Surviving the crash

[ma96782]

Took a total of about 5 years to go from a net worth of negative $400,000 (yes, even with a nice house, I was wallowing in debt from an out-of-control-spending spouse w/no way to shut it down) to a positive net worth of $1.5 million+, a shift of almost $2 million (after I divorced her - for more than just her spending).

There it is.
The path to Happiness.

Aloha, Mark

 

[sobo]

View attachment 1322328

There it is.
The path to Happiness.

Aloha, Mark

Really, it wasn't easy by any stretch, but it is the path to happiness. No more worrying about money.

 

[ATCclears]

Housing Bubble?...

As Case-Shiller Home Prices Decline, The Fed Finally Admits a Housing Bubble

Home Price Synopsis Home prices have peaked this cycle but the decline is certainly tiny compared to the run up. Case-Shiller data lags. The latest data is

mishtalk.com

 

[Siglvr]

Dave Ramsey's firearm collection likely adds up more than the total of everyones on this thread. I was stunned to hear of it given that we would think the guy pinches pennies. But he noted that you have to take care of the important things first (finances and health), then you can have a hobby. His is firearms as it turns out.

My wife is even tighter than me, and could likely give Ramsey a tip or 2 so we're set. But that guy preaches good stuff for sure.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Survival can be just plain luck or picking a course to handle events.

Looking north and south at Oregons neighbors and comparing, it's my opinion we are following kali for the most part.

california requirements to buy ammunition - Bing

Pametno pretraživanje u tražilici Bing olakÅ¡ava brzo pretraživanje onog Å¡to tražite i nagraÄuje vas.

www.bing.com

If we are following kali then it might be worth your while to read what is happening with them. Might be able to stay ahead of the game some.

 

[The Heretic]

Yeah - not going back if I can help it.

Retirees Are One Reason the Fed Has Given Up on a Big Worker Rebound

Workers are in short supply three years into the pandemic job market rebound, and officials increasingly think they aren’t coming back.

www.nytimes.com

I have kept an eye open for part time and/or short term gigs. I would go back to DTNA with those conditions, get paid what I was worth and if I could WFH, but even though I put out some feelers, nothing but crickets.

I could use the cash, but hopefully the bump in SS benefits next month and maybe the stock market coming back to where it was (big maybe), if I stop buying gun/prep stuff, and no more emergency bailouts of my kids, I might stop bleeding cash and get back on an even keel. If I can sell my house/property for its projected value, then that would free up some cash - but I would want most of that to buy/build another better place.

It has been almost 3 years and I have not touched my IRAs, so there is that. OTOH, my IRAs are down about $80K without me touching them, and if I pull anything from them, I would take a 15% loss on the value of what I cashed out, not to mention future earnings.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Reading about financial information and even with the propaganda things look grim for a lot of folks. It's a recession when your neighbors lose their jobs, it's a depression when you lose yours.

It's now a guessing game as folks run out of money on what's a good deal. The kinda good deal that beats inflation. I get a lot of email notifications about price changes as the economy further crashes. It's a risk to buy today as things crash lower but a risk you may not be able to buy as stores close.

For instance there is one mine in Africa the produces 95% of the cobalt used in batteries and they can't keep up with demand. 15,000 people working for the CCP mining cobalt, the big push for EV yet there isn't enough cobalt in the world to build batteries for all we use.

Do you buy now or later?

 

[Howard1955]

"Do you buy now or later?"


Since we can't see the future, I would say "Buy now".

Preparing for hard times involves a lot of things, and I don't suppose anyone can be ready for absolutely any eventuality. So we look around at the world, and make our best guess about what we might need in the coming years.

I don't know what it's like for everyone else, but for me it's been a gradual, slow-motion job of collecting firearms and ammunition, seeds and tools, canned foods and buckets of grains, a grain grinder, etc

Of all the preps that we talk about, I think getting acquainted with like-minded people and talking about what each person or family can contribute to the tribe if/when a calamity comes is one of the most important ways we can prepare.

But whatever a person's current focus might be - I think we should 'buy now'. I don't think I need to buy any more firearms at this point. But there are plenty of things I could still do to help my family and neighbors fare better in a grid-down situation.

