I’ve decided to get up every day and first thing in the morning, say to myself “Today I will go even further in debt no matter what I do”. I feel much better now that I will be expecting it every day, instead of it blindsiding me all the time.
What has caused this revelation, you ask? Let’s see; the circumstances leading up to this are fiancé losing his job unexpectedly one month before our wedding (that we paid for ourselves), and one month after I had started a new job after being unemployed myself for almost a year. He loses job, which also causes loss of company truck. Now we have to buy a new car to replace it (not brand new, of course - that would be financially stupid). So now we have a $11 500 debt added to the load we already had from our various unemployment stints, added to the amounts we had to pay for our wedding.
Fast forward to 5 months later; I’m working part-time for peanuts, Jim isn’t working at all (a few painting jobs here and there). Our combined incomes (he’s on unemployment insurance) come up about $200 short each month of our expenses - let’s state for the record here that we are not blowing money in all kinds of fancy ways. Our rent and utilities alone are half of our expenses each month.
I need my teeth fixed (I have one tooth that’s been broken for the last year), I need new glasses, I need orthotics for my bad feet that hurt all the time, I need a chiropracter for the back that my secretarial jobs have wrecked. We need to put money in the bank for a down-payment so we can buy a house so we can stop pissing money down the drain paying rent (aka someone else’s mortgage). We just got over the hit of paying $300 for a trip to Saskatoon for my grandmother’s funeral, and now I’ve just discovered that my 11 year old car is leaking radiator antifreeze - WHOO FREAKIN’ HOO!!!
(This is simply a rant. There is no need for anyone to comment on it, or indeed, even read it. It’s just for me, and how incredibly frustrated I am at never, ever, no matter what, ever getting over the hump to where we can live comfortably without carrying a huge load of debt every month.)
What is sticking in my craw is that is just doesn’t seem to get any better, you know? We make a little more money, our expenses go up a little bit more. I was born to working-poor parents, I’ve spent my life as a member of the working-poor class, and it looks like I’m going to die working-poor (and probably working till the day I drop in the harness, the way the Canadian Pension Plan is going). So, in all seriousness, I am really trying to quit trying, because worrying about money gets me exactly the same place as not worrying about it, except with less stress.
Isn’t the Red Queen’s Dilemma wonderful? Imagine how you’d be doing if you weren’t running as fast as you can to stay in one place! And I say this as someone who’s been unemployed for six months…
I think Dennis Miller said it best, “People are no longer working like dogs just to get ahead, they’re working like dogs so they can stay where they are at and not be homeless.”
Like featherlou, I was raised in a modest household. So neither of us have very lavish tastes–a fancy night out for us is going to Pizza the Hut and renting a movie from the old, cheap shelves at Blockbuster.
My entire adult life has been a series of gentle hills and deep valleys financially. I have had a number of decent jobs and have begun digging out of the debt hole on each occasion, only to be laid off, have the company go into receivership, or have a serious car problem eat up my little surplus. Nevertheless, I have continued to muddle on, watching my financial situation go from having some money in the bank when I moved out on my own to a couple grand in debt a year later, to a couple thousand more in debt, and so on, until now, along with my wife, we are paying out a couple hundred bucks a month just to cover interest.
Ironically, a couple years ago, when I refinanced my computer payments at a very good rate, I was told that my credit rating was the highest that company had ever seen. That said, I am confident that we can comfortably live on credit cards alone for the rest of our lives if we don’t luck into the gravy train someday.
Featherlou, if it makes you feel any better, a lot of financial experts think that you’re better off renting than buying in today’s market (I know of at least one who has sold his own house and started renting while he waits it out). Historically, housing prices have tracked inflation pretty closely, but right now they’re way way over the inflation rate, indicating that there’s probably a big bubble. Even if you had a down payment saved up, today would probably not be the time to buy a house - wait for prices to crash.
And good luck on everything else. Hang in there - better times will come.
featherlou - I know it doesn’t help, but I know how you feel. I was laid off two weeks after I told them I was pregnant, and I seem to be having trouble finding work as a pregnant person, I wonder why :rolleyes:
We are barely covering our bills now, but after months of going in the hole every week, it’s going to be a looong haul. I have already resigned myself to no mat leave if I am lucky enough to find a job.
You have my sympathies, bankruptcy has never looked so good
Though ENugent would dissuade someone from buying their own how right this instant, the hilarity of it with respect to the topic is priceless. You know, you need credit to buy a house, but not as much credit as you do to get an apartment. And yet, in many cases, owning a home is cheaper than renting! A friend of mine just moved out of Cambridge, MA, to Salem, MA, and bought an (undisclosed amount) house that I thought was a pretty good deal, even if it sounded like a shitload of money. His rent has almost halved!
I guess banks don’t care if you live under a roof or not, because if I can afford an apartment 'round here I can afford a house a little farther away. Maybe they don’t expect me to live at all, that’s why they wouldn’t consider me a good “risk”. :shrug: Whatever. I’m not a good credit risk as far as credit card companies are concerned, maybe that’s true. But my car, my car insurance, and my rent are always paid, because I couldn’t even hope of breaking even if I was homeless and unable to drive somewhere. Hell, I’d be lucky to gracefully fall behind.
But, whatever. I, too, have resigned to hopelessness. Acceptance of it has made a difference in my outlook. My stress level has decreased tremendously. Which is odd, you’d never think resolving to fail would have that effect, but it does.
featherlou, I’m so sorry. If misery loves company, then I’m here to join ya.
I work for a very large non-profit organization. I get a subsistence level paycheck in exchange for free benefits. We’ve just been informed that we will now have to pay for our health insurance and our co-pay, deductible, everything, will increase. Now, if I went to work for a corporation, I would definitely have to cover my insurance, but I’d also be making about $20,000 more a year. The problem is, I love my job and I don’t want to leave, but I’m rapidly approaching the point were I can no longer afford to work there.
My car is on it’s last legs, my student loan payments are increasing, and my rent just went up. Happy holidays to me!
*Life unwinds like a cheap sweater
Since I gave up hope I feel a lot better
And the truth gets blurred like a wet letter
Since I gave up hope I feel a lot better
While the world winds down into a final prayer
Nothing soothes better than complete dispair
I predict by dinner I won’t even care –
Since I gave up hope I feel a lot better.*
Hey, everybody needs to have a good whinefest every now and then! Oh, after I posted this, my friend called and told me how this company she does a couple of hours of work for each week is giving her a $1500 Christmas bonus. Oh, I’m so happy for you (I really am trying to be happy for her). On the plus side, getting my radiator fixed only cost $300.
I would like to thank many of the posters in this thread. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself as I took a major paycut to move to the town I love with my wife. But after reading this thread, I realized that I am still pretty fortunate and should be grateful for what I have.
I hope everyone who posted here has nothing but good fortune over the next year.
Context should make it clear: house.