Living beyond your financial means

alex8.5

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With the economy the way it is, I wonder why people are always in debt, and live way beyond their means.

I make a good living with my writing, and my only really big luxury was my house here in CA. and my summer house in Canada. Real estate is an investment. I just don't spend on useless stuff. I have been in debt before and it's not pleasant. Now I have been debt free for over 20 years, and it's great. My question is, if you know you can't afford it, and it's going to put you in financial duress, why buy it? If my business manager tells me I can't afford it right now, I don't buy it.

Any thoughts on this?
 

cajun boy 8x6

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yeah you are rite, i dont even have a credit card, i have a few rental real estates, and im not in debt for any thing else at all, real estate goes up in value while the principal goes down, and someone else pays rent to pay for it for me. if i cant save up for somethimg i dont really need it. credit lines make me sick. so does home oquity lines of credit, it serves to put the public in over their head while giving them a false sense of security!! and oh yeah never ever buy a new car when you can get a program car for 1/4 to 1/3 off the price and let someone else take the depreciation!! and you still get a warranty and all the perks of a new one.
 

Elmer Gantry

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Welcome to our wonderful age of consumerism! I want it now and here's a 24 month interest free loan to buy it with.

I shunned the debt wagon a few years ago and nothing is more liberating.

I've even figured out how to travel without a credit card. My bank does a direct debit Visa card so I don't even have credit card debt.

Do I do without? No. Does my family? No. We just do it the old fashioned way and save up for something we want.
 

Hippie Hollow Girl

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Yeah, I think with credit cards it is easy for young people to fall in a trap and have to learn the hard way.


I feel lucky that my parents were thrifty and they taught me to be that way.


Maybe part of the problem is that a lot of people don't know how to do a budget. They live paycheck to paycheck and they use credit when they spend all of their paycheck. It is easy to forget that credit cards are not free money.......you have to pay it back with interest unless you pay it off when the bill comes.
 

yngjock20

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I have tons of debt because I'm a horrible shop-a-holic. I'm good with my main utilities and my car payment, but because of student loans and stuff that I totally fucked up I'm at a low credit score that I'm not even sure I can fix.
 

D_Martin van Burden

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Mmm, I think it's a bit generational, too. I know some people are struggling with maintaining homeownership and retaining equity. I think American 20-somethings became utterly drowned in the credit card debt thing. I remember getting slammed with offers from the jump when I went to college. I took a few, figuring it was okay to get started on earning credit. I spent foolishly, but my mom didn't fish me out of it; made me pay it all back on my own.

I've had some life up-and-downs since then. There was a time that I was quite a bit underemployed, and it was just too hard to afford everything, especially since prices of stuff kept creeping up and I wasn't bring much in. I'm in more control of it. Still paying off some debt (about $4,000), but I don't feel as suffocated by it anymore.
 

Principessa

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With the economy the way it is, I wonder why people are always in debt, and live way beyond their means.
You don't understand because you are rich, possibly even wealthy. :rolleyes:


I make a good living with my writing, and my only really big luxury was my house here in CA. and my summer house in Canada. Real estate is an investment.
You own two homes when approximately a million people nationwide are in foreclosure. This means they can't even afford one roof, let alone two, or "investment properties." Methinks your view is somewhat skewed. :cool:


I just don't spend on useless stuff. I have been in debt before and it's not pleasant.
I have had MAJOR DEBT in the past. I stupidly refused a loan from my parents and worked two sometimes three jobs in an attempt to pay off my credit card debt. At one point, about 10 years ago I even moved into a tiny but cheap studio apartment so I could double up on some payments to pay off the debt faster. In spite of this I was still forced to claim bankruptcy three years ago. :12: I currently have no credit cards or credit card debt. I do however have over $110,000 in student loans. :angryfire2:
To be honest, I still don't trust myself with them. I either pay cash or I save for more expensive items.

Now I have been debt free for over 20 years, and it's great. My question is, if you know you can't afford it, and it's going to put you in financial duress, why buy it? If my business manager tells me I can't afford it right now, I don't buy it. Any thoughts on this?
Uhm, you have a business manager? :confused: Dude, it's easy for you to be judgemental; because you are NOT the average American!

I am a recovering shop-a-holic. My parents taught me nothing about money or how to handle it. I have made bad financial decisions in the past. :redface: I own that. Yet, I am not so far removed from the average citizen that I can't empathize or understand how quickly debt can accrue. For many people all it takes is one major auto repair bill, or emergency room visit, and voila, credit card debt!
 

unabear09

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well...i'm not in too bad of debt (approx. $2000 in credit cards and around $10k in student loans)....what happens/happened with me is, i'm working bringing in an income, so i use the credit cards to do my every day spending (gas, food, etc.) to help boost my credit rating (at one point around 3 or 4 years ago my credit rating was barely 300....now it hovers b/t 550 to 650)...and it never fails at the end of the month, some sort of emergency has come up (car repairs and stuff like that), or i suddenly get a cut in my hours or laid off......i have learned though that credit cards are evil, but are necessairy. this world runs on ones credit rating....its just a matter of properly managing ones money.
 

transformer_99

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For some people, sometimes you have to spend what you don't have yet. But to do it for frivolous luxuries, yeah that's self-inflicted. Sometimes it's better to go without ?
 

unabear09

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and man i know what going with out is like to do with out....when i was living in tennessee a few years ago....well i paid my rent, utilities, and gas to get back and forth to work....and well that left me with around $50 for food to last me the month.....needless to say, i lost a lot of weight going for days on end with out eating anything.....so yeah i know what it is to do without.....
 

