Due to a lengthy unemployment after my daughter was born, my husband and I found we had gone through our savings and were using our credit cards for basic survival items. During this whole time, we were inundated with credit card offers, one after another. We also managed to make at least the minimum payment.
A few months later, I was ONE DAY late with a payment and my minimum payment jumped to over $5000! I called the company and they would not budge.
We felt that we had no option other then debt settlement. During this time, we dealt with 2 companies. One company was very helpful and allowed us to settle one of our accounts in a very short amount of time.
The other company was a nightmare. I could never get a hold of them. The creditors called our house constantly because the company never told them we were trying to settle the account. They made all kinds of promises, but once they got their fees, they were nowhere to be found.
Looking back now, I really wish I would have taken any other route available. Go to your local CCCS and ask for help. We are now in the process of declaring bankruptcy and at this point literally have no other options. If you do decide to go though debt settlement, please call your local Better Business Bureau and ask who they would suggest. DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!
"If the value of your house went up by $70,000 every year, you could just refinance annually, take out the $70,000, and live off the rising value of your house. In that world, owning a house was an alternative to having a job."
I've objected to the phrase "take out" money (from the house) because it did not signal the reality of greater debt. People who took that $70,000 would carry the debt service costs until they sold their house. $70,000 at %5 is what, $3500 per year? (Probably slightly different when adjusted for compound interest.)
So, "taking money out of the house" was a dangerous way to say it, doing far more to sell the debt for the lender than in any way helping the buyer.
Good points in this article Philip.We can never go back to the "old" economy.The easy credit(and too much credit) of years past are hopefully,a memory at best.My grandfather still uses the phrase;"Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without!"Not a bad philosophy to live by.
I've taken up darning those tiny little holes that tend to develop in socks, underwear, T-shirts and other clothes even though we could afford to buy new ones. Hubby bagged me darning his socks and was perplexed about why I would waste my time when WalMart has replacement clothing so cheap, but aside from the money saved (darned/repaired clothes tend to last at least another year) I've discovered a definite pattern to how garments wear out.
Anything that goes into a clothes dryer will have the elastic let go within 6 months to a year. Socks, skivvies, clothing with lycra in the fabric, it shrinks then lets go. Never put your clothing in the dryer. Elastic/lycra will last for many years if it never sees a clothes dryer. A dryer also kills anything chenille within a few months. Also, use 1/4 the amount of bleach, the minimum recommended washload dose of detergent (that tiny invisible line waaaaayyy down inside the cap), and don't hang your colored laundry directly in the summer sun, and you'll reduce clothing fatigue and fading dramatically. Also ... Americans tend to be in the habit of taking an article of clothing off and tossing it in the wash whether it needs it or not. If it's not stinky or dirty, set it aside and wear it a second (or third) time (we have a quilt rack in each bedroom to drape "wear again" clothing over to air out and keep it separate from the "just washed" clothing).
Socks usually develop holes where your big toenail rubs up against your shoes. Darn them and you'll get another 6 months out of them before you need to reinforce them again (I usually get 2 repairs of the toes before the rest of the sock wears enough to justify tossing them). Tightwad tip #1 is to always keep your toenails trimmed short (ignore foofy "pedicure" tips to keep them 1/8" long like your fingernails ... you'll burn through socks like mad). Tightwad tip #2 is that your feet continue to grow very slowly your entire life and you're probably 1/2 size bigger now than the size you wore in high school. A lot of people tend to keep buying the same size shoe for decades on end without checking their feet size, than wonder why their feet hurt and their socks keep wearing out.
Men's tighty-whities tend to go first where the knit fabric meets the elastic right under the size-tag in the rear. This is an easy repair if you catch it right away and reinforce the area with a double-whipstitch. Avoid skintight jeans or they'll also wear in the crotch, and don't use a "trifold" wallet or your right rear pocket will develop a hole.
Women's skivvies tend to get holes in front in the seam where the little cotton liner is attached. Silky underwear are almost impossible to repair so avoid buying them. In cotton knit skivvies, it's delicate surgery to repair the hole, but if you catch it right away they will last another year.
T-shirts tend to let go in the neckline where the body of the T-shirt meets the ribbing, or in a seam. If you repair them when you first notice the seam separating, you'll get a long happy life out of your T-shirt. If you wait, your favorite T-shirt will die young of a tragic, needless death. T-shirts with those plastic-ink logos (including size/brand stamped on the new "tagless" t-shirts) tend to get small holes right where the printing area meet the rest of the shirt. Invisible repairs are almost impossible because you're stitching into a plastic logo, so I try to avoid buying them (traditional silk-screen ink is OK, just not that plastic ink).
