Originally posted by: MySoS
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
Originally posted by: MySoS
The funeral post made me think about this. I find it strange how so many people are in debt. My family (parents) is low income, yet we have 0 debt. We are able to buy new cars, and make home improvements up front in cash. So I don't see how if my parents who are poor can afford to do things like paying for a 25,000 car up front, and buy a new $15,000 roof up front with in a years time. Why do middle class families have to take out loans and such. Why are so many middle class families in debt. What are they spending their money on. I think the problem is people spend more then they have. That is why I think the idea of a morgage on a house, or a loan is stupid one. Just paying for everthing up front. That way you won't be in any debt.
Where the heck do you live Mr. Moneybags?
In the NYC area, you can't buy a decent house for less than $400k. If you want a 2 bedroom apartment in Manhattan, you're looking at $500k+.
My family is poor, I am not Mr. Moneybags.
My parents live in Sacramento, Ca.
If you can't afford to live in NYC then don't. Don't go bankrupt living some where you can't afford.
Originally posted by: MySoS
Originally posted by: FlyLice
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
This boy exemplifies the reason why my kids will have summer jobs and will be responsible for buying their own cars and insurance and clothes when they get to high school. They're already putting money into a savings account and a brokerage account that they make doing chores, and they're only 4 & 8.
We need more parents like Bryophyte, less like MySos's parents.
My parents are great parents. They spend everything and my and my brothers. We only buy the essentials as well.
Originally posted by: jagec
Because they're stupid, and they use credit cards to support a lifestyle they can't afford.
They spend their money on worthless crap like new entertainment systems and all the latest gadgets and gismos, and they spend more money than they should on the essentials like cars, homes, funerals...
Originally posted by: pyonir
Originally posted by: MySoS
I have no idea how much money my parents make, I say we are poor since that is what my parents tell me.
LMAO....okay....
Originally posted by: complacent
Wow..it seems a lot of people are clueless. I bet all the people talking about spending money on stupid entertainment things are on very nice computers.
The trick is not to overextend yourself. Also, make large purchases when there is 0% financing, like I did on my SUV and 65" HDTV. Do I need those things? Hell no. But if I didn't have them, why would I come to work?
Am I in debt? HELL YES! I am almost $300K in debt when you talk about house loans, vehicle loans, etc. However, I have rental units which I don't pay for; the stupid renters do because they think getting a loan for a house is a bad idea. Then they pay me almost $10K a month to rent, which is double the actual mortgage payment on the place. I also get to drive a nice car, watch a nice tv, chill in my boat, vacation a few times a year, and do recreational things. I don't like being in debt, but if I never went into debt in the first place, I would have an apartment complex to pay for all of my useless, soul filling sh!t. Oh, and I'm only 24.
My advice: GO INTO DEBT FOR A WORTHWHILE CAUSE. Buy an apartment complex and manage it; rent it out to morons who think going into debt is bad and would rather pay a monthly rental bill than a mortgage payment.
Originally posted by: atiyeh
Originally posted by: jagec
Because they're stupid, and they use credit cards to support a lifestyle they can't afford.
They spend their money on worthless crap like new entertainment systems and all the latest gadgets and gismos, and they spend more money than they should on the essentials like cars, homes, funerals...
well...we all can't be perfect like you so we have to buy material things to make ourselves feel better. :roll: It's called living your life how you want...
Originally posted by: wiredspider
Does anyone have the urge to just pound the living sh*t out of the OP? He is making such a ridiculous point. My family is "poor" because my parents say so, but they can afford schooling and 4 cars all paid in cash. I also have no idea what my parents make, but they say they are "poor". Like WTF sense does that even make?
Someone with schooling to make these points? I would say this is more the point of maybe somebody under 10.
But to help to OP understand the debt of America, they think they are "rich" because their parents told them so. Then they spend like they are rich, but in reality, they aren't rich and can't afford all those things, so they have debt.
Originally posted by: FlyLice
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Not that I mean to defend the tard that started this thread, but he does have a point about saving for items and paying cash, rather than charging them, which increases your debt in the long run. It's not a matter of "I charge them then pay the entire balance off at the end of the month" - I'd consider that more of a personal accounting management plan... It's the people who want the new big screen tv, but can't afford it right now, so they charge it right now. If they saved $100 a month, they'd have it in 10 months. Instead, they charge it, and end up paying 2 or 3 times the value of it over the course of a few years - money they could have spent on something else.
I think there's a big difference though between such discretionary purchases and purchases of things that may be considered a necessity - housing and transportation... interest rates on those two items are typically lower over the longer term. Plus, you gain equity in a home (especially if real estate prices increase) rather than have absolutely nothing to show for your money if you rent.
It really doesn't matter though... the OP is just trolling.
