Quote from: pandy on February 19, 2009, 03:41:38 PM
And if y'all want to insult each other, please learn the fine art of *subtle* insults. It's much more entertaining than name-calling!   

If I were designed for subtlety my elbows and knuckles wouldn't be so sharp.  Bottom line: this is a thread about a guy who lost his job.  If people need to feel better by jerking themselves off over not having any debt, there are better threads to do it in.  They're not helping the guy who's losing his job feel any better.

Quote from: pandy on February 19, 2009, 03:41:38 PM

Quote from: TheGoodGuy on February 18, 2009, 04:29:12 PM
So I officially got a layoff notice (20% cut) from the State of California. Thank you very much Mr. Govenator. ... I got 4 months before I get to know if I am in the 10%, and 6 months before I know If I am out of a job.

Oh damn, Manjul.    Hopefully, the state will be in better shape within 4-6 months, and you'll be able to keep your job. 

Kudos to those who show compassion. We all make less-than-wonderful choices when we're growing up (I'm still growing up  ).

And if y'all want to insult each other, please learn the fine art of *subtle* insults. It's much more entertaining than name-calling!   

Vrey well said manjul, and pandy and mary, one day things WILL improve. you may not know how but ive confidence they will. this goes for you manjul as well. ive got alot of family in ca. most are affected by teheconomy. my uncle is a schillteacher in gilroy, his wife is in the IT field thereabouts. a cousin, is a chip.  and some others im not too sure aboutatm. everyone there is feelin it.

Quote from: lawman on February 19, 2009, 08:26:01 AM

Quote from: DoD#i on February 19, 2009, 08:04:40 AM

Quote from: lawman on February 19, 2009, 07:04:23 AM

Quote from: joshr08 on February 19, 2009, 06:23:49 AM
With all the lay offs it make me happy knowing that my morgage payment is $55.00 a month.  I can pick up enough pop bottles to make the house payment if i have too.  Times are deffinetly hard right now. 

I need you to understand how much you suck ...

What, for not living beyond his means and adding to the problems caused by all the dumb MFs that do? 

No dang mortgage at all. Pay as I go, do without if I can't afford it, just have to make sure I can pay the dang taxes on it, and keep it heated somehow.  Pay the credit card off in full every month. So I don't have a million dollar house now worth $200K - big whoop. So my truck is a crappy F150 with 190,000 on it. So I put money I could upgrade to a newer truck (or bike) on into the market as everyone runs away, because that is the time to put money into the market for future gains.

I'm afraid I'd have to say the people that suck are the ones that bought $200K houses for a million dollars because they were sure that they'd be worth a million and a half later on - so sure that they took out loans for half a million to buy crap they didn't need, but they "wanted". And now they have some useless crap, a 200K house, and a million and a half of debt, which they want someone else to pay for.

TANSTAAFL.

I love people who kiss their own asses by making this argument.  As you're a self-described "old man," I'm sure you didn't buy your house in cash but paid it off over time, which required a loan.  Had this mess happened when YOU bought YOUR house, you'd be in the same circling toilet bowl as the rest of us.  Having been lucky enough to be born earlier than some, your house may have appreciated less quickly and/or been less inflated than those, but you can't call your luck a virtue.  Some people DID pay what they could afford for a house, but the market was inflated, and when the market deflated they STILL ended up underwater.  Some people bought a new car because the cars were cheap and the credit was cheap, and a 100,000 mile warranty bridged the gap between the price of a new car and a used car effectively.  Having debt doesn't mean living beyond your means, it means havins some faith that things will at least stay as good as they are, and might get better.  Some people put medical bills, and food, and gas on their credit cards because they had to, and never got far enough from an emergency to get rid of those bills.

I own a house I can pay the mortgage on, but I'm not bragging or putting anyone else down.  I'm in the beginning of what should be a lucrative career, but I'm not bragging or putting anyone else down.  I own a car that's paid off and has 198k miles on it, but I'm not bragging or putting anyone else down.  I have some credit card debt from having lost my job TWICE in the last 6 years, but I easily pay those bills every month, and I'm not bragging or putting anyone else down.  I cracked a joke.  Get off your high horse - this is motorcycle site, after all.  You get no points from me.

uhm, lawman, dude.

buying a car (a stinking shitbox car!) on credit is living beyond your means.
buying a house on credit is living beyond your means.
buying anything on payments is living beyond your means.