I've been keeping track of what is repaired and have computed I'm extending the wearable life of garments on average to nearly 3x what we used to get out of them before reaching true "wearout." Everybody (even the 3-year-old) now knows that as soon as you notice a small hole, toss it in the mending pile and once a month Mom dedicates an afternoon to mending the clothes and you'll get it back good as new.
Paul, thanks for great tips and reminders. I smiled throughout your article. I think when people get mad, it's because they've beeb caught wasting money!
The way I look at it, it's not my job to prop up the economy of man. EVERYBODY has a responsibility to themselves and their families to have a little safety net set aside to tide them over for the bad things that inevitably happen in life. Death of a spouse, job loss, divorce, disability, economic downturn, natural disaster, these things happen and a wise person sets aside enough money to tide them over. From the time of Joseph advising Pharoah to set aside 7 years grain in times of plenty to tide Egypt over for 7 potential years of famine, mankind has had enough common sense to save. Until recently, that is... Somewhere in the past two decades, we all got cocky and forgot that God and Nature deal an unforgiving hand to those who don't heed the dreams of Joseph and set a little "grain" aside.
True capitalism is about the collective actions of free citizens acting in their own self-interest benefiting society as a whole. Setting a little aside "just in case" is self-interest, while squandering every penny you have and then going even further to spend money you DON'T have is lunacy.
Climate change, peak oil, and a nuclear armed North Korea and Iran are coming at us and, if you think a few big banks melting down was ugly, wait until you see oil at $7 per gallon. Americans need to focus on rebuilding their "7 years of grain" before we start worrying about pleas from greedy CEO's of multinational corporations to squander our own self-interest to prop up their greedy lifestyles. After you've got your head above water, if you want to prop up your local economy, hire an independent handyman to do some repairs to your house and buy veggies from a farm stand. Don't get fooled into thinking it's your civic duty to charge a $200 pair of made-in-China jeans on your Abercrombie visa.
There are a couple of good fix it guides out there, often seen at yard sales. Some repairs are very simple and need few tools. An older yard sale floor lamp of ours needs a replacement socket. It may take a bit of fudging to retrofit a new one in, but it can be done. Our iron finked out on us near the plug. So I cut the offending part off, striped the wire ends, and replaced the plug. It works fine. Our washer of 15 years sprung a leak. After checking hoses I called the repair guy in. It was a cheapo bladder like dohickey inside the machine. (Costing $5 with shipping). The guy's service call cost $80 and since he didn't have the part in his truck would have had to come back again. I asked to watch as he dis-assembled the machine, and he very kindly talked me through the whole process, then he had the part sent directly to the house. Well I was able to replace it and cancel the follow up call. So in 15 years when the part needs replacing again, it'll just take the $5 or so to do it.
Your lists are quite informative and I agree with most of it. Gym memberships are definitely a good thing to keep if your not one for keeping up with physical activity out side of the gym, like myself, or using baking soda to clean (hydrogen peroxide is great to use as well, esp when trying to whiten things like grout). However there is one thing in particular that requires a better looking into; trying to eat 'good' foods. Now don't get me wrong I don't think you should eat Mc Donnalds every day just because its cheaper but I think you should really look at your definition of good. Specifically pertaining to high fructose corn syrup. I think it may be worth spending the money on the more natural peanut butter, the one without the trans fats/emulsifiers that keep it together. However, it may actually be healthier to use high fructose corn syrup to sweeten products than sugar. The first thing that should be noted is that HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) isn't dangerous and does not contribute to hyperactivity nor obesity. Second is that HFCS is actually sweeter than sugar, not to mention cheaper and 100% domestically grown and manufactured. Since it is sweeter than sugar it requires less, and it would be even better to use pure fructose or a 95% fructose blend of HFCS.
Also, one other thing to note, I lived in europe for about 4 months and for most of that time didn't use a dryer and you may spend more trying to keep your clothes soft and smelling nice than you do saving money on drying. Although, that may have had something to do with they humidity.
Also @ Gabrielle:
The poster left the comment section open, and they should be just as free to express their opinion as the poster. Just because they express a different opinion it doesn't automatically make them trolls, even if they do express it poorly. Unless they are really just trolls in which case just ignore them.
