We're Broke..

[Gisele]

The oil companies are making record breaking profits, that is reported by many news sources, so argue all that you want, for I am not, I am stating the simple facts of the matter. I wish that I was a stock holder, I would be doing just fine, I am sure of that!

 

[noodleknitter]

The oil companies are making record breaking profits, that is reported by many news sources, so argue all that you want, for I am not, I am stating the simple facts of the matter. I wish that I was a stock holder, I would be doing just fine, I am sure of that!

You don't get it. The profits go up because consumption has risen. The profit margin is 8%. My mom's store's profit margin is 50%.

And we own stock in Exxon. We are not rolling in the bucks. the dividends have not risen extensively. You might want to read beyond the sound bites for your information.

 

[dvcgirl]

And I figured out last night, with what we are going to be paying for rent at this new apartment (and this is the cheapest we could find, in a neighborhood with schools i would deem appropriate and safe for our child) We would be carrying a 300,000 mortgage.... Maybe stupid financially, but emotionally, i couldn't drop my kiddo off my one and only at a school in a bad neighborhood or someplace we didn't feel comforatlable doing so. But, is that not sad, that to live in a DECENT crime free neighborhood, one has to plunk down that much money to live safe?? And that a 2 income family making almost 85,000 a year is going to be struggling to pay bills,(and we have NO CC DEBT) Just b/c we want to live in a neighborhood that is safe to live in???


We would just love to have a house before DD is 1/2 grown.

Although, last night I was thinking, and I realized...We can't get too much luckier..something is always going to be off balance.

I have a great husband, we still love eachother and have fun together..even in rough times after 10 years. And we have made this beautiful daughter together. And you know what, you guys are right, we could go on a small vacation and enjoy ourselves, we live very close to the Ocean and lots of other fun vacation spots. I guess, when things are rough and you have worked so very hard, your mind just goes to dreaming of that Caribbean island off in the middle of nowhere.
Thanks to all of you for your support and kind comforting thoughts.
Lets HOPE HOPE HOPE that things get better for the economy soon!!!!!::cop:

Well, I'm curious....do you guys live on a written budget? One that you write down each month and then stick to religiously?

Because I see you saying that you're waiting on the economy to get better so that your financial life improves. I was talking about this last night with my husband and our personal spending hasn't gone up so much that it would affect whether or not we get to go on a vacation.

Our grocery bill is up about 10%. We budgeted $800 a month for the two of us, but we eat almost all organic foods. So that's about $80 a month.

Our fuel bill us up 20%. We have one car and we drive about 12K miles a year....so that's about $50 a month.

And our utilities are up. We spend $400 a month last year and that's up about $60 this year. We live in a small house....1,500 sq ft.

And so....for us, inflation and this economy has caused our bills to go up by $190 a month, and so of that is to be expected, so let's say that $90 a month is normal inflationary price increases. About $100 is due to the current economic pressures.

So, $1,200 is unexpected price increases. That's just not enough to throw my life in a tailspin. Maybe I could understand the economy really hurting someone if they're making 30-40k a year, driving a suburban 20K miles a year and trying to feed a family of five. But for someone making 85K a year I just don't think you should be focusing your energy on the economy to solve your problems.

You guys make nearly twice the median income for the average US family. And you're a relatively small family of three. I'm just wondering if you have big student loans or large auto loans that are weighting your budget down.

My DH and I save 60% of our net income, but we *live* on your gross income. Granted, you have to pay taxes out of that number, but we're able to live quite comfortably on that amount.

We don't have any debt, but we do have property taxes/insurance that run $800 a month. We don't have day care but we have an older dog who is running us hundreds a month in health care. And our food budget is much higher than what most pay. Our utilities are probably more than what you pay for an apartment. And we have home maintenance as well.

So I'm wondering if you guys track your spending.....if you set a spending amount for discretionary items. I'm betting if you gave your budget to me or some of the folks around here we'd help you to find some money to go on a nice vacation .