Sensing by your name, I don't think you are a Dr of Finance. TIME VALUE OF MONEY. It does NOT cost 2-3 times the value of the item if you charge it up. In your case of the $1000 TV ( $100/month * 10 months), instead of SAVING $100 per month for 10 months to buying that TV, one can charge his CC to get the TV now and pay $118.17 per month (assuming a high 15% interest rate) for a total payment of $1,063.53, which is 6.353% higher NOT 2-3 times the value of the item as you so stupidly stated.
Originally posted by: MySoS
I have no idea how much money my parents make, I say we are poor since that is what my parents tell me.
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Originally posted by: FlyLice
Originally posted by: DrPizza
Not that I mean to defend the tard that started this thread, but he does have a point about saving for items and paying cash, rather than charging them, which increases your debt in the long run. It's not a matter of "I charge them then pay the entire balance off at the end of the month" - I'd consider that more of a personal accounting management plan... It's the people who want the new big screen tv, but can't afford it right now, so they charge it right now. If they saved $100 a month, they'd have it in 10 months. Instead, they charge it, and end up paying 2 or 3 times the value of it over the course of a few years - money they could have spent on something else.
I think there's a big difference though between such discretionary purchases and purchases of things that may be considered a necessity - housing and transportation... interest rates on those two items are typically lower over the longer term. Plus, you gain equity in a home (especially if real estate prices increase) rather than have absolutely nothing to show for your money if you rent.
It really doesn't matter though... the OP is just trolling.
Sensing by your name, I don't think you are a Dr of Finance. TIME VALUE OF MONEY. It does NOT cost 2-3 times the value of the item if you charge it up. In your case of the $1000 TV ( $100/month * 10 months), instead of SAVING $100 per month for 10 months to buying that TV, one can charge his CC to get the TV now and pay $118.17 per month (assuming a high 15% interest rate) for a total payment of $1,063.53, which is 6.353% higher NOT 2-3 times the value of the item as you so stupidly stated.
Oh, I certainly understand the time value of money...
However, I also understand reality, which is a HUGE number of people go out and max out their credit cards and pay the minimum balance. The typical family that purchases the television in my example don't typically get the credit card and only purchase that one thing... .and the minimum payment on a $1000 balance is NOT $100. The typical credit card in such situations is charged up close to the limit, and the minimum payment isn't much higher than the interest on the card... it takes practically forever to pay the card down. This isn't a problem about the "time value of money" - but rather is about people spending more than they can afford, then paying the price for years to come (hence the proliferation of commercials on tv of companies that will help you consolidate your debts so you can either escape the spiral, or have more room to make it worse.)
Also, allow me to introduce myself, since you're relatively new to the forums: Apparently my nic conceals that I graduated summa cum laude in applied mathematics (ranked #1 in my class as of my junior year), have 3 1/2 years of engineering courses on top of that, am working on a master's in physics concurrently with a masters in technology in education, and am considering the PhD in mathematics education when I'm done with those - but 2 weeks into this semester, I'm rethinking that I may want to relax. (plus I have a bunch of other grad work that isn't going toward anything).... I'm a math and physics teacher, as well as an adjunct college professor teaching calculus. I know a little bit about interest, and, as a matter of fact, just finished a mini-unit on the subject in pre-calculus (since it lends itself so well to exponential and logarithmic problems, plus will apply to most of their lives more than many of the other topics I cover)
Originally posted by: notfred
You are poor the same way my Vietnamese friend Tai is poor. He grew up in a family where they bought clothes at goodwill, they didn't buy him a car when he turned 16, etc. His parents both worked in a convienience store (which they owned, but leaving out details is a perfectly acceptable practice in this thread, apparently). Tai recently graduated from college with a degree in finance. His parents are planning to retire soon. Tai, being a helpful son, looked over thier finances: They have over $1,000,000 in assets. They are not poor, they're jsut cheap Asian people, like your family.
Originally posted by: MySoS
The funeral post made me think about this. I find it strange how so many people are in debt. My family (parents) is low income, yet we have 0 debt. We are able to buy new cars, and make home improvements up front in cash. So I don't see how if my parents who are poor can afford to do things like paying for a 25,000 car up front, and buy a new $15,000 roof up front with in a years time. Why do middle class families have to take out loans and such. Why are so many middle class families in debt. What are they spending their money on. I think the problem is people spend more then they have. That is why I think the idea of a morgage on a house, or a loan is stupid one. Just paying for everthing up front. That way you won't be in any debt.
Actually that's a debt that is easy to argue the merits for. A reasonable mortgage, along with student loans, are two debts I can think of off the top of my head that frequently make _good_ sense. New tv and car are examples of loans that normally do not.That is why I think the idea of a morgage on a house