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?
Mine? No concerts, less eating out, driving less, cheaper eats, no A/C, stopped buying newspapers.
Coupons, hunting and fishing.
Coupons, hunting and fishing.
Not much money for fancy dating either.
I enrolled four of my five credit lines in a debt settlement company. Now two are paid off and two have apparently given up and gone away. The fifth is back on track. I got rid of my car and ride the bus (live in Los Angeles). Got a forbearance on my student loan. One more year and I’ll have everything paid off except the student loan. I’m getting there. But it’s easier for me; I don’t have a family.
If I survive then the next President and congress should be a boom and make a ton of cash.
I gave up on credit cards entirely... was able to halve my balance. If I was in that boat I would cut things like cable tv, phone service, etc. For your broadband, see if your ISP offers an “economy” option if you absolutely cannot drop it (i.e. using it for job hunts, etc.)
Downsized the house in 05 and paid cash for the new one.
Pay off the Card (one) every month.
Cook at home mostly - I’ve been making homemade bread (okay, in the bread machine).
Do fun things either close to home or at home. We live very close to Ohio’s 2 Amish communities and there is always something fun and wholesome going on there.
We watch videos, have bon fires in our backyard, read, and me and my 9 year old are learning to loom knit.
I was out of work for four months but have lived off the severance package. No mortgage. Only $5K on the credit card.
Stopped getting the liberal rag back in the ‘90s. Rarely buy music anymore. Pushed the thermostat up a little higher in the summers and down a little lower in the winters.
No magic genies though. Hyperinflation or a second recession will likely kill a lot of us financially. We’ll be working (if we’re lucky enough to have jobs) until the day we keel over at our desks.
We did Dave Ramsey a few years ago and are so darn glad we did.
It’s a bitch all right. I know my job’s being eliminated, probably next year. Got sucked into the college loan thing at the wrong time.
Just trying to get the card debt down, the house fixed up for the bank, and stay sane. Little or no eating out, stopped the newspapers too, definitely no concerts, no presents at Christmas, no birthday gifts for wifey and me either. Gotta have the AC though.
Thank God For FR.
His vision is to steal as much money to stuff in his private slush fund hidden in another country while he deletes you.
The only thing certain in life besides death is change.
If you have free time, don't waste it. Use it learn whatever it is you need to learn to open new future opportunities.
My 2 cents...
goodwill stores, garage sales, coupons, bike riding for fun instaed of movies, buying bikes at garage sales for 10-20$ selling for 20-40 on craigslist, getting a roommate, having a garage sale, contacting credit card comps to see if they will lower the rate or you will transfer to another card. overall frugal living
...ditto for me , plus old cars fixed for free with trades in ‘da hood( sorta like ‘Cuber’, as JFK called it ).
Gardening.
Lots of potatoes and squash.
Yes, Goodwill! I’m there so often, the employees nudge each other and wink when I come in. I also have no TV or cable (there’s nothing on anyway.)
I’m really surprised that we aren’t seeing more of these stories. I know what it’s doing to me, and it’s got to be hard on a whole bunch of people, but I’m not seeing very many “Greater Depression” stories yet.
(I know; I’m really not surprised. I’m just surprised that the misery index is still being tamped down. How long can that last?)
I saw this coming years ago (not trying to brag, I’m just a pessimist and am rarely disappointed). I had already been laid off twice 10 years apart, so we’d already taken to living defensively.
The key is NO DEBT. We paid off the house with my severance the last time I got laid off 5 years ago. We’re both still employed so are socking money away like mad.
Tips and tricks:
1) stay married if you can. Divorce is expensive.
2) Coupons and store sales, combined if you can
3) brown bag your lunch
4) buy what you need but only on sale
5) know where your money is going, it’s easy to waste it via carelessness, especially if you work\
After today's market and world news, unfortunately, many more should be on the way.
$40 grand credit?
Yikes.
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