 

[christa112]

Hang in there. Hopefully everything will work itself out

 

[2adirondack]

Things could always be worse. We haven't been on a real vacation in 9 yrs.
In 04' I was hit by a motorist talking on a cellphone(ran a stop sign) while I was Mnt biking. I was perminantly disabled from the accident and lost a $87k job. We lost our home, vehicles, everthing. Wedding albums, doll collections,my tools everything was destroyed in a storage locker. It amazing how fast your savings disappear and how many tools Ins co's have not to pay. They drop you, find ways of minimizing payouts,not pay. Disability Ins takes forever to see dime one. We were already heading for foreclosure before I got the first check. Perm disability takes up to 4 yrs. We spent time in a homeless shelter, and a yr in a motel rm ( 3 small children 6mos 1 ,5 at the time of accident) on welfare. The Mrs was a stay at home mom and could not make what I did to support our way of life.
It took 4.5 yrs for my case to settle, and here you can only sue for what the policy is worth. If they carry minimum Ins you get nothing. So by the time my attorney fees and other judgements liens were paid out ( I was found 10% at fualt just for being there) I saw literally nothing. She ( the motorist ) apparently owned nothing( or was able to hide it under a nondisclosure act- to protect elitists).
We have just enough to take the kids( who have been through so much and kept A' averages and good mental spirits) to Disney. This will probably be our first and last vacation as a family.
Good luck with your situation.

 

[fkj2]

I have already heard rumblings about others doing her job. They did not even offer her another position and there are others open. Lawsuit is pretty much out because she had to sign an agreement in order to get her severance.

If she were my mom, I'd take her to an attorney that specializes in employment law. If you mom was coerced into signing that agreement, she might have grounds for reinstatement or at least be able to contest the settlement. Was she at least apprised of her ability to pay for COBRA?

 

[DawnM]

Vacation at home.

Go to all those museums, parks, coffee shops, lakes, beaches or whatever your town (or nearby) has to offer. All those places you say, "I have lived here for X number of years and have never done XXX...."

I am reading more and more about people doing this. Inexpensive, and you get to know your area better.

Dawn

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I have found happiness in appreciating the things I have vs being upset about the things I don't have. I have my health a roof over my head food on the table, things I don't have a terminal illness, homelessness or hunger. I and my so both work and live below our means. We don't have car payments an upside down mortgage or credit card debt.

What you may not realize is that what you have is a HUGE accomplishment.

I'm still trying to be more appreciative of what I do have rather than wah wahing about what I don't. Being able to get to that place, I envy you.

 

[Jhult]

I believe she is going to do that when she gets back from her Disneyworld trip. She is on her way now. I was poking around the Internet last night and found that her job is posted on an employment website. Her term statement said her job functions had been eliminated......big lie. Then apparently they told unemployment that it was due to misconduct.....big lie.

 

[bnorm27]

If she was an "at will" employee, then her company could fire her at any time for any reason with or without cause. Check the employee handbook. If her employment was "at will", there will be a very clear "at will" statement in there.

 

[mikehn]

Maybe cancelling your internet access might help you get back on track.

 

[Chicago526]

If she was an "at will" employee, then her company could fire her at any time for any reason with or without cause. Check the employee handbook. If her employment was "at will", there will be a very clear "at will" statement in there.

Yes but you still can't fire due to discrimination. It's very hard to do, but if you can prove that the reason was discrimination, you'll still win in court. The trick is proving it though. You'd need a witness willing to testify and/or a paper trail saying "we fired this person because they are (insert illegal reason here)". That kind of evidence can be very hard to find.

