Kelly,
My, my, we are taking my opinion personal, aren't we?
If you are doing something worthwhile with your life, I am obviously not talking about you. So, you are rich, you live off your family and you spend your time helping others - good for you!
But I know many more people, in my many years, that are not rich, don't live off mommy and daddy or grandparents, but work. They have mortgages because they HAVE to, they finance their cars because they HAVE to, to drive to their jobs. Sorry, that's not a stereo type, its the real world.
I find it funny that you immediately jumped up to say what a do-gooder you are. You want the "other" stereotype. That all rich people help out in the world - and its just not that way. Sorry to tell you , but many "unrich" people go out of their way for others also. The point is: you cannot live outside your means forever. Not if you are rich, not if you are not-so-rich, not if you are poor. You just cannot live outside of your means, and many, many people do.
I believe the subject, specifically, that I was speaking of, is the person who lives way beyond their means - way beyond what they can afford.
In fact, my exact words were "driving around in a financed car, living in a financed house, and spending a whole lot more than is normal - they aren't doing better than you - in fact - they are probably WAY, WAY in debt, and the house of cards will eventually fall down". So, you see, I am not stereotyping anyone in particular - except that particular type of lifestyle.
And, I will stick to what I said. Most of the people who have answered this, on this thread, have said things like, I cannot afford it, so I don't want it, the economy is slow, but I'm paying things off slowly, and that is great.
But there are thousands who are in the toilet, right now, because they have to have everything, and they have to have it right now, but don't ever save for a rainy day - well, the rainy days are here, and a large percentage of people that I see, every single day, are having to sell their cars, or turn them in, - in other words, got all caught up in the "bubble" in our society, that just burst last year. And it isn't just here, it is all around the country. Do you think the government would be talking about bailing out all these places and people if everyone, or at least the majority, had lived within their means
Come on now.
If you try to live within your means, and save for rainy days, the hurt would be much less than it is. And that includes companies and individuals.
If you don't, and you find yourself financing everything - not just the necessities, you are in for a fall, and, its hard to get sleep when you don't know where the next mortgage payment money is coming from, or how you are going to buy your kids their next pair of shoes.
Someplace, along the line, a lot of people came to the conclusion that they absolutely NEED a plasma TV, they absolutely NEED a Wii, they absolutely NEED a cellphone, they absolutely NEED to have the latest and greatest in computers, or Xboxes. They absolutely NEED to spend thousands on their children for Christmas, they absolutely NEED to go spend thousands on their weddings, and thousands more on their honeymoons, and have to have 3000 square foot houses for their first homes. Boy, I watch some of these property shows, and for the life of me, I cannot understand how nonchalent some people are about spending 500,000 bucks on their first home, just because they have "been approved for that much money". Makes me shiver to think about being in debt that much. And they get double mortgages and what not.
I could not ever live that way. (and I've been playing the real estate game for a loooong time.)
B