D_Ivana Dickenside

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people don't know how to manage their money wisely and often spend it on stupid things they don't even need. like chuckhena pointed out, we are a society of consumers. and what do consumers do? they buy, buy, and buy some more. i've noticed that especially young people in my age range often feel like they are entitled to the material things they have or want. it seems like the ethics of working hard and earning your reward is now looked down on as a thing of the past. instead, people who live beyond their financial means will have to learn from their mistakes the hard way.

i understand that i am not one to preach about how a person should spend their money. however, i make my lifestyle fit into my budget, and i think that's where most people go wrong. for example, there's lots of luxuries i would love to have but i know those things can wait. what's important is that i keep up with all my bills and spend my money wisely. most consumers tend to ignore that issue and eventually the debt will accumulate. currently, the only debt i have is a few hundred dollars i spent on textbooks which i charged to my credit cards. it's the only thing i need to pay off and it can be done in a few months time. besides that it's just monthly bills like insurance, cell phone, etc. i don't even have to pay for school because financial aid and fee waivers cover my tuition.

i know that i do not have a luxurious lifestyle right now. but hell, it beats being broke later in life and and ruining my credit score in the long run. my two cents: save money and spend wisely!
 

sdbg

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My parents taught me nothing about money or how to handle it. I have made bad financial decisions in the past. :redface: I own that. Yet, I am not so far removed from the average citizen that I can't empathize or understand how quickly debt can accrue. For many people all it takes is one major auto repair bill, or emergency room visit, and voila, credit card debt!
Doesn't that sound familiar? Many of us live paycheck to paycheck and struggle when something unexpected comes up. I'm getting wiser as I'm getting older, making more logical financial decisions, and slowly paying off debt from my college years. I had to learn the difference between wants and needs. Better late than never!
 

D_Sir Fitzwilly Wankheimer III

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With the economy the way it is, I wonder why people are always in debt, and live way beyond their means.

I make a good living with my writing, and my only really big luxury was my house here in CA. and my summer house in Canada. Real estate is an investment. I just don't spend on useless stuff. I have been in debt before and it's not pleasant. Now I have been debt free for over 20 years, and it's great. My question is, if you know you can't afford it, and it's going to put you in financial duress, why buy it? If my business manager tells me I can't afford it right now, I don't buy it.

Any thoughts on this?

it's very simple. they've never had to be held accountable or take responsability for their actions, and they want instant gratification. it's the liberal creedo. "let someone else bail me out." business manager? nice....
 

unabear09

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um no offence to anyone here.....and congrats to those of you that are financially secure...but i pray you never fall upon hard times.....some of this stuff that is being said....well unless you've lived life from paycheck to paycheck or less than that.....then you will no what suffering is like....and why people make 'unwise' financial choices...well alot of the time, it's because their lives have absolutely no pleasure to them....every penny they make goes to paying their debts....day in day out the same shit....no pleasure.....i think that if you looked around at some statistics of the people who kill themselves....well i'd bet that the number 2 or #3 reason why people kill themselves is because of finances (#1 being something to do with love). its a shame we can't all be making enough money to live comfortably or without worry......not all of us (in fact i'd be willing to bet that the majority of us) have the mentality of the liberal creedo 'let someone else bail me out'.....we're just trying to make it by and attempting to find some pleasure in our lives

before making hurtful (and uneducated) comments like this.....stop and think for a moment about you living a day in us poor (or just scraping by) folks shoes....we're not all bums and louses....we're hard working people, who are trying to make it thru life in one piece, and with a shred of dignaty
 

dc9

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sometime shit just happens and debt hits you over the head. Medical bills, hell paying for gas these days! Who can afford it? must be all those people driving their SUV's and talking on their cell phones.
 

wispandex_bulge

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The really sad thing is that the stupid people who are using credit to "keep up with the Joneses", so to speak, have helped to foster the bubble (not really sad) that recently collapsed. Then those that are in less fortunate circumstances are falling under too (the really sad part)...and because of government bailouts, financially responsible people are goign to pay the tab. Thank GOD for Roth IRAs ;).

As for credit, I think its a good thing. Few people can outright afford a house...of any size or value, but with good credit, you can secure equity. Also, the mechanics of credit cards makes them really useful for those of us who can live within our means. After all, its quick, clean, takes up less space than cash, and you can see a summary of your spending in every statement (budget check time!).
 

goodwood

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Very hot topic in this time of financial downturn in the U.S. economy.
I was raised in an environment where money was always available. No end in sight. So it was the parents' resonsibility to teach children how to spend.
So I learned how to spend very well and discriminatingly. Then the old money ran out - was willed to the servants. Being penniless and having nothing but credit cards to buy gas for the car or pay for bills or mortgage or partying that (could not be afforded) I did get into some debt. When there is an utter lack of financial responsibility instilled in children from a young age regardless of of a family's financial status, it is a dis-service to the children. I am an example of that. At least my father had the presence of mind to apologize to me for only teaching me how to spend money and not save or invest it.
Poor guy. He had no idea the money would run out or be given away to anyone other than him. lol. Oh well. We learn as we go along and then we make better decisions and pass what have learned along.