How are your finances?

I don`t want to know how much you make or have but if you lost your income today could you at least see out the month?And how long after that?
I`m asking because the other night there was a chick whining about how she suddenly had to go back home and didn`t have the money for a plane ticket so she got he parents to organize the fare.On top of that she didn`t even have the money to pay her phone bill before she left.On top of all this her credit card was maxed out.
She is back now and complaining that she can`t get a mobile because of a bad credit record.She claims her friend "tried" to pay the bill for her but couldn`t.
I called BSs on that.You don`t try to pay a bill.If you owe money they will take it no ifs buts or maybes.
She had been here for almost 3 years working until that time and yet had no back up cash.I pissed her off when I spoke my mind.I kinda said "WTF!Be a be scout - be prepared!".She came back with all this crap about how I don`t know her or her situation blah blah blah and how sh#t happens".I agreed that sh#t happens so all the more reason to be prepared.
One older guy in the group agreed and told her living day to day is just not the way to live.
Apart from her i have met so many deadbeats who work consistently but are always broke,always in debt and always have people chasing them up for cash and always borrowing money.The biggest deadbeats I know (2 blokes) have been here working for 14 years and have nothing to show.The married guys,students etc. who are in the toughest situations always seem to make do but not these people.
Especially living in a foreign country you need at least an air fare home and enough cash to wind things up.
I did apologize to her for my tone of voice but stood firm on what I said.I hear this a lot and honestly am a bit sick of it when you try to go out and have a good time and there is someone whose wining and penny pinching spoil the night.

Ye, I am with you Zarkov. I do feel sorry for these people & I understand that sometimes situations unexpectedly occur that are beyond your control for the odd few people.

But so many people now (on the news all the time) are saying if the interest rate goes up .5% they are doomed!
I mean whatthe? If they were so close to the edge to borrow for a house, why do this? It is too much pressure for them to handle.

Sorry if I sound like a hard nosed beitch.

Not a hard nosed bitch at all.I`ve seen your pics and it`s obvious you have self
discipline.These lazy bastards don`t have any.
Sometimes a 5 grand situation can pop up and make it hard but a grand and a bit for a ticket home and a hundred bucks for a phone bill?Geez I had that much saved from paper rounds before I was even old enough to get a job.

It's a matter of upbringing. Some people have been taught to organise, plan, budget and generally make do, others have been just given things.

As an example, within my family are two sets of kids. In both cases, the parents spent the same money on their clothes when they were teenagers. However, in one side of the family, they'd say, "We have a $400 [for example] budget for your clothes this year, how would you like to spend it?" and in the other they'd say, "What do you want to get?" and when $400 was spent, "sorry there's no more."

So one group of kids had the experience of planning and making a budget, and the other group had the experience of spending without thinking until there was nothing left. Unsurprisingly, the two groups have grown into adults with very different attitudes to money. One lot is frugal and paying off mortgage debts on non-flash homes quickly, the other group travels more often, has fancier clothes, and will pay off their mortgage on their much larger and flasher homes with minimum payments only.

I think these are skills and habits you must learn when you're young. It's like Markos saying that he's not seen someone who started physical training after 40 who kept at it, and anyone he met over 40 who was doing it started in their 20s at the latest. As with physical training, so with money: you have to know how to do it, and you have to be used to doing it.

It's a social thing as well. You don't want to be the one person among your friends who says, "no, that's too expensive, I'll do without, I'll stay home tonight," etc. The old saying is, "if you have to ask the price, you're too poor for it." People turn this around to say, "if I never ask the price, I must be rich!" Not worrying about money makes them feel wealthier - even though yes, it will actually make them poorer.

Remember also that ours is a consumerist society. To consume defines our culture as much as (for example) to pray defined 12th century Germany. Just look at such articles as this one, saying,

"thrift can take lasting hold of a consumer society, to disastrous effect."

People buy things they don't need with money they don't have to impress people they don't like. That defines our culture. To do otherwise would be "disastrous".

Lack of skills in how to budget and plan, lack of the habits of a more frugal lifestyle, social pressures to spend up big, and the whole culture being defined by consumption... there's no wonder that people piss away their money. The wonder is that anyone is thrifty at all!

Kyle Aaron said:

It's a matter of upbringing

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Too true.I was brought up in a single parent family and never got pocket money.My mum gave me what she could when I needed it but I learnt to go without.As son as I could I got a paper round and have never been without a job since, except for a few weeks after moving town or country until I found something.
Our idea of luxury was pizza or fish and chips on a Friday night.
We got to eat out on our birthdays and we went to the next big town in school hols for a day out.I worked for quite a while after HS to get the dough for higher education and paid my own way.
I hope I don`t sound bitter because I am not.My mother is a saint and did her best and beyond.I had the best childhood and I`m thankful for everything I ever had and thankful 10 times over for the life skills I learned.
I suppose it is a bit ignorant of me to write them off when i had to learn and they never have had to but it still pisses me off when they whinge.

Just back to my question if anyone wouldn`t mind answering; If you lost your income today, how long could you survive?
For me right now, realistically I could probably go for 4 months,six months if I really lived like a pauper.

