Home economics and financial lifestyle. How would you describe yours?

[Projekt]

The current state of the economy has got me thinking. The myriad of thoughts are centered around a question or two.

How deep an impact will this recession have on our lives as Americans?

More specifically: How many people do you believe will permanently adopt a more frugal lifestyle in contrast to being "good consumers"?

My scenario:
I am 33 years old and have never financed a new vehicle. The reason for that I suppose, has to do with my aversion for making payments on anything. This hasn't prevented me from sinking into major debt at one time or another in my relatively short life.
When I was first in the Air Force after graduating high school I really bought into the mentality of being a good American consumer. As such, I found a way to get a credit card and build a rating pretty quickly. Due to not making much money early in that part of my career, I found that carrying debt was a necessity. This lifestyle lent itself to my hobby of upgrading and modifying my vehicles over the next few years. It was a lifestyle which snowballed into several thousand dollars of debt until I was not comfortable any longer.
A part time job was in order (some of you have heard "stories from the chicken factory") that through hard smelly work I never imagined doing, managed to enable me to pay everything off and save a major amount of money. At least it seemed major in those days. I was 24 and thought I really had my sh!t together. Debt free and ready to buy a house I was on top of the world. Owning a home was great, now I could finally put all those hours watching this old house to use by fixing up my place. Things got out of control and I plunged into a depth of debt I never imagined I would reach. Living from paycheck to paycheck sucked! So much for being on top of the world.
Nowadays I'd like to think I have learned to be frugal and believe that it will be permanent for me. My personal concept of money has changed after having and spending a small fortune only to reaccumulate it.
However, I know how uncertain the future is and how quickly things can get out of hand.
This is just an example for others to look at. I have a feeling many folks will be able to identify with it in someway or another.

 

[Robot]

My parents learned from the depression, they taught me things. How soon most of us forgot.

I try to keep it real and focus on "what I need" , rather than what society "wants me to want"

As Americans "almost all" of us are guilty of hyperconsumerism, too many went to the point of absurdity.

How could I possibly go to school not wearing my $200.00 sneakers

 

[Strife]

"Hi,would you like to fill out an application and receive 10% off your purchase?"

Stealership I bought my Busa from asked me why I was paying cash and not financing. Gave him a dumb founded look and said "Cause I can"

Credit is pushed on us everywhere. It's sad too.

 

[Acehole]

If it Ain't in da bank..it dont get spent! my

 

[mrsBusawhipped]

The current state of the economy has got me thinking. The myriad of thoughts are centered around a question or two.

How deep an impact will this recession have on our lives as Americans?

More specifically: How many people do you believe will permanently adopt a more frugal lifestyle in contrast to being "good consumers"?

My scenario:
I am 33 years old and have never financed a new vehicle. The reason for that I suppose, has to do with my aversion for making payments on anything. This hasn't prevented me from sinking into major debt at one time or another in my relatively short life.
When I was first in the Air Force after graduating high school I really bought into the mentality of being a good American consumer. As such, I found a way to get a credit card and build a rating pretty quickly. Due to not making much money early in that part of my career, I found that carrying debt was a necessity. This lifestyle lent itself to my hobby of upgrading and modifying my vehicles over the next few years. It was a lifestyle which snowballed into several thousand dollars of debt until I was not comfortable any longer.
A part time job was in order (some of you have heard "stories from the chicken factory") that through hard smelly work I never imagined doing, managed to enable me to pay everything off and save a major amount of money. At least it seemed major in those days. I was 24 and thought I really had my sh!t together. Debt free and ready to buy a house I was on top of the world. Owning a home was great, now I could finally put all those hours watching this old house to use by fixing up my place. Things got out of control and I plunged into a depth of debt I never imagined I would reach. Living from paycheck to paycheck sucked! So much for being on top of the world.
Nowadays I'd like to think I have learned to be frugal and believe that it will be permanent for me. My personal concept of money has changed after having and spending a small fortune only to reaccumulate it.
However, I know how uncertain the future is and how quickly things can get out of hand.
This is just an example for others to look at. I have a feeling many folks will be able to identify with it in someway or another.

Way to go. I think everyone gets in deep now and again. It is how you deal with it. Sit and whollow in it or dig yourself out. Cash is always best. Even if you don't get a deal on an item, your still saving yourself a boat load of money over the long run cause you are not having to pay interest on a loan.

 

[Commuta_Busa]

I'm trying to take even more drastic steps. There are way to many goods that we consume. As an example, I have always shaved with a razor. replacement razors have gone up n up in price and yet they seem to be even less durable. I remember when I could use one razor for two weeks or more and now the razors last less than two weeks. I never bought into the mach 5000 with 10 blades ??? but sometimes one would be included in a regular set of razors. These blades didn't even last as long as my regualr ones. So now instead of buying replacement razors I'm looking at electric shavers. Yes, they consume energy but at least I don't have to keep replacing blades. Now the problem is finding one that's durable so that it'll last for years.

