If you lose your job and could not collect un-employment how long could you last?

[Old Dog]

I've got a few more months to go before I take an early retirement, just hoping I can hang on. I still have my military pension which will pay the mortgage and groceries, but since we have no credit card debt and only one car payment right now -- should be okay. Plus, I have the best fallback in the world: a highly-educated spouse who works in a medical field that's hurting so bad for people, she can work anywhere in the world for a great income.

The OP's question was a very good one; too many younger folks these days never consider this. I've got twenty-somethings (some with kids) working for me who have two car payments (fancy trucks and SUVs) of $600-plus each and exorbitant rents coupled with the high-lifestyle (lots of eating out and partying)... I'm wondering what's gonna happen to those that decided not to get the jab and will be sans employment come 10/18...

 

[Mark W.]

Don't know how much longer my daily driver will last - it has about 115K on it, but is in good shape.

Before I lost my job, I was putting 300+ miles on it a week and filling it up every week.

Now I put about 100-200 miles on it a month and top it off when it gets to half full, about once a month.

The wife just went from 260 miles a week to 6 miles gains 5.25 hours a week and no longer has to work with the idiots she complains about all the time.

 

[Alexx1401]

The wife just went from 260 miles a week to 6 miles gains 5.25 hours a week and no longer has to work with the idiots she complains about all the time.

My Wife spent the last few years having a nasty commute. Was not really far, it was just a PITA. She had it down to a science for routes to take. She must have had 10 different ways to go traffic got backed up but there was just no way to really just drive to work and back. Her hours were just the worst time of the damn day and nothing she could do. Well now she literally has to walk across the street. He stress level is at an all time low. Dogs have figured this out and now watch out the window for her instead of watching for her car. They can see her walk out the door of her office and start running for the door.

 

[Soli]

VERY wise way to live but, VERY few are willing to do this. Most who do made mistakes early on and learned the hard way. All this easy credit is always a nasty temptation for people.

Bounced ahead in the thread, so if repetition...

Learning the hard way describes us. At 26 we had a net worth of: -$18,000 or so. One bachelors degree between us. Student loans, a car loan and cc. The cc were probably over six grand of it; I'd actually used a VISA card to charge a quarter of tuition (!) besides using them for living expenses. Yes really, memory is that while tuition was much lower loans were not near as generous as they apparently are now. And we were married 4 years at that point, young and dumb. She bought clothes, we ate in restaurants, traveled a bit, partied. We both worked throughout my college/university time. This was the early 80s, things were just starting to turn around in the economy, even so not the best of times.

Anyway, we read an article in what was called "Parade Magazine", an insert in the Sunday Seattle Times. The cover was a guy grinding up credit cards in a blender. The article was about how expensive taking on debt actually is; I had a Bachelors in Business and it was a revelation to me. (lol In hindsight I've concluded that it's not just recently that college doesn't actually give value for money - how can I have a "business degree" and not have known that??? Some "higher ed" has been stupid for a long time.) We also were exposed to something called "Your Money or Your Life." It was about living within your means. Your real means. Those two things actually changed our lives.

Cut up all the cards except two. Got a consolidation loan. Stopped paying the minimum. Took years to get out of debt (she went to school, we moved, etc, so did take on more debt), but always had that in mind and knew what each new debt was really costing.

Easy credit is a trap we were lucky to escape.

 

[CLT65]

Sometimes I forget that many/most households have two incomes. If my wife were healthy and had continued her career in nursing, we would have money coming out our ears!

I can't complain though. We do fine. We have never needed all the nice toys in life. Nothing wrong with it, just not for us. We did buy her a "new" car last year, only 11 years old and 200k miles! It's actually a great little car; she loves it. There's nothing wrong with living cheap.

 

[GWS]

Well, I can always make money by selling my services to beautiful women...
Again

 

[wired]

ive never heard of such a thing. do you have a link to one of his ebay ad?

