I'm sick of modern life = empty existence = waste

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What I find funny is if that is the way your life is set-up, your the one to blame not the TV, or the Radio or Billboards since your a human being with logic and free will. I'm not in debt, I don't own any credit cards, I've been living on my own for roughly 4 years now and I'm content with the things I own, do I want that huge plasma or those 2000 dollar pair of speakers? Hell Yeah, Do I need them? Or Would I put myself in debt to have them? Would I be all depressed if I didn't have them? The answer to them is no. Believe or not you have control over your life, no one else does, although shit happens to change lives your the one in control and choosing what to do with your life is also up to you, if your in hole 90% of the time you dug it yourself and it could have been avoided. I Agree with you, to a lot of people thats life, but that's them and your you, if you have that shitty life your the one to blame not society, live life the way You want to live not the way some under-paid 25 year old thought of in a 20 second commercial. That's my 5 cents, keep the change.
 
[quote name='jaykrue']It's only empty if you haven't found spiritual contentment. I have all the toys I want but I temper it with an attitude that says, if I lost it all today, it wouldn't matter, because I have my mind which is my most precious asset. I can always buy more toys but, if I lost my mind & memories, I'd be most upset. It doesn't have to come from a religion or fulfillment from possession of material things. Have a goal. When people work, they only do so simply to live. They don't work to strive for a higher purpose. Me? I have a company which provides homes, jobs, salaries, med. insurance, etc. My company donates to charity every year without fail and employees are able to set up trust funds for their own kids with some guidance from my accounting/law division. It's not a big company but its yearly profits help provide for all those things. I don't see myself as a savior but I think that helping ppl out gives me a sense of self-satisfaction.[/QUOTE]

Actually... if you lost your mind, you wouldn't really care. :lol:
 
[quote name='shipwreck']$50 does not equal 40% of my salary. [/QUOTE]

Me niether. 40% of my salary would be ... ~$3000 a month. That's a mighty big chunk of change that, in reality, should be better used to pay off my credit cards/mortage.


I like the idea in principle, about siphoning 60% of your check to Checking and 40% to Savings, but it seems more intelligence should go into it: (1) 40% is better spent paying off your debt and then when that's done (2) investing in S&P 500 stock and/or 401 tax-free account.

troy
 
I don't understand how you think it's excusable, topic creator, to buy things you don't need simply because you're Euorpean. That's ... uhm... kinda silly.

How about you don't buy a $30,000 car, and don't buy a $500,000 house? You think living in a society that "expects" you to do that somehow condones that?

I really have no sympathy for you. Then again, I'm 19 and wouldn't know what it feels like. However, I think you dug yourself this hole, and there's no one else to blame...
 
European?????

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm 100% natural-born American.
 
[quote name='Cornfedwb']I'll never understand why people complain when they are in debt from living above their means.

My mortgage? $0.. My car loan? $0.. My credit card bills? $100ish for gas this month. My student debt? $0.

Life become much easier when you buy what you can afford, not what you want and what you feel you need to be able to show off.[/QUOTE]

Where are you living that it costs you $0 a month.
 
[quote name='daschrier']Where are you living that it costs you $0 a month.[/QUOTE]

You may want to go over some of my later posts where this was further explained by me. However I live in a moderately to highly affluent suburb of Cleveland, OH. My mortgage is $0 a month because I paid it off, not because it is somehow free.
 
american dream my ass..

the modern home of capitalism is in asia.

And you are never going to be happy if your main goal in life is to die rich.
 
[quote name='Cornfedwb']You may want to go over some of my later posts where this was further explained by me. However I live in a moderately to highly affluent suburb of Cleveland, OH. My mortgage is $0 a month because I paid it off, not because it is somehow free.[/QUOTE]

Well, not everyone is as lucky to be in that position.....here in Boston with even shit houses going for 500k, someone on a 40k salary will never be able to afford one. Even with a couple doubling that salary, it's still going to take a while to pay it off.
 
[quote name='daschrier']Well, not everyone is as lucky to be in that position.....here in Boston with even shit houses going for 500k, someone on a 40k salary will never be able to afford one. Even with a couple doubling that salary, it's still going to take a while to pay it off.[/QUOTE]

Again, please read the entire thread, this has already been adressed and discussed.

edit - http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/cost...city=Cleveland+OH&to_city=Boston+MA&x=32&y=13

Housing in Boston is 82.059% higher in Boston, MA as compared to Cleveland, OH. I find it nearly impossible to believe "shit houses" go for 500k.

edit #2 - To furthur support my suppositions, realtor.com has 126 single family homes in Boston, MA priced at $200K and below.