Look at TV's as consumers when it breaks we buy new. When there is an upgraded one people tend to run out and buy a new one. Maybe TV repair men may become a legitimate job again. Imagine if your TV could last and perhaps be upgraded every so often.

These kinds of things are what I'm looking to change in my life style. Instead of throw away products I want durable goods.

 

[Projekt]

I'm trying to take even more drastic steps. There are way to many goods that we consume. As an example, I have always shaved with a razor. replacement razors have gone up n up in price and yet they seem to be even less durable. I remember when I could use one razor for two weeks or more and now the razors last less than two weeks. I never bought into the mach 5000 with 10 blades ??? but sometimes one would be included in a regular set of razors. These blades didn't even last as long as my regualr ones. So now instead of buying replacement razors I'm looking at electric shavers. Yes, they consume energy but at least I don't have to keep replacing blades. Now the problem is finding one that's durable so that it'll last for years.

Look at TV's as consumers when it breaks we buy new. When there is an upgraded one people tend to run out and buy a new one. Maybe TV repair men may become a legitimate job again. Imagine if your TV could last and perhaps be upgraded every so often.

These kinds of things are what I'm looking to change in my life style. Instead of throw away products I want durable goods.

I was thinking the same thing.. Seems like disposability rather than durability is the norm these days. Some people even think of cars that way, neglecting simple repairs until they add up to a huge bill when the car finally quits running. What happened to following a maintenance schedule? Many people just do the minimum at best choosing to get the oil changed every so often and not much else being looked at. Hell, people can barely bring themselves to wash their own cars these days and it shows in the paint. I suppose the mentality is that they will just buy a new one every few years.

 

[Mr Bogus]

I'm trying to take even more drastic steps. There are way to many goods that we consume. As an example, I have always shaved with a razor. replacement razors have gone up n up in price and yet they seem to be even less durable. I remember when I could use one razor for two weeks or more and now the razors last less than two weeks. I never bought into the mach 5000 with 10 blades ??? but sometimes one would be included in a regular set of razors. These blades didn't even last as long as my regualr ones. So now instead of buying replacement razors I'm looking at electric shavers. Yes, they consume energy but at least I don't have to keep replacing blades. Now the problem is finding one that's durable so that it'll last for years.

Look at TV's as consumers when it breaks we buy new. When there is an upgraded one people tend to run out and buy a new one. Maybe TV repair men may become a legitimate job again. Imagine if your TV could last and perhaps be upgraded every so often.

These kinds of things are what I'm looking to change in my life style. Instead of throw away products I want durable goods.

my only debt is my house.. I carry cards but they are paid that month if used.. Also on your blades mine last 6 to 12 months rinse the thing and stand it up on a dry clean washcloth so that the fibers wick the water off the blade... the thing stays sharp forever.. I just changed the blade I had at Spring bash..

 

[SAMBUSA]

I'm a bum. And my razor blades only last for one shave

 

[BigDiesel]

I started paying attention to the "label whores" around me in highschool, and gravitated away from that mentality way back then...i aint no sucka, if i like something its because I find it interesting and/or fun-not becuz I saw a cool commercial or some artist was pushin chit in their music video and magazine ads.


predators will go after the easiest prey...just the way things r
smart folks arent the ones in debt up their knees right now

I bought my 1st 2 cars new and lost them both bcuz I couldnt make payments-learned my lesson, now I drive a truck I own, and classic Hot Rod I own, and a Busa I own. all my "discretionary cash" is left-overs after I make sure my kids are taken care of, and my wife's pets are all fed (including yours truly)...

and I've got the same tv from 1999 in my livin room still works great-even after moving it 7 times! (36" tvs in '99 werent featherweights like the stuff out today)
and the same socks and underwear too

 

[vincent]

try writing down every single thing you spend money on for a month then go back and look at your list. Most people actually get embarassed when they keep seeing the same things over and over and will at least try to get away from being so dependent on their soda's, ice tea's, or whatever other small things that are nice and cheap until you add them all up at the end of the month

 

[ditchdr]

STAY AWAY FROM ANY KIND OF CREDIT.... Dont spend more then you make, invest, and live with in your means.. Just beacuse the bank says you can afford a 600K house, does not mean you should buy it.

I live DEBT FREE and love it.. I will post up some simple steps Monday when I get back to work, or over the weekend if I get a chance.

 

[Mr Bogus]

STAY AWAY FROM ANY KIND OF CREDIT.... Dont spend more then you make, invest, and live with in your means.. Just beacuse the bank says you can afford a 600K house, does not mean you should buy it.

I live DEBT FREE and love it.. I will post up some simple steps Monday when I get back to work, or over the weekend if I get a chance.

yea but what about the 5' something little blonds that say I can afford them?

(sleeping debt free rocks btw)

 

[F=MA]

try writing down every single thing you spend money on for a month then go back and look at your list. Most people actually get embarassed when they keep seeing the same things over and over and will at least try to get away from being so dependent on their soda's, ice tea's, or whatever other small things that are nice and cheap until you add them all up at the end of the month

I did this in my early twenties. I forced every cash register operator out there to give me a receipt...even if the purchase price was only twenty cents.

