Cyan said:This. It's not that hard to figure out that spending more money than you earn is not sustainable.
"But Cyan! Everyone else is borderline retarded and are forced to buy iPhones by giant corporations!"
There are always social pressures to keep up with the Joneses, but we're also taught to resist social pressure at a young age ("Just say no!" and all that crap). If you feel like you have to look better off than your neighbor, you can fuck right off when it comes to complaining about your money situation.
And I'm glad that doesn't describe you, Alf. Still, don't excuse people from personal responsibility just because outside pressures exist.
dem said:I have a huge fear of not having any money. It seems like some people dont think twice about racking up debt. I was so happy when i paid my car off.
Does not compute.Alfarif said:Oh, believe me, I don't excuse them. If anything, I'm guilty of trying to point people in the right direction, only to get really pissed off when said person refuses to make changes in their life and then starts in complaining about their situation again. At that point, I walk away and roll my eyes.
After I paid off all of my debts, I made a pledge to myself that I would never have another debt that wasn't a house already 60% paid for. I've stuck to that and been able to get two "new" cars, all the "bells and whistles" of a modern house (LCD tvs, nice furniture, etc), and have a bit of a nest egg through nothing but saving and proper money management alone. I only make $27,000 a year...
I'm like you. I'm scared of not having a cushion. I don't want to have to have "insurance" as my cushion. I want to have my own monetary cushion for when bad things happen and then "insurance" because it's just a good thing to have.
We're getting off-topic, so I'm just going to leave it at that.
Get a job with Blackwater.AlternativeUlster said:So my job sent me an email saying that some dude contacted them about paying back my student loans and I could pay him $54 a month so they wouldn't garnish them. The company is the National Student Loan Program. Can they do that?
That's because the minimums are for suckers. Twice that only a little less.Phobophile said:The only thing I'm pissed off about is that I'm making double my minimum payments on my credit cards and yet my balance doesn't decrease much. I'm barely paying more than the interest.
Pterion said:Does not compute.
Phobophile said:The only thing I'm pissed off about is that I'm making double my minimum payments on my credit cards and yet my balance doesn't decrease much. I'm barely paying more than the interest.
wtf are you talking about? As a kid, I saw nothing but cautionary tells about credit cards not being free money. There are numerous shows that have episodes in which a character gets screwed over because of a credit card.Alfarif said:We're in a society where we're told from a young age that there is "free money" in the form of credit cards.
Alfarif said:We're in a society where we're told from a young age that there is "free money" in the form of credit cards. That if you don't own a brand new 200X car or a house, you are worthless. If you don't have the latest electornics, a cellphone with all the latest features, and able to go out to expensive restaurants with your friends every weekend, then you are a loser. Unless you're the #1 man on the totem pole, accoridng to society, you are nothing and your life isn't worth shit.
The Experiment said:You're not your fucking khakis.
I agree with you. Not just in society but shit, even on this board. Gaming setup anyone?
I was in a situation where I was $4000 in the hole in credit cards and I borrowed student loans like nobody's business. Realizing that I maxed all my cards out, I had to make changes. The first thing I did was write down every expense on an Excel spreadsheet. Next on another Excel sheet, I tabulated my credit card debt and set up a nice chart where I could see progress.
The hardest part after that was that the only expense I had was food and cell. I sold all my shit off. Sounds wasteful as I got maybe 30-40% of what I paid for but I put that towards debt. I was tempted to sprint out and buy all kinds of shit but I never went through with it. I eventually found myself motivated by every pay day, going to update the cc bill chart and seeing the drastic downward trends. I made about 6-8x minimum payments and got my credit cards paid off in 8 months. I saw that from the start to finish, I paid $700 in interest payments and bullshit fees. I was pissed but I treated that $700 as a harsh lesson learned.
I stopped borrowing for school, the amount is still high but I won't have to get any more. In fact, I have several thousand dollars already saved up and I'm soon about to pay off my car. After that, it is all going towards the student loans.
It isn't easy and I think that is why many people make these financial problems to be tougher than they are. All it takes is restraint but in this consumer driven society, we are told that we need, not want but need, all these excessive luxuries. Not only that but you need to get more and more of them. I bought some shit $400 Gateway laptop and in nearly two years of service, is still going strong. I could have bought a Core 2 Duo laptop to play games I wasn't going to end up playing for $1000+ but anyway...you get the idea.
DreamMachine said:lol, holy shit.. you're crazy.
I pay 1,000 dollars a month paying back osap. The money is not free.
MaverickX9 said:How much did you borrow?
I'm looking at around $200k (+ accrued interest) and am dreading my monthly payment when I am finished in a year.
Guess I am blessed that I grew up in a family in which we couldn't afford much.Captain Glanton said:Well, that's the problem, isn't it? For many of the 20-somethings I know, you're a dumbass with a fucked-up life if you DON'T wear $300 jeans that you lined up at dawn to buy, have the latest phone, etc. etc. Over the last ten years or so, the very defintion of what's "necessary" for a satisfying life has been completely rewritten--with most of the writing being done by corporate advertising.
I was about to say the same thing.Cyan said:I wonder if he's even still reading this thread?
He may have already gone underground.
Alfarif said:Oh, believe me, I don't excuse them. If anything, I'm guilty of trying to point people in the right direction, only to get really pissed off when said person refuses to make changes in their life and then starts in complaining about their situation again. At that point, I walk away and roll my eyes.
