Posted on 06/01/2011 6:57:16 PM PDT by Libloather
You're pretty close to being toast. Nerves are frazzled, homes are being evacuated, jobs lost and families are torn apart.
Oh, the rookie Hussein has performed magic, all right. Kinda nuts. But it's what Barry King planned all along. This is his vision. Wealth distribution. And it's only getting started.
How do you make it? Old money, new money, food stamps, living with the folks, moving in with the neighbor? How are you doing it?
Are there any really good tips to make it through the Hussein years?
And don't give me any guff on that '$40k on the credit card' remark. I hear the commercials. You know the ones who say, "Do you owe over $100K to the IRS?" HOLY CRAP! Are you kidding?
The story in my family goes that my grandfather slept in a chair near the front door with a 12 gage in his lap. Even through they didn't have much, the police force had been reduced to almost nothing and there were people roaming the streets looking to steal anything.
And yes, I have plenty of “tools” should I ever have to do the same thing - but was really hoping to get through life without such experiences.
Unfortunately, when Washington is being run by meddling, incompetent, anti-American fools, you just have no idea what to expect.
First thing I did when I got laid off was to review the bills. We trimmed an amazing amount of 'fat'.
Strip the budget down to essentials (food, shelter, fuel/utilities), really wants, and stuff you can readily live without.
Cut the stuff you can readily live without.
If there is room in the budget, keep a couple of 'really wants' because life is pretty rough if you don't have a treat of some kind, provided you can afford it.
Morale is important.
I found spot jobs for extra cash, worked part time to augment the UI, and finally found a job that would (barely) pay the bills, even though it was gross underemployment.
I passed on the COBRA insurance (too expensive, and I don't take any daily meds), banking that my health would stay good enough that I could afford a little out of pocket to see a doctor if I needed to. That stretched the savings considerably, and I kept the high deductible catastrophic care policy I have kept for years because the employer provided (well, half-provided) plan did not seem to be solidly guaranteed working for a small company.
Those cuts and about 20K in savings bought me the time I needed to start my own business, and things are going pretty well so far, but I'm in the middle of the Bakken boom, and I've been in the oil patch for over 30 years.
There are jobs up here still for those so inclined, but housing is at an absolute premium, and even places to park a camper are hard to come by.
What we are seeing is a social tend caused by market pressures.
People WILL survive, and they will try to live as best they can while doing it.
What we are seeing is a social tend caused by market pressures.
People WILL survive, and they will try to live as best they can while doing it.
Got laid off in October 2008. That was a week after spending 50k cash on my kids bar mitzvah that I saved from my bonuses. A month later my portfolio tanked. Went from almost a half million to little over 150k. My cobra is too high, unemployment Is a drop in the bucket, my Wife’s business goes under and then my daughter decides that teenage angst isn’t enough. She has to go bulimic on us.
Well that year away cost us another 100k, out of pocket. So I am down to 50k, 1300 a month in take home, plus a small veterans disability pension. 6k a month in bills.
It’s been rough. But despite all that, I managed to pay every bill. That’s what keeps me sane.
I wind up traveling around the country for work, 6 months at a time. My meals are calculated by the buck. And now traveling I have to take on more rent, another car and more stress from being away from my family.
Austerity stinks. Try picking up a little escapist (’junk’) reading at rummage sales or thrift stores. A buck or less a book, and you can take a break from even the worst austerity program.
>>That was a week after spending 50k cash on my kids bar mitzvah<<
I am sorry, I just don’t understand that.
I can’t even begin to start on how I don’t understand that. Even if it was salad days and you were reeling in $ hand over fist, I don’t understand that.
I can’t even see that for a WEDDING. $50K invested when a kid is 13, even at a low rate of return would be a considerable college fund.
Ted Nugent - is that you? Nice to meet ya...
Right now, no mortgage but paying rent. I'll be looking to cut unnecessary expenses, so the newspaper will be canceled (doing my part to put liberals out of work), the phone and long distance will be canceled, and I'll be looking at dish rather than cable if only to watch sporting events. My car is 11 years old but still running pretty good and is still under 100K in mileage, so no need for a new car. And, despite the fact that I'm single, I'll probably be cooking more meals at home and eating out less.
“Paid off the mortgage last month (after 12 years). I have admit it feels pretty to owe no one a penny.”
I did that years ago. I got tired of paying every month, so I sent them a check for $47,000. It made a dent in my finances, but that’s when I really started making progress saving.
Of course now it’s an old house in a neighborhood that’s been taken over by illegals, so I don’t see myself getting my money back, heh. Guess when the time comes, I’ll do a quick sale to the “we buy houses” guys for whatever I can get — and then, get out. I’ll buy the next house somewhere far from here in a rural area where there “ain’t no diversity”, and just pay cash. That makes things easier.
I also keep only one credit card, which I pay off EVERY month whether it’s $30 or $3,000. Why should I pay them interest?
Really good job search sites:
Indeed
http://www.Indeed.com
Nation Job
http://www.nationjob.com
State (and territories) Job Banks
http://www.ajb.dni.us
My wife and I are paying off all our credit cards and loans ( about $30,000 ) on a two year plan. We are about one year into it and we are close to half way there, the loans are done and two cards are wiped out and next month another one is paid off. By this time next year we should be debt free. We cut back on everything and have discussions whenever we have to spend money that is not budgeted out. It’s amazing how much money we were wasting away on crap.
>>Try picking up a little escapist (’junk’) reading at rummage sales or thrift stores. <<
When I am in corporate housing, I always supplement the furnishings (and pick up things like throw pillows and even sweaters) from the local thrift shop.
Anyway, I was browsing the reading material aisle and came across a MAD magazine from somewhere around 1982 — they were spoofing “the Wrath of Kahn.”
It is still hilarious and is also a heck of a time capsule! I treasure that magazine and have put it into a careful sealed comic book preserver.
My Grandad was a tough cookie too.
He got smart like we should get smart.
He got some good land for cheap with some work trade and savings.
land is cheap at the moment and its a bit hard to tote off in the middle of the night.
Just can't do it.
My Grandad was a tough cookie too.
He got smart like we should get smart.
He got some good land for cheap with some work trade and savings.
land is cheap at the moment and its a bit hard to tote off in the middle of the night.
Once I had the ducks in a row, GSA signed, and was ready to go, I started my business with the cards. They'd been zero balance for years, but got me going. I'd never been that far 'in', but you gotta spend money to make money. It worked, and that's paid off, now.
Credit is a tool, to be wielded carefully. You can use it to carve a niche in a market, or you can cut your fingers off. You have to have a solid business plan, still be frugal, and plan to pay off the debts first.
>>I did that years ago. I got tired of paying every month, so I sent them a check for $47,000. It made a dent in my finances, but that’s when I really started making progress saving.<<
Paying off that much that early is always a tough call. If you had a low interest rate you may have been better of investing that money (unless it was just lying around waiting to be used).
Paying off that much can lead to a risk of being house-rich and cash poor.
But it is an individual decision. It is clear you despise debt as much as I. But I just couldn’t let my good interest rate just go away (even if I did pay off early).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.