Then I'd go home and enter the receipts into a simple spreadsheet I made.

I did this for about six months.

The best thing about it was I quickly got so sick of data entry for nonessential purchases, that I quit making them. I also got tired of getting "are you kidding me?" looks from convenience store clerks.

 

[F=MA]

To answer your questions Projekt...

We live comfortably in a nice home, in a nice neighborhood. We live well below our means, in large part because as a child I lived in a time and place where the only two adults I knew who had jobs were the pastor at the church my family attended and my teacher at school. I mandated early on in our marriage that we live a lifestyle that could be supported, if necessary, by the lowest wage earner in our household (me). That single decision alone has allowed us to build up a lot of capital for investment that we wouldn't have otherwise if we had done what many others in households with substantially smaller incomes do.

It was actually amusing at times driving down the road in my fourth-hand, thirteen year old Ford while being passed by leased BMW's, Mercedes, etc. It was even funnier pulling up to the parking valet when attending a business dinner, tossing him the keys to the Ford and saying "Please don't scratch it." before it was driven off to be parked among the Porche's, Audi's, BMW's, etc.

Today I actively earn income or build the asset side of my personal balance sheet from my career, a business I own, a rental property, a photography business, and occasionally employing capital in the stock market. It was not easy to develop the skills and abilities I utilize today, and most people would prefer to sit at home and watch television and go to the movies on the weekend rather than improve their skill base. That preference was acceptable in our parent's days when America was the only industrial powerhouse in the global economy. Today, and even less so tomorrow, the choice to fail to continue to build new skills and abilities will likely carry a hefty liability.

How deep an impact will the recession have? I'm not certain, but I feel Americans today are leveraged to greater levels entering this recession than ever before, are less competitive in the global labor market than ever before, comparatively less well educated today than at any time in the last fifty years (when viewed with a global perspective), less able to remember and learn lessons from hard times than before, feeling more "entitled" to the same standard of living (or higher) than their parents enjoyed, less willing to work to do whatever it takes to be successful in a changing global economy, more likely to be emotionally manipulated by media and AM radio demagogues, more likely to attach blame for our percieved problems than spend a few minutes examining ourselves with the same microscope we view others with.

Case in point: SUV sales. If anything should have changed American behavior, it was $4/gallon gasoline. Nine months ago, you couldn't give away a SUV...or find a hybrid available for sale.

So much of the consumerism problem could be addressed by mandatory financial education classes in High School. It probably won't ever happen, because finances are right up there with religion and politics when it comes to the wide variety of viewpoints out there. It'd also be difficult to find truly talented financial minds to work for public school wages. Basic money management and wealth enhancing habits likely couldn't be taught by the average school teacher...who is working to finance a depreciating asset sitting in the school parking lot.

I think a lot of people view financial health similar to a diet. They don't realize that running hard to catch up once in a while before returning to their previous lifestyle habits is not effective in the long run.

Best wishes to you, Projekt...and anyone who is struggling to reevaluate their financial lot in life.

A line from Rush's "Subdivisions" caught my attention a few weeks back. I'd listened to the song a hundred times and never noticed the lyrics before. I think it's a very good description of how many live their lives:

"Trading dreams for small desires."

 

[BigDiesel]

"Trading dreams for small desires."

pretty much sums up "The NEW American Dream"

 

[Hayabusa2005]

I used to use credit cards, but now I dont even have one. I use my Visa Debit Card (checking account) or cash for all my purchases.

 

[Projekt]

Best wishes to you, Projekt...and anyone who is struggling to reevaluate their financial lot in life.

Thanks for delivering such a complete answer. I can see that you have excellent reading comprehension based on your reply.

Personally, I am doing very well these days and have reached what I believe is a good economic balance. Working these jobs overseas has helped finance a comfortable and very interesting lifestyle. I am not free from desire but have managed to quell impulses that used to lead to irresponsible spending.

 

[skydivr]

My wife is the frugal one

 

[EarlyBird]

I have to hand it to my parents. Both grew up poor and have done well for themselves. They have shown me how they were able to keep out of major debt, like the others around us! They kept to a plan, and a paid everything off they could and only buy when you can afford what it is you want.

I was lucky to buy, my first new car at 21 years old with a cashiers check. Ordered what I wanted....a 1997 formula firebird. It took me 4 years of busting my butt for it!!! But it was mine. The dealership had to run the check 3 times, because they couldn't believe I was the one buying the car. I also had good older friends that helped me along the way to prevent from getting into trouble with moeny like others.

Right now I live pay check to pay check. My bills are covered and the only debt I have is 1 credit card bill that I am paying down and the House mortgage. Everything else I own. Iam very luckyto be were I am at right now. I am 34, single, home owner, and own my own stuff! Others that are married around me are sweating their debt that they have created and are upside down!