By admin
When payday comes around, do you often hear your co-workers profess their utter relief that this day has arrived? The exclamation Thank God it’s Payday is unfortunately a popular phrase uttered across the entire country on the first and fifteenth of the month. And it’s pathetic. While sharing the details of your financial status is normally considered to be socially awkward, millions of people across America let everyone within earshot know that they are totally inept at managing their finances with this statement. Many are in the habit of saying it every single payday. Hey - you aren’t one of these people, are you?
If you are, there are a couple of things you need to do - and fast. The first is, quit letting the world know that you are such a financially irresponsible dolt. If you utter that phrase every single payday it’s a safe bet that everyone at your workplace, including your boss, knows you are not capable of handling your own finances. That doesn’t bode well for your chances of future advancement. Most likely the spouses of your more financially responsible co-workers have heard about this as well. If they ever meet you at the office Christmas party they will be thinking: Oh yeah, the stupid spendthrift who is living one step ahead of bankruptcy.
The second thing you need to do is get your financial act together. If you couldn’t comfortably skip your next paycheck entirely then you are doing something really, really wrong. What is going on with you? What are you thinking when you decide to spend money on anything but an absolute necessity if you need each paycheck to keep creditors off your back?
Perhaps you have fallen for the bill of goods being sold by financial institutions offering credit. It’s a pack of lies designed to make a slave out of you for life. They tell you that as long as you have a job you deserve any luxury in life that suits you. Just use that shiny credit card they gave you. It’s a reward for you being so smart and responsible to have gotten a decent job. This extends to car loans and, until very recently, home loans as well.
Maybe you have also bought into the great social hoax that you need to be a homeowner, otherwise you are a second-class citizen. Even though that house payment eats up more than half of your family’s take-home pay. Hey, everybody’s doing it. You don’t want to be a crummy renter, do you? No - you must own your own home! It doesn’t matter what housing prices are or what it does to your expendable income - if the lenders will approve the home loan, buy it! Even if you must sit for three hours in traffic everyday in order to do it.
What does that Godsend of a paycheck which you are so relieved to get on payday really do for you anyway? Allow you to buy groceries, pay the utility bills, make the minimum payment on your credit cards, and then what? Does the $20 extra left in your wallet tempt you to get the latest trick cell phone with all the new gadgets? Can’t you see the patsy you have become?
I am begging you right now to stop with all this nonsense. Sit down and get a grip on your finances. It’s Top Ramen time until you can answer all the following questions with a resounding yes:
1. Do you have 6 months expenses in a savings account (only to be touched for living expenses if you lose your job)?
2. Are you using only one credit card, and are you making at least ten times the minimum payment on that bill every month?
3. Are you presently on track to retire comfortably in your early sixties, with plenty of liquid assets?
If you cannot answer those questions confidently, then you are really acting foolish. You have no business going out to dinner or shopping for a new flat-screen TV until you get a solid grip on your finances. Hopefully by now the myth that ever-increasing home equity will continue to bail you out has been debunked. You do actually have to manage your own money and plan for the future. Otherwise you will be flipping burgers in your eighties to get the rent money for your trailer. Seriously.
If you are by some miracle able to sell your house right now above the zero line, do it. Move into a nice rental at half the monthly housing cost, closer to your work which will save money as well. Drive your car until it actually needs to be replaced, not just until the ashtrays get full. Get your credit cards paid off and then pay the balance off every month. Get fanatical about saving money. Start saving some now (even if it’s just a little) and start to feel the joy of having money in the bank.
In short, start living within your means. Save money for a rainy day. Above all, stay out of consumer debt. That is a trap which has been laid at your feet which is designed to enslave you for life. Don’t fall for it.
Papa Riah
Technorati Tags: consumer, financial, personal finance
By admin
You don’t want to know what’s happening with the $700 billion (with a b) bailout money that was supposed to be earmarked for large financial institution’s foreclosure and mortgage-related losses. Trust me, you really don’t. Especially if you are the type who gets mad when the leaders of your country act foolishly, irresponsibly, and with self-interest as their first priority. This is one time when it’s definitely better to stick your head in the sand. In fact I don’t even want to watch the news any more, especially financial and political news. I’m sure I’m not alone there.
The whole idea behind the bailout was to rescue large financial institutions whose exposure to the subprime mortgage business (and foreclosed properties that can only be unloaded for large losses) was threatening their existence. That’s what it was for. Unfortunately between the time the legislation passed and now, which has only been a matter of weeks, lots of other uses for the money have popped up. Gee, who would have thunk?