I think this is a tough call, banks obviously want to make money to recoup some of what they lost, but again they are thinking of themselves and only how that benefits them. They really need to look at the bigger picture and how this affects the whole country - if people stop spending the wealth won't spread and this could be worse for the economy. I think that this benefits people with money but what happens to the people working hard to make money from home and in their jobs - the normal person.
We got two of the RCA Digital TV Converter Boxes, DTA800 late last year from Walmart; using the government coupons they cost us $10 each. We did not install either of them until the digital switch-over a few weeks ago.
The first one worked for almost a week before it burned out and quit. We installed the second one and it, too, burned out and stopped working in only two days. We tried returning them to Walmart, but they would not refund our money - nor did they have any replacements in stock, so we are pretty much screwed.
According to the sales clerk a whole lot of people are having the same problem with these converter boxes. Frankly I smell a scam. These converters couldn't have more than about a dollar's worth of parts in them. If the taxpayers weren't picking up the tab for the coupons, they probably wouldn't sell for more than about $10 retail. They're just more made-in-China junk and someone is getting a whole lot of government money for them.
Even though it seems like savings arbitrarily dropped off, you need to look at equity extraction rates. In the 90’s, where you see the savings rate drop off, people started extracting equity from their real estate and stock market holdings. Watching these values increase substantially inflated their sense of savings because it was almost looked at as a quick way to get cash (Helllloooo HELOC funds!). You will probably see the savings rate normalize back at around 8% as people get re-acquainted with their actual savings.
I love your posts. I've read quite a few of them over the past months. I too value quality and long lasting stuff! I seldom buy "stuff" but usually get the best quality I can find within reason (diminishing return with price). I NEVER lose stuff, I NEVER abuse stuff, I NEVER put something away that is not clean/serviced & ready to go, I ALWAYS maintain stuff. I love to tinker so I'm happy t keep things properly adjusted/serviced. I hate shopping so I only want to buy something once, like my Henckle kitchen knives are my first set & still perfect (cost 400.00 25 years ago), same with my Revere cookware, and Craftsman hand tools: also with classic & quality items you can often just replace a single broken piece, such as a broken socket from a set or a plate from my open stock dishes that have been made for decades. Focusing on keeping your good stuff in order sure cuts down on chasing the latest fad. Also, anything that doesn't get regular use gets gone: no buying just to buy! My biggest problem with "stuff" is finding exactly what I want at a fair price, I NEVER buy anything that is not just right. My next biggest problem with "stuff" is people borrowing things & damaging them or failing to return them. I am soon to put a permanent end to this problem after a friend used lots of my tools to build her new house: cost me a few hundred dollars & lots of time to replace & repair mis-used stuff.
Lack of consumption does have the possibility of fueling a debt-deflationary spiral. But savings are largely still churning through the economy, simply as investment or production rather than consumption. Yay!
As far as technology goes, if that old computer gets you through the day, keep it. Word, Excel and Firefox will run just fine on a 5-10 year old PC running XP. In your case, running OS X, a G4 will run fine on Tiger and Office 2004.
Make sure you've got plenty of RAM, that's what will keep an older computer running well. Remember back to when you bought it - if it was fast then, go back to that setup.
You don't need to upgrade to the latest OS. In fact, the newest versions are made with faster computers in mind so their requirements are higher. All those new features take more horsepower to run. Just use the version that came with your computer and upgrade when it's time for a new system.
actually boiling water (even in a sealed container) will sanitize it enough to be safe to drink. Boiling kills the germs and micro-organisms. The germs (their remains) will still be in there but they will not cause sickness if they are dead. Even in an open container the germs and their remains would be still in the water (they don't just float into the air. the boiling process is the sanitizing factor not the fact of it being sealed or not.
Once the conversation starts with your parents, you realize your own finances need help too! It’s never too early to start planning for the future. I am the social marketing manager for a start-up business called Confidant. Confidant (www.beconfidant.com) is a great online service that could organize you and your parents’ lives. Confidant manages a family’s critical information in one safe spot. It also gives secure access to family members or friends in case of emergency or loss. Start the conversation now – protect your parents’ future and your own.
You’re exactly right Nora! We have to protect our family now no matter where we are in our lives. Emergency or loss can happen to all of us whether we are prepared or not. It is always good advice to see a professional to help you plan for the future; but let’s face it not all of us can afford this approach to estate planning. There are many online services that claim to offer as much as a professional advisor does, however I am slightly doubtful of their credibility.