I dont quite understand it either . Way above my pay grade. He develops "virtual items" for Roblox games . My understanding is that the players use things like hats and cloaks and "items" to do special things and if you get to a level in the game where you need that item you either have to somehow get it yourself or trade other players for it with one of your items. Or you can do what some players do and buy it offline. Its not exactly allowed by the rules of the game but theres an underground market that does well for developers. Some of my sons gaming "friends" have made hundreds of thousands doing it in their teens and my son is well on his way to doing the same. I'm not posting a link for obvious reasons. I am absolutely NOT a gamer and just have a moderate infantile understanding of the whole thing. I delivered TV's when I was in high school for $3 an hour.

 

[Frank RW]

If you lose your job and could not collect un-employment and only moving or taking a very low paying job is your option how long could you last?

long enough to get it all back. been there done that as they say. i could dump everything i own and start over in a heart-beat.

it's just do-dads, and i have no sense of nostalgia, everything can be replaced eventually.

sometimes it's helpful to have a "reboot" like that in life. gets your priorities straight. folks all worried about what some talking head on TV says change their focus as soon as real life steps in.

 

[The Heretic]

The wife just went from 260 miles a week to 6 miles gains 5.25 hours a week and no longer has to work with the idiots she complains about all the time.

My main issue with my commute, besides the hour long driving each way, was that I had to go in via Hwy 26 and deal with the crazy traffic. I tried to go in early and leave late, or go in late and leave late, but that wasn't always the answer. In 2018 I got hit from behind and it caused $15K of damage to the car and several months of chiro appts. On top of that I had to go into Portland a couple miles away from the downtown area while the rioting/etc. was going on.

So glad I don't have to do any of that anymore. No more looking for jobs, no more keeping up on software eng practices and tech, no more dealing with the pressure of the job and deadlines/etc.

Now I get up when I want to, go to bed when I want to, do what I want to, answer to nobody.

 

[arakboss]

At least 24hrs.

 

[Member 3687]

He forgot to mention his $700,000 mortgage, his health insurance plans, and credit card debts..

The gentleman in question lives in an apartment and has to pay storage to keep his toys and yes, he does have credit cards but I do not know what he owes.

I will admit I was no saint as when I was younger, my wife and I were way over my head with debt but had never missed a payment so when the company I worked at for over 20 years decided to move out of the area we almost lost every thing and from that point forward I swore it would never happen again.

It was a very rude awakening on how life can change!

I will also admit I had been looking at early retirement in the near future but had not set a date or honestly looked at all the finances fully until all the mandate issues came to light.

To keep my current wages, I would have to go back to work for another large company meaning the mandate problem was still an issue or I could take a healthy cut in pay to work for a smaller company so I figured If I got to take a cut in pay, I might as well retire and work part time doing something I like and almost make the same money.

Good choice or bad choice I am not sure but it is the one I made and I will make it work.

 

[nwslopoke]

A while back I was at one of my sisters house in Ca. She lives in middle class suburbia. Several small business owners, a doctor and the like in her neighborhood. One day I was talking to John, his real name. He's a truck driver. The other home owners were grouped at the mailbox or something complaining about the cost of everything.

John, always layed back and good natured with a garage full of toys, when they walked away told me he saved most of his road money and married late in life. The others put up a good front but sounded like they were a paycheck away from a rough landing.

Myself included, many people don't get any financial education. They make choices based on advertising, TV shows and how other people live. Copy and repeat. In California, if you don't have a new car in your driveway, people have said, why is your car so old. Pressure.

I was a late bloomer as far as career. So, many lessons were pushed back. I finally got on track. Ok but behind were I could be with some, now basic choices. Like the land I'd like now I could have bought when I bought my house. Not that I don't appreciate what I have. Just choices based on what you know.

 

[wired]

Been there a couple times. Not without unemployment, but that only goes so far. The last time we picked up and moved, but it turned out for the best.

No expensive toys for me, or debt besides the house. Raising a houseful of kids on a single blue-collar income doesn't leave room for toys like boats and RVs. Never got caught in the credit card trap; my parents taught me well in that regard.

I never spent my money on women, alcohol, nice cars or electronics, even when I was young. Never even set foot in a strip club, and any time spent in a bar was not my idea. Just not my cup of tea, never had any interest. When I was young and had a few extra bucks, I'd buy another old gun or surplus ammo (back when it was really cheap). Always drove old, paid off cars.