Cost of living and salaries are relatively steady from area to area.. where NY may have an absurd cost of housing as compared to the midwest, the salaries are nearly as skewed.
 
If you're unhappy, make some changes. Anything can be fixed. I'm slowly realizing that now... ;)

Also, it's the important shit that makes life great and not an "empty existence," stuff like family, love, your spouse, your kids, your pets... good stuff like that.

Some of the happiest people in the world live paycheck to paycheck and are poor. But they have lots of the stuff that matters and they are OK. I mean, I don't have much money, but I have a house, family, food, etc.... and once in a while, I get to treat myself to a DVD, CD, game, or such. In fact, the only thing I'm unhappy with is myself... but hopefully that will change. I won't give up on that.
 
[quote name='daschrier']Well, not everyone is as lucky to be in that position.....here in Boston with even shit houses going for 500k, someone on a 40k salary will never be able to afford one. Even with a couple doubling that salary, it's still going to take a while to pay it off.[/QUOTE]

Someone making 40K a year should not be looking at a $500,000 house in the first place. That is far outliving their means. Even at 80K a year, a $500,000 house is going to make your monthly budget awfully tight.
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Someone making 40K a year should not be looking at a $500,000 house in the first place. That is far outliving their means. Even at 80K a year, a $500,000 house is going to make your monthly budget awfully tight.[/QUOTE]

Thats the problem (I can relate to this) there are no other options, there no cheaper homes to buy. NY is the same way, your stuck renting a crap hole apt for the rest of your life. 500,000 is minimun for a decent house in NY, if your lucky its a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom. No land.
 
[quote name='Wombat']Thats the problem (I can relate to this) there are no other options, there no cheaper homes to buy. NY is the same way, your stuck renting a crap hole apt for the rest of your life. 500,000 is minimun for a decent house in NY, if your lucky its a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom. No land.[/QUOTE]

Yep...

And to the above, yeah you can find a really dumpy place in boston for 200...but you're not gonna want to live there. The place I am renting was 480k...it's a 2 family house, so essentially it's 240k for each place, but you can't just buy one floor, my roommate (also landlord), had to buy the whole place.

And I don't even make 40k, I'm only at 30k...
 
[quote name='daschrier']Yep...

And to the above, yeah you can find a really dumpy place in boston for 200...but you're not gonna want to live there. The place I am renting was 480k...it's a 2 family house, so essentially it's 240k for each place, but you can't just buy one floor, my roommate (also landlord), had to buy the whole place.

And I don't even make 40k, I'm only at 30k...[/QUOTE]

I have to believe 30K in Boston is near minimum wage.. I'd recommend moving to somewhere more affordable.
 
[quote name='Cornfedwb']I'll never understand why people complain when they are in debt from living above their means.

My mortgage? $0.. My car loan? $0.. My credit card bills? $100ish for gas this month. My student debt? $0.

Life become much easier when you buy what you can afford, not what you want and what you feel you need to be able to show off.[/QUOTE]

A $0 mortgage payment? Either you are filthy rich, over 50 or rent because I don't see how you can swing this. Otherwise, I totally agree about living within your means. The OP isn't looking at things properly. If you live within your means you never have to worry about paying off debt.

Also, my house was just a little over $500,000 and that got me 1,200 square feet (plus a garage and basement) - and that was over 2 years ago. It all depends where you live. $500,000 can't get you shit right outside NYC.

EDIT: Damn, just read the rest of the thread and this is discussed... oh well....
 
You guys need to consider moving to areas of the country where real estate isn't so expensive. I have a 1600 sq. ft. three bedroom house in a decent neighborhood (not on the "in" side of town) that only cost me $130,000 in Columbus, OH.
 
Nah...30k is like 14.50 an hour..I'm an academic research assitant(funded by the NIH), so there's not much outside of boston to work in what I do. I started at 26k....:p
 
[quote name='javeryh']A $0 mortgage payment? Either you are filthy rich, over 50 or rent because I don't see how you can swing this. Otherwise, I totally agree about living within your means. The OP isn't looking at things properly. If you live within your means you never have to worry about paying off debt.