I am the social marketing manager for the start-up business, Confidant. Confidant (www.beconfidant.com) is an online service which organizes and manages a family’s critical information in one spot. Confidant gives secure access to family members or friends in case of emergency or loss. It is a great and confidential way to prepare your finances and to protect yourself and your family.
Banks, investment companies, and discount stores win big.
But isn't that the way it always is? Isn't that how the arbitrary save 15% of your income was propagated so quickly and effectively? I guess the banks and investment companies couldn't sell the saving 40% they would rather have, so the 15% comes in. Reachable, but a lot more than some people need to save and a lot less than others need to. Oh well. At least people are saving.
Don't forget that the savings rate includes debt repayment - the average person is still in a mountain of debt and is just starting to dig themselves out. They still have no savings to speak of, including no emergency fund.
And part of the reason some poeple are no longer racking up debt is because they CAN'T, due to the inability to get credit, being maxed out, etc
If this continues for a whole year, then I'll be optimistic
Great post Xin. I think you're absolutely right, people are finally coming to their senses.
But it's more than just that. The way capitalism is supposed to work in world where the government doesn't do bailouts, is that when banks don't have money, they increase interest rates, which encourages people to save. Then, the banks have tons of money, which they then can lend out. That is how money supply is naturally managed, and would be handled under normal market conditions.
Unfortunately we have the Federal Reserve which makes those decision based upon their whim. What's amazing to see is that people are increasing their savings with interest rates at ZERO percent. That means that people are putting money into savings purely because they don't want to spend it, without ANY monetary incentive (i.e. interest) to do so. Imagine if the Fed wasn't handing out free money to the banks and interest rates went up?! Imagine how many people would throw their money into a bank if they knew it would grow at 6% just sitting there?!
And that's why the government is worried, because sooner or later the Fed is going to have to raise rates. If they don't, they'll create inflation and the value of the dollar will plummet. And once that happens, people are going to love saving, not only for the security it brings, but also the interest. And when that happens the good old GDP, which you pointed out Xin, is mostly based on consumer spending, will drop like a rock. The reality is, our economy isn't as real or as glorious as we've been lead to believe. We have a great credit rating, but we're really broke. And sooner or later our creditor is going to do a credit check on us. God knows what they'll find.
But won't there come a day when there just ain't no more gas/oil? Might it not be best to start preparing ourselves for that day right now? IMO, the days of plentiful and cheap gas are far behind us now; what we saw last summer was the future, only the future will be much more severe, and the cost of that last barrel - when we final pump it - will be priceless.
As for jobs, businesses, economies, etc., I see your point. But I think we, particularly we Americans, forget that "prosperity" is a relative term. Even in these times of our economic "crisis," half the world's population - that half that lives on less than $2 a day - would give their eye-teeth to be living among us.
HI
I am considering direct deposit for our netspend card, beginning next payday. So, you haven't had any problems? I have loved my netspend card so far, which has been about 3 months now----
How long did it take for your direct deposit to get started and how much sooner is your paycheck on there than other employees? Thanks!
Last year as gas prices rose, we cut down a little, but never gave up our big summer trips. You say that nothing awful happened, but it did. Here in MN tourism to resorts was way down, the result I know of 12 in the area we go; that are no longer open. They offered some great deals and gas cards, but they could not survive when nobody booked their cabins. We are 4 hours away from my in-laws who are in their 70's, we still went every month to help them with whatever chores they needed done, and to enjoy being together as a family. If we cut that out something awful would happen, we would regret not spending more time with them when they die. Every Labor Day we go to Deadwood, SD. Did we pay close to $4 a gallon last year? You bet we did! Spending time with all the family for 5 relaxing, phone free, tv free days------worth every penny. Plus with 20 of us converging on Deadwood trust me we bolstered their economy!
So, as you see awful things can come from not driving. It is priorities you set and what is important to you and your family. I can only hope that more resort owners do not close up at the end of this season. The one's we do or have done business with are small "Mom and Pop" owned places, and this was their sole source of income. Not to mention the teenagers they employed during the summer.
Due to a lengthy unemployment after my daughter was born, my husband and I found we had gone through our savings and were using our credit cards for basic survival items. During this whole time, we were inundated with credit card offers, one after another. We also managed to make at least the minimum payment.
