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really? Not if you read certain member's posts in the thread...
...about how helping sucidide bombers have free healthcare while they plan mass killings is somehow advancement of the common good.
And now the French streets are literally paved with dead frenchmen...
...about how helping sucidide bombers have free healthcare while they plan mass killings is somehow advancement of the common good.
PS: I bet the Syrian streets are literally paved with dead cats right now. Won't you, help me, help the cats??
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Police: Muslim migrants threw Christians overboard
police arrested 15 Muslim migrants who survivors said tossed 12 Christians from a boat during a recent Mediterranean crossing attempt. In a separate incident, 41 migrants were feared drowned as the situation in the region intensifies.
The Muslim migrants involved in the clash with Christians were arrested in the Sicilian city of Palmero and charged with "multiple aggravated murder motivated by religious hate," police said in a statement Thursday, according to the BBC. The victims were from Nigeria and Ghana. The suspects were from Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal.
Police learned of the incident through interviews with survivors, who said they boarded a rubber boat Tuesday off the Libyan coast with 105 passengers aboard, the Associated Press reported. The surviving Christians were able to remain onboard only by forming a "human chain" to resist the assault, police said.
Earlier Thursday, the International Organization of Migration said 41 migrants were feared dead after survivors were brought to a Sicilian port, Reuters reported. About 450 people may have died this week after 400 were presumed dead when another ship capsized off the Libya coast.
If this week's figures are confirmed, the death toll for the year would rise to more than 900. Nearly 10,000 migrants — mostly from North African nations — have been rescued since Friday.
The Muslim migrants involved in the clash with Christians were arrested in the Sicilian city of Palmero and charged with "multiple aggravated murder motivated by religious hate," police said in a statement Thursday, according to the BBC. The victims were from Nigeria and Ghana. The suspects were from Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal.
Police learned of the incident through interviews with survivors, who said they boarded a rubber boat Tuesday off the Libyan coast with 105 passengers aboard, the Associated Press reported. The surviving Christians were able to remain onboard only by forming a "human chain" to resist the assault, police said.
Earlier Thursday, the International Organization of Migration said 41 migrants were feared dead after survivors were brought to a Sicilian port, Reuters reported. About 450 people may have died this week after 400 were presumed dead when another ship capsized off the Libya coast.
If this week's figures are confirmed, the death toll for the year would rise to more than 900. Nearly 10,000 migrants — mostly from North African nations — have been rescued since Friday.
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Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 34,402
Total Cats: 7,523
From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
This is what passes for financial advice in The Washington Post.
Don’t stress about your debt. Go ahead and go broke in your 20s.
I didn’t wait for a grown-up job to finance the life I wanted.
At age 28, I hit my financial limit. I was fired from my job boxing pizzas, and I was $14,000 in credit card debt. At that point, the $12-an-hour gig was all I was living on. I went from bread crumbs to salt grains. Not long after losing my job that spring, I found myself standing in line at Arlington County Courthouse paying for a speeding ticket. I had to split the payment between my debit card and a credit card. It cleaned out my bank account and left me a hundred dollars shy of maxing out my credit cards.
Somehow, that same year, I managed to fly to Las Vegas for a bachelorette party. One of my best girl friends was getting married. I dropped $307 on the flight, and birthday cash I’d received from friends covered spending. On our last night there, I played roulette at the Cosmopolitan Hotel until the sun rose. It was NBA All-Star Weekend and Michael Jordan’s birthday. We bet on 23 all night, and it hit five times. The trip paid for itself.
So how did my life get to that point: nearly 30 with degrees galore and somehow boxing pizzas, spending weekends in Vegas and broker than broke?
I spent my 20s living on credit, with no real job. After college, while most of my friends were starting their careers, I was starting a mostly unpaid internship on Capitol Hill. I was going to be a journalist, maybe. I received a small stipend and waitressed on nights and weekends. I spent the money on a flight to Australia that year, spending days in the Whitsundays with my toes in the whitest sand. And then, I moved to Italy for grad school.
