In this economy...
 

I hear this all the time. Seriously though, are things really that bad? I know we owe so much money to the national deficit, but that's because these government jackasses can't figure out how to budget the money we give them.
"In this economy"...
Every casino I walk into is packed.
The streets of Vegas are packed.
People are buying brand new cars all day long.
I was at a seminar today about timeshares. People are investing money in timeshares, "in this economy".
I'm going to the SEMA show tomorrow, I'm dying to see how bad things really are as far as prices on the latest greatest pieces of automotive ingenuity.

I know these are strange times.
The company I work for manufactures batteries for automotive/ industrial/ whatever you can imagine. Lead prices are at record highs. The market has been so competitive, we used to make dollars on batteries, now we make cents. We're still hiring though.

It's just funny to me, cause this "salesman/ actor" as I'm going to refer to him, tried to sell me a timeshare today. I bet he makes as much money as I do in a year. Is there really a difference between me and him? I'm trying to figure it out. He doesn't wrench on equipment that makes product, but he convinces tourists to invest their money in a timeshare. Same difference.

Just because people are spending money, doesn't mean they have it.

Its one thing to own a car outright. Its another thing to make a payment.

The economy is bad, but that wont stop the spenders from spending. Which is good, cause then it keep us workers working. :)

No shit, people say the Economy is bad because they can't all go buy a new beamer or caddy, or whatever the status symbol is, and have a 4000sqft house. (Sorry, that is big to me, we just upgraded to 2000). Some aspects are down. I bet alcohol sales aren't. I think people just feel more and more sorry for themselves because they didn't go to college and wonder why they don't make 6 digits a year. Here, all the restaurants still have a huge wait on the weekends, and people that live on government assistance still get $2k 40 inch wheels on their buy here pay here 89 cutlass. Thank god for guys that finance wheels. That keeps my friendies back home in business. Whatever.

in this economy, some used car prices are making new car prices attractive.

Example: if you go to cars.com and look up used 2010 Prius pricing, it's almost exactly 1000 dollars less than the 2011 of the same trim level.

I like this thread. Cause I think this every day. "In this economy"

6th street Austin was packed on saturday night
starbucks had a line around the block
90% of the cars I saw in Austin were 2006 or newer
everyday in San Angelo I see so many cars with 20"+ Rimzzz
beat to shit civics with turbo kits

We need to STOP the government from giving our hard earned money to these shit heads that buy stuff they WANT and cannot afford.

This is true. Making payments, means paying interest. I hate payments. I found my wife her '07 Mazda CX-7 about 1 year ago, paid 14k for it...financed it. We owe about 10k on it yet, but it beats paying over 20k for one new (in my eyes).

This is also true, but again I choose to live my life differently. I have a 2000 Chevy Silverado. My wife insists that I trade it in for an extended cab for when we decide to have children. I am looking towards a 2003 GMC Sierra. No need to spend $30k on a new truck when I can find a $12000 unit and trade my truck in and pay the rest with cash. I can also swap my air box, my tarp, and spend another $200 for a 2" leveling kit to fit my 17" wheels with my 33" Mud Terrain's. That's just how I do things though.

to be fair, money is pretty cheap to borrow right now. no way I'd pay off my house early at 4.something percent interest.

Try 3.75. That's the last offer I got quoted.

The key is Two Incomes, No Kids.

(Posting from my phone.)

Well...I know who's employed in this thread.

The streets have always been good to me.

I didn't want to refinance twice in one year.

I hear that. A lot of people refinanced when the interest rates went to around 4.375%. Nobody thought they would continue to go down to where they are today.

We're not in a recession, we're outliving the "credit bubble". If you were dumb enough to get an ARM or finance a bunch of shit that took a more of your income than it should, you have a problem. I know there are other, more complex issues with foreign investment and regulation changes, but I don't understand them. I know I'm paying more for things like apartment rent, student loan rates went up, and groceries are going up, but I don't know more more than that other than what my economist GF feeds me.

I often wonder how many of these people "can't make ends meet" own a $40k note on a vehicle or an obscenely expensive mortgage. I've done a pretty good job of living well off my income because my vehicle expenses are low.

My grandfather was a carpenter all his life, and my grandmother stayed at home with their 4 daughters. They did alright. I think it had to do with the fact that they lived like there was still a depression. I work full time, and so does my wife. We're doing pretty good, but we also buy whatever we want. I think it all depends how you promote your lifestyle. If me or my wife lost our jobs, we'd survive, but we wouldn't be able to do 3/4 of the stuff we usually do.

I dont understand this statement (perhaps lack of coffee this morning).
Are you saying that the rates are so good that itd be stupid to pay off property early, or that you'd be stupid not to?

We refinanced our property to a 4.25% 15 year fixed over a year ago, and are now in the middle of buying another investment property at another low 4% rate to rent out. Plan to re-fi that one to a high 3% 15 year as well when I can (I think you have to wait a year or something).

Am I dumb for wanting to pay off all my properties fast and should invest the money elsewhere in the meantime?

