Do you think there could be a second Great Depression?

[Atticus Finch]

That was autocorrect. I meant "dotcom era", meaning 1995-2005ish.

And here I was wondering which one of the nineties sitcoms your husband starred in.

AF

 

[jamespowers]

Not arguing, but I'm pretty sure our economy is contracting, not inflating. Job losses and unemployment, lower GDP, lower consumer spending on durables, sluggish business investment and expansion, tightening credit requirements, historically low interest rates on investments are all counter indicative of economic inflation.

But you are correct. Inflation does benefit debtors and governments (who are often the biggest borrowers).

AF

Good points but as you mentioned governments are the biggest beneficiaries of debt. This in turn is a problem when they own the printing presses to pay off this debt. More money in circulation means money will be worth less due to the dilution of the dollar. What you could see then, with the factors you mentioned, is a period of stagflation like we had in the 1970s. Hopefully this can be averted by not having idiots in power who think that wage and price controls will fix it---it didn't. Gas lines anyone?:eusa_doh:
Whatever the case, when we consider that the formula for GDP is private consumption(now down) plus gross investment(down especially among business) plus Government Spending(up but hopefully under control soon) plus(exports minus imports)(which is slightly in our favor with the falling dollar here) we have some problems with our economy.

 

[jamespowers]

I suppose this is why economics has always been known as "The Dismal Science."

it is also known as a tell me what you want to hear science in the sense that figures don't lie but liars can figure. Not to mention the Keynesians versus Galbraithians.

 

[rue]

There's been a lot condescending talk about people not living within their means. We forget that salaries have remained stagnent while cost of living has gone up. For example, my grocery bill had gone up an average of $50 per week for the last 6 months. For a family of 4, using very little prepackaged foods and no organics, now costs $275-280 per week. In contrast, my husband earns 60% of what his salary was during the height of the sitcom era. Most people I know who use credit cards are using th to buy groceries or buy the children shoes and clothing, not frivolous things.

The people you know are very rare and maybe it's just in Maryland, but here in Ohio these people are using their credit cards for pure BS. I grew up in a family that had money in California and we look like we never spent a dime compared to what these people buy. I've never seen anything like it....brand new cars, huge houses, kids that play in traveling teams that cost thousands of dollars, hundreds of dollars in the kids wallets that don't have a job, cars for those kids.... it goes on and on. They complain about how they can't afford groceries and I just look at them like they're stoned.

Your groceries are also way more expensive than ours. For just three of us it's only about $150, but I also cook completely from scratch, so maybe that's why.

Oh and we live off a military salary and do not have credit cards with my husband paying $1200 in child support every month.

 

[jamespowers]

The people you know are very rare and maybe it's just in Maryland, but here in Ohio these people are using their credit cards for pure BS. I grew up in a family that had money in California and we look like we never spent a dime compared to what these people buy. I've never seen anything like it....brand new cars, huge houses, kids that play in traveling teams that cost thousands of dollars, hundreds of dollars in the kids wallets that don't have a job, cars for those kids.... it goes on and on. They complain about how they can't afford groceries and I just look at them like they're stoned.

That is because they are stoned. That's where all that money went.

 

[rue]

^ :rofl:

 

[jamespowers]

^ :rofl:

They went to high school like this every day:
[video=youtube_share;uWiYphJUS7Q]http://youtu.be/uWiYphJUS7Q[/video]

 

[Gregg Axley]

My wife and I keep things longer than most people. Call us crazy, but we both came from families that had to do a lot to get by.
Maybe it's because we fear what this thread is about, and stock up just in case.
As many have stated on this thread, this whole idea of frugal has been lost somehow.

 

[rue]

They went to high school like this every day:
[video=youtube_share;uWiYphJUS7Q]http://youtu.be/uWiYphJUS7Q[/video]

spicoli

My wife and I keep things longer than most people. Call us crazy, but we both came from families that had to do a lot to get by.
Maybe it's because we fear what this thread is about, and stock up just in case.
As many have stated on this thread, this whole idea of frugal has been lost somehow.

We do the same thing.... stock up and use up things until they can't be fixed. My husband grew up with nothing and doesn't want to end up there again and I would like to not live in debt, so we do everything we can to live well, but within our means.

 

[sheeplady]

Credit is a tool. If you do use it right, it can be of great benefit. The problem is, it's a pretty dangerous if you don't use it right. And people can get into all kinds of trouble even though they had good intentions. It's kind of like a chainsaw. Great tool, dangerous as heck, and plenty of accidents happen each year by people who were trying to be careful.

I hope that no one took my comments to be down on anyone who is really facing tough times. I lost a good set of neighbors due to a foreclosure. They had declared bankruptency and it was decided that they could keep their home, which is allowed by law (they were current on the mortgage and had 6 years left on a 20 year mortgage). However, the bank said they never received the correct paperwork and the lawyer said they sent it. So they lost their home, and basically have no recourse.