A few months later, I was ONE DAY late with a payment and my minimum payment jumped to over $5000! I called the company and they would not budge.
We felt that we had no option other then debt settlement. During this time, we dealt with 2 companies. One company was very helpful and allowed us to settle one of our accounts in a very short amount of time.
The other company was a nightmare. I could never get a hold of them. The creditors called our house constantly because the company never told them we were trying to settle the account. They made all kinds of promises, but once they got their fees, they were nowhere to be found.
Looking back now, I really wish I would have taken any other route available. Go to your local CCCS and ask for help. We are now in the process of declaring bankruptcy and at this point literally have no other options. If you do decide to go though debt settlement, please call your local Better Business Bureau and ask who they would suggest. DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!
"If the value of your house went up by $70,000 every year, you could just refinance annually, take out the $70,000, and live off the rising value of your house. In that world, owning a house was an alternative to having a job."
I've objected to the phrase "take out" money (from the house) because it did not signal the reality of greater debt. People who took that $70,000 would carry the debt service costs until they sold their house. $70,000 at %5 is what, $3500 per year? (Probably slightly different when adjusted for compound interest.)
So, "taking money out of the house" was a dangerous way to say it, doing far more to sell the debt for the lender than in any way helping the buyer.
Good points in this article Philip.We can never go back to the "old" economy.The easy credit(and too much credit) of years past are hopefully,a memory at best.My grandfather still uses the phrase;"Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without!"Not a bad philosophy to live by.
Jon
WanderingWwoof.com
I've taken up darning those tiny little holes that tend to develop in socks, underwear, T-shirts and other clothes even though we could afford to buy new ones. Hubby bagged me darning his socks and was perplexed about why I would waste my time when WalMart has replacement clothing so cheap, but aside from the money saved (darned/repaired clothes tend to last at least another year) I've discovered a definite pattern to how garments wear out.
Anything that goes into a clothes dryer will have the elastic let go within 6 months to a year. Socks, skivvies, clothing with lycra in the fabric, it shrinks then lets go. Never put your clothing in the dryer. Elastic/lycra will last for many years if it never sees a clothes dryer. A dryer also kills anything chenille within a few months. Also, use 1/4 the amount of bleach, the minimum recommended washload dose of detergent (that tiny invisible line waaaaayyy down inside the cap), and don't hang your colored laundry directly in the summer sun, and you'll reduce clothing fatigue and fading dramatically. Also ... Americans tend to be in the habit of taking an article of clothing off and tossing it in the wash whether it needs it or not. If it's not stinky or dirty, set it aside and wear it a second (or third) time (we have a quilt rack in each bedroom to drape "wear again" clothing over to air out and keep it separate from the "just washed" clothing).
Socks usually develop holes where your big toenail rubs up against your shoes. Darn them and you'll get another 6 months out of them before you need to reinforce them again (I usually get 2 repairs of the toes before the rest of the sock wears enough to justify tossing them). Tightwad tip #1 is to always keep your toenails trimmed short (ignore foofy "pedicure" tips to keep them 1/8" long like your fingernails ... you'll burn through socks like mad). Tightwad tip #2 is that your feet continue to grow very slowly your entire life and you're probably 1/2 size bigger now than the size you wore in high school. A lot of people tend to keep buying the same size shoe for decades on end without checking their feet size, than wonder why their feet hurt and their socks keep wearing out.
Men's tighty-whities tend to go first where the knit fabric meets the elastic right under the size-tag in the rear. This is an easy repair if you catch it right away and reinforce the area with a double-whipstitch. Avoid skintight jeans or they'll also wear in the crotch, and don't use a "trifold" wallet or your right rear pocket will develop a hole.
Women's skivvies tend to get holes in front in the seam where the little cotton liner is attached. Silky underwear are almost impossible to repair so avoid buying them. In cotton knit skivvies, it's delicate surgery to repair the hole, but if you catch it right away they will last another year.
T-shirts tend to let go in the neckline where the body of the T-shirt meets the ribbing, or in a seam. If you repair them when you first notice the seam separating, you'll get a long happy life out of your T-shirt. If you wait, your favorite T-shirt will die young of a tragic, needless death. T-shirts with those plastic-ink logos (including size/brand stamped on the new "tagless" t-shirts) tend to get small holes right where the printing area meet the rest of the shirt. Invisible repairs are almost impossible because you're stitching into a plastic logo, so I try to avoid buying them (traditional silk-screen ink is OK, just not that plastic ink).