Save the few that were really laid off, weren't living beyond their means, and are in areas where cost of living is high and jobs are scarce...everyone crying about this economy is either retarded or a pussy.

Can't find a job? You're not looking...there are plenty...they're just different than what you've been doing.

Can't pay your bills? You're living beyond your means.


We have a 1400sq ft house with low interest and decent equity. No car note until I picked up the Mazda2, and only did that because it was 0% interest. No debt besides some small student loans I'm paying back each month to the tune of $600/mo.

Wife and I both have mediocre paying jobs and we basically have an extra paycheck each month to tackle debt and save for the kid on the way.



Live cheaply and enjoy life. Don't be fooled into thinking a bigger vehicle with options, or eating out every weekend night makes you happy.

We spent 5hrs in the park Sunday walking, biking, and playing with our daughter. It was the most fun I had all week, and it cost us a couple of juice boxes and gatorades.

We take in two paychecks, and live off one. The lower of the two. If you know me personally, you know I live on a tight budget and spend as little as possible. I have a food, gas, and fun budget each week. If we go over in food that week, we have to make up for it elsewhere, but keep in mind the amount that goes into savings never changes, once the money goes into to those accounts, it doesn't go back out.

Still, 10% unemployment is awful. god awful.

I wonder how much of that percentage is by choice.

I always wondered about this: what are you saving for?
Retirement? I'm just curious cause we do almost the same thing (but live off the bigger of the two)
(I can take my answer "off air" if need be ;) )

a better future. I don't live in the now.

What does that mean for you?
Srs question.

Dual Income No Kids. I'm a DINK too. Its awesome.

There are jobs. My dad owns a construction company (custom home building) in south dakota and says he has a hell of a time finding good help. Also, he mentioned that other construction companies and farmers need employees that they cannot find to hire.

I work at Costco and our warehouse just hired something like 70 people in the last 2 weeks and are going to be hiring 40 more I think. I can get anyone in this town a job there yet when I offer my unemployed friends/acquaintances a job, they turn their nose up at it.

It kind of irritates me because when I was laid off I tried for everything I could to get a job. Luckily it was costco that hired me and not one of the shitty places I applied.

I need to find me a wife, that way I have 2 incomes to spend on my car.

I think if I had 2 incomes, I could out dyno queen Faeflora.

Unemployment Insurance and Welfare makes good Democrats

This is an older articles but still applies. There is the big assumption that the money that would have gone to paying off principal doesn't go to buying bigger turbos.

Though the assumption in the article is a ROI of 7%, the mortgage rate is also higher so to get real numbers, adjust both %.

http://www.ricedelman.com/cs/educati...ong%20Mortgage

I've literally handed great jobs to the few unemployed bastards I know, and they never go check them out.

Sitting at home with Netflix and an unemployment check is easy.

If my daily driver died, I can buy a new one in cash today. that's what it means. and this is after going into tons of debt selling my house in Dec of 2010.

That is a good ass read. Completely different view from mine.

Thank you

So its having a "rainy day fund" or " no surprises fund".
Gotcha. Makes sense.

its more than that, it's having a rainy day life when my IRAs and 401K finally start compounding interest. The more I save now, the moar better I'll have later. I want to retire with millions, not hundreds -- I don't have a pension.

Here is my perspective on retirement savings:

Simply think about yourself at 65, ready to retire, and contemplating working another year.

http://cdn.investinganswers.net:81/i...vings-plan.gif

See how the slope of the graph is increasing? Every year you tack onto the end of your now substantial savings nets you a greater return.

Now simply add that year from the back end to the front end...same thing.

The sooner you start, the better off you are. It's much easier to go without a few luxuries at 25 than to work another of your last few years you have full range of motion in all your joints and would actually enjoy retirement.

There's no lazy people in other parties?

If you guys have not seen this, its really worth watching. Mike does a much better job explaining this than I can.

I figured some of you would enjoy the sheep castration stuff as well. Skip to about 10:30 to skip the sheep stuff, 14:45 for what I'm talking about.

Like Mike says near the end of the above video, America is at war with work, and it starts early. I've been working with and around kids ages 7 to 18 for the last 15 years and they have no concept of personal responsibility, pride in what they do or even attempting a "job well done" and it just gets worse every year.

Damn kids! Get off my lawn!

OWS wouldn't be camping out if there were a plethora of jobs available to unqulaified college graduates in Women's Studies.

Sorry, I majored in Men's Studies...

Probably why I have a job.

Every <insert store name here> is packed, because every company has closed franchises so that the hoardes are no longer spread out.

There's one very good way of reducing unemployment numbers: Stop paying unemployment benefits.

The affluent and middle class are doing pretty well right now, its the underclass that is causing the headaches.

Maybe San Antonio is exempt from the bad economy, but new food places and stores are popping up all of the time. They have built 2 new parts stores, 3 new restaurants, and a new grocery store and target near me.

LOL, I make fun of people with bull crap majors all the time. I am always like, "WTF are you going to do with that?" Maybe people should have a brain and check the market for jobs with that degree that they are seeking. Last time I checked, mech. engineers are pretty solid. Much better than my previous music ed major.