 

[ryanc]

wow thats horrible. welllllll what it comes down to yall need to just come to texas, its cheap out here lol

 

[Gregg Axley]

Yes land is cheap at the front door of Hades....
My FIL lives in central TX and their house isn't as insulated as they'd like (they rent).
So little by little, each time we go down there, my wife and I improve it with insulation, caulking around windows and gaps, etc. Okay my FIL and I do the work, my wife funds it. Kinda like helping.
Credit can be a wonderful tool, in our case we use it each month, and then pay off the bill in full when it comes in. But see, we buy the same things each month, with few exceptions. Our bills are higher compared to someone else's I'm sure, or are they? I love that minimum payment. Oh wait, $60 dollars instead of $3200? What a bargain...NOT!
Rue I think it's the best way to live, patching up older items, and a lot of times purchasing quality ones (even though they are higher in price initially) that last longer. It works out great if you catch items on sale.
CIP...I bought 3 shirts from Joseph A Bank, I rarely pay full price for their stuff because they are expensive, way expensive. I catch their sales instead, this past time was buy 1 shirt get 2 free. The first was $79 dollars, but I got 2 free, working out (after shipping) to $28 a shirt instead of $79. They'll last a lot longer than the shirts I bought at Walmart for $12 dollars, I know this firsthand. LOL
My wife hates her old car (Dodge Neon) because it's small and cheap, so it's been mine for years. Small means good gas mileage, and cheap means it's cheap to repair! We hang on to it because it's paid for and runs really well...for a Dodge. My wife and I watch so many around us lease high dollar cars, get this and that when they can't afford it (instead it just comes out of their check on auto draft), and wonder when it's going to occur to them things might just come crashing down soon. Not just crashing down in the US but worldwide. We don't "fear" a bad time might be coming for the US, we prepare. It's anybody's guess as to how long a double dip recession or a depression will last, but it never hurts to prepare yourself.

 

[SGT Rocket]

Honestly, I think some of the complaining has to do with the fact that it is in vogue to "be poor."

People who think it's in vogue or "cool" to be poor, have never been poor.

[video=youtube;KXWEM4gZhg4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KXWEM4gZhg4[/video]

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Food stamp use rises to record 45.8 million

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/04/pf/food_stamps_record_high/index.htm?iid=HP_River

 

[jamespowers]

Food stamp use rises to record 45.8 million

http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/04/pf/food_stamps_record_high/index.htm?iid=HP_River

And real total unemployment is at 16.1%.

 

[Mocheman]

People who think it's in vogue or "cool" to be poor, have never been poor.

Amen to that.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

It's like kids who think it's cool to be "ghetto" yet they live in a posh suburb.

 

[dhermann1]

Regarding that Ben Franklin quote. This is from Wiki-quote. This "quote" is all over the internet, and it's specious.

"Misattributed: Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Widely attributed to Benjamin Franklin on the internet, sometimes without the second sentence, it is not found in any of his known writings, and the word "lunch" is not known to have appeared anywhere in english literature until the 1820s, decades after his death. The phrasing itself has a very modern tone and the second sentence especially might not even be as old as the internet. Some of these observations are made in response to a query at Google Answers.
In 1992, Marvin Simkin wrote in Los Angeles Times,
Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights which may not be taken, not even by a 99% vote.[1]
A far rarer but somewhat more credible variation also occurs: "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner." Web searches on these lines uncovers the earliest definite citations for such a statement credit libertarian author James Bovard with a similar one in the Sacramento Bee (1994):
"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."
This statement also definitely occurs in the "Conclusion" (p. 333) of his book Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (1994) ISBN 0312123337
Majority rule will only work if you're considering individual rights. You can't have five wolves and one sheep vote on what they want to have for supper - Larry Flynt. Carol LLoyd, Flynt's revenge, Salon, 1999-02-23"

That said, I have to vigorously agree with the other two qoutes.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Length of Unemployment Continues to Break Records

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/length-of-unemployment-continues-to-break-records/?hp

 

[SGT Rocket]

Regarding that Ben Franklin quote. This is from Wiki-quote. This "quote" is all over the internet, and it's specious.

"Misattributed: Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Widely attributed to Benjamin Franklin on the internet, sometimes without the second sentence, it is not found in any of his known writings, and the word "lunch" is not known to have appeared anywhere in english literature until the 1820s, decades after his death. The phrasing itself has a very modern tone and the second sentence especially might not even be as old as the internet. Some of these observations are made in response to a query at Google Answers.
In 1992, Marvin Simkin wrote in Los Angeles Times,
Democracy is not freedom. Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. Freedom comes from the recognition of certain rights which may not be taken, not even by a 99% vote.[1]
A far rarer but somewhat more credible variation also occurs: "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner." Web searches on these lines uncovers the earliest definite citations for such a statement credit libertarian author James Bovard with a similar one in the Sacramento Bee (1994):
"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."
This statement also definitely occurs in the "Conclusion" (p. 333) of his book Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (1994) ISBN 0312123337
Majority rule will only work if you're considering individual rights. You can't have five wolves and one sheep vote on what they want to have for supper - Larry Flynt. Carol LLoyd, Flynt's revenge, Salon, 1999-02-23"

That said, I have to vigorously agree with the other two qoutes.

You must admit, it sure sounds good! I try to rotate my quotes every so often, when ever I come across something interesting. I never, never look up who actually says what. I just go for something that strikes my fancy. I do have a couple of new quotes I've been pondering on. I'll probably add them to my signature today.