you also pointed the finger that anyone that financed a house is exactly the same as people who anticipated huge market gains  (and spent those anticipated gains on more toys) . c'mon, you know (or should) know better.

justifying buying more house than you can pay cash for and saying "But everyone is in the same boat" is hooey.  People over extended, ANTICIPATING a good market later. i'd like to make it very clear that financing a house and financing a house on the assumption it will gain 30-40% in market (which the owner will spend beforehand) is precisely what bankrupted the housing market. the steady increase in neighborhood value over long periods of time cannot and will not happen by borrowing more for bigger houses. we have concrete proof of that lately.

you mentioned a good career. cool. enjoy it, and all the perks. will you be over extending shortly after taking this position ?

celebrate life, but do not finance it.

Honestly,

the reason I financed the bike for the sole reason of building credit because I believed in my earlier years that I didn't need it and always saved up and bought in cash. But, then I lost my job because the only thing on my credit was the hospital bill so I lost a job I'd spent a year in and actually liked. Then I went to get an apartment I had always lived with roommates that owned the house because houses were nicer than apartments.  I almost didn't get this apartment because of lack of credit. So, some credit in this society is necessary. Now I'm not saying to get a house that is five times what you could make in a year but it was a good way to get started on building your credit. I mean credit determines everything I had to pay $200 deposit on my electric, gas, and phone because of lack of credit. Vehicle insurance is also based on your credit.

So, yeah I think it may be a necessary evil unless things change! but, we don't need to resort to name calling and I'm sorry for all those getting lay offs.

Mary

i don't believe financing a house, or a car, is living beyond your means. now, financing a house as a gamble, i.e-more than you know you can afford if/when the rates change etc, that is living beyond your means. you can be living "within your means" and it won't mean shaZam! if you lose your job "due to the current ecconomic crisis". then it won't matter what payments you were making for any bills. if there is no money, it doesn't matter.  not everyone affected by this crisis is "living beyond their means". some, such as manjul, myself, and i'm sure others on here, are victims of circumstance. congrats to those not in this position, but be careful not to gloat to much, this situation will get worse and affect more people before it gets better.

The more important point is, whether you borrow or not, own a house or not, if you lose your job, you can't pay the rent on the house you don't own.  there's no difference at that point between owning and renting - you can't pay either way.

Quote from: lawman on February 20, 2009, 01:56:13 PM
The more important point is, whether you borrow or not, own a house or not, if you lose your job, you can't pay the rent on the house you don't own.  there's no difference at that point between owning and renting - you can't pay either way.

ok, i can agree with that. thought you were shaking a finger (and noticed the gloating post before yours) so i may have sounded gloat-ish (word? i dunno).

nah, we just learned not to finance anything a while back. we're not wise, not old, and the wife is certainly no man, so the whole 'wise old man' syndrome doesn't really apply. i do feel fairly old after a 24 hour shift of baby sitting a boring mill, otherwise... nope. only 1/2 my life is done i hope.

we (the wife an i) have seen many folks keep up with the jones' - beit through debt or by working like mad. neither really turned us on. guess we're more like hippies that prefer working less and enjoying the sunsets a little more. sunrises are always interrupted by kids/dogs/work, so i'll tell ya how i like those in 30-40 years

Over here in England is just as bad , people are loosing there jobs everywhere . there are a few safe ones , Police,Nurses, basicly public sector seem to be very very safe , My mums a Disrict Nurse , she gets all the overtime she ever needs , Her boyfriend is a crane repair speicalist , he seems certain his job is very very safe , he is extremly skilled and the company is based in amsterdam, so they are probs smoking themselves insane as it is , as for me , i no my Job is safe , my company Tk Maxx , Owned by the Us Tjx are up this year at 2% or so , its a profit that so many shops are losing, Debanhams lost 100million in there last sale , so were doing ok , im even getting a Pay rise soon so it must be good ,

and on top of that , we rent , by our landlord is a 70 year old bloke who owns 150 propertys , the rent is 650 and he promised and signed saying for the duration of our stay he will never increase the rent , so i no ill always have a roof over my head and food in my belly , and my Drumkit , thats all ill ever need

Quote from: Jay_wolf on February 20, 2009, 05:04:19 PM
our landlord is a 70 year old bloke who owns 150 propertys , the rent is 650 and he promised and signed saying for the duration of our stay he will never increase the rent 

Nice

i am soo  f%$king glad i am retired

if you're retired, why you working?