Why do people insist on living above their means?

I happen to agree with Johnze
I find it offensive when others feel that their opinion is so profound they make assumptions and judgmental statements like the OP has concerning other people's money and property. People can spend their own money any way they see fit. Not my business. Why do some people feel its their right to instruct others how to live their lives?? Weird!

With us, we never had any debt except for mortgage. We paid our CC bills off completely every month. When our daughter required a transplant at 9 yrs old... credit cards were our only resource to pay what the insurance wouldn't. I dont know about OP but I dont have well over a cool mil laying around for 25K a year meds and other things associated with her transplant that insurance wont cover. We needed a new HVAC system because the seller lied on the disclosure when we bought this house. CC's kept us warm in the winter. We pay it off monthly. Again, I dont know about the OP, but I certainly didnt have 15K to pay in cash for a new TRANE hvac system.

We get along just fine. Our credit is stellar and we pay our bills. WHat is it anyone's business really? Passing judgment on others always makes you look like a dope.


People who want to emulate the folks on MTV... who cares? Let them. Its THEIR money and THEIR future. If they want to fail... I say let them.... craving bling bling doesnt mean the person cant pay their bills. No business of mine in any case. Perhaps banks should be more choosy in who they extend credit to if they decide they want to get paid as well. Bad credit risks by banks is where things got screwed up initially. A normal person will use credit correctly and have the track record to prove it to the bank when its making its decision to extend credit.

Because they choose to buy property instead of paying rent endlessly. Is it their fault that the banks pull the rug out from under their feet?

I have worked over 30 years in telecommunications, in the early 80's I was working for a company and tranferred from the big city to a rural area.
At the time things were booming and people had been working 6/10 hour days. The first 40 were strait pay,the next 10 were time and a half and the next 10 or more were double time. After 3 years the over time ended, and people had to start selling their toys,because most lived beyond their means instead of saving for that rainy day.
Before the turn of the century many companys found it cheaper to pay their employees a salary with a yearly bonus instead of an houry wage with over time. With the down turn in the economy, bonuses shrank or disappeared and there was no compensation for all the overtime worked with layoffs reducing the workforce but not the workload.
Other changes that happened in the 80's were employee started paying for their medical benefits and companys added new tier's to their pay systems,lower starting wages and lower top pay.
(sorry for the rant) The truth is every indivdual is responsible for their own debt , enjoy the fat times but remember there WILL be lean times, so always save and invest.
Don't ever think that over time is a permanent thing, or you will always get your yearly bonus and never think your job is safe.

My wife and I had this exact discussion the other day while driving. She was looking at a newer Corvette and said "I wish we could have a car like that". I proceeded to tell her that there was a good chance that they owner was making payments and in fact did not own the car. Then I started thinking and stated that I bet that over half of the newer cars are having payments made on them and infact that they are just rented/leased rather than owned.

A few years ago I made it a choice to no longer worry about material things. Yes I have some collectibles and other toys but they are not my main priority. We live in a modest house and driving older cars, but they are paid in full. I used to have a Dodge Durango, but it was repossessed, and since then I make it a priority to live within my means. It feels good to be liberated from these things and the competition to keep up with others.

Originally posted by DazedDave

I also feel that people behave irresponsibly in terms of spending and living above their means. There is NO reason for anyone to have over $10,000 of credit card debt. No reason at all. Don't you dare complain that interest rates are too high and banks are greedy when you took the personal choice to charge over $10,000 to a credit card when nobody forced you to do so.

In my opinion it is not neccisarily the people themselves fault that they feel the need to take out massive loans in order to buy the latest lifestyle choice- a 50" plasma screen, or a brand new stereo system for example.

We are being targeted constantly day and night by big coperations telling us exactly what we need- we are kept in a perpetual state of aspiration and dissatisfaction, a feeling that we will never quite 'succeed' until we get that next new desirable, that lifestyle, that experience. we are always keft feeling like we are tinckering on the edge of reaching that state of materialistic nirvana, yet we are always one step away.

Advertising and marketing is a biliion dollar industry, with some of our 'greatest' minds working behind it's closed doors in order to keep it evolving and becoming ever more effective at manipulating our minds.

