Nearly everyone I know is broke, this economy sucks!

I am not from USA, but I have lived there for a while and as far as I can say overally the whole being broke thing is due to poor financial intelligence of Americans (not generalising, just a lot of them)

I am from a small Eastern Europe country. The prices here are around 2x the ones in USA (for example one gallon of gas is 7,7 dollars) The houses here are much more expensive, so are the cars. Food is 2x more expensive, so are the clothes. Yet the average salary is around 800 dollars and we can live without being broke.

As much as I saw in America, people overconsume. They buy so much stuff. In here most people would never be able to afford as much as americans do and yet so many people there are broke.

(I was also extremely pissed off when EU decided to support Greece. Their pensions were cut to around 1500 euros (prices around 2x as ours). Yet our average pension is 250 euros a month... Why help out people who are not even broke, but just can spend 3 times as much as we do?)

The point of this post was not to insult anyone, just to show that overally lots of countries are doing even worse, yet they are able to get by.

Originally posted by Cabin
I am not from USA, but I have lived there for a while and as far as I can say overally the whole being broke thing is due to poor financial intelligence of Americans (not generalising, just a lot of them)

I am from a small Eastern Europe country. The prices here are around 2x the ones in USA (for example one gallon of gas is 7,7 dollars) The houses here are much more expensive, so are the cars. Food is 2x more expensive, so are the clothes. Yet the average salary is around 800 dollars and we can live without being broke.

As much as I saw in America, people overconsume. They buy so much stuff. In here most people would never be able to afford as much as americans do and yet so many people there are broke.

(I was also extremely pissed off when EU decided to support Greece. Their pensions were cut to around 1500 euros (prices around 2x as ours). Yet our average pension is 250 euros a month... Why help out people who are not even broke, but just can spend 3 times as much as we do?)

The point of this post was not to insult anyone, just to show that overally lots of countries are doing even worse, yet they are able to get by.

Its hard to compare Europe to the USA... Yes, Fuel is high there but most people do not NEED a CAR and there is far better public transit. I live in a City of 100K and we do n ot even have a Bus System which runs often enough to make it feasible. Unless you work from 8-6 (the hours the Bus runs) and are lucky to live near a bus stop (few and far between) there is nothing else but Taxi cabs which are insanely expensive.

Europe is not the USA... having a car there is far more of a luxury than it is here. having a car here (for most) is necessary to get anywhere.

I agree about some of what you say but your comparison is wrong.

Originally posted by Cabin
I am not from USA, but I have lived there for a while and as far as I can say overally the whole being broke thing is due to poor financial intelligence of Americans (not generalising, just a lot of them)

I am from a small Eastern Europe country. The prices here are around 2x the ones in USA (for example one gallon of gas is 7,7 dollars) The houses here are much more expensive, so are the cars. Food is 2x more expensive, so are the clothes. Yet the average salary is around 800 dollars and we can live without being broke.

In here most people would never be able to afford as much as americans do and yet so many people there are broke.

(I was also extremely pissed off when EU decided to support Greece. Their pensions were cut to around 1500 euros (prices around 2x as ours). Yet our average pension is 250 euros a month... Why help out people who are not even broke, but just can spend 3 times as much as we do?)

The point of this post was not to insult anyone, just to show that overally lots of countries are doing even worse, yet they are able to get by.

Very insightful.

The US is no longer a production society

but a materialistic over consumer society

The US produces very few things any longer ; but imports most of it.

Most of the jobs in america are now service oriented jobs

We have become a glorified cheap customer service center ...


and now we are slowing and by design becoming a third world country

All of you that are in here could help eachother if you wanted, and get together in communities or in other ways start to barter. Everyone of you could fill a hole,that the other cannot. And together you would be strong.

reply to post by camaro68ss


It is austerity time, but you're writing this, I assume, from home broadband you pay for. When you really cant afford luxuries like internet access then start to worry.

Originally posted by openminded2011

The rich DO create jobs, in China and Mexico.

There needs to be some international regulation on labor, so the economies don't compete at the expense of the workforce. One full-time job per person needs to be enough. And if some country compets at the expense of the environment and salaries close to slavery (hello China) this needs to be corrected by border tarrifs and taxes, so that we all fight with the same weapons when competing. It has to start in the US - the EU would jump on that waggon anyway, if it wasnt alone on this endevour.

