Financial Survival

With the country being in financial turmoil and predications of more lost jobs and diminishing incomes. How should we be spending our money right now? If the dollar is worthless and they are going to usher in a new currency then what happens to our debts? If the government can throw in the financial towel then that has to mean that we can too and we should all be able to start from scratch. Of course I know that this will not happen and that the government does what it wants to do while we have to do what they tell us to do but their has to be a way out of the labyrinth.

I really dont know what would happen to your debts if the dollar went belly up. I assume they would still exist. But I do not know if a debt of, say, $10,000 US could be satisfied by emptying out the little jar of Canadian change I have on my shelf. The fact, of having a debt should not change, but the relative value of that debt to a foreign currency should logically change.

Maybe a debt of $100,000 US, (like a mortgage) could be satisfied in one paycheck if hyperinflation led to massive wage rises. Hopefully, someone with more practical experience of hyperinflation and its effects can answer you. I would like to know myself.

The reverse of your idea is more likely.
See with all the talk about people walking away from their loan obligations more and more Banks and the government are going after these peoples personal assets.. simply put they will ask a judge order a list of anything you might have of any value, wedding rings assorted jewelry, TV computers, art, Cars, you name it if they can auction it off they want it and they have every right to come after you too...

now don't get mad at me for saying it but the way the banks see things is if people would only pay their contracted debt obligations then we wouldn't be in the mess were in... you know what, there right

I am not mad at you for saying it, you are absolutely entitled to feel that way. I also think that people should not just walk away from debt, or get in over their heads because of the buying of unnecessary luxury items or huge fancy homes. I dont like when people assume that EVERYONE who gets in financial trouble or loses a home is irresponsible, however. Sometimes, bad things happen to good responsible people. And, with the way the economy is going, good people who did everything "right" lived simply, saved, etc., are going to go down with the frivolous spenders as they lose their jobs and savings.


I am curious as to why you think that about the debt though. If you borrowed $10,000 US, your contract is to return $10, 000 US plus whatever interest you agreed to. So, if for instance, the US dollar falls to something crazy like $10,000 US dollars to the Canadian dollar, it would seem logical that you could pay one Canadian dollar, (plus whatever interest you owed) to discharge your debt.

Mind you I am only using logic here, and logical conclusions are only as good as the data you enter into the formula. There may be factors I am not aware of that are horribly skewing my thinking, which is why I am asking why you think the way you do.

It actually is the other way around. We are the ones who should tell the government what to do. They have just been telling us for so many years and people have just taken it and never pushed back, The government should be afraid of us and cater to us but we just let them get out of control in the past years. If you cant pay your bills and are afraid the government will come after things you own then some things you can do for instance if you own a vehicle they might want, re register your vehicle to a trusted friend or family member, that way you dont own it and they cant take it, If you have a flat screen tv, or somthing of the sort and they want that, tell them that your friend lent it to you, if they take it any wase then your friend can threaten to sue to et it back. There are plenty of loop holes here we just have to no where thy are.

Originally posted by DaddyBare
The reverse of your idea is more likely.
See with all the talk about people walking away from their loan obligations more and more Banks and the government are going after these peoples personal assets.. simply put they will ask a judge order a list of anything you might have of any value, wedding rings assorted jewelry, TV computers, art, Cars, you name it if they can auction it off they want it and they have every right to come after you too...

now don't get mad at me for saying it but the way the banks see things is if people would only pay their contracted debt obligations then we wouldn't be in the mess were in... you know what, there right

your 100% wrong here man

the banks are printing COUNTERFIET money!

thats why the system is collapsing

and charging 20% intrest turns a 1000 $ debt into a 1million dollar debt within your lifetime *(35 years if annual, or 35months if monthly compounded)

how is that a fair deal? and how can you take up for the banks for charging 1000x more than what they loaned in the first place??

[edit on 9-1-2009 by muzzleflash]

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Originally posted by DaddyBare
The reverse of your idea is more likely.
See with all the talk about people walking away from their loan obligations more and more Banks and the government are going after these peoples personal assets.. simply put they will ask a judge order a list of anything you might have of any value, wedding rings assorted jewelry, TV computers, art, Cars, you name it if they can auction it off they want it and they have every right to come after you too...

now don't get mad at me for saying it but the way the banks see things is if people would only pay their contracted debt obligations then we wouldn't be in the mess were in... you know what, there right

your 100% wrong here man

the banks are printing COUNTERFIET money!

thats why the system is collapsing

and charging 20% intrest turns a 1000 $ debt into a 1million dollar debt within your lifetime

how is that a fair deal? and how can you take up for the banks for charging 1000x more than what they loaned in the first place??

democrats

think

the more money u print

the more you spend as a government

the more dollars

= inflation

because housing prices are going down (deflation)

banks can't lend because they don't feel comfortable

which messes up credit

so we need to INFLATE the currency (peter schiff wont tell u dis)

so home prices go up

and all is well with the system again

home prices going down is the main problem

a solution is inflation

Originally posted by ConservativeJack


a solution is inflation

ya and Zimbabwe is doing just GREAT with all that inflation these days huh???

I think you are totally off base here , and im not a democrat btw

i bet you cant wait till you get paid those Billion Dollar bills eh?

I think you will hate the fact a burger costs 14 billion dollars tho...

[edit on 9-1-2009 by muzzleflash]

also you "conservatives" hate raising the minumum wage

so if you dont raise minimum wage, yet inflate the hell out of the currency

your buying power drops significantly at a very fast pace

just think of getting paid 10$ an hour still, after burger prices get inflated to billions of $$$

[edit on 9-1-2009 by muzzleflash]

[edit on 9-1-2009 by muzzleflash]

Seems like some people are using this correction to jump there contractual obligations. You shouldn't have signed on the dotted lines agreeing to all the terms and conditions when taking out credit. It's your own fault. Everything in life has risk attached, and if some people had spent just 5 minutes thinking about the possibility of not being able to meet their new obligations, instead of concentrating on that shiny new car or house, then maybe you would have prepared better.

