OP here...... Maybe much of the community is wealthier or just very conscientious but this seems bizarre since we hear about job loss everyday and the nation is struggling with high consumer debt and bankruptcy and it seems odd to me that the population of DIS is so different from that of the rest of America.
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My sentiments exactly....
I would bet half of those who claim they have this and that are sitting at their computer in denial of whats really going on in their lives. Im not saying everyone, but some, yes. There are folks here who truly have made good decisions and have done well for their future and then you have those who like to "keep up with the Jones'", even on a discussion board.
I'm broke and I'm not afraid to admit it. I don't have a savings, am a single mom, and average less than $10 per hour with 2 boys. I do have a small farm with some livestock thats worth a little if an emergency comes up. I live off my land to save money and I feel very fortunate to know how to slaughter my own meat and grow my own fruit and vegetables. Just last week, a neighbor farmer had a cow to break its back. He was going to shoot it and bury it. Instead, me and my 17 year old son went and got it, loaded it up and brought it to the "meat room" as we call it (a small family slaughterhouse). We finished processing it 2 days ago and I now have over 300 lbs of fresh ground beef, rib eye's and T-Bones in my freezer. Im very fortunate to have the equipment and skills to do this and I have taught it to my kids just like my father taught me. I told my father, "you know...I know people who have meals with no meat because they can't afford it and here we are with a thousand dollars of free meat handed to us....and we're people who have meat readily available all the time". Its funny how the world works. Had another family been given the cow it would have been useless to them without the equipment to process it. We gave about 50 lbs of hamburger to my sons girlfriends family and frequently give away pork and deer as well. I may not have money in the bank but I am a VERY blessed person.
Some people choose a life that lets them put money in a bank. Others choose a life that teaches them to survive when times are hard. I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. You haven't seen the worst of the economy yet. Some cant fathom how I will survive without money in a bank. Sometimes I can't fathom what some people would do if there were no stores to buy food.
In the end, we are just different people and we live differently. I am no better than you (using "you" in general) because I can slaughter/grow my own food. You are no better than me because you have money in the bank.
Before all this is over....you may be using some of that money in your bank to buy food from me and I may then have to use that money to get services from a doctor for a sick kid, who then uses that money to purchase medicine for his patients. Money is nothing more than a piece of paper to be passed around. Money is not life.
I take my boys to Disney every couple of years and we save and pay for our trip with cash. I dont have any credit cards, but I do have some debt. Last time we went, my youngest was running around AK and he stopped to see a carving on a rock. He looked at me in bewilderment and said "MOM....the YETI!". He had no idea what EE was and continued running around finding clues to this "creature" whom he had read about for years. He eventually rode the ride, and then was even more mystified when we got to Dinosaur. You know that look a kid gives you when they say "WHOAAA" and they look at you out of the side of their eye? The one that lets you know they believe they really have found the place where dinosaur's exist? That look is something money can't buy....and its also a look I would never have seen had I of waited until he was older and we were out of debt.
I bought a pre-historic sharks tooth off eBay a few years ago. He is crazy about sharks. My dad had been digging a hole in the ground with his tractor back in the woods. When my son was in school I went back there and buried the tooth. He got home and I said "lets go back to the hole and see if we can find any fossils (he frequently digs for fossils). Needless to say, he dug up a 5 inch Megaladon (Shark) tooth. Can you imagine the look on his face? I never told him any different and he still lives with the magic that he found this tooth buried in his own land.
What I'm saying is....people who have a little debt or dont have savings shouldn't be made to feel like they can't enjoy certain things. Sure, we can't enjoy many of the nicer things some people have like fine homes and cars and jewelry.....but just maybe.....we don't want to. For some folks, there are things that are more important than money. It doesn't make them any less of a person and doesn't mean they don't work just as hard. I don't have the dollar I had in my purse the day my son found the Yeti, but I do have the memory that I will carry with me a lifetime and so does he.
I guess Im in the minority, but I just don't understand the obsession with money. Life, imo, is so much sweeter without it. Yeah, we all have to have it, but for me, I don't need thousands sitting around in the bank. When I get old, I'll sell my land and rental homes and live off that. I live simple. Its not like I'll need a lot. If I can't sell it...I'll keep working as long as I can. When I can't, I have 2 wonderful sons who will help take care of me just as I have for my mother and father. Its called family.....another thing I am very blessed to have.
Now, lets all go enjoy the one thing we DO have in common......,DISNEY!
yes to this
