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All you have to do is take a tiny bit of your paycheck, throw it in the bank, and forget about it. You can live your life the same way as you always have. It's really not that big of a big deal.... I don't even miss it.
sheesh
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Ron 10
QuoteYou think it's an irresponsible or naieve/stupid way to live, Ron?
Living WITHIN your means? No, thats great.
Living ABOVE your means? Thats stupid.
Living BENEATH your means? Thats my plan.
This way I don't worry about a sudden car repair...I just cut a check.
I have lived poor. I have not had food to eat, rent was due and I was screwed.
I choose never to live like that again. I researched ways to save money, and did. I looked into investments and saved.
I spend PLENTY on toys, make 300 jumps a year, and SCUBA when ever I feel like it.
As I said earlier in this thread that MY way...You are always free to choose your own path.
Ask my friends....I don't want for much, for long.
I have found having a savings account allows me to do what I want. I work everyday and get ahead, not work to dig myself out of a hole.
I have a good life, and I sleep well knowing I can afford what I want/need.
Ron 10
QuoteI find it interesting that everyone assumes that saving money = not having any fun/life experiences.
I know. I have MORE fun now that I have money in the bank and no debt.
It's nice knowing I can go out to dinner with friends and pay the whole bill. It makes them happy.
QuoteAll you have to do is take a tiny bit of your paycheck, throw it in the bank, and forget about it. You can live your life the same way as you always have. It's really not that big of a big deal.... I don't even miss it.
I'll admit I am fanatical about saving...I have been poor...I didn't like it.
QuoteQuoteto "build a life" "do the adult thing" and all the other clichés.
eat, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep, breed, die....
and never know how much they miss living in that cycle...
eat, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep, breed, die....Now that sounds boring. I think it's all about finding that happy medium. Some people at my work all they think about is work. Their lives revovle around work.
I think theres nothing wrong with living for today, but planning ahead. Next year I wanna go to the south pacific, so I start saving up today. I'm not gonna finance that trip with credit cards and then spend god knows how many months paying it off. Credit Cards are good and all, not bashing them, but when used wisely. Look at consumer debt for 2003 1.98trillion USD. This only includes credit cards and auto loans. Only people we're making rich with that much debt is Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Am Express.
QuoteIt's nice knowing I can go out to dinner with friends and pay the whole bill. It makes them happy.
Would you buy me dinner, Ron?

QuoteI'll admit I am fanatical about saving...I have been poor...I didn't like it.
Hey, me too. Some months I put some extra in the bank.... but we're totally on the same page.
QuoteI think theres nothing wrong with living for today, but planning ahead.
I was a dirty, smelly hippie that toured with the Dead and sold grilled cheese sandwiches in parking lots. It was great, I'm glad I did it. Lived like a gypsy and had almost complete freedom from all standard societal conventions.
Now I work, eat, sleep, play. I get to do things that you can't do without money. I like this life better. But I like to escape to that other one every once in a while. Dead's on tour now, I'll be catching the shows near me. Thanks to having money I can afford to do that without having to pack all my belongings in a car, live out of a tent, and figure out how to get something to eat.
The key is to live for today with an eye on tomorrow.
Ron 10
QuoteWould you buy me dinner, Ron?
Sure.
Just cause we don't agree does not mean I don't like you...
Well OK just cause I don't like you does not mean we can't be civil...
OK, just cause we can't be civil does not mean we can't eat together...Does throwing food at you count as eating together?
Ah screw it...Come to FL...I'll buy you dinner anyway


skytash 0
Quoteyeah, but i refuse to make an insurance company rich before me. invest in your own investments, build your own wealth, instead of paying for some high rise building that your insurance company is having you pay for!
Working for an insurance company I have to sort of agree and disagree with you. The principle of insurance is spreading risk across the population of clients. Everyone pays the same amount and those who need it get the payout. The advantage of insurance is that if the costs of an injury are a lot higher than what you have paid to date they are all covered, the disadvantage is that you pay even if you never have to claim. The high rise buildings are a small cost in relation to the claim payouts made.
If you feel that you can save enough to cover any costs you may incur you can be sure that you won't be subsidising other people's claims. I know that my grandfather did this and covered two hip replacements for my grandmother and cataract operations for both of them.
Health insurance suffers from negative selection. Those at most risk of needing the payout are more likely to want the insurance (eg overweight smoking skydivers who don't look when they are crossing the road

I am trying to get the company I work for to start including skydiving injuries and deaths but the actuaries don't feel the market in the UK is large enough to cover the cost of working out by how much the premiums may have to go up



I also agree that skydiving without 'cover' if you have dependents is stupid. By 'cover' I mean insurance or adequate own wealth to cover future earnings losses.
tash
Zenister 0
QuoteI find it interesting that everyone assumes that saving money = not having any fun/life experiences.
sort of depends on what your doing, what your 'goals' are in life....
i have several friends who just left on a rafting trip thru South America... none of them has life or health insurance (that will cover them there), 401k's or anything in 'savings', they are pretty much carrying everything they own, everything of real value to them, with them. They work to pay for the way they wish to live and equipment necessary to do so without much concern for tomorrow (other than how far downriver they expect to be) it will find you no matter what you do...
several of the 'weekend warriors' have stated they wished they could go and do something like that....what is stupid is that THEY ALL COULD, except they are afraid of what might happen and worried about being able to return to their quiet 9-5 jobs if they 'cutaway' to experience life outside of the box they have created for themselves...
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.
Quoteseveral of the 'weekend warriors' have stated they wished they could go and do something like that....what is stupid is that THEY ALL COULD, except they are afraid of what might happen and worried about being able to return to their quiet 9-5 jobs if they 'cutaway' to experience life outside of the box they have created for themselves...
Let me guess, they're suburbanites, right? Almost all of my friends have gotten married, moved to the suburbs, and do a lot of wishing about things they'd like to do. I still try to do them when I can.
Hell, I bought a motorcycle a few weeks ago with cash because I felt like it. Couldn't have done that if I didn't have money saved up. That enables me to cutaway from the box and go for a ride in the wind.
Quoteseveral of the 'weekend warriors' have stated they wished they could go and do something like that....what is stupid is that THEY ALL COULD, except they are afraid of what might happen and worried about being able to return to their quiet 9-5 jobs if they 'cutaway' to experience life outside of the box they have created for themselves...
It could be that they like their jobs. It could be that they find their current jobs rewarding and don't want to risk losing it. It could be that without the income... they would feel limited as to what they are able to do now or in the future. But I agree, they wouldn't have been able to experience what your friends have.
I think it's safe to say that you can experience some things without savings/income while not being able to experience something else that would require it... and vice versa... you can experience some things with savings/income while not being able to experience trips such as your friend's, etc.
Who's to say which is better? One single person can't experience every possible aspect of life. So.. do what makes you happy. Personally, I like having a stash in the bank. I also like travelling & meeting lots of different people. I liked having the money to rescue my new dog and to foster her huge litter of puppies (who needed frequent vet visits). I also can't wait to leave for Rantoul in two days to jump my ass off.

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