I just took on a 4th job this morning. Granted, painting is almost surely a one time deal and construction doesn't look promising, but trying to tackle 4 jobs at once isn't going to be easy. Although, one opportunity usually leads to another, each time something better than the previous.

Some people just aren't motivated and unemployment is easier than giving a fuck. Others just straight up abuse the system and live off it for generations through generations. Although that's probably more so welfare bodies, but unemployment is definitely becoming the new scumbag method of free money. With all this talk of a bad economy and all, why not dip in. Shit, double dip if you can right?

Lumping the economy together and saying its either good or bad is lame. People that listen too much to all the news and radio host's opinions on the economy are almost borderline brainwashing themselves. Who gives a fuck what "insert douche newscaster/reporter/talk show host here" said? What did YOU do today to make sure you dont fail? Thats whats important.

This can swing one way or the other. For nearly 6 months, I couldn't find a place to hire me (employment gap due to laziness). Now after finding something and having steady employment, I'm getting multiple offers at hospitals. The hard part is just getting your foot in the door.

My dad didn't work for years because my step mom made enough for both. They divorced and he needed to go back to work. Because of the work history gap, no one would hire him for over a year. I finally got him back to working like a peasant at O'Reilly Auto Parts where I was part time. This was even with his last "job" was being in the military for 20 years till retirement.

Would it make everyone mad if I said that i'm getting a free ride through school right now because of state and federal aid? Not only does it cover my tuition, it covers my bills too. I work so I have "extra" money. Am I just lazy and taking advantage of the system?

IDK. School is one thing, but getting a check fo sitting on your ass playing video games is another. As long as you are taking full advantage of the oppurtuinty you are given, then I have no issues. If you work on the side and have some extra cash than that is money you earned.

I'm okay with funding for education, but there needs to be guildelines, such as go to school full time, maintain a certain GPA, etc...

Exactly. People need and want things, and most people will get them no matter how much the prices are inflated, and how little money they have to spend.

FWIW i'm going to school for mechanical engineering, i'm full time, and there are rules about GPA. You dont get shit if you're a fuck up.

Stuff like this makes sense. You are a productive member of society.

That'd make me a hypocrite. I thank folks like Brain for paying taxes so I can go to school.

I just bought a 55" 240hz 3D LED-LCD tv....

Ditto. Thank you Scott et al for putting me through school.

I will be the first to admit that the reason I don't have a job right now isn't because nobody is hiring. I'm not on unemployment either.

I'm going to school full time and have had multiple opportunities to make lots of money working full time jobs. I just don't want to give up that much of my time and possibly start slacking in school because I'm tired after work. Lazy? Probably. But I'm enjoying life at the moment.

As soon as I find a part time job I will take it. Again, it is not that people aren't hiring. I've been lagging.

I have also noticed around here that places are opening up, downtown areas are busy, everyones eating out etc etc. Maybe people are hurting elsewhere but I don't think "in this economy" is a valid statement here.

I'm also having my classes pretty much paid for. CC so they are cheap, but when/if I transfer hopefully I'll get a similar hook up.

I honestly don't see anything wrong with this either.

My buddy is doing the same thing. Rocking the GI bill, unemployment, and fafsa at the same time. But he is going to school, and eventually going to be (again) a productive member of society.

I'm with you on not working in school. I've been seriously considering ditching the job lately because its killing my grades. Sure I have lots of extra money from my paychecks, but I never have any time to do anything fun with it. Its awesome watching the bank account grow, but not awesome watching my grades and friendships (and relationship/homelife) suffer.

Then again, my job gives benefits to part time employees so I have health/dental insurance right now. If I quit, I get nothing. I've already had a root canal and an E.R. trip this year. I'm really affraid of losing the bennies.

However, Costco does have a student retention program so that I could keep my job during the summer and winter break. I would still lose the benefits though.

yo scott does your fun budget include a plane ticket to come visit me?

If the gov't stop giving out loans and subsidies to private schools, the tutition wouldn't be so high that you couldnt pay for it yourself...

Fuck my tuition has gone up every semester since Ive been in school. I hate my school, bunch of shit holes. In a speech class, my professor gave an example speech of why we should vote for HRC. Boiled down to shes a woman.

I gave a speech over Lowering the drinking age...wrote it before class, and needed some visual aids, got on my facebook, and a friend has just posted a bunch of pictures from a big house party we had. Got an A.

the fuck are you complaining about? you go to a shitty-ass fucking school. do you expect your professors to give a shit or something?

In my modified version of George Carlin quotes, "The [economy] is fine, the people are fucked."

I live off a shared income split around 40/60 for fixed expenses. I feel comfortable with a $300/month car payment, however I know a few friends living in parents basements shelling out more for their car than I used to pay in apartment rent.

I feel the new generations are so spoiled with entertainment luxuries that they feel strapped and poor living on their own. The reality is that I or any of them could save a quick $200-300 a month just cutting half their tv stations, magazines, and cellphone bills.

I don't even have a TV.

we should probably tax the rich and have the gov't do something about it.

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