. Used and clean baby clothes by the box fulls. She told me she sells jeans like crazy to the japanese.
I couldnt begin to wonder how she keeps it organized and know what is listed and not listed. Thus, the reason for a gazillion post it notes.
How was that a subject change? You said nothing is made in America anymore.
GD was going downhill fast on the Citgo thing...went for the switcheroo to hand-made furniture. Not much help really, but I'd have probably tried the same thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 01Snake
Ever stop an wonder why stuff is being made overseas? Instead of blaming the evil corporations for trying to increase profits, how about taking a look at Joe Public who wants everything at the lowest price possible. This is a big reason were inundated with products not made here in the US.
No need to stop doing anything else...it's all rather obvious. High capital mobility makes it possible to take advantage of lower labor costs, no matter where they are. Resulting declines in employment at home lead to wage stagnation and employment fears, leading to consumer demands for lower prices which in turn creates demand for even lower labor costs. The seemingly low inflation rates that Bushie fans try to credit him with have actually had very little to do with him, and are much more the result of simply switching out US labor costs for foreign labor costs, not all of which are in China, but China is significant and does stand as a good exemplar. The winners in all this? Some rich people. The losers? Everybody else...
Why do you insist on making up this "struggling" nonsense?
Probably from the litanies of all those awful expenses that eat away at your wealth. Makes it sound like you've bitten off more than you can chew. It does happen to a lot of folks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
Nobody said anything about struggling. Just the opposite. I'm doing fine. In fact, if you look at the numbers, between the college funds and retirement fund, I'm saving 60K per year. Does that sound like someone who is "struggling"?
So, if you're on Easy Street after all, why not just be thankful for that, pay your taxes, and get on with life.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
There is still no reason I should pay for your kids to go to pre-school. Pay for your own kids, or dont send them at all. Better yet, if you cant afford to take care of your kids properly, just dont have them until you can afford it.
My kids are a little old for pre-school. But when they weren't, I did pay for it. And I paid my taxes. And I didn't whine over it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
Nobody said anything about making $350 either. I never disclosed my salary. That is just a number that the poster decided to work with so I went along with it.
Well, you did say that you made just enough to edge into the highest tax bracket and that you'd been paying the AMT for years, and $350K would be pretty much consistent with those two pieces of information, so I can see where the estimate might have come from and why you might have gone along with it.
I'm sure. But even $100 per day only comes to a gross of $36,500 per year for what sounds like a full-time-and-then-some job that also turns her house into 24/7 rummage sale. No problem there if she's happy with it (and it sounds like she is), but this isn't really something that just anybody is going to able to do. The start-up costs alone would be beyond the reach of most poor people...
Probably from the litanies of all those awful expenses that eat away at your wealth. Makes it sound like you've bitten off more than you can chew. It does happen to a lot of folks.
Nope. Just assumptions you have made on your own. Someone basically asked why my expenses are so high, so I laid them out for them.
Quote:
So, if you're on Easy Street after all, why not just be thankful for that, pay your taxes, and get on with life.
What you dont seem to get is that I am fine with my federal taxes as they are. The argument is that I should be paying MORE. I disagree.
Quote:
My kids are a little old for pre-school. But when they weren't, I did pay for it. And I paid my taxes. And I didn't whine over it.
You basically put yourself in the middle of a conversation with someone who believes I am responsible for their children's pre-school education. So I guess this means you are not on their side on the issue? Again, and I cant say this enough, I am not "whining" over the taxes I am already paying. I am arguing that they shouldn't RAISE taxes. Fair enough?
Quote:
Well, you did say that you made just enough to edge into the highest tax bracket and that you'd been paying the AMT for years, and $350K would be pretty much consistent with those two pieces of information, so I can see where the estimate might have come from and why you might have gone along with it.
When you consider that there are people out there making tens of millions of dollars, "just enough" (no one said to "edge') could be anywhere from 350-750.
You keep talking about "complaining" or "whining" about taxes. In reality I am voicing my opinion about RAISING taxes.
Am I missing something, or isn't that the whole purpose of the thread??? If you tell people not to complain about the idea of raising taxes, this is going to be a very 1 sided thread.
Last edited by AnesthesiaMD; 01-28-2008 at 05:44 AM..
Nope. Just assumptions you have made on your own. Someone basically asked why my expenses are so high, so I laid them out for them.
Then some of your rhetoric has been a bit overblown. From the post that <roseba> initially reacted to and I did more recently above...
What about the rest of us that the federal government considers "wealthy"? We are probably the LEAST represented of all groups. We have just enough money to be taxed at the highest bracket, but not enough to throw money around like it grows on trees. We have been getting hit with the AMT for years. We don't get any of the "rebates" others get. We pay most of the taxes, and instead of a "thank you" we have people telling us we are not doing enough.
And that was followed by...
I'm not exactly sure which part of NY you are in, but in the NYC metro area, that kind of money doesn't make you wealthy. Not even close. Maybe if you are single you could be a little extravagant, but once you pay the high mortgage with the high property taxes, high state income tax (9%), retirement account, and 529s for each kid, there is not much left to throw around on "bling".
I can hear Linda Ronstadt singing Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me as I type.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
What you dont seem to get is that I am fine with my federal taxes as they are. The argument is that I should be paying MORE. I disagree.