 

[The Heretic]

Americans are piling up credit card debt — and it could prove very costly

More Americans are leaning on their credit cards to cope with rising prices. And as interest rates continue to climb, that debt is getting more and more expensive.

www.npr.org

 

[slimmer13]

Americans are piling up credit card debt — and it could prove very costly

More Americans are leaning on their credit cards to cope with rising prices. And as interest rates continue to climb, that debt is getting more and more expensive.

www.npr.org

Mel Murphy's rent gobbled up two-thirds of her income as a part-time custodian in Spokane, Wash. That left little wiggle room when unexpected expenses popped up.

"Every time my minivan all of a sudden needed $300 worth of work, or I had an elderly cat, and every time he needed emergency surgery, it went on the credit card," Murphy says.

I have a couple suggestions that I bet could help Mel.

 

[sobo]

I have a couple suggestions that I bet could help Mel.

Certainly hope it ain't offing the cat. That would be a pretty shiitty thing to do. Best to give up something else that she doesn't really need, and/or get a FT job.

 

[slimmer13]

Certainly hope it ain't offing the cat. That would be a pretty shiitty thing to do. Best to give up something else that she doesn't really need, and/or get a FT job.

It could be. If she's going into debt artificially extending a cats lifespan, despite what's best for the cat, off the damn cat.

Otherwise she needs to either make more money or find cheaper rent. Paying more that 1/3 of your income towards housing (especially rent) isn't smart. Being a part time custodian, there's a lot of upward mobility potential for her.

I have zero sympathy for people that want a "living wage", but won't work hard enough to earn one. There's alot of jobs available in Spokane.

I know people at my work that won't move into a higher paying position because of a higher chance of being drug tested.

 

[sobo]

It could be. If she's going into debt artificially extending a cats lifespan, despite what's best for the cat, off the damn cat.

We don't know if she's "artificially extending" the cat's life. All we know is what NPR said (if one can believe anything they say ) and it was "emergency surgery" that the cat got. Is emergency surgery the same as artificially extending a life? I don't happen to think so, from personal experience. I had pancreatitis simultaneously with a blocked intestine 5 or 6 years ago. Quite literally, it came out of nowhere. No symptoms until it hit, no predictors, behaviors, etc. that would tend toward it. It just happened. I literally thought I was gonna die. But I was rushed to a doc-in-the-box, then an ambulance to a hospital, then another ambulance to an even bigger hospital, where they did "emergency surgery" on me and I lived (still had to spend 4 full days in the hospital over my son's birthday - and that big total eclipse - back in August of 2017, which was the whole reason I was in town). Should I have been allowed to die without the surgery that "artificially extended" my life?

Otherwise she needs to either make more money or find cheaper rent. Paying more that 1/3 of your income towards housing (especially rent) isn't smart. Being a part time custodian, there's a lot of upward mobility potential for her.

I have zero sympathy for people that want a "living wage", but won't work hard enough to earn one. There's alot of jobs available in Spokane.

Agree on all points. And I should state here that the whole $15/hour minimum wage thing is total bullshiit. Minimum wage was never meant to be a "living wage", as Leftists like to claim it should be. Minimum wage was always meant to be a starting wage for people just entering the workforce, not for people already with families, homes, pets, pools, fancy cars, expensive toys, etc. You're supposed to get a minimum wage job, then grow up and become an adult and get better jobs, then start your families and buy your fancy toys and other crap. No one owes you all that shiit. How complex of a concept is that for people to grasp?

I know people at my work that won't move into a higher paying position because of a higher chance of being drug tested.

I can respect those people's opinions on not wanting to be tested for drugs. I refuse to be drug-tested myself. I have even gone so far as to tell my employer that if they want me, then they won't require me to be drug-tested. If they want to test me, then I'll just quit and go get a better job. Every job (since college) I've taken has always been a better job than the last one I left.

BTW, through 5 employers over the past 35 years, I have never been drug-tested... ever. Because I do not do drugs. The point being, I trust their word regarding what they promise to me. And if they don't trust my word for what I bring to them, then I don't want to work for them.

 

[The Heretic]

Otherwise she needs to either make more money or find cheaper rent. Paying more that 1/3 of your income towards housing (especially rent) isn't smart. Being a part time custodian, there's a lot of upward mobility potential for her.

I pay 70% of my income towards my mortgage. It used to be 25% and I saved 30% into retirement funds. Now I can't do that anymore (or won't - I am done working after 50 years of it). But I do have 75% equity and enough in retirement funds to pay off what I owe 2X over. Plus I increase my equity by $30K every year.

 

[Longwalkhome]

I knew things were going up in price because government sets a standard rate of inflation at 2% no mater what.

Since they raised the price of energy everything was sure to climb especially since they used covid to shut the world down.

