Falling dollar.. Good or bad?

[hugo]

Strange, my family lives on one income. I live in a modest size home that is completely paid for. I drive a 10 year old Toyota Tacoma. I save 20% of my modest income. I paid may own way through college while working a blue collar job. No aid, no college loan. Most people with children need to seriously consider if it is economically and family wise to send your kids to childcare instead of one spouse staying home. Two incomes are needed because people spend more than they used to. The average home was 1200 square feet in the 50's and people had more kids. Now, it is nearly twice that size. Everyone has a cell phone, a big screen TV, sattelite or cable and that computer in front of you. The basics,; food, clothing and shelter; can be easily met on one modest income. I think you know that. I see "poor" people having $3 coffees every day. If you want to live like grandpa and grandma did you can live quite cheaply. Inflation will continue to be low due to the expansion of liberalized trade. There are ways to hedge your investments if inflation is a great concern; it should not be.

The only real concern is the health care crisis which will effect the entire Western world, Japan and China as the population ages. The retiring baby boomers will mean more jobs for the young, but higher taxes.

INFLATION HAS BEEN LESS THAN 5% FOR MANY YEARS, WEZ.

 

[wez]

Strange, my family lives on one income. I live in a modest size home that is completely paid for. I drive a 10 year old Toyota Tacoma. I save 20% of my modest income. I paid may own way through college while working a blue collar job. No aid, no college loan. Most people with children need to seriously consider if it is economically and family wise to send your kids to childcare instead of one spouse staying home. Two incomes are needed because people spend more than they used to. The average home was 1200 square feet in the 50's and people had more kids. Now, it is nearly twice that size. Everyone has a cell phone, a big screen TV, sattelite or cable and that computer in front of you. The basics,; food, clothing and shelter; can be easily met on one modest income. I think you know that. I see "poor" people having $3 coffees every day. If you want to live like grandpa and grandma did you can live quite cheaply. Inflation will continue to be low due to the expansion of liberalized trade. There are ways to hedge your investments if inflation is a great concern; it should not be.
The only real concern is the health care crisis which will effect the entire Western world, Japan and China as the population ages. The retiring baby boomers will mean more jobs for the young, but higher taxes.

INFLATION HAS BEEN LESS THAN 5% FOR MANY YEARS, WEZ.

Teach, how old are you? You came from the old school.. Inflation for 100% of things? How about those houses? Food? Energy, Tuition? How would you like to be 20 right now and just starting your life?

You're totally correct though.. not long ago people didn't have those cell phone bills, ISP service, digital cable.. on and on.. houses were more modest.. people like to pretend they're rich and borrow **** to prove it. Doesn't mean our guv has to print more money and screw people who live responsibly to accomodate them with a financial house of cards.

Another thing, my grandpa and grandma lived much, much better than I do.. and paid cash for everything.. My grandpa had some good advice.. if you don't have the money, you can't afford it.

Don't get me wrong.. I made the choices I did for a reason. The only thing I care to buy in this life for the most part is my freedom. Time.. the most precious resource of them all.. I don't see anyone offering credit for that..

And the stock market?? When a company like K mart can declare bankruptcy, wipe out the value of their stock, then turn around and reissue it to new investors, seems a bit tainted to me.. I'm not buddies with E.F. Hutton and Martha Stewert.. I'd be the idiot owning the common stock..

 

[timesjoke]

I love this post, I will bold the parts that I feel are the most profound:

Strange, my family lives on one income. I live in a modest size home that is completely paid for. I drive a 10 year old Toyota Tacoma. I save 20% of my modest income. I paid may own way through college while working a blue collar job. No aid, no college loan. Most people with children need to seriously consider if it is economically and family wise to send your kids to childcare instead of one spouse staying home. Two incomes are needed because people spend more than they used to. The average home was 1200 square feet in the 50's and people had more kids. Now, it is nearly twice that size. Everyone has a cell phone, a big screen TV, sattelite or cable and that computer in front of you. The basics,; food, clothing and shelter; can be easily met on one modest income. I think you know that. I see "poor" people having $3 coffees every day. If you want to live like grandpa and grandma did you can live quite cheaply. Inflation will continue to be low due to the expansion of liberalized trade. There are ways to hedge your investments if inflation is a great concern; it should not be.
The only real concern is the health care crisis which will effect the entire Western world, Japan and China as the population ages. The retiring baby boomers will mean more jobs for the young, but higher taxes.

INFLATION HAS BEEN LESS THAN 5% FOR MANY YEARS, WEZ.