Bank of America already received $25 billion (with a b) of that money. Now they are a company that is in good financial health and has never been involved in the mortgage business. They have no bad subprime loans, nor do they own any foreclosed residential homes. BOA is doing just fine charging their customers every time they talk to a teller. So how did they get their hands on that cash? Is it because they have a sign that says Bank on the front of their building? Or do they know the right person somewhere?
Today on television the mayor of Philadelphia made a desperate plea to use the money to bail out city governments - in particular, his city. When it was explained to him that the legislation which allocated the funds would not allow that, he responded that they need to give him some other money then - just like the auto makers are apparently getting. When asked where the money was supposed to come from, he said (and I kid you not) The federal government are the ones who print the money - just print some and give it to us.
As a reader of this blog I hope you understand why that doesn’t work. That crazy mayor might as well print the needed money himself - it will be worth just as much as all American currency will be if the federal government starts printing money to give to every failing entity. Heck, haven’t you made some investment decisions that didn’t work out? Have the government print you some money to bail you out.
The really scary thing is, what the government is actually doing with these bailouts isn’t much different than just printing the money. The effects are going to be the same - they just don’t realize it yet. Or perhaps they don’t care what happens to the next generation in America. By spending more and more money on an unlimited credit line that they have setup for themselves, they are setting a terrible example to the American consumer. The whole system could be bankrupt in our lifetimes, not in our grandchildren’s as we are all planning on. At least consumers have a point where their credit is maxed out. Our government can just keep borrowing - and because they can, they do.
Eventually all this government borrowing and printing money will come home to roost. When it does, expect the US dollar to be worthless - not only overseas but within our own country as well. How are you set on gold coins and gold bars? You might want to stock up on them the way things are going. Either that or you will need chickens, pigs, apples, and ears of corn for currency.
Papa Riah
Technorati Tags: bailout, economy, financial
By admin
At what point does recycling go beyond being a good eco-friendly habit and become a bad all-consuming obsession? We all know how important it is in this age of dwindling natural resources and problematic landfill engineering. But can you take it too far? Is there such a thing as too much recycling? I say yes. If you live in an area where recycling is really easy, yet you go to lengths that inconvenience yourself in order to do it well, I think you have gone too far. Not to mention the fact that you are probably some kind of crazy, tree-hugging, save-the-world, bleeding-heart kook if you do that.
Have you ever seen that episode of The Simpsons where Lisa likes some environmentalist nut boy? She tries to impress him by mentioning how she mulches at home and he responds, Just at home? You mean you don’t pocket mulch? …and pulls a stinking mulch pile out of his pocket to show her.
Mama Riah goes a little overboard herself. We have city-issued trash cans where we live and the blue one is for recycling. When the city first went to this system earlier this year they sent helpful flyers out telling you what to put in the recycling bins. One of the helpful hints was that they didn’t want food-contaminated containers, whatever that means. So my wife dutifully rinses out the cat food cans before tossing them in there. I mean these things are sparkling clean before we let them go.
Me? I just tossed an empty tomato-juice jug in there. The clear plastic was still as red as a tropical sunset from the inside. I suppose I could have spent ten minutes scrubbing it out first, perhaps soaking it in some eco-friendly cleaning chemicals first. Yeah right. Like all my neighbors (and all the other city residents) are doing that.
I kind of miss the good old days. The refuse company used to sort the trash out themselves and separate anything recyclable. Now what was wrong with that program? I can’t help but wonder if they still do that with the regular trash now, or how many people lost their jobs with the new system. One thing is for sure, the city sure was proud to roll out the new trash cans. They occupied a prominent place in our annual 4th of July parade.
So now we have to separate the trash ourselves. Which means you need like two little trash cans in all the rooms of your house if you want to do it right. Somehow I don’t think all my neighbors are carefully sorting every item they throw away. I must admit however that there is something inside me which makes me feel just a bit satisfied for doing a good job at it. That’s probably a delusion.
Papa Riah
Technorati Tags: environment, recycling
When payday comes around, do you often hear your co-workers profess their utter relief that this day has arrived? The exclamation Thank God it’s Payday is unfortunately a popular phrase uttered across the entire country on the first and fifteenth of the month. And it’s pathetic. While sharing the details of your financial status is normally considered to be socially awkward, millions of people across America let everyone within earshot know that they are totally inept at managing their finances with this statement. Many are in the habit of saying it every single payday. Hey - you aren’t one of these people, are you?