I've been keeping track of what is repaired and have computed I'm extending the wearable life of garments on average to nearly 3x what we used to get out of them before reaching true "wearout." Everybody (even the 3-year-old) now knows that as soon as you notice a small hole, toss it in the mending pile and once a month Mom dedicates an afternoon to mending the clothes and you'll get it back good as new.
Paul, thanks for great tips and reminders. I smiled throughout your article. I think when people get mad, it's because they've beeb caught wasting money!
Have a good holiday.
The way I look at it, it's not my job to prop up the economy of man. EVERYBODY has a responsibility to themselves and their families to have a little safety net set aside to tide them over for the bad things that inevitably happen in life. Death of a spouse, job loss, divorce, disability, economic downturn, natural disaster, these things happen and a wise person sets aside enough money to tide them over. From the time of Joseph advising Pharoah to set aside 7 years grain in times of plenty to tide Egypt over for 7 potential years of famine, mankind has had enough common sense to save. Until recently, that is... Somewhere in the past two decades, we all got cocky and forgot that God and Nature deal an unforgiving hand to those who don't heed the dreams of Joseph and set a little "grain" aside.
True capitalism is about the collective actions of free citizens acting in their own self-interest benefiting society as a whole. Setting a little aside "just in case" is self-interest, while squandering every penny you have and then going even further to spend money you DON'T have is lunacy.
Climate change, peak oil, and a nuclear armed North Korea and Iran are coming at us and, if you think a few big banks melting down was ugly, wait until you see oil at $7 per gallon. Americans need to focus on rebuilding their "7 years of grain" before we start worrying about pleas from greedy CEO's of multinational corporations to squander our own self-interest to prop up their greedy lifestyles. After you've got your head above water, if you want to prop up your local economy, hire an independent handyman to do some repairs to your house and buy veggies from a farm stand. Don't get fooled into thinking it's your civic duty to charge a $200 pair of made-in-China jeans on your Abercrombie visa.
There are a couple of good fix it guides out there, often seen at yard sales. Some repairs are very simple and need few tools. An older yard sale floor lamp of ours needs a replacement socket. It may take a bit of fudging to retrofit a new one in, but it can be done. Our iron finked out on us near the plug. So I cut the offending part off, striped the wire ends, and replaced the plug. It works fine. Our washer of 15 years sprung a leak. After checking hoses I called the repair guy in. It was a cheapo bladder like dohickey inside the machine. (Costing $5 with shipping). The guy's service call cost $80 and since he didn't have the part in his truck would have had to come back again. I asked to watch as he dis-assembled the machine, and he very kindly talked me through the whole process, then he had the part sent directly to the house. Well I was able to replace it and cancel the follow up call. So in 15 years when the part needs replacing again, it'll just take the $5 or so to do it.
Your lists are quite informative and I agree with most of it. Gym memberships are definitely a good thing to keep if your not one for keeping up with physical activity out side of the gym, like myself, or using baking soda to clean (hydrogen peroxide is great to use as well, esp when trying to whiten things like grout). However there is one thing in particular that requires a better looking into; trying to eat 'good' foods. Now don't get me wrong I don't think you should eat Mc Donnalds every day just because its cheaper but I think you should really look at your definition of good. Specifically pertaining to high fructose corn syrup. I think it may be worth spending the money on the more natural peanut butter, the one without the trans fats/emulsifiers that keep it together. However, it may actually be healthier to use high fructose corn syrup to sweeten products than sugar. The first thing that should be noted is that HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) isn't dangerous and does not contribute to hyperactivity nor obesity. Second is that HFCS is actually sweeter than sugar, not to mention cheaper and 100% domestically grown and manufactured. Since it is sweeter than sugar it requires less, and it would be even better to use pure fructose or a 95% fructose blend of HFCS.
Also, one other thing to note, I lived in europe for about 4 months and for most of that time didn't use a dryer and you may spend more trying to keep your clothes soft and smelling nice than you do saving money on drying. Although, that may have had something to do with they humidity.
Also @ Gabrielle:
The poster left the comment section open, and they should be just as free to express their opinion as the poster. Just because they express a different opinion it doesn't automatically make them trolls, even if they do express it poorly. Unless they are really just trolls in which case just ignore them.
