Nearly everyone I know is broke, this economy sucks!

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
Well,. that was exactly the response I was hoping for,.

Part of me can understand the woe is me whining that some of you are conveying,.
But then I think back to when I was younger like the majority of the posters in this thread
and remember how I could see my future as being broke if I didnt "Think Ahead" and get
better education to secure a financial success.

Yeah the economy seems rough,. but the only one to blame for the lack of funds in your
wallets is the lack of drive you had to not prepare for the future.

I was nearly always ahead of the curve,. watching the markets, news, and local economy
My first job was washing semi trucks,.good pay,. but it sucked,. I Knew then I wanted a
better job with more pay,. so I set out to learn and educate myself to fill my bank account.

35 years later,. and always learning to adapt to closing companies and a market that is
a sine wave of fluctuation,,. I do well for myself,. I could do better,.. but I am happy where
I am at. And, I made myself valuable to the needed industry I am in,. Could I loose my job?
Yes,.$hit happens,. however my education and variety of skill sets has ensured my ability
to obtain a job in many other fields.. a planned back up..

I see too many people that think working at a Blockbuster, Mc D's, a local car wash or some
business that "Seems" to pay well become satisfied with their income,. maybe their living at
home yet or blowing all their extra cash at a local bar or on video games,. that of which will
only leave them living paycheck to paycheck,. I have seen some who set out to educate
themselves with all good intent, in a field of which was already flooded with thousands of
like minded students. Only to find when they got out of collage, there was no jobs,.Hmm
that was a good sale by their Guidance counselor and collage rep..

The point here is,. If your not making enough money, you lost your job,. bad choices,.
Do something about it instead of blame others.. It is not Your employers responsibility
to keep you employed or give you more money,. You have to "EARN" it

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

I have 4 college degrees and got them with a 4.0 GPA, they're not in useless subjects either but technology related, I also hold many certificates. I don't go out and spend money frivolously but I don't save any either because there's literally nothing to save since my wages come to about $7800/year. I work ~50 hours a week, 30 of that off the clock in a "get all this done or you're fired, you're only paid for the first x hours type of deal". My first job was in a bowling alley doing customer service. This was in the mid-late 90's and I got $10/hour, I get well under half that hourly now, and the dollars are worth half as much on top of that. Want to know what those college degrees are good for now? I use one of them as a coaster.

It's not that people would be happy with McDonalds, it's that McDonalds will give you 30-40 hours a week at minimum wage. People are so desperate that that's a good deal. I would love absolutely nothing more at this point than to be employed there. I would work fewer hours and make twice as much money. I would even get some free food so I wouldn't have days every week where I skip all meals because I can't afford to eat. Unfortunately, I can't get hired there. If I include my education and work experience I'm told I'm overqualified. If I don't put anything down, well, they won't hire someone that's 30 and doesn't have work history. They want 16 year olds in high school. So I'm stuck being pretty much unemployable because there are no jobs in my area. People always respond to this by saying move, but moving costs money. The only ones that can afford to move and get a new job are the ones making enough money to get by with already.

reply to post by Lil Drummerboy


That used to be the way thing were, not so much anymore. They have corrupted the system so much that I feel sorry for the younger generations.....not to mention they have been conditioned to their "entitlement" mentality.

Just feel blessed. "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Money isn't everything, and sure money can buy some forms of happiness, but not having much helps you appreciate what you do have. My family lives in Vietnam where the average salary is about $150/month, and yet they are so happy. If you can save $100/month you can buy a round trip ticket to Vietnam. Once you're there, you can get a nice hotel for $3/day in Ho Chi Minh City. And food is about $1/meal. So it's easy to survive. Go there and see how little people have. It'll change your life and hopefully you will feel so grateful for what you do have. Kids not being able to go to school bc they have to work to eat. Not having a shower or a flushable toilet. Having to bathe from a bucket and peeing and pooping in a hole in the ground.

By the way, if you really want to buy a house, move to Buffalo. Houses are selling for $1, you just need to fix it up (which will cost several $1000). But you're getting land for $1 which makes it worth it. I know several people with 2 to 3 houses they bought for $1-300 each. Some people don't believe me when I say it, but go here and see. www.ci.buffalo.ny.us...

Detroit is on the verge of bankruptcy....Michigan's governor wants to appoint an Emergency (City) Manager and this could be the template that could be extended to a failed state (appointment of an "emergency governor") and even the country (with the appointment of emergency UN control) at some point in the future.

reply to post by Aazadan
Well I commend you on your efforts in school,.But with trying to understand your financial situation all i can see is what I talked about in my second post,.You need to reapply your ability to educate yourself in a field of demand. It would seem that you have drive, use that to force yourself ahead and get out of the rut. I am in Wisconsin,. and to be honest,.businesses are doing well.