After I paid off all of my debts, I made a pledge to myself that I would never have another debt that wasn't a house already 60% paid for. I've stuck to that and been able to get two "new" cars, all the "bells and whistles" of a modern house (LCD tvs, nice furniture, etc), and have a bit of a nest egg through nothing but saving and proper money management alone. I only make $27,000 a year...
I'm like you. I'm scared of not having a cushion. I don't want to have to have "insurance" as my cushion. I want to have my own monetary cushion for when bad things happen and then "insurance" because it's just a good thing to have.
We're getting off-topic, so I'm just going to leave it at that.
Shit, can you send me the same PM.Alfarif said:Check your PMs.
Wellington said:I work with a guy that blows all of his money going out to bars a few times a week trying to pick up chicks. His parents have to loan him cash at the end of each month. He makes approx. $56k a year. How sad is that?
ZombieSupaStar said:200!!!!
....ok I dont feel so bad now with 30
lol sorry :lol
MaverickX9 said:How much did you borrow?
I'm looking at around $200k (+ accrued interest) and am dreading my monthly payment when I am finished in a year.
Arthas said:Give the man a break. So he refuses to pay taxes, so he refuses to pay off loans, so he refuses to be a slave to the system. If he can get away with it, good for him, he's smart so he deserves to get away with it. Intelligence should be rewarded. If he can't and ends up in deep shit, why does anyone here care? Is he a relative? Does he owe YOU money?
Come on, just lay off, just because you conform with the system doesn't mean everybody else has to. This isn't a giant ant colony, we need rebels, rebels without a cause, to stir shit up from time to time. To keep things interesting.
*Burns flag*
Arthas said:Give the man a break. So he refuses to pay taxes, so he refuses to pay off loans, so he refuses to be a slave to the system. If he can get away with it, good for him, he's smart so he deserves to get away with it. Intelligence should be rewarded. If he can't and ends up in deep shit, why does anyone here care? Is he a relative? Does he owe YOU money?
Come on, just lay off, just because you conform with the system doesn't mean everybody else has to. This isn't a giant ant colony, we need rebels, rebels without a cause, to stir shit up from time to time. To keep things interesting.
*Burns flag*
dem said:I dont understand people who are "bad" with money.
How much sense does it take to know what you can afford?
I have a huge fear of not having any money. It seems like some people dont think twice about racking up debt. I was so happy when i paid my car off. :lol
Ha! Chump change.MaverickX9 said:How much did you borrow?
I'm looking at around $200k (+ accrued interest) and am dreading my monthly payment when I am finished in a year.
Wellington said:Guess I am blessed that I grew up in a family in which we couldn't afford much.
I work with a guy that blows all of his money going out to bars a few times a week trying to pick up chicks. His parents have to loan him cash at the end of each month. He makes approx. $56k a year. How sad is that?
1) 90k a year is way too low, even for a GP. 2) Where is she doing residency ? 3) 325k ? That's why you should never go to an off-shore med school.GreekWolf said:Ha! Chump change.
I have a cousin who will be graduating from an off-shore med school next year (St. George), and will have racked up somewhere in the neighborhood of 325k in student and personal loans. As a general practitioner, she'll earn around 90k a year and will be paying back on that monster for the next 20 years or so.
There's always someone who has it worse.
She's committed to spending her first five years on a medical mission trip to Uganda after residency, which (as far as I know) will be with UT-Memphis.Pterion said:1) 90k a year is way too low, even for a GP. 2) Where is she doing residency ? 3) 325k ? That's why you should never go to an off-shore med school.
Anno said:Six months ago I would've given you a snowballs chance in hell; now that I work for a bank chasing down retards like you, I don't. You're pretty much fucked. Make some calls and promise to pay some things back before your life truly belongs to the government.
Anno said:Six months ago I would've given you a snowballs chance in hell; now that I work for a bank chasing down retards like you, I don't. You're pretty much fucked. Make some calls and promise to pay some things back before your life truly belongs to the government.
kurahadol said:Shit like this is more true than one can imagine. I worked for a credit reporting agency for 3 years, he has no chance in hell.
its like i'm 16 again fight the system! down with government! anarchy rulz!Arthas said:Give the man a break. So he refuses to pay taxes, so he refuses to pay off loans, so he refuses to be a slave to the system. If he can get away with it, good for him, he's smart so he deserves to get away with it. Intelligence should be rewarded. If he can't and ends up in deep shit, why does anyone here care? Is he a relative? Does he owe YOU money?
Come on, just lay off, just because you conform with the system doesn't mean everybody else has to. This isn't a giant ant colony, we need rebels, rebels without a cause, to stir shit up from time to time. To keep things interesting.
*Burns flag*
Javaman said:"Rebels" like him cause everyone else to pay more for their college and have higher interest rates and taxes.
Wellington said:Shit, can you send me the same PM.
live with your parents for the rest of your lifePhoenix said:Hell if its that good just post it to the thread because I make significantly more than 27k and would love to learn new ways to save money. If you can live like a kind a buy new cars, a house, and leet LCDs and Plasmas, etc. I'd like to know YOUR secret. Shit I could live like a god if you can get away with it at 27k.
Arthas said:Nah, you can thank your government and it's military adventures for that. His effect on you is beyond negligible.
Zeke said:live with your parents for the rest of your life