What chance, for example, does a single child stand against such a massive, powerful industry, an industry intent on exploiting the vunerabilities of our minds in order to turn over massive profit and power?

And once the industry has a childs mind, they have it for the rest of thier lives!

My argument is that we are vitims of our own greed, we do not get given a 'choice' if whether or not we should live outside our means, it is practically hard-wired into all of us that this is exactly the right thing to do! Because we have it so good and there is always another 'dream' on the horizon, most of us never have the chance to actually think about our real responsibilities or the true meaning of living!

reply to post by DazedDave


I hear you. You can tell how childish some people are from the responses to this thread. Maybe they will become wiser as they get older..... and maybe not. Some people just cannot seem to tell themselves NO.

You pay for credit. It is not free.

Some folks think it is ok to give money to Bankers. I do not.

The thing is with debt we're taught from youth to just purchase it on credit its something that you learn from your parents. You never learn anywhere about the pitfalls credit and how its designed to keep you in debt. Something that most people don't understand is that lenders are charging interest everyday on your loan and that compounds meaning you are getting charged interest on interest especially with your mortgage. The definition of mortgage "mort" death "gage" hold, strangle. It's serious and you don't have to fall into there trap. One question, have you ever been into a run down bank? No. There are ways to paying debt at an accelerated rate. The best method out there is called the "Snowball method" I teach it and works with anyone able to meet minimum payments on debts. So look into it you don't have to pay for your home twice in some cases three times. Simple math is you bought your home for 180k on a 30 year term your payment is 900 so you pay 10,800 yearly and then 324,000 at the end. Credit is designed to make only one person happy and its however that is lending it.

Originally posted by DazedDave
I work in a bank and I see this every day. Thousands of dollars of debts, spent on fancy dinners, big TVs, take out every day, and other things that nobody NEEDS.

Sure, it might be nice to have, but if you can't afford it, you shouldn't be living that way. And no, putting it on credit is NOT "affording it"

For the love of God, man!! Somebody might have taken these people hostage and demanded a fancy dinner as ransom....

What i mean, how can you tell what is and what isn't important for an other man to have?? No matter how economically responsible you are there is always somebody below you claiming that you are spending to much.

Peace

[edit on 1-6-2010 by operation mindcrime]

People need to take out loans to get an education to get a well-paying job. And the jobs have gone to China...Ouch!

reply to post by operation mindcrime


It might be important to someone, but if you can't afford it, you'll just have to make sacrifices.

I see this every day. I live in Canada where we have a pretty conservative banking system. Even moreso since the economic crisis. I am turning down people for credit on a regular basis, and they are shocked because this is basically unheard of for them. "What do you mean I can't have a credit card? Why won't you give me a mortgage? I don't understand, I always pay on time!" And it IS coming to the US soon enough.

As an aside, I find it interesting what many Americans have to say about living off of credit...Particularly those who are so adamantly against socialist systems being put into place in the USA. I always read that socialism is bad because it's something for nothing...It's getting something that you didn't work for and therefore don't deserve.

What is living off credit then? You didn't pay for it, the bank did. You are basically living off someone else's money. Something for nothing. Especially if you don't plan to pay it off!

I live a modest life...I have a nice apartment with about 15 years left on the mortgage. I pay off my one single credit card completely every month. I have a 2010 car (that I am financing) and about $16,000 in savings. I work in a Canadian bank so my salary is only around $40,000 a year. No kids or family, granted, but I'm also only 25. Yes, I have debts (car loan and mortgage), but I am NOT living above my means. I just stay within my budget every month and everything else falls into place. If I can manage to live a decent life without living above my means, anyone can. I even have a 42" TV!

For MOST people (ie not the exceedingly wealthy) your TOTAL debt payments and your rent/mortgage payment together (monthly) should not exceed 40% of your monthly income. Anything else and you are living above your means.

reply to post by rizla


Unfortunately I know of several people who go to college just to live off the student loan money, in fact I had to do that myself a couple years ago.

reply to post by DazedDave


"Why do people insist on living above their means?"

Why... Just to give you one more thing to fuel that eternal black abyss that is your inferiority/superiority complex, and give you something to b**** about; since you're apparently too cheap to spring for therapy to cope with it instead.

See?


Good lord...