How's the partial federal government shutdown affecting you?

[kdonnel]

Who is talking about a dog or a cat??? I am talking about a parent supporting their child!

Rent is not home ownership.

I am not talking about anyone buying anything except what they need to live on.

It is all money management.

 

[Allison]

I have said there are exceptions, but those exceptions are not an excuse for the other 97% of people.

Most people are in dire financial straits not because of one tragic incident but because they made 1000's of tiny bad financial decisions.

Again, factual or your opinion?

 

[kdonnel]

I am curious if this is your opinion or factual?

Of course it is my opinion, but one I believe to be based on facts.

 

[luvsJack]

It is all money management.

Obviously you have never been there. It’s ok, some people haven’t and can’t possibly understand.

But not having been there, really doesn’t put you in a place to judge others.

It’s very easy to sit in your situation and say what others should do. But I can tell you from experience, when I was a single mother if someone had suggested I should be putting back 50-100 a month for a car or saving 10%, I would have laughed in their face. You can’t save money that isn’t there to save.

I maintained my car. Oil change this month? Done, but had to get the money from the grocery budget. More beans and rice. Needs brakes? Buy the brakes, have to wait another month to get a new pair of shoes for work. And thank God for my Dad who would put the brakes on.

I wasn’t out buying anything except what my kids or I had to have. There were no choices of how to spend it.

It’s your opinion and you have the right to it. Doesn’t mean it’s reality.

 

[Hikergirl]

Government shutdowns are a possibility.
A Government employee, or a contract employee, or others whose livelihood are directly effected by a shutdown should prepare as best they can for these situations.
There will be those who can do that easily and those who cannot but that doesn't change anything, shutdowns happen.
Like it or not these are all facts of life when working in a "field" that can at times be unstable. Private sector employees live it every day waiting for the next round of lay-offs.
It is sad that it does come to this on occasion, but it does. Be prepared as best you can and the next time an election rolls around do your part to vote out the people you feel are responsible for the shutdown.

 

[Allison]

Obviously you have never been there. It’s ok, some people haven’t and can’t possibly understand.

But not having been there, really doesn’t put you in a place to judge others.

It’s very easy to sit in your situation and say what others should do. But I can tell you from experience, when I was a single mother if someone had suggested I should be putting back 50-100 a month for a car or saving 10%, I would have laughed in their face. You can’t save money that isn’t there to save.

I maintained my car. Oil change this month? Done, but had to get the money from the grocery budget. More beans and rice. Needs brakes? Buy the brakes, have to wait another month to get a new pair of shoes for work. And thank God for my Dad who would put the brakes on.

I wasn’t out buying anything except what my kids or I had to have. There were no choices of how to spend it.

It’s your opinion and you have the right to it. Doesn’t mean it’s reality.

Wouldn't it be great if life was really that simple? Just simple math. I have enough knowledge of the realities of the world to know that just isn't the case.

 

[Allison]

Government shutdowns are a possibility.
A Government employee, or a contract employee, or others whose livelihood are directly effected by a shutdown should prepare as best they can for these situations.
There will be those who can do that easily and those who cannot but that doesn't change anything, shutdowns happen.
Like it or not these are all facts of life when working in a "field" that can at times be unstable. Private sector employees live it every day waiting for the next round of lay-offs.
It is sad that it does come to this on occasion, but it does. Be prepared as best you can and the next time an election rolls around do your part to vote out the people you feel are responsible for the shutdown.

All true.

 

[mnrose]

There is much more to it than that for many people. It isn't always about money management. Things happen.

Exactly. I have a friend whose son got cancer at 9 years old. It devastated them financially (even WITH insurance). He died after a three year fight, and that was nearly 5 years ago. They are STILL digging themselves out of that financial hole, and having to do so while facing a grief that is all encompassing. They are not alone. It is NOT their "fault" nor is their anything they could have done to "prepare" for such a contingency. It is very common for extreme medical expenses to devastate people and if you haven't experienced that, it's because you've never faced it. It's not because you are somehow "better" than the rest of us.

 

[Southernmiss]

There's a lot of 'luck' in life that people don't realize they have.

 

[mnrose]

There's a lot of 'luck' in life that people don't realize they have.

Exactly. Mostly it's that they've never had any truly bad luck. And, because of that, they think they are "smarter" or "better" than others. Disease and illness are often matters of luck. I've been very blessed in my life to date to have excellent health with no major issues. Others are not so lucky, and it's not always because they've made "bad choices." Cancer is a particularly vile disease, but there are others which people have through NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN. Given our medical system, the vast majority of us are just one good illness or disease away from bankruptcy.