I loved your post because you said a huge amount in a few words.

To put it short, stop trying to live above your means and you will do fine.

Lower your expectations for "stuff". Why buy the new car if the old one is still working? Why buy the new house if the old one is still livable? Why spend money if you don't have to?

Life was never intended to be easy, but there are ways to make it more difficult.

 

[wez]

Oil hit $93 and some change today.. Dollar musta took a fat dump in advance of the fed meeting tomorrow as rates are expected to be cut once again.. cool, way to go guys... Your buddies can make their Jaguar payment this month..

 

[Old Salt]

Oil hit $93 and some change today.. Dollar musta took a fat dump in advance of the fed meeting tomorrow as rates are expected to be cut once again.. cool, way to go guys... Your buddies can make their Jaguar payment this month..

But when they go to trade that Jag in, it's gonna be WAY expensive. The dollar was $2.06 to the British Pound today. It's sneaking up on $1.50 to the Euro.

 

[atlantic]

Strange, my family lives on one income. I live in a modest size home that is completely paid for. I drive a 10 year old Toyota Tacoma. I save 20% of my modest income. I paid may own way through college while working a blue collar job. No aid, no college loan. Most people with children need to seriously consider if it is economically and family wise to send your kids to childcare instead of one spouse staying home. Two incomes are needed because people spend more than they used to. The average home was 1200 square feet in the 50's and people had more kids. Now, it is nearly twice that size. Everyone has a cell phone, a big screen TV, sattelite or cable and that computer in front of you. The basics,; food, clothing and shelter; can be easily met on one modest income. I think you know that. I see "poor" people having $3 coffees every day. If you want to live like grandpa and grandma did you can live quite cheaply. Inflation will continue to be low due to the expansion of liberalized trade. There are ways to hedge your investments if inflation is a great concern; it should not be.
The only real concern is the health care crisis which will effect the entire Western world, Japan and China as the population ages. The retiring baby boomers will mean more jobs for the young, but higher taxes.

INFLATION HAS BEEN LESS THAN 5% FOR MANY YEARS, WEZ.

Hugo has a good point here. I left my job and my $65,000.00 salary to stay home with my child 3 years ago, my plan was to be a stay at home mom til my son was at least 6-7 and in school full days. Since daycare proved to be unreliable and pretty costly and my son was not happy there. Now I notice at the bus stop all the other mom's complaining about money - one is filing for bankruptcy and she earned $120,000. last year (all because she decided to dump her house), the other mom does whatever she can to keep her 2 kids in daycare to not be bothered with them, and they complain all the time about money. They also go shopping every other day. Buy expensive cars. (they actually look down on my toyota camry because they are "Not sporty enough" according to them. They take expensive vacations. They don't understand how I get by. Well, I keep it simple. I budget really well, and I have absolutely no extravagances in my life right now. I do work part-time too. The only difference I notice right now, is I can't make the coffee runs I used to or go out to eat, I always cook in now, I can't save at the moment, but it is only temporary until my son is in school full time. Then I resume saving and invest again. I currently live off of half of what I was earning 3 years ago and I'm way happier than those idiots at the bus stop.

 

[timesjoke]

I currently live off of half of what I was earning 3 years ago and I'm way happier than those idiots at the bus stop.

This is what counts.

We should be more concerned with being happy, not with making more money. In many cases, making more money does not equal more savings or a better life because of the other things that go with it. As you pointed out, working and paying for things like daycare costs money but it also cost you and your child to be unhappy.

Why work hard to be unhappy?

If we were to let go of these expectations for the nicer car or the bigger house and just be happy, things would be much simpler and we may even be able to salvage the family unit.

 

[wez]

This is what counts.
We should be more concerned with being happy, not with making more money. In many cases, making more money does not equal more savings or a better life because of the other things that go with it. As you pointed out, working and paying for things like daycare costs money but it also cost you and your child to be unhappy.

Why work hard to be unhappy?

If we were to let go of these expectations for the nicer car or the bigger house and just be happy, things would be much simpler and we may even be able to salvage the family unit.

Hopefully it's not too late.

Imagine if people the world over cooperated instead of competed with the resources of the planet. So much could be saved for future generations. We have no right.

