What does living within your means really mean?

[tjvh]

Nope you are just wrong

You disagree that a Credit Card is nothing more than a high interest loan?

only if you dont pay in full each month.

Have you NEVER lived like that?

Nope... I'm far more responsible, to take risks like that.

 

[Gremlin-USA]

If YOUR MEANS are too small to meet basic human needs then you die

So what does a person do?

Get a job, get a better job, get two jobs, give up booze, give up cigarettes, any of those?

or

Live off other Taxpayers?


We can probably guess your answer

.

 

[Claudette]

I have no debt. I have no credit. I will keep it that way.

I have no debt and the only credit card I have is the one on my debit card.

I don't owe anybody a dime.

I live within my means.

You own your home outright?

Absolutely. Bought and payed for. I also own both cars sitting in my driveway.

I pay cash for everything that I purchase with one exception.

Both My current vehicles are payed for and have been for many years. I will however have to get another at some point and the will be financed. The exception.

Love having no car payment.

 

[hboats]

Credit is nothing more than a High Interest Loan... Until people realize that, they are bound to fail. I saw a girl buy a Slurpee at 7/11 yesterday with a Credit card, and I wondered how many years it would take, or if she was "ever" going to pay that Slurpee off. And No, it wasn't a Debit card either.

Not necessarily if you use it correctly. I have no debt except for my mortgage, but I use my credit card for EVERYTHING. I'm just smart enough to pay it off completely every month. So for me it's a zero interest loan.

Rick

 

[TakeAStepBack]

Credit is nothing more than a High Interest Loan... Until people realize that, they are bound to fail. I saw a girl buy a Slurpee at 7/11 yesterday with a Credit card, and I wondered how many years it would take, or if she was "ever" going to pay that Slurpee off. And No, it wasn't a Debit card either.

Debt is bad, credit is good. I have a ~50K credit line through 3 credit carsd adn have a few thousand on two of them in order to keep good credit standing. Good credit is helpful in acquiring lower interest rates on things like car loans, home loans or personal loans. Those are the types of purchases I think people should save their credit for. Going into hock over a piece of real estate (at least up until 2008) was a favorable debt load (assuming you can meet he monthly payments and then some). Because you're buying an asset that can be resold should you not be able to meet your obligations.

Exactly. Paying for a slurpy, or a dinner, or drinks or what have you on credit is bad budgeting no matter what. Nobodies is goign to buy a regurgitated slurpy for you to pay off the borrowed money that got you the slurpy.

In these types of cases, only if you're buying gas, grocery, etc..and paying it off monthly as a form of credit creation is this a sound idea. I would never do it for mor ethan a few months and then keep a very small balance on the card to continue paying. It is the unfortunate reality of playing the creditors game of FICA score credit. You have to let them eat you a little so you can gain the upper hand down the way.

 

[bigrebnc1775]

I have no debt and the only credit card I have is the one on my debit card.

I don't owe anybody a dime.

I live within my means.

You own your home outright?

Absolutely. Bought and payed for. I also own both cars sitting in my driveway.

I pay cash for everything that I purchase with one exception.

Both My current vehicles are payed for and have been for many years. I will however have to get another at some point and the will be financed. The exception.

Love having no car payment.

I'm willing to bet both of your vehicles is older than 10 years old and taken care of.

 

[MikeK]

Nope you are just wrong

You disagree that a Credit Card is nothing more than a high interest loan?

It is a loan unless you pay it off every month. Then it is a convenience.

 

[007]

I have no debt. I have no credit. I will keep it that way.

I have no debt and the only credit card I have is the one on my debit card.

I don't owe anybody a dime.

I live within my means.

Ditto, except for my mortgage. I will never have another credit card in my life.

If I don't have the cash to buy something, then I don't buy it.

I call that living within ones means.

 

[Avorysuds]

I think there are 2 sides to this. To borrow for let’s say a house and maybe a car is different than buying a computer, new phone, a TV, movie tickets, junk food… eating out…. cloths… and so on with debt.

A house and a car if bought within reason is more like an investment. What I mean buy buying within reason is buying a house for 600k when you make 18$ an hour, then blaming the bank for predatory lending is actually more along the lines of outright and pure stupidity. Same goes for a car, you can buy a perfectly good car for 15k with low miles or you can buy a 55k car, new off the lot that you actually can’t really afford.

To buy a house is usually a step in life for people, they should be buying a house for their future, the long term. Do you plan on kids, parents living with you, animals and so on. The bank will look at your job, your work history and all that, to figure the risk. Buying useless crap is different, even with credit. The CC company is not standing over you saying it will loan you the money for this, but not that.

This always leads us back to personal responsibility. Either you have it or you don’t… You can learn it, but at the time of the choice it’s really up to the individual, and it should be.


It's a tough question, because everyone is different. If I want a loan for 100k to start a business I don't have the same chance of making it as anyone else that takes a 100k loan out to start a business, we are all different.

 

[Claudette]

If YOUR MEANS are too small to meet basic human needs then you die

So what does a person do?

Get a job, get a better job, get two jobs, give up booze, give up cigarettes, any of those?

or

Live off other Taxpayers?


We can probably guess your answer

.

Goes without saying.

Truthsplatters believes in the producers paying for the poor and downtrodden. We should be overjoyed to pay our own bills along with theirs.

God forbid they take care of themselves. God forbid they actually work two jobs to take care of themselves. Shit. Might be nice if they had even one job.

 

[Truthmatters]

Who would Jesus let die ?

 

[Truthmatters]

Heartless ******* cons.

make that your platform

 

[Avatar4321]

Got into a discussion with The Rabbi about this, he thinks a credit card of $3500 is still living within your means. That is apparently the average these days; I say it depends on your ability to pay it off. If you have an average income X, and you spend on average X, then you are living within your means. Some months you go over, some months you don't, it evens out over time. But if you're exceeding X in spending on a regular basis and your debt is growing, then you are not living within your means.

I agree. I dont think debt spending is living in ones means. You go into debt to go beyond ones means. And there is a time and a place to do that, but I think many of us in society are foolish and dont think that through.

 

[Truthmatters]

Hunger in America: 2012 United States Hunger and Poverty Facts

 

[Wiseacre]

your correct.

and there are those who if they tried living within their means would starve to death

Really? What're they spending their money on then?

No answer? If you have some means then you shouldn't be starving. The problem is that too many people are spending their means on something else rather than food, and then expecting a gov't handout. We have what, 320 million people in the US? How many of 'em are starving to death?

 

[Avorysuds]

I charge things all the time and end up paying no iterest on them because I pay in full each month.

If your smart you use them instead of letting them use you

That is your risk and as far as I understand it that can hurt your credit score.

 

[007]

Heartless ******* cons.

make that your platform

*******, pathetic, NIPPLE HEAD ...

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Heartless ******* cons.

make that your platform

Are you Jrunk? How is living within your means being heartless?

 

[Claudette]

You own your home outright?

Absolutely. Bought and payed for. I also own both cars sitting in my driveway.

I pay cash for everything that I purchase with one exception.

Both My current vehicles are payed for and have been for many years. I will however have to get another at some point and the will be financed. The exception.

Love having no car payment.

I'm willing to bet both of your vehicles is older than 10 years old and taken care of.

You bet.

They are both old but run well. I have a great mechanic and when something needs doing. I have him do it ASAP.

Of course nothing last forever and eventually I'll have to get a newer vehicle. There will be tearstains on the check each month. LOL

 

[Avatar4321]

your correct.

and there are those who if they tried living within their means would starve to death

I think people are alot more resilent than you give them credit for.