Oh, I hate their whinging, too.

As Yoda said, "do or no do, there is no whinge."

I have no criticism of anyone's lifestyle, unless they impose it on someone else or it makes them unhappy. If they are fat and unhealthy and in debt and drug addicts (for example), and happy, good for them! They're happy, none of my business.

But if they're unhappy, well they should do something - and I'll gladly offer my hand to help them get up off their arse, whatever my "hand" can be at the time, even if just a sympathetic smile. Fair enough to have a bit of a moan for a while, but there comes a time when we should get up or shut up.

You had a poor childhood. I did, too. Some people react to that with thrift and restraint, others by saying, "I never want to feel that way again," and so they piss away money. It's the same way that some victims of abuse or bullying grow up to be more compassionate, and others grow up to be bullies and abusers. People react differently to their experiences.

In the end, it's up to the person as an individual how they'll live their life. But if they moan to me about it I may severely punish them... by giving them helpful advice. Most people find this very distressing

I have not much income at the moment because I am a student We put any extra cash we have into the mortgage, and expect to pay it off within 5 years - we had a 50% deposit from several years of being frugal. But we have redraw on our mortgage, which is how we can afford wedding and honeymoon.

Here's a tip for those having problems saving, read "The Richest Man in Babylon".
It's a basic book with money principles which have been around forever, they never change.

If you've got no assets and are living month to month, or worse, week to week, then you have big problems.
If you are building an asset base through investing and just scraping by, at least you will have your assets to fall back on if things go bad or income stops.

Do the hard yards early and invest in your future, it will pay off.

Regarding the original question, what is actual survival?
Surely people on the government benefits or pension survive.

im 4th year uni student going onto masters, i havent had money in years and will continue for a few more

Interesting that most of you are talking about money. Way too much emphasis on money.

Anyway, never judge anyone till you have walked a mile in their shoes.

I have found that brains, common sense and taking a risk is all you need to get by in hard times.

And as far as how long you could survive if you lost your income, indefinitely if I was feeding one person, try 7 people and a mortgage and tell me how you'd go.

i was raised in a family with little money and taught that anything you worked for you had to cherish and look after. it gave us a real appreciation for things. now days I own my own things, but I work hard for them, more than one job. it really hurts when things you own are ruined by others too...

Grew up with everything I ever wanted, went to a fancy school, had a big house, etc. What it taught me is that possessions and money aren't really that important. My dad might have plenty of cash, but has no relationship with his children and lost his marriage. All of this sacrificed for a high paying job that meant spending weeks at a time away from his family.

Who cares if you have some money put aside but don't have what humans really need to survive- love and companionship. That share portfolio won't help much in achieving those.

You have just become my favourite forum member Bree......ever.

"Money can't buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while you're being miserable"

"Money can't buy happiness, but neither can poverty"

Well having seen both sides, I can tell you that having money is better than not having it.
I grew up relatively poor. Always had food to eat, but not much else.
Hardly had any clothes until I started working after finishing high school, and most were 2nd hand from my brother.
Wore a pair of school shoes with holes in the soles because they were so old.
Thinking back, it was quite embarrasing to have to wear the same clothes all the time.

I think that was good for me though, as it created a burning desire to become sucessful and not have to go through that for the rest of my life, after I was old enough to get a job and create my own life.

After starting to earn money in the early years of working, I spent all of it on the stuff I could never have when younger, clothes and other materialistic thing. Took out a loan on a car as many young guys do, mobile phones, etc. I was broke every week.

Then in my mid 20's I woke up and realised I had to start saving/investing otherwise I would be getting nowhere.
Now things are good financially and I don't have to work if I didn't want to.
The strange thing now is that, now I have money, I can never think of anything to spend it on.
I just don't feel I need to buy any materialistic goods at all.
I suppose it's all the result of savings/investing habits formed over the last 7-8 years.

Interesting that you link being succesful with having money, possibly your upbringing.

I know lots of people with money, not sure theyre succesful though.

I also know lots of succesful people without money.

Intersting topic with no right or wrong, just peoples perspectives.

Nice thread.

Financial sucess is only part of the equation.

The real sucess comes from experience, learning from mistakes, accomplishments and achieving goals.
That's where the real pleasure comes from.
As well as recently having 1st child, things should only get better from here to create a more balanced life.

Ahhh, now that you have a kid, watch your goals shift.

I have 5, do you think money plays a role in whether I'm succesful?

I have a friend with a million dollar house, a business that turns over 10 million and 3 kids.

He has friends that are influential, a nice wife plenty of toys etc

He is so far from succesful its not funny.

Can you guys please list your number one asset. Just humour me.

PTC said:

Can you guys please list your number one asset. Just humour me.

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My health, for without it all would cease to exist. Isn't that obvious though!


Fadi.

apart from health. my dog.

hyjak said:

apart from health. my dog.

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Contentment; for it is the greatest of treasures from which health is truly nourished. So we back at square one, the square that I treasure.

Fadi.