By 26, I had a decently stacked resume, but my professional pursuits – life – didn’t quite work out the way I thought it would. I couldn’t get a job in the field that I wanted, and my credit card debt started to mount. So after months of job interviews going nowhere, I made a choice. I prioritized living over debt, over applying for more jobs. I made a choice to do whatever I was doing well.
I started to put living on credit. I didn’t have a 9 to 5 job. I had absolutely no time constraints, and no responsibilities to anyone. I figured as I got older, it would be harder for me to travel. Life would get in the way, so why not go now, and worry about the debt later? So I did just that.
My 20s were sprinkled with memories like weekends in San Francisco with my best girlfriends and surviving drives on the Pacific Coast Highway through winding mountain roads, surrounded by fog. For me, life’s success wasn’t measured by job security (I couldn’t get one), buying a home (my student loans were a mortgage) or marriage (what boyfriend?). It was measured by living in these seemingly fleeting moments. We were surviving sandstorms in the California desert and closing out nights to Empire of the Sun in the middle of the Coachella Valley. We were having conversations on politics and life with strangers in Irish pubs in Florence, and traipsing through two feet of snow in Vienna searching for an underground club in the middle of winter, too poor for a cab.
I couldn’t get my professional life together so I figured the least I could do was focus my energy on living a life worth writing about. And I did. Celebrations didn’t come from new jobs and promotions. They came from exploring new cities and making friends with strangers from completely different cultures.
Don’t get me wrong, I did my best to be smart about how I spent the money I didn’t have. I used credit card points for flights when I had them and checked Kayak incessantly for deals. I figured out how to travel in style, while still being cost-effective.
Growing up, my mother was frugal. I’d buy her birthday presents, and she’d lecture me for spending money. “Twenty dollar expensive,” she’d say. “Ross shirt five dollar!” If it had been up to my parents, I would’ve been a doctor or lawyer. Something that would’ve made a lot of money. And I wouldn’t have gone to grad school because it cost too much. So I figured out how to pay for the lifestyle and choices I was making on my own.
But entering the real world living on internships, I had to start charging my life. By the time I hit my late 20s, I was in dire straits. Most days, coffee was a splurge. I never went shopping, and I’d only fill up my gas $20 at a time because I needed the money elsewhere. I survived happily by prioritizing where I was spending the little “credit” that I had – on the next flight out. It was all a trade off, and I took it.
If there were plans to travel somewhere on the horizon, I went because I knew, no matter how high my credit card debt got, I’d be able to pay it off. I knew when the time came, and I had no other choice, I’d settle.
Then it happened. I was 28 and maxed out. I got a night gig bartending at a Korean-owned bar in the town where I grew up, a place whose only signage out front was a set of flashing neon lights above the door that read “Karaoke.” Then I landed a long-term temp job through an agency, making $15 an hour. I started pulling 60- to 70-hour weeks, and at 29, I started slowly paying off the debt, one tip at a time. My glorious 20s were coming to a close.
I turned 31 in October and officially paid off all $14,000 in credit card debt. I would’ve finished earlier, but Mexico, San Diego and Vegas called. In a span of two months, I became a bridesmaid (twice) and needed to replace all of my car tires. Cost: $1,590 and some flight credit. Then, my temp job hired me full-time.
Now I have a salary and work fewer nights at the bar. I have enough cash for my bills and the hefty student loan payments. There’s even room for savings. “Always pay yourself first,” my smart friend in finance told me.
Next year, maybe I’ll see Italy again. It’s been a long time.
I left my 20s knowing these truths. Anything I ever wanted, I was capable of attaining. There’s always a sacrifice — whether it’s living in your parents’ house as an adult, or working 16-hour days, four days a week. Always be generous. Even on my poorest days, I’d treat my friends to drinks, coffee or dinner on their birthday, and they did the same. I never would’ve managed my title as the “richest broke girl” without their generosity, and the generosity of strangers. These days, I have money in the bank, but I’ve found life and responsibilities are already getting in the way of travels. The last two years, paying off that debt was one of the hardest things I’ve had to accomplish, but I will say, I don’t regret any of it. I spent it on experiences, and for that, I’d do it all again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...e-in-your-20s/
Don’t stress about your debt. Go ahead and go broke in your 20s.