If I were to suggest something,. learn a trade and apply your technologies to that somehow. I worked in the high voltage industry for a few years,. that pays very well and plenty of positions available to the right skill set. What I have seen in the trades side of the world is the Market is going to be at a very large shortage of skilled manpower,. simply due to the aged workforce reaching retirement..

Learn to weld,. certified welders can make $25 or more an hour and schooling is cheap
trick is to find a trade that is in need of workers.. not that hard,.
Learn to be a crane or heavy equipment operator
HVAC

But I wouldnt bother with plumber or carpenter,.flooded market
Yeah it is expensive to move,. but can be a worthy investment

Originally posted by MidnightTide
reply to post by Lil Drummerboy

 

That used to be the way thing were, not so much anymore. They have corrupted the system so much that I feel sorry for the younger generations.....not to mention they have been conditioned to their "entitlement" mentality.

Agreed,.
too many spend their money before they even get paid,. and think the work they have done is good enough and are shocked when their employer says,.. bye

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
reply to post by Aazadan

 

Well I commend you on your efforts in school,.But with trying to understand your financial situation all i can see is what I talked about in my second post,.You need to reapply your ability to educate yourself in a field of demand. It would seem that you have drive, use that to force yourself ahead and get out of the rut. I am in Wisconsin,. and to be honest,.businesses are doing well.

If I were to suggest something,. learn a trade and apply your technologies to that somehow. I worked in the high voltage industry for a few years,. that pays very well and plenty of positions available to the right skill set. What I have seen in the trades side of the world is the Market is going to be at a very large shortage of skilled manpower,. simply due to the aged workforce reaching retirement..

Learn to weld,. certified welders can make $25 or more an hour and schooling is cheap
trick is to find a trade that is in need of workers.. not that hard,.
Learn to be a crane or heavy equipment operator
HVAC

But I wouldnt bother with plumber or carpenter,.flooded market
Yeah it is expensive to move,. but can be a worthy investment

Yup- Plumbers here used to make huge money- Now its essenially $10/hour if you are luck enough to be working... Same with Construction/Roofing/Excavating (all used to demand wages of $15+ hour easily, and wotk was everywhere)-

But right now the same could be said about HVAC and welders in Michigan. Even Tool And Die. The amount of Factories closed has left us with an abundence of skilled tradesmen with 10+ years of experience who are unable to find work. My Buddy was a Tig/mig welder with GM and is now working (same tyope of work) for manpower @ $9.00/hour and hoping he is hired on permanent since the factory he is at will pay him $13.00 (if hired)-
-You wouldn't believe our "Help Wanted" section. The few jobs there are demanding the world and paying rock bottom. Recently there was an ad for "painter" 5 years experience or more, drug test, background check, references required- part time $7.40/hour... And the job was apparently filled since it never ran again.

Now- As things worsen here (where we have a glut of skilled trades not working) and people resign themselves to take whatever and realize there is no work in Michigan anymore- They are going to Flood other parts of the nation. Its already kind of happening as many jobs are being posted here from "Out Of State" and offering less than what is normally expected.

The one place which IS doing good here is Ann Arbor (one of the Top places to find work in the nation) but thats all highly technical work like Robotics.

Even auto mechanics and auotmotive painters are being offered a pittance and TAKING IT...

I have the opportunity to go out to Vegas and learn custom painting on cars (the company does some phenomenal work for big name people-) and I am considering it... I HATE Vegas, but an Old friends Husband owns the company and promised me an apprentiship if I want it for a pretty decent starting wage. I think that will be a good Trade since it mainly caters to the rich and I think I could be good at it.. But I am trying to hold off as long as possible because I hate the ideal of leaving Michigan (again...) to move somewhere I despise for some money- But if my wife cannot find work by the end of summer that is going to be our next move.

reply to post by Lil Drummerboy


I would like to add that I have done my two years in welding g technologies.

Nobody wants to pay more that ten or 15 dollars starting out around here.

From there I took the sheetmetal workers test and scored 5 out of 50. Got on at a good hvac and architectual company. Two years ago we were booming. Now the hall has over 110 people laid off. This is for the whole southern Illinois and east St Louis area.

We are hurting for work.

I don't care what anybody says. The economy is not doing good.

You can lie to yourself every morning in the mirror and tell yourself you got job security, but I can tell you that everybody is one or two contracts or accounts from lay offs.