Also, my house was just a little over $500,000 and that got me 1,200 square feet (plus a garage and basement) - and that was over 2 years ago. It all depends where you live. $500,000 can't get you shit right outside NYC.[/QUOTE]

Basically he saved a lot of money :p

I can't save 40% of my salary a month....even after all my bills I only got about 33% left.
 
[quote name='electrictroy']European?????

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I'm 100% natural-born American.[/QUOTE]

I have absolutely no clue where I got Europe from. I just re-read your posts, and I found absolutely nothing showing any semblence to it...

But hey, I stand by my comment (minus the European part)!
 
It's true. I'm looking for houses just north of NYC and $500k is either a fixer upper or in a shitty school district over here. I guess we just pay for the "convenience" for living 30 minutes from Manhattan. We're seeing the middle class flight from the large cities on the coast as we speak. Basically it'll be nothing but the very rich and the very poor living along the coasts. I'd love to see what happens when the rich have their middle class buffer taken out between them and the projects. The rich kids will just be able to stroll down the block to the projects to score some drugs then.
 
[quote name='depascal22']It's true. I'm looking for houses just north of NYC and $500k is either a fixer upper or in a shitty school district over here. I guess we just pay for the "convenience" for living 30 minutes from Manhattan. We're seeing the middle class flight from the large cities on the coast as we speak. Basically it'll be nothing but the very rich and the very poor living along the coasts. I'd love to see what happens when the rich have their middle class buffer taken out between them and the projects. The rich kids will just be able to stroll down the block to the projects to score some drugs then.[/QUOTE]


Well that's been happening with boston and NH for a while. Lots of people that live on the border used to grow up in boston, then moved out and bought a house in NH because it was cheaper. I live in boston for work...there's not much for what I do in NH....I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be.
 
That's my same problem. My job is in White Plains. Even though I could work anywhere in the country, my wife and I get a nice cost of living allowance to stay here. It's weird because everyone that I work with lives around an hour away or lives with their parents still. I've never been anywhere in the country that had so many adult children living with their parents. It would make a great psychological study on kids that grew up in the midwest versus kids from the northeast. I grew up just east of st louis and I moved out of the house a month after I graduated from high school. In Westchester, I know a few friends whrere their entire family still lives together. She's 31 and the baby of the family!
Sorry for getting off topic.

It's a great time to be a cheap ass gamer.
 
Man I work at a collection aganacy and let me tell you the more $$$$ people have the Bigger there Debt and the more they have... I have a House 2 Car Payments , Daycare, Bills (elct, cable, etc. etc.) 1 CC with a bal I could pay off at anytime... But I dont Live above my means I have things I want yes but I get them by working hard and saving ... AND I never work more than 40 hours a week so I have time for my Kid and Wife and can take trips... Take it in with a gran of salt I will never own my Ferrari, A Big House, OR every cool TECH toy thats out but I get what I need than so I can have what I want....
 
[quote name='electrictroy']You missed the point entirely. The American Dream (own lots of stuff) is NOT a worthwhile goal. There's no fulfillment there. It's empty.

troy[/QUOTE]

I find it funny that everyone is responding to your dismay with capitalism by suggesting more efficient applications of capitalism. Someone mentioned Donald Trump as a model of success, but I've never seen the man smile or looked relaxed - is that the type of happiness that you are searching for?

Sounds like you're waking up - congratulations. It doesn't happen to many people. I suggest you keep your mind open and follow this idea further - the path will appear when you are ready.
 
[quote name='Quackzilla']I love being young :)[/QUOTE]
It doesn't last and the real world is gonna kick your ass.
 
[quote name='electrictroy']Cordfedwb is 100% correct - live frugally/minimally. Unfortunately less than 1% of americans actually live that way.[/QUOTE]

But... the Limited Extended Special Collector's Edition of the Director's Cut is out today! Can I be truly happy if I only own the original DVD release? Why take the chance?

And OP: You make such a good case you're no longer on my ignored user list.
 
If you're so unhappy with your life, electrictroy, a shotgun blast to the face takes care of your involvement with your life.
 