I didn’t wait for a grown-up job to finance the life I wanted.
At age 28, I hit my financial limit. I was fired from my job boxing pizzas, and I was $14,000 in credit card debt. At that point, the $12-an-hour gig was all I was living on. I went from bread crumbs to salt grains. Not long after losing my job that spring, I found myself standing in line at Arlington County Courthouse paying for a speeding ticket. I had to split the payment between my debit card and a credit card. It cleaned out my bank account and left me a hundred dollars shy of maxing out my credit cards.
Somehow, that same year, I managed to fly to Las Vegas for a bachelorette party. One of my best girl friends was getting married. I dropped $307 on the flight, and birthday cash I’d received from friends covered spending. On our last night there, I played roulette at the Cosmopolitan Hotel until the sun rose. It was NBA All-Star Weekend and Michael Jordan’s birthday. We bet on 23 all night, and it hit five times. The trip paid for itself.
So how did my life get to that point: nearly 30 with degrees galore and somehow boxing pizzas, spending weekends in Vegas and broker than broke?
I spent my 20s living on credit, with no real job. After college, while most of my friends were starting their careers, I was starting a mostly unpaid internship on Capitol Hill. I was going to be a journalist, maybe. I received a small stipend and waitressed on nights and weekends. I spent the money on a flight to Australia that year, spending days in the Whitsundays with my toes in the whitest sand. And then, I moved to Italy for grad school.
By 26, I had a decently stacked resume, but my professional pursuits – life – didn’t quite work out the way I thought it would. I couldn’t get a job in the field that I wanted, and my credit card debt started to mount. So after months of job interviews going nowhere, I made a choice. I prioritized living over debt, over applying for more jobs. I made a choice to do whatever I was doing well.
I started to put living on credit. I didn’t have a 9 to 5 job. I had absolutely no time constraints, and no responsibilities to anyone. I figured as I got older, it would be harder for me to travel. Life would get in the way, so why not go now, and worry about the debt later? So I did just that.
My 20s were sprinkled with memories like weekends in San Francisco with my best girlfriends and surviving drives on the Pacific Coast Highway through winding mountain roads, surrounded by fog. For me, life’s success wasn’t measured by job security (I couldn’t get one), buying a home (my student loans were a mortgage) or marriage (what boyfriend?). It was measured by living in these seemingly fleeting moments. We were surviving sandstorms in the California desert and closing out nights to Empire of the Sun in the middle of the Coachella Valley. We were having conversations on politics and life with strangers in Irish pubs in Florence, and traipsing through two feet of snow in Vienna searching for an underground club in the middle of winter, too poor for a cab.
I couldn’t get my professional life together so I figured the least I could do was focus my energy on living a life worth writing about. And I did. Celebrations didn’t come from new jobs and promotions. They came from exploring new cities and making friends with strangers from completely different cultures.
Don’t get me wrong, I did my best to be smart about how I spent the money I didn’t have. I used credit card points for flights when I had them and checked Kayak incessantly for deals. I figured out how to travel in style, while still being cost-effective.
Growing up, my mother was frugal. I’d buy her birthday presents, and she’d lecture me for spending money. “Twenty dollar expensive,” she’d say. “Ross shirt five dollar!” If it had been up to my parents, I would’ve been a doctor or lawyer. Something that would’ve made a lot of money. And I wouldn’t have gone to grad school because it cost too much. So I figured out how to pay for the lifestyle and choices I was making on my own.
But entering the real world living on internships, I had to start charging my life. By the time I hit my late 20s, I was in dire straits. Most days, coffee was a splurge. I never went shopping, and I’d only fill up my gas $20 at a time because I needed the money elsewhere. I survived happily by prioritizing where I was spending the little “credit” that I had – on the next flight out. It was all a trade off, and I took it.
If there were plans to travel somewhere on the horizon, I went because I knew, no matter how high my credit card debt got, I’d be able to pay it off. I knew when the time came, and I had no other choice, I’d settle.