I'm not bragging or saying I was smarter or did anything better earlier in life. I was stupid as heck; worked dead-end, low paying jobs for my first decade out of high school, before getting into my present career. If I had a time machine, I'd go back 30 years and slap myself across the face, and tell me to wise up and stop being stupid and short-sighted, go to school for an engineering degree or get started in a good career, even a good apprenticeship or something. Get some skills and start saving money right away. Forget buying old guns and put some money in the stock market.

Oh well, no time machine, but maybe I can help my kids to not make the mistakes I did.

I was 30 when I stopped being an idiot . If I had a chance to go back 30 years in my conversion van time machine with a wizard air brushed on the side I wouldn't do it. ANYTHING that might possibly interfere with the chain of events that led me to me meeting my wife would be catastrophic.

 

[ma96782]

Forever. I'll just become a criminal.

Have you noticed how difficult it is..........to get into Jail/Prison nowadays?

The 18-year-old accused of shooting at TX high school has been released on a $75,000 bond.

The 18-year-old accused of shooting at TX high school has been released on a $75,000 bond.

news.yahoo.com

I wonder if some $@#^ didn't start a "Go Fund My Bail" page?

Aloha, Mark

 

[Ura-Ki]

Have you noticed how difficult it is..........to get into Jail/Prison nowadays?

The 18-year-old accused of shooting at TX high school has been released on a $75,000 bond.

The 18-year-old accused of shooting at TX high school has been released on a $75,000 bond.

news.yahoo.com

I wonder if some $@#^ didn't start a "Go Fund My Bail" page?

Aloha, Mark

And yet, Kyle was held on a 2 million bond ( I think it was) so, where is the equality in Justice?

 

[The Heretic]

In California, if you don't have a new car in your driveway, people have said, why is your car so old. Pressure.

I like a nice newer car as much as anyone, but I don't care what others think about what I own. That said, I have found that if you buy a used late model of a nice car, like a Bimmer, you can often keep it for about ten years before anyone notices that it isn't the latest model and by then you will probably want to get a newer used car before the 10 year old car starts nickel and diming you to death.

I got a 2004 BMW coupe with 6K miles on it, in 2005 for $10K less than it cost new. It was a lease car and in prime condition, but was the "business" option model (no fancy options). I got a lot of comments like "nice Beamer" (it is Bimmer, Beamers are BMW motorcycles, Bimmers are BMW cars) long after I had bought it. Even today, the neighbor's kid is tooling around Texas in that "nice Beamer" probably get compliments from the young ladies he picks up for dates - I sold it to the neighbor for $1K when the clutch went out on it.

My daily driver, a 2014 BMW X1, had 46K miles on it when I bought it in 2015 - still under warranty (until 48K) and still like new. It is an M-Sport model with most of the nice options I wanted, that went for $44K new, and I paid $26K for it used. Only someone who knows Bimmers well would know it was the first gen model and not the current model X1. It now has 120K miles on it and at this rate (3-4K miles per year) I expect to keep it for another 5-10 years - unless I give it to the kids (I am thinking of fixing up my '92 Toyota pickup and using that for what little driving I do).

 

[The Heretic]

ANYTHING that might possibly interfere with the chain of events that led me to me meeting my wife would be catastrophic.

Just the opposite for me - most anything that would have prevented me from marrying my ex, I would probably count as a big plus. The only good thing that came out of that horrible experience was my daughter.

 

[Member 53328]

Have you noticed how difficult it is..........to get into Jail/Prison nowadays?

The 18-year-old accused of shooting at TX high school has been released on a $75,000 bond.

The 18-year-old accused of shooting at TX high school has been released on a $75,000 bond.

news.yahoo.com

I wonder if some $@#^ didn't start a "Go Fund My Bail" page?

Aloha, Mark

Exactly. I can do whatever I want with no consequences. Haha. Although I would only do that if it was truly my last option. I do my best to stay within the laws for the most part.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

well over a year comfortably

 

[nammac]

And yet, Kyle was held on a 2 million bond ( I think it was) so, where is the equality in Justice?

Kyle fit the narrative perfectly. Some BLM pissant shooting up his school gets a walk for pennies on the dollar…. Why? Narrative….