How American Household Finances are Changing, Because of Republicans

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: toysforadults

I couldn't care less I'm responding to someone elses concern about how people spend their money, if you were actually paying attention to the flow of that conversation you would have known that.

So you cannot answer the question? I know it's a tough one but let's try again. What's it to you what people spend their money on, whether it's necessities or frivolities?

Mass consumerism is turning the planet into a steaming heap..

Maybe thats what he's getting at...

On the wage growth, it is hard to raise wages when health insurance costs to employers are rising so much. In seventy three, a good BCBS policy ran about forty bucks a month. Employers paid that for most full time real jobs with no problem. Wages were around three bucks an hour for a decent job, like working in a lumber yard or flooring mill at that time. A hundred twenty bucks a week or four hundred eighty bucks a month. So your insurance add on was about a twelfth of your income and it covered most things and some medicines which were not even expensive back then.

Now if you take twelve hundred bucks a month now for a decent insurance with dental like our policy was, And multiply that by twelve.......are we making over forteen grand a month? No, the insurance costs are coming out of our raises. Is this because of insurance companies getting rich, no they are regulated as to what percent profit they can make. Our medical costs are way out of whack. People go to doctors every time they sneeze, employers and schools require doctors excuses for missing days now. There is where our problem is, society has turned the wrong way with things, our medical industry is too big and the food chemistry is incorrect. The doctors and hospitals and medical trades are getting our raises, so are the big pharma and their partners, the ones who are putting improperly researched chemistry into our food.

a reply to: xuenchen

Deflation.

The dollar needs to mean something if we are going to keep slaving for it.

a reply to: cynicalheathen

It's a balance thing. It does depend on where you are and what you're looking for.

For example, right now, we have a pretty good elementary school for our area, but it feeds a not-so-good middle and high school. However, this district does have one of the top performing high schools in the state. However, in order to move to put ourselves inside its range, we would have to buy a significantly more expensive house -- even rent in that high school's area is more expensive than our current mortgage.

There is another top performing high school, and it's cost of living is more reasonable. We could do much better and afford moving over there easier.

Thing is that I want to get back on the Kansas side to re-establish residency by the time kiddo is in high school, so that bumps us over Kansas side. The top school district in the state is also located in the wealthiest zip code. It's worse than trying to establish in the first high school I mentioned in every way cost wise, but if you settle for the district that's currently 5th best ... it's far, far more reasonable if you're willing to settle in the rural, small town portion of the district, and *that* high school is still on par with the ritzier suburban one in terms of ratings.

So, it's all about doing your legwork and research and what compromises you're willing to make.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: xuenchen

Deflation.

The dollar needs to mean something if we are going to keep slaving for it.

this is a point I was trying to make the other day that even if you did get a $2 an hour raise from the tax cuts you are still in a worse off position than you were 3 years ago because even with the added income you still have less purchasing power than you did when you got the raise originally

this is due to the value of the dollar

also the largest contributing factor to why no one can save/ has disposable income and why the debt to income ratio is exploding

a reply to: rickymouse

On the wage growth, it is hard to raise wages when health insurance costs to employers are rising so much. In seventy three, a good BCBS policy ran about forty bucks a month. Employers paid that for most full time real jobs with no problem. Wages were around three bucks an hour for a decent job, like working in a lumber yard or flooring mill at that time. A hundred twenty bucks a week or four hundred eighty bucks a month. So your insurance add on was about a twelfth of your income and it covered most things and some medicines which were not even expensive back then.

that was before Reagan and Nixon destroyed the medical industry by moving it from mostly non profit to for profit government subsidized

a reply to: toysforadults

And who controls the value of the dollar?

Maybe the Federal Reserve? A non-governmental organization.

Kinda destroys the whole "Blame ( x ) party for the problems."

a reply to: cynicalheathen

nobody is blaming any party you only think that because you didn't read the OP and assumed that the title of the thread was what I was actually suggesting in the OP

my first sentence in the OP basically destroys that but go ahead

don't let that prevent you from building your strawman about my actual assertion

a reply to: toysforadults

I see plenty of people blaming this party or the other. Your title is clickbait for thay exact reason.

As an independent, I've seen We The People being bent over the barrel since 1913 by the Federal Reserve while both parties have been watching and cheering.

End the Fed, Quantitative easing, and bailouts. Get the bankers greedy fingers out of the money supply and the problem will sort itself.

Here is a tidbit to show you that the increase in cost of housing is largely driven by people themselves. In 1970, the average floor area of a newly built home was 1500 sf and the floor area per person was 478 sf Source Source. In 2014 it was 2657 sf, and 1046 sf per person.

This is purely by choice. The government didn't make people choose these things. This raises the cost of all those "essentials" like heat, water, furnishings etc. So yes, you can say that the costs of housing have gone up and feel like they are some fixed expense, but a lot of it was/is personal choice. The same trends have taken place in buying sensible/affordable cars, clothes, etc. And yes, I can show the data, but clearly I am not the one needing to do the research. I already took the time to educate myself.