Our hvac side is slower than ever. I have been working outside this winter. Try putting on roof panels in a snowstorm.

After my apprenticeship is over I will be qualified in two fields. I have a feeling things are not going to be that much better. But hey if it ever goes up my industries will be booming.

Just take it day by day. No new truck or car payment here. Just living bills, which are crazy.

reply to post by liejunkie01
Bummer,.
a local union shop here starts at $18. an hr for tank welders at at transformer shop,.
an HVAC shop local,. their trucks are always out and their guys are working..
Like I said,. here in wisconsin,. it is busy.

I still hold a IBEW 953. just choose to not work that trade anylonger,.. But Im telling ya
jobs are out there

Originally posted by Lil Drummerboy
reply to post by liejunkie01

 

Bummer,.
a local union shop here starts at $18. an hr for tank welders at at transformer shop,.
an HVAC shop local,. their trucks are always out and their guys are working..
Like I said,. here in wisconsin,. it is busy.

I still hold a IBEW 953. just choose to not work that trade anylonger,.. But Im telling ya
jobs are out there

Thats funny you say that- Someone just the other day was saying something similar about WI.

We are flat out dying here man. They broke the Unions, destroyed manufacturing and as a result its a domino effect across thew State. Used to be soooo many good jobs here- Its sad.

Antone see the documentary Detropocolpse? Just watched it last night. I never saw Detroit in its heyday but I saw Suburban Detroit (Metro area) which was Job Heaven and a great area. Farmington Hills used to be the richest Zip code in the nation and the whole Downriver area was booming. Now the Detroit Blight is creping North and South and Downriver is getting crazy (still nice areas like Wyandotte but they are fading fast)

-I really do fear for whats coming. This is just the "start."

Most of you are standing at the edge of your own "Fiscal Cliff" because of the way you are forced to live your lives.

But you aren't really so much forced into the way you live,you chose the easy way out,just go get yo'self a loan for something you really can't afford,live WITHIN your means,and hope your means remain what they are.

The means are changed on a whim by those who pay you,lay you off,raise your utility rates,raise your insurance rates,raise the price of your food and force you to commute too great a distance to work,which only wastes more of your meager "Means".

Your taxes go to another group which supposedly lives within it's means,by it's own BS decree,they haven't lived within their means for about 70 years.

Besides,with the non-predictability of life as it has always been,anyone with half a goddamned brain would know that one has to live BELOW ONE'S Means.

I made adjustments 13 years ago when I learned this lesson in a very painful way,and have been hovering just above the bottom of the barrel ever since.

Absolutely nothing is guaranteed by anyone at all anywhere unless they somehow guarantee their future,and it will usually be at your expense.

You think Tax on income is high in US. Look at we deal with in Australia


Tax rates 2012-13

The following rates for 2012-13 apply from 1 July 2012.


Tax on this income

0 - $18,200
Nil

$18,201 - $37,000
19c for each $1 over $18,200

$37,001 - $80,000
$3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000

$80,001 - $180,000
$17,547 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000

$180,001 and over
$54,547 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

Originally posted by MyHappyDogShiner
Most of you are standing at the edge of your own "Fiscal Cliff" because of the way you are forced to live your lives.

But you aren't really so much forced into the way you live,you chose the easy way out,just go get yo'self a loan for something you really can't afford,live WITHIN your means,and hope your means remain what they are.

The means are changed on a whim by those who pay you,lay you off,raise your utility rates,raise your insurance rates,raise the price of your food and force you to commute too great a distance to work,which only wastes more of your meager "Means".

Your taxes go to another group which supposedly lives within it's means,by it's own BS decree,they haven't lived within their means for about 70 years.

Besides,with the non-predictability of life as it has always been,anyone with half a goddamned brain would know that one has to live BELOW ONE'S Means.

I made adjustments 13 years ago when I learned this lesson in a very painful way,and have been hovering just above the bottom of the barrel ever since.

Not sure who you are speaking to- But I have always lived "below" my means (i.e. I saved money every month) but those savings are depleted.

You are assuming alot there about alot of people who are talking about how bad it is. Sometimes there isnt anything left to cut.

But assumptions do not help anyone. We all have our personal situations (including you) that others here have n knowledge about. Th e advice about "get two jobs" or "take a job at Mcdonalds" might be good advice for you and where you live- But finding one job at minimum wage is a problem for many right now.