I think this is a tough call, banks obviously want to make money to recoup some of what they lost, but again they are thinking of themselves and only how that benefits them. They really need to look at the bigger picture and how this affects the whole country - if people stop spending the wealth won't spread and this could be worse for the economy. I think that this benefits people with money but what happens to the people working hard to make money from home and in their jobs - the normal person.
We got two of the RCA Digital TV Converter Boxes, DTA800 late last year from Walmart; using the government coupons they cost us $10 each. We did not install either of them until the digital switch-over a few weeks ago.
The first one worked for almost a week before it burned out and quit. We installed the second one and it, too, burned out and stopped working in only two days. We tried returning them to Walmart, but they would not refund our money - nor did they have any replacements in stock, so we are pretty much screwed.
According to the sales clerk a whole lot of people are having the same problem with these converter boxes. Frankly I smell a scam. These converters couldn't have more than about a dollar's worth of parts in them. If the taxpayers weren't picking up the tab for the coupons, they probably wouldn't sell for more than about $10 retail. They're just more made-in-China junk and someone is getting a whole lot of government money for them.
Could someone please send an invitation my way? I have been wanting to join this for a while. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
elicean@gmail.com
Even though it seems like savings arbitrarily dropped off, you need to look at equity extraction rates. In the 90’s, where you see the savings rate drop off, people started extracting equity from their real estate and stock market holdings. Watching these values increase substantially inflated their sense of savings because it was almost looked at as a quick way to get cash (Helllloooo HELOC funds!). You will probably see the savings rate normalize back at around 8% as people get re-acquainted with their actual savings.
I love your posts. I've read quite a few of them over the past months. I too value quality and long lasting stuff! I seldom buy "stuff" but usually get the best quality I can find within reason (diminishing return with price). I NEVER lose stuff, I NEVER abuse stuff, I NEVER put something away that is not clean/serviced & ready to go, I ALWAYS maintain stuff. I love to tinker so I'm happy t keep things properly adjusted/serviced. I hate shopping so I only want to buy something once, like my Henckle kitchen knives are my first set & still perfect (cost 400.00 25 years ago), same with my Revere cookware, and Craftsman hand tools: also with classic & quality items you can often just replace a single broken piece, such as a broken socket from a set or a plate from my open stock dishes that have been made for decades. Focusing on keeping your good stuff in order sure cuts down on chasing the latest fad. Also, anything that doesn't get regular use gets gone: no buying just to buy! My biggest problem with "stuff" is finding exactly what I want at a fair price, I NEVER buy anything that is not just right. My next biggest problem with "stuff" is people borrowing things & damaging them or failing to return them. I am soon to put a permanent end to this problem after a friend used lots of my tools to build her new house: cost me a few hundred dollars & lots of time to replace & repair mis-used stuff.
This article is good - http://freedomsring.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/stimulus/ on the subject. I agree with those here who think savings is a good think... we don't need mindless spending to "fix" the economy.
Lack of consumption does have the possibility of fueling a debt-deflationary spiral. But savings are largely still churning through the economy, simply as investment or production rather than consumption. Yay!
As far as technology goes, if that old computer gets you through the day, keep it. Word, Excel and Firefox will run just fine on a 5-10 year old PC running XP. In your case, running OS X, a G4 will run fine on Tiger and Office 2004.
Make sure you've got plenty of RAM, that's what will keep an older computer running well. Remember back to when you bought it - if it was fast then, go back to that setup.
You don't need to upgrade to the latest OS. In fact, the newest versions are made with faster computers in mind so their requirements are higher. All those new features take more horsepower to run. Just use the version that came with your computer and upgrade when it's time for a new system.
actually boiling water (even in a sealed container) will sanitize it enough to be safe to drink. Boiling kills the germs and micro-organisms. The germs (their remains) will still be in there but they will not cause sickness if they are dead. Even in an open container the germs and their remains would be still in the water (they don't just float into the air. the boiling process is the sanitizing factor not the fact of it being sealed or not.
$175k in gambling debt...ouch. Thanks for including the article. There are some other relationship finances articles coming up this July!
Once the conversation starts with your parents, you realize your own finances need help too! It’s never too early to start planning for the future. I am the social marketing manager for a start-up business called Confidant. Confidant (www.beconfidant.com) is a great online service that could organize you and your parents’ lives. Confidant manages a family’s critical information in one safe spot. It also gives secure access to family members or friends in case of emergency or loss. Start the conversation now – protect your parents’ future and your own.