This economy sucks and is not going to get any better but worse.

And if they treated you as a criminal trying to get a job; it too will get worse.

I remember in 1998, I could walk into any hospital and get a job; have a job the next day.

Today, I have to be subject to a criminal background check and a drug screen ; which can take up to a week to do...

What is this country now?

A society of criminals and drug addicts??!!!

This country is going down the # hole fast!!

reply to post by camaro68ss


Gas, Electric & Water are rising year after year and so is Transport! There has to come a time where it stops because well, it just can't keep rising. Its the same for House Prices too... from 1995 they kept on rising right up till 2010 when the hardworking can't afford to buy a property so have to rent (where Landlords overcharge)...

Mind you, its fine if you have a Council property!

Whats the saying 'What goes up must come down'

Or one other way to say something is to strike.... the whole World goes on strike! Just make sure you buy enough food and sort your gas or electric payments out before doing so.... dont worry about your mortgages, they cant take 5 billion people to courts and they cant chuck 5 billion people onto the streets!!

I know most of my co-workers are having a hard time dealing with things so usually I give away like half my pay check every now and again and help them buy food to get by. I mean it doesn't take much for me to live on and I could stand to stop eating a little bit ( ); but they either have families or are soon to be married while I'm single so may as well help them as best I can.

Originally posted by MystiqueAgent
I know most of my co-workers are having a hard time dealing with things so usually I give away like half my pay check every now and again and help them buy food to get by. I mean it doesn't take much for me to live on and I could stand to stop eating a little bit (

); but they either have families or are soon to be married while I'm single so may as well help them as best I can.

You are a fantastic unique person for doing this!

No one ----to few do this for people.

Consider yourself a hero.

God will provide for ones like you

but

I would caution , even though you are young,

you still need to save money for yourself for you own retirement one day.

When you get ready to retire , there will probably be NO social security left

So, thinking of others is great

but also provide for yourself in the times to come.

Yeah,. it sucks being broke,.
Making big payments on my $40,000.00 truck home payments.. $1200. a month
Insurances
credit card payments
Cable bills
and grocery bills
And Im only left with a couple hundred bucks to burn by the weekend,..

I feel your pain

reply to post by ArtisticOne


Yeah I know my parents told me I should save some because things are being bled dry to the point that the retirement they have will not be the same as when I'm ready. I'll probably start saving next year getting all of that rebellious attitude out of my system.

Originally posted by MystiqueAgent
reply to post by ArtisticOne

 

Yeah I know my parents told me I should save some because things are being bled dry to the point that the retirement they have will not be the same as when I'm ready. I'll probably start saving next year getting all of that rebellious attitude out of my system.

Social security has a chart of age of birth and age of retirement

People in their 20s and 30s are pretty much 'screwed'. There will be no retirement resources for those in their 20 for certain.
People in their 30s; I think it depends

Save save save and start now

not next year.

If you don't have any money saved you will work til they are putting you 6 feet under.

This story made me a saver and not a spender:

I went to a store one day. The people a head of me in line were buying a long mirror.

Well, the cashier was well into her 70s.

Poor thing ; she was so confused ; it looked like they just threw her on the register with no help.

She was so anxious she grabbed the mirror and it broke.

SHe cut her finger on the mirror and it started bleeding ; she wrapped it up and it bleed all over the register

as a long line of people formed for check out

she started to cry and all the

supervisor could do was reprimand the poor thing!!!

They saw her finger was too bloody to continue ; so they finally took her off the registers.

I was so angry!!!

That poor woman did not belong on the cash registers at her age ; she was too old to handle it

SHe belonged in the fitting rooms or something!!

I went to the top manager on duty and told him of my disgust at how they could be so cruel to put a poor old women in a situation like this...

THere were other jobs she could do

This made me think

I don;t want to be in my 70s and working!!!!!!!

reply to post by ArtisticOne


I know what you mean we have a lady at our store that is...67? Or somewhere there who works the cash register I'm almost always there to help her cause no one else seems to want to take the time. I'm usually the one that gets into trouble for "wasting time" by helping her with things. I suppose with the elderly working it wouldn't be that bad if people are kind and courteous to one another but that is nothing more than a fanciful dream work; especially in the retail industry which becomes worse during the "holidays".