But seriously:

* Make more time for yourself. Work less, streamline, delegate, whatever.
* Consume less. Especially those things that take away time: Television, movies, games. And also food if you can, of course.
* Find meaning/purpose. Whatever it is for you: Starting a family. Creating art. Becoming politically / socially involved. Sports. Sex. Whatever makes you happy.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Holy fuck. That house is twice the size of mine and less than 1/3 the cost.[/QUOTE]

Yep, I would find it extremely hard to justify living near NY or Boston or any other of those cities with insane property values, when you can live a much more comfortable lifestyle in the Midwest. It's not like I'm living in the middle of nowhere either, Columbus is the 15th largest city in the U.S. The only reason I could understand living in one of the expensive regions is if I had an extremely well paying job that made a $500,000 house seem trivial or if the majority of my immediate family lived in that region. Even if my family was there though, I think I would sell the expensive property and move them all to the midwest where they could live like royalty. :)
 
[quote name='javeryh']Holy fuck. That house is twice the size of mine and less than 1/3 the cost.[/QUOTE]

Yeah Its crazy what you can pick up in other states...

I have 1500 sqft 3 bedroom ranch with finished 1500sq ft basement. An additional 1000 sqft attached cedar lined room, with an indoor swimming pool, bar area, and bathroom/change room. A 4 stall garage and 2 acres..

All for about $150k 6 years ago. Its worth more now, but not anywhere near even a 300k price point.
 
[quote name='camoor']I find it funny that everyone is responding to your dismay with capitalism by suggesting more efficient applications of capitalism. Someone mentioned Donald Trump as a model of success, but I've never seen the man smile or looked relaxed - is that the type of happiness that you are searching for?

Sounds like you're waking up - congratulations. It doesn't happen to many people. I suggest you keep your mind open and follow this idea further - the path will appear when you are ready.[/QUOTE]

Not to split hairs, but it seemed to me that his disappointment was with consumerism more than capitalism. (Not that I'm a fan of current capitalist practices.)

I'm shocked that so many people are bummed with their lives. My life is full of stupid decisions, but I can't say that I let it depress me. At least my world is a result of my decisions instead of those forced on me. Isn't that worth something?
 
[quote name='shipwreck']Yep, I would find it extremely hard to justify living near NY or Boston or any other of those cities with insane property values, when you can live a much more comfortable lifestyle in the Midwest. It's not like I'm living in the middle of nowhere either, Columbus is the 15th largest city in the U.S. The only reason I could understand living in one of the expensive regions is if I had an extremely well paying job that made a $500,000 house seem trivial or if the majority of my immediate family lived in that region. Even if my family was there though, I think I would sell the expensive property and move them all to the midwest where they could live like royalty. :)[/QUOTE]

I guess it's a personal decision. I couldn't stand not living near NY. I'd go crazy otherwise. I'm not sure why I'd go crazy but I have relatives that live out in the sticks (Pittsburgh - hey, it's the sticks to me) and I laugh everytime they talk about going to "the city" because it's so small. I guess living outside NYC and working in Manhattan is really all I know though. Plus, most of my immediate family is here.

It's not that a $500,000 house is trivial or anything - it is insanely expensive but less than 1/2 of my monthly take home pay covers the mortgage so it's not like I am house-poor either. I do know that I wouldn't be as happy somewhere else making 1/3 of what I make now and living in a house 1/3 the cost.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']If you're so unhappy with your life, electrictroy, a shotgun blast to the face takes care of your involvement with your life.[/QUOTE]


I can't believe that vicious & bloody insult just came from a MODERATOR. You sir don't deserve to have that job.


Ya know... you have no idea what kind of person I may be. I could be borderline suicidal & your callous hatred are the encouragement I need to actually DO kill myself.

troy
 
[quote name='Kayden']Actually... if you lost your mind, you wouldn't really care. :lol:[/QUOTE]

I don't literally mean losing my mind as in crazy but more like Alzheimer's or losing my memory. :lol: If there was anything to fear for me it would be getting Alzheimer's as it would basically be a degeneration of my mind as well as the thing that specifically made me, well, me. I think that's a worse fate than going to Hell or dying. It's essentially a death of personality. If I lost the memory of who I am as a person that would basically mean that I'm dead and the person who wakes up from the coma would be a blank slate and not me despite having my flesh, my bones, my body & my brain.
 
I have a grandmother with Parkinson's - her mind is sharp but her body is failing. She can't walk or even go to the bathroom by herself. She also can't keep up around the dinner table even though she hears everything and knows exactly what is going on because her mouth can't get the words out fast enough. My other grandmother has Alzheimer's - she is in a home and barely recognizes her own family yet she is very healthy and lives in a state of total bliss because she doesn't know there is anything wrong. I'm not sure what is worse.
 
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