I did it. I did exactly that. I was earning $20,000 a year, and got myself a broker to open an IRA account, and started dumping money into it every single month.
I am not asking anyone else to do something, that I myself have not done.
And honestly, sometimes on this forum, I feel like I'm one of the few people on this planet that had a real father. I was always taught that if I didn't like my income or my job, that it was MY DUTY... to take care of MY LIFE. Sitting around crying tears over how much McDonald's pays, is the refuge of a coward. Grow a pair of balls, and deal with that yourself.
I had jobs that didn't pay enough. The way I dealt with it, was a sat around crying on forums about how unfair society was, and that capitalism sucks, and it was all Obama's fault.
If I had done that, I'd still be at that job. Instead how I really handled it, and how any real man should handle it is.... I quit, and found a job that paid more.
Again, not asking people to do anything I have not done. Idiotic.
Further, your crying over that budget, is ridiculous. My first apartment had all electric heat, and in the winter the electric bill was about $90.
Further, the insurance I had last year, was $20 a month.
I don't see anything wrong with that budget. Second, buy a cheap used car, and get rid of your car payment. Cancel your cable TV. Get a pay-go phone.
Look, here's the bottom line......
Two people working minimum wage in this country, places them in the top 1% of wage earners in the entire world. Top 1% of the planet.
You have a husband and wife, working minimum wage at McDonald's, you are now with a standard of living that places you ahead of the other 7.7 Billion people on this planet.
You can make it on two minimum wage incomes. And honestly, if you are working minimum wage, it's because you suck. I only worked minimum wage, at one point in my life. When I was in high school, before I turned 18, I was 17 working 3 hour shifts part time, and making minimum wage.
The year I turned 18, I started working full time, and you automatically got a 50¢ raise just for being full time, and then you got a $1 raise if you worked there for 12-months. That means in one year, you should at least be $1.50 over the minimum wage.
If you have been in the work force longer than 2 full years at the very most, and you are still making minimum wage, then you are the problem in your life. Not society, or capitalism, not McDonald's or the CEOs. The problem is you. You are either not putting in the effort, or you are simply not doing your job, or you have some other problem. But *YOU* are the problem if you are still making just minimum wage.
And by the way... if you stay at McDonald's for longer than 2 years, you should be in management, and moving up the corporate track. It takes a clear loser to work at McDonald's for years, and still be a fry cook. You should be in line to be store manager by then.
I was at Advance Auto parts for less than a year, and just because I showed up on time, and did my job consistently, they wanted to enroll me in the management training program. If I had stayed there, I'd have my own store by now. Actually by now, I could be a district manager.
If you can't move up from where you are, there is something wrong with you. Get your butt to work on time, stop taking so many breaks, and start doing your job
As I said, good for you. I did the same. I was able to work and pay for college without borrowing from my parents or the government. Individually that is possible. Collectively it is not possible. 80% of Americans are in debt. The average personal debt is $38,000. (13.1 trillion collectively) Stupid? Yes.
If all those people significantly lowered their debt by lowering spending then less goods would be manufactured. Trillions would be lost from the economy, and eventually my stock would go down, but that's the way it is, It seems that the US economy is very strong now, but its a fragile strength. Everyone -- government, corporations, citizens -- are interested in short term prosperity at the risk of long term stability.
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I don't understand that concept. Individually it's possible, but collectively it is not? How does that work? The collective, is made up of nothing more than a group of individuals.
If any individual can work through college, then obviously any individual can work their way through college, and thus collectively it is possible.
It doesn't matter what the average personal debt is, because that is simply a function of personal choices.
If all those people significantly lowered their debt by lowering spending then less goods would be manufactured. Trillions would be lost from the economy, and eventually my stock would go down, but that's the way it is, It seems that the US economy is very strong now, but its a fragile strength. Everyone -- government, corporations, citizens -- are interested in short term prosperity at the risk of long term stability.
Nonsense. That's what the banks want us to believe, because debt is what the banks live off of. The reality isn't close to that.
The reality is, it is the debt system that causes us to lose trillions from the economy. Getting people to live debt free, would result in trillions in growth.
Just think about it logically. Under which system is there more goods and services purchased?
A: You buy a $1,000 laptop with cash.
B: You buy a $1,000 laptop on credit.
Which results in more goods and services being purchased? Option A does. Buying the laptop with cash results in more goods and services being purchased.
Why? Because if you buy on credit, that laptop may still cost $1,000, but you pay $1,200, with $200 going to the bank. That $200 going to the bank, is $200 less in goods and services that you can buy.
If you buy the laptop with cash, then you have $200 you didn't send to the bank, that you can buy goods and services with.
The average American, is shelling out $850 in credit interest per year, and $900 in car interest per year.
That is $1,750 of goods and services they could be buying, that they are instead sending to the banks.
If every single American in debt, paid down their debt, and were spending an extra $1,750 a year in goods and services, that would be a massive boast to the economy. It would not being trillions lost. It would be trillions gained.
Additionally even in the short term, we would see gains, because when people pay down debts, they usually do so over a period of time. During this period of paying down the debt, they are still active in the economy. Just because you pay an extra $200 on debt, doesn't mean you completely unplug from the economy.
On the other hand, if you end up bankrupt, you typically end up completely unplugged from the economy. This happened to me. I didn't actually file bankruptcy protection, but I was in fact bankrupt. I had no money, and tons of debt. I ended up having to move back home with my parents, and I basically worked just to pay debt. I didn't buy anything. Not even clothes. I ate at the parents, and had no bills, just pay off debt. I did nothing, but slave for the banks.
That is far more negative to the economy, to be completely unplugged to pay debt, than it is to wisely budget to pay down debt over a period of time. But I didn't have a choice. The debt was so large, and my income so small at that time, that it was either disconnect from all of society, and just pay debt, or I was going to end up sued by a bank.
So I reject this notion that if everyone started paying down their debts, that there would be a huge negative cost. No, I suggest it would be entirely positive.