 

[LSUmiss]

Around here the Nuke Plant and Cold War clean up are still going on, it's part of a separate budget.


I'm not sure how that will work, I'll do my taxes and send in my check, if they don't cash it for a while that's all the better. I do feel for my staff that use the IRS like a piggy bank all year, but that was their choice.


Sadly we are no longer a society that encourages personal responsibility, we have fostered a culture of dependency.

No, we have a culture of no empathy & compassion & with many ppl who refuse to acknowledge that not all ppl have the same resources. Most ppl are doing the best they can & there are many ppl out there working low wage jobs just trying to make it day-to-day. I don’t know if the society you speak of really ever existed, but the gap between the rich & poor is growing. So, it’s not just b/c refuse to be more responsible.

 

[Hikergirl]

There's a lot of 'luck' in life that people don't realize they have.

Sure for some. For some it is about making choices about their life that make being able to do certain things or weather certain things possible.
Not everyone is living the way they are because of chance.

 

[LSUmiss]

You spend less then you make. You change your lifestyle to match your income.

So not eat? Not have childcare? Not pay for medical expenses?? That’s the kind of choices many ppl would have to make.

 

[LSUmiss]

But it is all about money management.

If people understood the concept of total cost of ownership they would not buy many of the things they buy.

Just because you can afford the mortgage that does not mean you can afford to own a home. A responsible home owner knows that they should be setting aside an additional 10-20% of the mortgage each month for maintenance and repair.

A responsible car owner should be setting aside $50-$100 a month from day one to cover expenses. The car will need maintenance and repairs.

That dog or cat you want? It costs a lot more then the initial purchase. Do you have a plan to pay all those expenses?

So many total cost of ownership opportunities to manage your money properly.

And of course there are exceptions, I understand that, but for the majority it is ALL about money management.

You are not talking about the population I am talking about. These ppl don’t own homes & likely never will. They don’t have nice cars, etc. They are working to barely afford some kind of housing & food & medical expenses for themselves & their kids. I’m not saying there aren’t ppl who poorly managing $. But, it seems b/c of your experience with your parents, you believe things are oversimplified when ppl cannot afford to live. You can’t manage $ you don’t have.

 

[LSUmiss]

Not all jobs are meant to support a family or meant to be the only job supporting a family.

So then what do you propose they do? They probably are lucky to have that job.

 

[LSUmiss]

There's a lot of 'luck' in life that people don't realize they have.

I forgot the quote exactly, but it’s something like many ppl get to bat from 3rd base but then claim they hit a home run.

 

[bcla]

You are not talking about the population I am talking about. These ppl don’t own homes & likely never will. They don’t have nice cars, etc. They are working to barely afford some kind of housing & food & medical expenses for themselves & their kids. I’m not saying there aren’t ppl who poorly managing $. But, it seems b/c of your experience with your parents, you believe things are oversimplified when ppl cannot afford to live. You can’t manage $ you don’t have.

I'm thinking of that episode of Star Trek: TNG where Q is sent back as a human with none of his previous omnipotence. When asked how the ship can get out of a certain situation, he says they only have to "redefine the gravitational constant of the universe".

I get that people have certain circumstances where a situation beyond their financial control to save. That's just kind of the way things work.

 

[kdonnel]

So then what do you propose they do? They probably are lucky to have that job.

My father worked three jobs.

Or choose not to have a family.

 

[LSUmiss]

My father worked three jobs.

Or choose not to have a family.

Sometimes things happen AFTER you have that family. So when your father worked those 3 jobs, who cared for the kids?

 

[Colleen27]

I have said there are exceptions, but those exceptions are not an excuse for the other 97% of people.

Most people are in dire financial straits not because of one tragic incident but because they made 1000's of tiny bad financial decisions.

Most people make thousands of tiny bad financial decisions over a lifetime. I know I have. You probably have too. But without that one tragic incident, without the sudden disaster, we compensate for those tiny bad decisions with small course corrections. Some people get fewer chances, and those tiny bad decisions end up escalating into major hardship.

And for the most part, we're not talking about people in "dire financial straits". We're talking about people who need their paycheck to survive, and who work in one of the least disruption-prone sectors of our economy. Many people, even those who are relatively prudent financially, go through "paycheck to paycheck" stages - maybe they have an infant so one parent is at home, or a child in college with tuition draining every extra dollar of cushion or savings, or recently started helping with an elderly parent's care, or are dealing with medical bills that shattered an otherwise comfortable debt-to-income balance. These are all everyday American scenarios, not consequences of frivolity and financial recklessness, and the lack of empathy for them is stunning.