 

[wez]

Hugo has a good point here. I left my job and my $65,000.00 salary to stay home with my child 3 years ago, my plan was to be a stay at home mom til my son was at least 6-7 and in school full days. Since daycare proved to be unreliable and pretty costly and my son was not happy there. Now I notice at the bus stop all the other mom's complaining about money - one is filing for bankruptcy and she earned $120,000. last year (all because she decided to dump her house), the other mom does whatever she can to keep her 2 kids in daycare to not be bothered with them, and they complain all the time about money. They also go shopping every other day. Buy expensive cars. (they actually look down on my toyota camry because they are "Not sporty enough" according to them. They take expensive vacations. They don't understand how I get by. Well, I keep it simple. I budget really well, and I have absolutely no extravagances in my life right now. I do work part-time too. The only difference I notice right now, is I can't make the coffee runs I used to or go out to eat, I always cook in now, I can't save at the moment, but it is only temporary until my son is in school full time. Then I resume saving and invest again. I currently live off of half of what I was earning 3 years ago and I'm way happier than those idiots at the bus stop.

Awsome sweetie.

As a society, as a world, we're spiraling out of control it seems. I see so many miserable people. So many people suffering needlessly. It makes me sad.. We've lost our way, or perhaps we still have yet to find it for the first time..

 

[wez]

Rate cut yesterday only lasted a day on wall st. Bloodbath so far this morn. Perhaps if they pay 5% to borrow money they can boost it for month...

 

[wez]

All the sudden the fed feels a need to mediate contracts between lenders and private citizens concerning real estate? Somethings rotten in Denmark..

 

[wez]

Well, will it be a 25 or 50 basis point cut by the friendly nieghborhood "free market" fed today?

Government stinks.

 

[wez]

1/4 point... Million dollar ramblers on the way. Hahahahahaha

Morons

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.. looks like little baby welfare case Wally Street threw a little hissy fit today that Big Daddy didn't cut 1/2 percent and shed 300 points off the Dow, wich is a mere 30 companies that represent our master. Hahahahahahahahaha

That'll teach em.. Cut em to 0%.. let's get this charade over with.

 

[wez]

I see inflation (of who knows of what) just jumped by the highest it has in the last 17 years. When I turn on the news, all I see is talk of the real estate bust and impending financial doom, except on CNBC where everyone claims there is no recession and nothing to worry about. What a blast... Hahahahahaha... All I can do is laugh. People are funny... specially when it comes to money. We should all just crawl into a hole with a gun it seems. Unreal..

I laughed my *** of yesterday morn on CNBC, the older guy thats on, was interviewing a guest and it went something like this..

Guy.. This is so and so of so and so..

Guy.. "Are we in a recession"?

Guest.. "No".

Guy "Are we at risk of recession"?

Guest.. "No".

Guy.. "Thanks for coming in".

Hahahahahahaha... you could hear his co - host, the lady with the dark hair, bust out laughing.. It was hilarious. He then talked to him a bit more after that..

 

[wez]

I see the fed cut .75% off the funds rate today after the market dropped by 300 pts. in the first minute of trading, going down as much as 465.. Then finished down a mere 128 pts. after the rate cut.. Free market? Good one. .. cool. I'm sure I just got poorer by 10% - 20% after the "gift".

This is bullsh t... I shoulda invested everything I had in cocaine instead of saving dollars...

Better yet, I coulda been a crankhead and got another crankhead pregnant and lived in free housing, which was like $240,000 a unit at the new Belle Haven Estates in my town for wayward crankheads and their kids.. I'm ******.

Stocks dive, then rebound after Fed cut - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com

 

[Anna Perenna]

Our share market is experiencing a "freak-out" too.

Yay.

 

[wez]

Our share market is experiencing a "freak-out" too.
Yay.

Appears the government is willing to artificially inflate it around these parts with smoke and mirrors..

 

[wez]

I see the market is in free fall today anyways.. Good thing they trashed the dollar again too..

 

[atlantic]

I see the fed cut .75% off the funds rate today after the market dropped by 300 pts. in the first minute of trading, going down as much as 465.. Then finished down a mere 128 pts. after the rate cut.. Free market? Good one. .. cool. I'm sure I just got poorer by 10% - 20% after the "gift".

This is bullsh t... I shoulda invested everything I had in cocaine instead of saving dollars...

Better yet, I coulda been a crankhead and got another crankhead pregnant and lived in free housing, which was like $240,000 a unit at the new Belle Haven Estates in my town for wayward crankheads and their kids.. I'm ******.

Stocks dive, then rebound after Fed cut - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com

LOL, I feel your pain. It does seem that laziness and deceitfulness in this country pays, while the rest of us suckers who always worked get the shaft.

 

[wez]

LOL, I feel your pain. It does seem that laziness and deceitfulness in this country pays, while the rest of us suckers who always worked get the shaft.

Such is life it seems..