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
Yeah,. it sucks being broke,.
Making big payments on my $40,000.00 truck home payments.. $1200. a month
Insurances
credit card payments
Cable bills
and grocery bills
And Im only left with a couple hundred bucks to burn by the weekend,..

I feel your pain

edit on 2-3-2013 by Lil Drummerboy because: (no reason given)

Yep, you are so "poor".

You have a $40,000 truck, you (obviously) have a home.
You have insurance
Credit Cards
CABLE EFFING TV
and you buy groceries
Leaves you with some change left over each month.

You are aware there are people who do NOT have a car, NO insurance, probably not even a home and no effing cable TV and might even have problems having enough to eat.

Cry me a river, seriously.

EDIT: OK, MY SARCASM METER FAILED....noticed it

reply to post by ArtisticOne

You are not screwed Social Security will be there for you, the baby boomers already are dying off. Don't listen to all the false propaganda regarding Social Security.
I agree with the OP this economy sucks. It used to be - my father - had six children and my mother stayed at home. They had a comfortable retirement. My father worked for only two companies his entire career, he only changed jobs because the first company failed.
In the 1960s, and even through the 1980s, there were a lot of good paying jobs in America. Car salesman, waiters and waitresses, generally were paid more than they are now.
America is very wealthy. All the cash has been sucked out of the economy to give to the 1%. But hey, they bribe the Congressmen to pass laws that favor themselves.

I am in the same boat no job and can't find one. I didn't file for unemployment and now I have used up all my savings. Living day to day. getting food from some of the local church food banks and doing some odd jobs here and there. winter hinders us from getting any good out door work and the local mac D's is not hiring.

It seems as though when the media perpetuates the lie that things are improving, many people just think that their situation is relatively unique, and they may not realize just how widespread their situation is. I completely agree with everything you posted. The truth is that prices are being jacked up to perpetuate a profit motive that is in place, and truly the prices do not have to be that high. The fact that there are people who own and run these large corporations who must maintain a ridiculously large lifestyle, and the fact that those under them are attempting to catch up to them, is what is hurting much of the less "fortunate" people.

The truth is that in the financial world everything is interconnected. I can understand that when someone can barely put food on the table they are going to get disgusted when they find out or think about the fact that there are people literally throwing away millions and millions of dollars. These corporations keep cutting costs by screwing over minimum wage employees, using overseas manufacturers, etc., and they keep making more and more money, yet the majority of the population are the ones who suffer for it. Some say that this is their prerogative, and that it does not affect everyone else, but they would be full of you know what. As I said, everything in the financial world is connected in this day and age.

Just wait until the $10 bill costs more to print than it is worth.

Assuming we make it that far...

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
Yeah,. it sucks being broke,.
Making big payments on my $40,000.00 truck home payments.. $1200. a month
Insurances
credit card payments
Cable bills
and grocery bills
And Im only left with a couple hundred bucks to burn by the weekend,..

I feel your pain

edit on 2-3-2013 by Lil Drummerboy because: (no reason given)

you feel pain when you have 200 bucks to BURN on the weekend!

I pray when the milk is gone and the food cubbard is bare. I let the Lord know I will fast just dont let my kids go hungry.

fortunately for us our house is paid for and we own our car outright(been paid for for years), heating bills up around 500 so we turn it off at night while sleeping. and turn it on in the morning and off mid afternnoon. Water bill not so bad but we conserve on it too. Even our electric keeping the lights off and no TV or Sterio. Walk when we can rather than drive to save gas. No snacks between meals and no vacations (that last one was for Obama)

We don't have credit cards and refuse to get any.

We have tightened our belt to the max and not once asked anything from Uncle Sam.

And our president can't seem to stay in the white house to lead and complains of budget cuts.

and you have 200 dollars a weekend to burn and your are trying to complain and show simpathy to those of us who are really suffering.

Call me when your jobs gone and your cash runs out and let's see if you can do as well as we.