I cashed in a cd yesterday to buy a new roof. My first roof with a complete decking, best heavy under lament and 30 year asphalt cap was $5k .

The bid at today's market for just cap and under lament was over $11k. When the house was built it was $28k new in 78. Next roof is going to be near what the house originally cost.


My way to get through bad times is save money and have 0 debt. You always have living expenses but you don't have a sword over you when you are debt free.

My property taxes rose again this year, it's up to two Social Security checks to pay it. I expected it.

 

[sobo]

My way to get through bad times is save money and have 0 debt. You always have living expenses but you don't have a sword over you when you are debt free.

That right there...

 

[Longwalkhome]

That right there...

I should have added stay healthy.

 

[Camelfilter]

We don't know if she's "artificially extending" the cat's life. All we know is what NPR said (if one can believe anything they say ) and it was "emergency surgery" that the cat got. Is emergency surgery the same as artificially extending a life? I don't happen to think so, from personal experience. I had pancreatitis simultaneously with a blocked intestine 5 or 6 years ago. Quite literally, it came out of nowhere. No symptoms until it hit, no predictors, behaviors, etc. that would tend toward it. It just happened. I literally thought I was gonna die. But I was rushed to a doc-in-the-box, then an ambulance to a hospital, then another ambulance to an even bigger hospital, where they did "emergency surgery" on me and I lived (still had to spend 4 full days in the hospital over my son's birthday - and that big total eclipse - back in August of 2017, which was the whole reason I was in town). Should I have been allowed to die without the surgery that "artificially extended" my life?

Agree on all points. And I should state here that the whole $15/hour minimum wage thing is total bullshiit. Minimum wage was never meant to be a "living wage", as Leftists like to claim it should be. Minimum wage was always meant to be a starting wage for people just entering the workforce, not for people already with families, homes, pets, pools, fancy cars, expensive toys, etc. You're supposed to get a minimum wage job, then grow up and become an adult and get better jobs, then start your families and buy your fancy toys and other crap. No one owes you all that shiit. How complex of a concept is that for people to grasp?

I can respect those people's opinions on not wanting to be tested for drugs. I refuse to be drug-tested myself. I have even gone so far as to tell my employer that if they want me, then they won't require me to be drug-tested. If they want to test me, then I'll just quit and go get a better job. Every job (since college) I've taken has always been a better job than the last one I left.

BTW, through 5 employers over the past 35 years, I have never been drug-tested... ever. Because I do not do drugs. The point being, I trust their word regarding what they promise to me. And if they don't trust my word for what I bring to them, then I don't want to work for them.

You're not a cat. Simply put. Regardless of how much we think of animals as people, they aren't.

They CAN BE family however. Still not people.

 

[sobo]

You're not a cat. Simply put. Regardless of how much we think of animals as people, they aren't.

They CAN BE family however. Still not people.

Guess it comes down to whether or not the pet owner can afford to keep the pet healthy. I'm on my fourth cat since leaving home. For the first and third, I spent some hefty sums, which I have described elsewhere on this board. The second one was a feral kitten I was trying to domesticate. He fought for an escape, ran off, and I never saw him again. My current cat just turned 8 yoa and she's been a pretty cheap one so far, if you subtract the vet visits for all the fights she loves to get into...

 

[slimmer13]

. Should I have been allowed to die without the surgery that "artificially extended" my life?

I don't know, are you a geriatric cat? Otherwise, it's
anthropomorphism.

I can respect those people's opinions on not wanting to be tested for drugs. I refuse to be drug-tested myself. I have even gone so far as to tell my employer that if they want me, then they won't require me to be drug-tested. If they want to test me, then I'll just quit and go get a better job. Every job (since college) I've taken has always been a better job than the last one I left.

BTW, through 5 employers over the past 35 years, I have never been drug-tested... ever. Because I do not do drugs. The point being, I trust their word regarding what they promise to me. And if they don't trust my word for what I bring to them, then I don't want to work for them.

If you're in a position to call those kind of shots, great, if you'd rather play video games and smoke weed than drive heavy equipment because of the risk of post accident drug testing, while bubbleguming about the cost of living, sorry, no sympathy.

I pay 70% of my income towards my mortgage. It used to be 25% and I saved 30% into retirement funds. Now I can't do that anymore (or won't - I am done working after 50 years of it). But I do have 75% equity and enough in retirement funds to pay off what I owe 2X over. Plus I increase my equity by $30K every year.

That's comparing apples and uranium, but ok.