The question might more accurately be phrased as whether your Bush-authored tax holiday should be brought to an end. Since 2001, the Bushie tax cuts have handed you a roughly 15% discount on the taxes owed on every dollar you make. As there are a lot of dollars, that's a lot of discount. With things as they are (partly as the result of the tax cuts), maybe we can't afford to offer you that discount anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
You basically put yourself in the middle of a conversation with someone who believes I am responsible for their children's pre-school education.
Everyone here is in the middle of every conversation. And <roseba> claimed only that on a much smaller middle-class salary and in an even higher cost-of-living area, she is paying the same for per-child pre-school as you and not whining about it. Speaking of education, btw, the typical teacher salary in Essex County is not $90K as earlier referenced. The 2004 average in one of the county's highest-paying systems was closer to $65K. And speaking of Essex County, if you weren't aware of the County's property tax situation when you bought the house, you didn't do enough homework.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
Again, and I cant say this enough, I am not "whining" over the taxes I am already paying. I am arguing that they shouldn't RAISE taxes. Fair enough?
I don't know. Your earlier comments included this...
All I'm saying is that wealth is a relative term, and taxes are high enough already for most people. If you want to raise taxes on the truly wealthy, fine, but the government has to redefine what "wealth" is.
...which makes it seem that tax increases are fine by you so long as they don't actually affect you, a person who would currently be defined as wealthy by almost any definition, your own apparently excluded.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
When you consider that there are people out there making tens of millions of dollars, "just enough" (no one said to "edge') could be anywhere from 350-750.
Well, per the 2007 1040 tax tables, the top rate applies to all taxable income over $349,700 which is very close to $350K. Now the "top rate" isn't actually 35% because of the recapture of deductions and exemptions, and the AMT is likely to make much of that meaningless anyway, but in general, the fact that there are people out there making tens of millions of dollars a year isn't really relevant to anything. Unless one is the single highest income earner in the country, there will always be someone who makes more than you do, so it's not very convincing simply to argue that you're not that guy. If you are in that $350K+ bracket, you have been getting a free ride courtesy of The Man from Crawford, and it might be time to start giving some of that back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eskmd
You keep talking about "complaining" or "whining" about taxes. In reality I am voicing my opinion about RAISING taxes. Am I missing something, or isn't that the whole purpose of the thread??? If you tell people not to complain about the idea of raising taxes, this is going to be a very 1 sided thread.
Well, here's my take. Decisions on whether to raise (or lower) federal taxes are most sensibly made from the standpoint of the national checkbook. It currently contains a whole lot of red ink. That red ink belongs to all of us, and if it's a good idea to make that red ink go away, then it's up to all of us to help make it so. Now, if I hear an excuse that oh, I'm too poor to help out...I won't be able to afford the busfare to work if I have to pay, I could be persuaded to listen to that. If I hear an excuse that I'm too independent to be included in with the rest of you, or an excuse that sure I'm rich, but it's actually only the really rich who should pay, well, in those cases I might not be persuaded quite so easily. We don't have to convince anyone to share in the benefits of public goods and services, and everyone does. But when it comes time to pick up the tab, we see a little more reluctance going on, and that reluctance translates into "Hey, why don't the rest of you guys just split up my share, okay?" No, not okay. Take two of these Personal Responsibility pills, and call me in the morning...
Last edited by saganista; 01-28-2008 at 10:17 AM..
I'm sure. But even $100 per day only comes to a gross of $36,500 per year for what sounds like a full-time-and-then-some job that also turns her house into 24/7 rummage sale. No problem there if she's happy with it (and it sounds like she is), but this isn't really something that just anybody is going to able to do. The start-up costs alone would be beyond the reach of most poor people...
Thats a 100.00 profit per day, not gross.
Start up was minimal, she bought a few things at a yard sale, sold them, bought more sold them and has no expenses other then taking items to the post office.
Not bad making 36k per year net and not having to leave the house much to do it.
Best thing is she makes her own hours, checks emails, list during the day and stops after 4 oclock to have a life. She told me the only thing she does after 4 is check the emails.
The point is she is working for herself, has little to no expenses and makes 3,000 per month net money. And people complain that you cannot find a job. My goodness, 3k per month is great money.
Ah, that would be new information. Wasn't referred to that way in the earlier post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Floridabound09
Start up was minimal, she bought a few things at a yard sale, sold them, bought more sold them and has no expenses other then taking items to the post office.
Hmmm. No business fees or taxes? No insurance on her rather substantial inventory? No site-maintenance or web-hosting fees?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Floridabound09
Not bad making 36k per year net and not having to leave the house much to do it. Best thing is she makes her own hours, checks emails, list during the day and stops after 4 oclock to have a life. She told me the only thing she does after 4 is check the emails.
Yeah, sounds like it's going great for her.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Floridabound09
The point is she is working for herself, has little to no expenses and makes 3,000 per month net money. And people complain that you cannot find a job. My goodness, 3k per month is great money.
Well no, $3K per month is not great money, but with some smarts, it is enough to get by on in most places. But per the earlier, this isn't going to be a cure for the common cold. This is a niche job that only a few are going to be able to tolerate long-term. Good thing, otherwise the market would soon become saturated with sellers. And in any case, you'd have a large enough house and a large enough computer standing as significant barriers to entry from the point of view of most poor people. Most poor people are willing and able and would love to work. A great many of them already do. They're still poor. Their kids are still poor. I think we'll need more than your lady-friend if we're going to get some of these folks off of the hamster wheel...
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.