Even using your numbers, if you are in debt, you have an easy 15% raise you can give yourself buy getting rid of the waste. This is without choosing smarter spending on the essentials. A 15% cut on the waste is more than that against your debt building as you aren't paying interest on further debt.

This isn't to say you can't spend frivolously. Just do it when you don't already have debt.

It is the USD that is causing you grief.

Congress voted and removed USD from being pegged on the petro dollar.
You are witnessing your spending value disappear. The ptice of goods are not going up.
You value is depleting.

Wait till after the 40% overnight devaluation occurs and then let's talk. This is what happens to all fiat currencies eventually.

You cannot blame either Obama or DJT as all they can do is mitigate the circumstances as a result of currency manipulation.
Obama exacerbated our situation and deepened it with faux policies like obama care.

DJT is different.
Remember his SOU address where he claimed he has set aside 1 1/2 Trillion USD for rebuilding the Nations infrastructure fixing bridges, roads and high speed trains.
He cannot do that!!!
Only congress can do this by appointing the use of said money.

It is my opinion he could only say that if he already had the money for it.

I believe DJT already has the money Ronald Reagan made from the Reagan-Mitterand Protocols and mandated for use in "rebuilding ourNation's infrastructure"

The money the Bush/Clintons stole. It is called clawback. I understand he is doing the same with stolen gold.

So, yes we are 3rd world debt poor and escalating downwards fast.
But we have a bankruptcy expert at the helm who is navigating us out of receivership
If we are lucky we take our hits with our spending power as we hit a hard bottom but recover within a decade as Steel manufacturing and the rebuilding projects put the country back to work. If you watch closely you can see and hear the negotiations with world leaders. The talk of tarrifs for instance.


a reply to: toysforadults

And the "Solution" for the "Problem" is ?

There are only 3 possible fixes.

1. We decrease our population which would decrease prices for housing and most other goods
2. More government and union jobs that pay decently and have actual benefits. Not likely at all until the Republicans are kicked out.
3. We somehow end housing speculation through laws which also has about a 1 in a million chance of ever happening.

Most likely nothing will improve much for years if evr. Our birthrate is going down now though, so if we can keep immigration down we may have an eventual chance of improving things. but not likely.

We keep talking about a min living wage and that seems to tie into savings too. I disagree with some of your charts in I have worked since the 70s up to today and the biggest difference is what people spend and not so much of what they make. When I look back at my 20s I was in an appt with a roommate, had a TV without cable, a simple house phone, didn't eat out very much, no 5 dollar coffees, no internet or computers, simple stereo near the TV on cinder blocks and wood as a bench for it all. A couch, coffee table and bed, and a cheap older car. That was about it for expenses, so now when you look at what a person today spends, what they see as rights and not privileges is a huge difference in spending.

a reply to: Xtrozero

I can't agree with you because my charts actually produce information and yours is just a perspective based on personal observations

if you could show some data you might be able to sway me but my 2-3 sources listed above and very accurate and credible sources I've been listening to/ watching for some time now

a reply to: toysforadults

He has a point. People are busy confusing things they want with things they actually need.

People want the latest smartphone; they only need a phone or device that provides some form of connectivity.

People want a nice, new car; they only need a reliable form of transportation. (I'm driving a 10-year-old, $4,000 Honda.)

People want designer clothing; they only need stuff that fits and looks appropriate to the situation.

A little time and effort can save you a lot of money if you compromise your wants and simply satisfy your needs.

a reply to: toysforadults

Consumer Expenditures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

This is real data. Not some 10000 ft catchall with no details. Have at it. It didn't take 2 seconds to see that people are spending 40% of their food money eating out on average. Again, I had to google for you because you don't want to learn.

double post

a reply to: CB328

And how would YOU accomplish all that ?

😃

a reply to: CB328

1. We decrease our population which would decrease prices for housing and most other goods

Are you proposing some form of genocide ?

2. More government and union jobs that pay decently and have actual benefits. Not likely at all until the Republicans are kicked out.

How would that help ?

3. We somehow end housing speculation through laws which also has about a 1 in a million chance of ever happening.

What exactly is "housing speculation" ?

a reply to: toysforadults

Out of Luck

The weight of the roughly $80,000 in debt that Judith Ruiz would leave school with didn’t hit her when she was applying for the student loans that would finance her education at Columbia College Chicago.

Or while she was sitting in lecture halls. Or even as she walked across the stage at graduation.

But six months later, still without a job, with lenders hounding her to pay, her student loans caught up to her, and Ruiz defaulted — for the first time.

When she graduated in 2010, a year after the official end of the Great Recession, Ruiz had a hard time finding a job in her field — broadcast journalism.

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