You’re exactly right Nora! We have to protect our family now no matter where we are in our lives. Emergency or loss can happen to all of us whether we are prepared or not. It is always good advice to see a professional to help you plan for the future; but let’s face it not all of us can afford this approach to estate planning. There are many online services that claim to offer as much as a professional advisor does, however I am slightly doubtful of their credibility.
I am the social marketing manager for the start-up business, Confidant. Confidant (www.beconfidant.com) is an online service which organizes and manages a family’s critical information in one spot. Confidant gives secure access to family members or friends in case of emergency or loss. It is a great and confidential way to prepare your finances and to protect yourself and your family.
Banks, investment companies, and discount stores win big.
But isn't that the way it always is? Isn't that how the arbitrary save 15% of your income was propagated so quickly and effectively? I guess the banks and investment companies couldn't sell the saving 40% they would rather have, so the 15% comes in. Reachable, but a lot more than some people need to save and a lot less than others need to. Oh well. At least people are saving.
Don't forget that the savings rate includes debt repayment - the average person is still in a mountain of debt and is just starting to dig themselves out. They still have no savings to speak of, including no emergency fund.
And part of the reason some poeple are no longer racking up debt is because they CAN'T, due to the inability to get credit, being maxed out, etc
If this continues for a whole year, then I'll be optimistic
Great post Xin. I think you're absolutely right, people are finally coming to their senses.
But it's more than just that. The way capitalism is supposed to work in world where the government doesn't do bailouts, is that when banks don't have money, they increase interest rates, which encourages people to save. Then, the banks have tons of money, which they then can lend out. That is how money supply is naturally managed, and would be handled under normal market conditions.
Unfortunately we have the Federal Reserve which makes those decision based upon their whim. What's amazing to see is that people are increasing their savings with interest rates at ZERO percent. That means that people are putting money into savings purely because they don't want to spend it, without ANY monetary incentive (i.e. interest) to do so. Imagine if the Fed wasn't handing out free money to the banks and interest rates went up?! Imagine how many people would throw their money into a bank if they knew it would grow at 6% just sitting there?!
And that's why the government is worried, because sooner or later the Fed is going to have to raise rates. If they don't, they'll create inflation and the value of the dollar will plummet. And once that happens, people are going to love saving, not only for the security it brings, but also the interest. And when that happens the good old GDP, which you pointed out Xin, is mostly based on consumer spending, will drop like a rock. The reality is, our economy isn't as real or as glorious as we've been lead to believe. We have a great credit rating, but we're really broke. And sooner or later our creditor is going to do a credit check on us. God knows what they'll find.
OK, Hmm, fair enough.
But won't there come a day when there just ain't no more gas/oil? Might it not be best to start preparing ourselves for that day right now? IMO, the days of plentiful and cheap gas are far behind us now; what we saw last summer was the future, only the future will be much more severe, and the cost of that last barrel - when we final pump it - will be priceless.
As for jobs, businesses, economies, etc., I see your point. But I think we, particularly we Americans, forget that "prosperity" is a relative term. Even in these times of our economic "crisis," half the world's population - that half that lives on less than $2 a day - would give their eye-teeth to be living among us.
HI
I am considering direct deposit for our netspend card, beginning next payday. So, you haven't had any problems? I have loved my netspend card so far, which has been about 3 months now----
How long did it take for your direct deposit to get started and how much sooner is your paycheck on there than other employees? Thanks!
Last year as gas prices rose, we cut down a little, but never gave up our big summer trips. You say that nothing awful happened, but it did. Here in MN tourism to resorts was way down, the result I know of 12 in the area we go; that are no longer open. They offered some great deals and gas cards, but they could not survive when nobody booked their cabins. We are 4 hours away from my in-laws who are in their 70's, we still went every month to help them with whatever chores they needed done, and to enjoy being together as a family. If we cut that out something awful would happen, we would regret not spending more time with them when they die. Every Labor Day we go to Deadwood, SD. Did we pay close to $4 a gallon last year? You bet we did! Spending time with all the family for 5 relaxing, phone free, tv free days------worth every penny. Plus with 20 of us converging on Deadwood trust me we bolstered their economy!
So, as you see awful things can come from not driving. It is priorities you set and what is important to you and your family. I can only hope that more resort owners do not close up at the end of this season. The one's we do or have done business with are small "Mom and Pop" owned places, and this was their sole source of income. Not to mention the teenagers they employed during the summer.