-Hell, I could tell you "Move to Detroit, buy a house for $1000 free and clear and work at mcdonalds"- You will probably DIE, but the ad vice IS valid (you can get a very nice home for $1000 in Detroit right now.) and Mcdonalds IS hiring in detroit.

reply to post by texasgirl


Texasgirl, if you have either a deck or a balcony, or even a large sunny window, you can at least grow enough fresh veggies to not have to buy them at the store. Check out vertical gardens, and some of the webpages that have ideas for container gardening. If you are allowed to have house plants, you should be able to have tomatoes and cucumbers and lettuce. Facebook also has a lot of pages for urban gardens, and amazon has ebooks for kindle, or a kindle app. They are pretty cheap, anytime,but every day they offer free ebooks, and you can get all kinds of gardening ideas and growing information. They are only free for a day, and then new ones the next day, so you have to check every day, or see backdoor survival on FB, she puts the free homesteading ones online each day. I have lettuce, beets, and greens growing in a large bowl in my window, and tomatoes and peppers are sprouting in little cups, waiting for warm weather to go outside.
Also, something that anyone can grow, is sprouts. Lentils, and most beans will sprout in a quart jar, just rinse them twice a day, and you can buy special seeds of many kinds to sprout as well.
Happy gardening...

reply to post by DarKPenguiN
Most people do live "within their means",maybe not you,but I know from observation that most do,and that isn't good enough.

Living within one's means amounts to little more than treading water and hoping a big wave doesn't come smashing over and swamp everything,forcing one deeper into debt.

Technically,I have been homeless since 2004,but manage to scrape by somehow or other,I am so glad I only have me and my dog to take care of or things would be very much less manageable.

I work,I live cheap,I do whatever I want for most of the year.

Ya gotta be creative in getting by and how you look at youself,nevermind what anyone else thinks.

I saved money while I had a real job,and I saved my unemployment when I got layed off from work for the second time in a decade.4 years out of the last 10 is too close to half the time being unemployed.

I am so close to free it makes me giddy......

Find a way to take joy from what one has in the time one has,you may not be here tomorrow.

Anyway.......

Originally posted by MyHappyDogShiner
reply to post by DarKPenguiN

 

Most people do live "within their means",maybe not you,but I know from observation that most do,and that isn't good enough.

Living within one's means amounts to little more than treading water and hoping a big wave doesn't come smashing over and swamp everything,forcing one deeper into debt.

At one point in my life i had roughly $22k in credit card debt because when I was younger I didn't know what mattered nor did I know how to play the game of credit. Rather than take the easy way out via bankruptcy I dug in , signed up for debt management and paid if off over the course of roughly 4.5 years paying anywhere from $500-$700 a month towards it. Over those times, I lived check to check and within and often below my means.

I have been free of that situation for roughly 3 years now and at the same time worked at such a level that i could progress within my company to receive significant raises over the past 2 years. I am realistic and know that I have a job in an industry working for an industry that is , at least in our situation, very stable and growing substantially. I also know that my experience at this point is not the norm for many people. I don't regret any of the things I have done nor do I regret where I am..

I wish that everyone has a chance to make their life better, to find meaningful and stimulating employment and finally that no one gives up. The number one thing I can say to people is you have to keep going. You can't just throw up your hands and give in.

The already-planned WW3 will be clearing all of this up folks, just like the planned WW2 did after the '29 depression. Google "albert pike 3 world wars". All your problems will be over. The coming false flag will distract you just like Pearl Harbor. The last thing you'll remember are your debt payments. Everyone will have a job (in the military).

The good news is that the Father in heaven is about to close things down here on planet earth. Jesus is coming and this time it is with a two-edged sword. The fake aliens and whatever other signs and wonders satan displays will deceive many unfortunately. Don't be one of those. Get on board with the only way out of the coming detruction: believe on Jesus Christ of Nazareth (and not that new age garbage like "collective consciousness" etc. etc. put out by the Luciferians like G.W. Bush and B. Obama).

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Amen, and amen.

reply to post by DissentFromDayOne


You had my attention until the Jesus part.

A good read until that.

Sometimes being able to see midlife fading in your rear view is not so bad. I remember the 70's and 80's in America-the 90's as well. I doubt America will ever see that kind of economic and political power again.
My bitch is my gargantuan property taxes being used to support all the pro sports teams. Our wonderful Hockey team sells out every game and loses 20 million a year-and you can guess who balances the tab-and it's not the millionaire owners or the players.

P

Originally posted by liejunkie01
reply to post by DissentFromDayOne

 

You had my attention until the Jesus part.

A good read until that.

You had my attention all the way through.

You WILL get a chance to meet Jesus and tell him REALLY what you think of him.

good luck