Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmm.....

[ZPT1022]

What, if anything, makes you really scratch your head : when talking about finances with other people?

I'll share mine. When did cable become a necessity? I don't understand how people can list it as a utility. I mean, you need electricity, you need running water, you need gas or oil or whatever to heat. I can even see a basic phone plan. But how the heck is TV an essential? If you have the $$ and want it, what the heck, how you spend money is not my business but I was just wondering when it became a must have right up there with the real utilities? Is it just me?

 

[lisa6373]

Main Entry: public utility
Function: noun
: a business organization (as an electric company) performing a public service and subject to special governmental regulation


I don't think that merely calling cable a utility means that it is a necessity.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

What, if anything, makes you really scratch your head : when talking about finances with other people?

I'll share mine. When did cable become a necessity? I don't understand how people can list it as a utility. I mean, you need electricity, you need running water, you need gas or oil or whatever to heat. I can even see a basic phone plan. But how the heck is TV an essential? If you have the $$ and want it, what the heck, how you spend money is not my business but I was just wondering when it became a must have right up there with the real utilities? Is it just me?

About the same time as having a cell phone is a must I do agree certain professions you do need it but it is not surgically implanted on you and you will live if it is turned off in a movie, grocery store, restaurant...

 

[sylvenmaid]

It's kinda along the same lines as internet. I couldn't live w/o my tv or internet but esp my internet. It's my daily escape.

 

[MagicalMom]

People who take out an extra 10,000 every year in student loans so they can buy new furniture & vacation, then get upset when they have a student loan bill of 500.00 a month when they graduate & feel their new employer should pay off their loans for them.

 

[kathi29]

People who drive around in $50k vehicles but b**** about having to buy a carseat or booster for their kid.

 

[Juliegirl1]

I don't consider cable a utility but an entertainment expense and it sure is a lot cheaper than going to the movies all the time!

I also don't pick up any channels on a regular tv without basic cable so in my house it is a necessity if I want to stay current on news and especially weather conditions since I live in a hurricane zone. I also have difficulty picking up radio stations in my house. I think it is mostly because I am in a one story surrounded by two story homes and on the outskirts of town.

Also, my cell phone I do consider a utility but that is only because I don't have a regular house phone. No one ever called me on it anyway except sales people and I got tired of paying $50 a month on the land line to hear sales pitches.

 

[aclov]

My best friend has to go get some hair/nail/facial service every week.

 

[LadyShiva]

There's a woman who picks up her daughter (around 4?) at my day care who drives a Mercedes. Kiddo jumps in the front, no car seat, no seat belt. The car doesn't even have a booster seat in it.

People who complain about never having money (and always in such a way to joykill), and yet live extravagantly.

Or like a member of my family, who complain about their health, then never get a "real job" with "real benefits" and then talk about how they never have money, but always have money for drugs...??? And always offer to share???

Brandie

 

[Green Tea]

Women who feel it is the husband's job to make financial decisions while they sit back and know absolutely nothing about the family's situation.

 

[pearlieq]

Women who feel it is the husband's job to make financial decisions while they sit back and know absolutely nothing about the family's situation.

Or worse, women that let men control them with money. A SAHP may not bring in a paycheck, but their work is every bit as valuable as their spouse's. Some of the guys in my neighborhood treat their wives like employees and look at them staying home as some kind of indulgence for their wives. And the women put up with it!

I don't get it...

 

[of the seas]

People who take out an extra 10,000 every year in student loans so they can buy new furniture & vacation, then get upset when they have a student loan bill of 500.00 a month when they graduate & feel their new employer should pay off their loans for them.

Some employers do that? Never heard of that. I've never had a student loan,though.

 

[MagicalMom]

Some employers do that? Never heard of that. I've never had a student loan,though.

She's a new nurse & was hoping a hospital would do a tuition reimbursement.

 

[girli565]

Some employers do that? Never heard of that. I've never had a student loan,though.

Haha, I was just talking about this iwth my Dfi about getting my law school loans paid by the firm who will hire me after graduation, lol! Some employers do this, but I also don't have excessive loan amounts. Just hovering around $20k.

My Hmmmm moment... my Dfi's sister who buys a new car fresh out of high school so she could drive to college and work... but now quit school just to work. Why'd she need a new car? Wasn't a gently used one sufficient?! I own a used car and am 5 years older than her! It's messing with her credit because she is always behind on it and has veen had the gall to ask me and the Dfi for money when she knows all our extra cash is going into our house savings!!

 

[Stein]

New cars, just don't get it myself.

 

[CajunDixie]

I hear tons of stuff in my office:
They can't pay their rent/ utilities because their 2007 car payment is so high and the gas prices are killing them. Ahhhhh hello people join the real world and drive a used vehicle.
They can't pay rent/utilities because they quit their job because of discrimination or they can't get unemployment. And why can't they get unemployment.......because they were fired for failing a drug test
They can't pay rent/utilities because they can't get a job because their vehicle doesnt run......even though its a small town and you can walk to at least 3 places that are hiring.
One person's BF can't get a job because he watches the kids so she can work all of 2-3 days a week at a minimum wage job. When told all adults have to be employed or seeking employment she changes it to he works on peoples vehicles for cash. When told to bring in his proof of income such as tax forms.......he has never filed tax forms!!
And I love the ones with brown fingernails that reek of cigerette smoke that can't pay for anything but can smoke a pack a day.
One person was told we won't help with utilities until we have proof the cable is disconnected, internet cancelled, and decide between the cell phone and landline which to keep........he never came back but did go around to other places asking for help because we "refused" to help.

I could go on all day about the stuff I see that comes through here, I can't imagine the amount of people that work the system in a large city compared to here.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

How about those that have been unemployed to the point of almost losing it all and claiming they "cannot find a job." If you point out McDonalds, Walmart, etc. is hiring they think "those" jobs are beneath them A job, is a job, is a job. If you listen to the CEO of a multi million dollar company even he/she is *itching about how bad his/her job stinks so take A job and move on. Accept something, anything so that you don't lose it all and THEN find the job you want.

 

[girli565]

How about those that have been unemployed to the point of almost losing it all and claiming they "cannot find a job." If you point out McDonalds, Walmart, etc. is hiring they think "those" jobs are beneath them A job, is a job, is a job. If you listen to the CEO of a multi million dollar company even he/she is *itching about how bad his/her job stinks so take A job and move on. Accept something, anything so that you don't lose it all and THEN find the job you want.

McDonald's is the best job!! I have a friend who started there when she was in high school. She worked there during her college years and when she graduated from college they offered her a regional position. They are wonderful!

And I also agree with what you said, a job is a job... and like I tell my students, there is no shame in earning a living no matter what job you have, as long as you're doing it legally that's what matters!

 

[Praying Colonel]

I was waiting for a court hearing for a client one day and the judge was hearing a contempt case against a non-custodial parent for failure to pay child support. The guy was pleading poverty and inability to find a job. The judge said they'd take a walk around the courthouse square. If the judge couldn't find him a job, he'd wipe out the guy's entire arrearage. But if the judge did find him a job, the guy would do 90 days. The guy agreed to write a check by the end of the day.

 

[nannerbadnanner]

I had a co-worker who had one utility or the other turned off, but was always buying the latest gadget and bragging about how much her thongs cost (TMI!). As another co-worker put it, expensive butt floss or electricity--- we know what her priorities are!