NO person on this planet is guaranteed to an income, job, credit, house, water or food. You're lucky to have a fraction of the facilities available to you now, even with this correction. It was long ago when you wouldn't have had the option to own a house, get paid a decent wage, or even have a chance to work.

The world is full of opportunities, during good times and bad. Its been that way for centuries. Do what you ancestors did and ADAPT - quit moaning and bitching because you're not getting your own way, and because things aren't easy for you.

If it wasn't for 5% of the Worlds population striving for better technology, conditions and understanding, we'd still be living in caves!

Ask yourself this - what have you done during your life to advance the human race?

I think that people need to point less fingers to the government and more fingers at themselves. Yes, EVERYBODY, to include government officials, have taken part in this economic collapse and heres why:

People get credit cards. Credit cards are based on a credit score. Whats that mean? A credit score only shows your ability to repay back the portion of money you "borrowed" from the credit card lender. How can you build credit? Buy taking out loans, using credit cards, etc.. but you have to repay the money. So a credit score of say 800 is obtainable by taking out a bunch of 500 dollar loans and paying them back. The problem lies with people getting into thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars in CREDIT CARD DEBT or bank loans they cant repay. So what do people do? They file for bankruptcy. Does that alleviate the bill that is owed to these companys? NO. Somebody still has to pay for it, hence the 800 billion dollar buyout (or w/e its up to now). I think people are to quick to point fingers at others and not themselves. In fact, James Cash Penney, founder of JC Penney, for decades went with a CASH ONLY policy. He knew the dangers that people would get theirselves into buying with credit.

Source: www.business.auburn.edu...

So whos to blame? Everyone. Every single person on this planet is to blame for the economic collapse. Nobody can point a finger at one single source. I just happened to point out ONE of MANY problems that led to this financial crysis.

The best thing for people to do is if they want something but they dont have the cash, they either need to save up for it or dont get it at all. If you dont have the cash on hand, you dont need it. The basics of life is all one needs to get by day to day. We all dont need 60" plasma tv's or 90,000 dollar cars.



[edit on 9-1-2009 by ps1klon3]

reply to post by muzzleflash


I agree with all but one thing, can you prove the banks are printing couterfeit money?

Originally posted by tac109
It actually is the other way around. We are the ones who should tell the government what to do. They have just been telling us for so many years and people have just taken it and never pushed back, The government should be afraid of us and cater to us but we just let them get out of control in the past years. If you cant pay your bills and are afraid the government will come after things you own then some things you can do for instance if you own a vehicle they might want, re register your vehicle to a trusted friend or family member, that way you dont own it and they cant take it, If you have a flat screen tv, or somthing of the sort and they want that, tell them that your friend lent it to you, if they take it any wase then your friend can threaten to sue to et it back. There are plenty of loop holes here we just have to no where thy are.

I can really see debtors prison coming back. There is no way they will allow people to get out of the debt obligations.

Originally posted by DaddyBare
...they can auction it off they want it and they have every right to come after you too...

now don't get mad at me for saying it but the way the banks see things is if people would only pay their contracted debt obligations then we wouldn't be in the mess were in... you know what, there right

PLEASE tell us...

What 'right' a bank has to take Average Joe's home from him when, after 20+ years of faithfully making mortgage payments on time while he was fully employed, Average Joe no longer has the means to pay his mortgage, because Average Joe longer has a job! And the fact that Average Joe being unemployed has NOT A THING to do with his own work ethic or job performance, but has EVERYTHING to do with... at WORST- a fed/central bank-manipulated economy which CAUSED the current state of affairs... and at BEST - poor judgement of government, wall street, and the bankers... NONE of which Average Joe had anything to do with.

Please tell us... What right the bank has to throw Average Joe out on the street when it was THEY, not Joe, who caused this mess and forced Joe into a situation where he is no longer able to meet his obligations?

Well, right now mom is still employed in NYC but dad has no job. Mom is paying a large part of her salary for the commute but keeps the job due to flexibility.

So that's one thing- spending money on transportation. Train tickets and gas, plus lost wages due to travel time.

We took out a home equity loan, and hope it will not be revoked or whatever horrible things they do, if my dad does not find a job soon (he won't).

$42,000 a year on college. We will be taking out loans and hopefully if my dad does not find a job they can actually give me financial aid (instead of giving me aid now if they looked back and saw that he was unemployed a lot previously)

What am -I- spending money on? Healthy food. Cooking a lot of things that can create leftovers. Eating healthy before I can't afford to buy produce and fresh meats anymore.

I would say to spend money on healthy food, and also spend money on anything that can help you get/keep a job.

And maybe little perks are more important to ward away the imminent gloom. I bought mommy a piece of pottery ($22) and two Godiva truffles ($3) for her birthday this past week.

In response to the OP

Buy & Hold PHYSICAL Gold or Silver

And consider THAT your savings




[edit on 1-9-09 by atoms.2008]

Originally posted by atoms.2008

In response to the OP

Buy & Hold PHYSICAL Gold or Silver

That's also a really good idea. Don't DON'T sell it at those places which tell you that they will buy it because gold is at an all time high and you could use the money.

Gold will keep going up, and probably those places pay you less than what you have it worth anyway.

And I've heard that if you give them jewelry with gold and diamonds, they give you the price for the gold and keep the diamonds for themselves, for free.