Then it happened. I was 28 and maxed out. I got a night gig bartending at a Korean-owned bar in the town where I grew up, a place whose only signage out front was a set of flashing neon lights above the door that read “Karaoke.” Then I landed a long-term temp job through an agency, making $15 an hour. I started pulling 60- to 70-hour weeks, and at 29, I started slowly paying off the debt, one tip at a time. My glorious 20s were coming to a close.
I turned 31 in October and officially paid off all $14,000 in credit card debt. I would’ve finished earlier, but Mexico, San Diego and Vegas called. In a span of two months, I became a bridesmaid (twice) and needed to replace all of my car tires. Cost: $1,590 and some flight credit. Then, my temp job hired me full-time.
Now I have a salary and work fewer nights at the bar. I have enough cash for my bills and the hefty student loan payments. There’s even room for savings. “Always pay yourself first,” my smart friend in finance told me.
Next year, maybe I’ll see Italy again. It’s been a long time.
I left my 20s knowing these truths. Anything I ever wanted, I was capable of attaining. There’s always a sacrifice — whether it’s living in your parents’ house as an adult, or working 16-hour days, four days a week. Always be generous. Even on my poorest days, I’d treat my friends to drinks, coffee or dinner on their birthday, and they did the same. I never would’ve managed my title as the “richest broke girl” without their generosity, and the generosity of strangers. These days, I have money in the bank, but I’ve found life and responsibilities are already getting in the way of travels. The last two years, paying off that debt was one of the hardest things I’ve had to accomplish, but I will say, I don’t regret any of it. I spent it on experiences, and for that, I’d do it all again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...e-in-your-20s/
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This is like a recovering heroin addict encouraging people to shoot up. She may have caught a lucky break at just the right time, but far far more 20-somethings who develop the same spending/work habits don't realize that they're in over their head in debt until they're buried under 20 feet of bills.
I haven't ever considered "work" to be getting in the way of my "life experiences"... the 25% of my paycheck that goes to my retirement account on the other hand...
I haven't ever considered "work" to be getting in the way of my "life experiences"... the 25% of my paycheck that goes to my retirement account on the other hand...
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I can relate to that article.
28, at financial limits etc. & over 8K in total debt currently. Never traveled though... And it sounds like I'm in a way better position financially than that individual to recover.
And I have a sweet car now
28, at financial limits etc. & over 8K in total debt currently. Never traveled though... And it sounds like I'm in a way better position financially than that individual to recover.
And I have a sweet car now
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Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 18,643
Total Cats: 1,870
From: Beaverton, USA
My gf is like the complete opposite of this, and its causing issues lol. She refuses to take on debt. Her father was a very cash in my pocket kind of guy. Only debt he carries is a mortgage. This is making it really hard for her to plan for secondary education. She wants to be a nurse or physicians assistant. Both careers with good salaries that will provide her good opportunities to pay back student loans. But she hates the idea of debt. We're slowly working towards it, starting with a credit card and stuff, but its not easy for someone who has never carried debt to take it on.
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show her how managed debt works.
vermin8
12/11/2015 8:09 AM EST [Edited]
Her next article will be about how unfair it is that she can't get the house of her dreams on her salary with no money down.
In 10 years she'll be talking about how the government needs to help parents of young children because she can't afford premium preschool.
Then she'll be complaining about how they need to means test social Security so people like her with no savings cannot afford retirement.
Flying to Vegas for a bachelorette party? Overseas trips to party? If that really makes a difference in your quality of life you have a very shallow life.
I spent a good deal of my 20s paying off my student loans and a good bit of my 30s getting a master's (a class at a time while I worked full time). I took a few interesting trips and did some irresponsible spending but I made sure I was on track to be able to retire someday, pay off a house etc. I have never looked back and said "if only I blew all my money in the Bahamas instead of paying off those loans!"
Do what you want but don't whine to me when you don't have the money to do what you need to do.
12/11/2015 8:09 AM EST [Edited]
Her next article will be about how unfair it is that she can't get the house of her dreams on her salary with no money down.
