If your car breaks down in East Assboink Indiana, and the dude won’t fix it till he has cash in hand, and a couple days will cost you your job perhaps?
- I forgot I decided to use that from now on.
Normally I could, but this year has been utter hell. I’d have to not pay somebody in order to cover it, and since that somebody would probably be a lawyer, I’d probably call Dad first.
Doesn’t that only work if you carry the $1000 with you? If you have to go to the bank, what difference does it make if it’s drawn on a savings account or a credit line?
Toall thefolks who answed “yes”…
Could I borrow $999.00?
Agrees with you. If I break down in BFE, I own’t have that much cash in my hands.
I will have plastic and a couple of friends close. A loan will happen and when we get home, they will be paid off.
I don’t have a big screen TV. I don’t have cable. I don’t have an internet enabled phone.
I survived 3 1/2 years of unemployment. I’d love to say it was all planning and frugality but in reality I liquidated my bank account and had just started in on retirement funds when I got a job. My depression era parents prepared me for life in ways I couldn’t fully appreciate now.
I suspect that a great many people learned a very hard lesson over the last 2 years.
I was amazed to see these posts - we had sort of this same conversation in the Pit awhile ago and almost everyone thought it was crazy to have 6 months worth of bills in savings (or easily liquidated) and that there was “no way” any average person in the US could possibly do this. Mostly they sounded like this -
The thing is? It isn’t a “monetary class”, its a matter of not spending money you don’t have and not getting into any sort of ongoing cash drain without considering if you are going to be able to pay for it. Despite what the ads say, you do not “deserve it” unless you can actually afford it, and that includes everything beyond sustenence.
It doesn’t appear so - too many people seem to think it is someone elses fault that they didn’t/don’t have enough money to ride out unemployment.
The worst thing about this economy is seeing all these talented, good people out of work. Congratulations on landing a job!
I live in east assbonk Indiana and find that metaphor offensive. But I’m willing to forgive you, you have a purty mouth.
Congrats on getting a job, I didn’t hear about that. The fact that people are out of work for 3 years is a terrible sign though, and things generally aren’t getting better employment wise. This is just the new normal (lower wages, fewer jobs, longer bouts of unemployment).
Which is one of the reasons that folks with good “depression era instilled values” (even when those are passed generationally) will be in a better spot for this “new normal.”
They may use up their six months of savings, and they may end up broke or bankrupt - but they will last longer than those whose idea of doing well financially is “I can pay the minimums on all my credit card bills!” And its basically a race - get a job before your savings (severance, unemployment) run out. The more savings you have, the longer you can last. Few people can last forever with no job (though my mother did, she got laid off six months before she could start collecting social security…so she collected unemployment for six months and then “retired early.” She just started working again half time though - she was bored - it isn’t a great job for someone trying to raise a family - $11 an hour being a “sample babe” at Costco - but for someone who has Medicare and gets a Social Security check, its a nice job).
I used to be able to, and did on multiple occasions, when I had a job. Now that I am among the unemployed-- not so much.
American vs non, too.
I am going to bump my own thread for an update.
Apparently 40% of Americans can’t cover a unexpected $400 expense.
The really interesting part is that 74% of adults reported feeling at least “okay” financially.
How these two statistics match up, I’m not quite sure…
:dubious:
I currently dump an extra grand a month into an account specifically reserved for emergencies or major pre-planned purchases, so definitely yes.
However for the first thirty years of my life I didn’t do this, and would have been caught flatfooted by any such expense.
If I ever have a $1000 emergency expense, I’m boned. No, I couldn’t cover one without borrowing. I’m not even sure I’d be able to borrow that much.
I’m on disability too. I receive roughly $920 a month and live in subsidized housing. After paying my bills and groceries for the month, I usually have between $50 and $20 left at the end of month. So I definitely couldn’t afford $1000 emergency expense without borrowing it for somewhere. Hell, anytime I have an expense above $100 (like replacing my tv or computer OR getting my car fixed) I have to resort to asking my siblings for help. I’m not sure my siblings would have $1000 for me to borrow; they are basically working poor not wealthy.
It’s very nerve racking have to live in poverty like this: where you have to watch every dollar and penny you spend to make sure your bank account isn’t overdrawn at the end of the month. The one time I lost track my bank charged me $60 in fees. Part of my issues is social anxiety so I really don’t have the skills to argue and ask for a waiver for my bank. So now I watch how much I spend like a hawk.
Yes, I could. I wouldn’t be happy about it, though.
At the time of the thread starting I could have without too much effort. But that was before the ACA really kicked in and life in general happened. Right this moment I could if you gave me a day to sell off a few things.
For 95% of my life I’ve been poor or just getting by. The last five years have been financially very good to me but it has come at the cost of $100k in student loans (I will literally die before they are paid off).
I despise articles/pundits/random buttholes who gasp aloud and clutch pearls at the thought many Americans don’t have $1,000 readily at hand and live paycheck to paycheck. This was my reality for decades and I have worked full-time, at pretty good jobs, since I was 18 AND I don’t have kids to support. There were many times unexpected car repairs, vet bills,