 

[Chicago526]

Things could always be worse. We haven't been on a real vacation in 9 yrs.
In 04' I was hit by a motorist talking on a cellphone(ran a stop sign) while I was Mnt biking. I was perminantly disabled from the accident and lost a $87k job. We lost our home, vehicles, everthing. Wedding albums, doll collections,my tools everything was destroyed in a storage locker. It amazing how fast your savings disappear and how many tools Ins co's have not to pay. They drop you, find ways of minimizing payouts,not pay. Disability Ins takes forever to see dime one. We were already heading for foreclosure before I got the first check. Perm disability takes up to 4 yrs. We spent time in a homeless shelter, and a yr in a motel rm ( 3 small children 6mos 1 ,5 at the time of accident) on welfare. The Mrs was a stay at home mom and could not make what I did to support our way of life.
It took 4.5 yrs for my case to settle, and here you can only sue for what the policy is worth. If they carry minimum Ins you get nothing. So by the time my attorney fees and other judgements liens were paid out ( I was found 10% at fualt just for being there) I saw literally nothing. She ( the motorist ) apparently owned nothing( or was able to hide it under a nondisclosure act- to protect elitists).
We have just enough to take the kids( who have been through so much and kept A' averages and good mental spirits) to Disney. This will probably be our first and last vacation as a family.
Good luck with your situation.

How horible for your family! If anyone truely deserves a vacation, it's you and your family!

 

[bnorm27]

Yes but you still can't fire due to discrimination. It's very hard to do, but if you can prove that the reason was discrimination, you'll still win in court. The trick is proving it though. You'd need a witness willing to testify and/or a paper trail saying "we fired this person because they are (insert illegal reason here)". That kind of evidence can be very hard to find.

The burden of proof is on the terminated employee. And it is very hard to prove. Plus, most people do not have the legal resources that their employers do either. This type of case is generally not taken on a contingency basis either.

 

[Muffin]

Vacation at home.

Go to all those museums, parks, coffee shops, lakes, beaches or whatever your town (or nearby) has to offer. All those places you say, "I have lived here for X number of years and have never done XXX...."

I am reading more and more about people doing this. Inexpensive, and you get to know your area better.

Dawn

Some local DJ's were talking about this the other morning. It's called a "staycation".

I've been begging my husband to do this for years and he never wanted to. Maybe now he will.

 

[Jhult]

Well one thing that will help prove that it was due to insurance is because the company pays 100% of our insurance costs. She also had a review a few months ago telling her that she was a model employee. During her cancer treatments, she has only missed one day of work. Now all of a sudden she is let go and they tell her that her job functions are gone, yet they turn-around and post the job on the Internet? She also has quite a few people here that will testify if it comes to that. Many upset people right now.

 

[MissMichelle]

I think we are all feeling it...If this trip wasn't paid off and I knew then how tough things would be getting I would not be going this year--I;d be waiting.
We were trying to plan a wedding and a house move within the next year but it is seemingly like we need to choose. The house will come first since we have been together 11 years and we really want a house at this point. Just scared with how much everything is going up to even consider moving and taking on a mortgage. UGH!

ahhh it feels good to vent.

 

[fkj2]

Many upset people right now.

I'll bet. If one person gets turfed for insurance reasons, anyone can. I'd be nervous too.

If the company had more than 50 employees, they should have offered her the opportunity for COBRA. Many states have mini-COBRA rules that cover involuntarily terminated employees of companies with as few as two employees.

If they didn't OFFER her a chance for COBRA (even though she'd need to pay the premium), they've violated their fiduciary responsibility and could be in deep doo-doo for that too.

 

[abwilliams22]

I know what you are talking about. I don't know how we could afford to go if it hadn't been for the economic stimilus check.

 

[teslaaunt]

I know that my family is blessed in so many ways. My dh and I commute to work together. So we only have to put gas in one car, but it is still around $100.00 a week. That adds up to almost a mortgage payment every mo. whew! We have taken all the vacations we had planned for this year and are now buckling down, paying everything we have to, watching our grocery budget, basically...anything we can do we are doing.

One thing that irritates me to no end though is when I hear people complaining about gas prices and having no money. Then while driving to work 20,000 of them SPEED right by me 75+mph. This may seem minor in most people's eyes but I have saved a 1/4 to 1/3 of a tank of gas just by lifting my dang foot off the gas peddle. Oh yeah, and can we get the 20 lights on one street on some kind of system so we arent stopping and going every 20 feet. I just sit and watch my gas needle drop.

To the op, I hope that somehow you and your sweet family are able to get away, if even just for a weekend. I know how it feels to want it and know you cant have it after working so hard. Good luck to you.