In 10 years she'll be talking about how the government needs to help parents of young children because she can't afford premium preschool.
Then she'll be complaining about how they need to means test social Security so people like her with no savings cannot afford retirement.
Flying to Vegas for a bachelorette party? Overseas trips to party? If that really makes a difference in your quality of life you have a very shallow life.
I spent a good deal of my 20s paying off my student loans and a good bit of my 30s getting a master's (a class at a time while I worked full time). I took a few interesting trips and did some irresponsible spending but I made sure I was on track to be able to retire someday, pay off a house etc. I have never looked back and said "if only I blew all my money in the Bahamas instead of paying off those loans!"
Do what you want but don't whine to me when you don't have the money to do what you need to do.
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Thread Starter
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 34,402
Total Cats: 7,523
From: Chicago. (The less-murder part.)
Edit: I see that you ninja-edited right as I was quoting this post. So, in context, my response makes slightly less sense than it would have otherwise.
I'm slightly embarrassed to reveal what I was getting paid six months after college, working a temp gig (which turned permanent) with a well-known engineering firm. Statistically speaking, it's probably more than half the population will ever earn.
There was some loan debt, but it was quickly dispatched as a first priority. And I never traveled abroad until someone was willing to pay me to do it. Didn't leave the US, aside from road trips into Canada and Mexico, until I was in my mid 30s.
I have no regrets.
I'm slightly embarrassed to reveal what I was getting paid six months after college, working a temp gig (which turned permanent) with a well-known engineering firm. Statistically speaking, it's probably more than half the population will ever earn.
There was some loan debt, but it was quickly dispatched as a first priority. And I never traveled abroad until someone was willing to pay me to do it. Didn't leave the US, aside from road trips into Canada and Mexico, until I was in my mid 30s.
I have no regrets.
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I was getting $20 an hour out of school.
I worked 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. (I didnt take a vacation for 7 years -- the struggles)
Now I make way more than double that and I'm only a few years older than this chick that barely is just now out of debt. I would never dream of taking a second job at some shitty bar like a little bitch.
check my white privledge at the door.
But I could cry about how I lived in a 600sq ft apt for 3 years while I recovered from being six figures in debt after we lost everything in the housing market...
I worked 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. (I didnt take a vacation for 7 years -- the struggles)
Now I make way more than double that and I'm only a few years older than this chick that barely is just now out of debt. I would never dream of taking a second job at some shitty bar like a little bitch.
check my white privledge at the door.
But I could cry about how I lived in a 600sq ft apt for 3 years while I recovered from being six figures in debt after we lost everything in the housing market...
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Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 18,643
Total Cats: 1,870
From: Beaverton, USA
We will get to managed debt eventually. Right now its just debt as a whole scaring her.
I went to a high school in Portland where the norm was to go to a liberal arts school. But laid for by parents. I went to state school, on a full academic scholarship and am now making more than $20 an hour. I have no debt, and just got my first credit card, debt is quite an unknown quantity to me too.
I went to a high school in Portland where the norm was to go to a liberal arts school. But laid for by parents. I went to state school, on a full academic scholarship and am now making more than $20 an hour. I have no debt, and just got my first credit card, debt is quite an unknown quantity to me too.
Last edited by aidandj; Dec 22, 2015 at 12:27 PM.
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 5,718
Total Cats: 830
From: Detroit (the part with no rules or laws)
Give people handouts and they have no incentive to better themselves.
That article isn't about the girl, it's about this country and everything that is wrong with it.
That article isn't about the girl, it's about this country and everything that is wrong with it.
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We will get to managed debt eventually. Right now its just debt as a whole scaring her.
I went to a high school in Portland where the norm was to go to a liberal arts school. But laid for by parents. I went to state school, on a full academic scholarship and am now making $30 an hour. I have no debt, and just got my first credit card, debt is quite an unknown quantity to me too.
I went to a high school in Portland where the norm was to go to a liberal arts school. But laid for by parents. I went to state school, on a full academic scholarship and am now making $30 an hour. I have no debt, and just got my first credit card, debt is quite an unknown quantity to me too.
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