I think there is a whole lot of variability in this equation. I do try to keep some "cushion" in the bank, but I can borrow if I have to. So if I have drained the savings I can still get by via borrowing for a while if necessary.
I'm fortunate that my employment is very steady. The chances of me losing my job are slim. If it were less steady I'd be better about keeping that cash stashed.
If the unlikely did happen and I lost my job I would pretty quickly have access to a large stash of cash. Which I'd rather save but would spend if it saves my ass from starving and foreclosure.
There are other ways to cut expenses too. I’ll bet a lot of people (not all, but a lot of them, maybe even a majority) are paying for things they don’t need when they’re living paycheck to paycheck. Things like Spotify, Netflix, fast food, car washes, probably even car payments on a car that is beyond their means or at the least way more car than they need.
Every friend of mine I’ve helped get to a financially stable and responsible point in their life could do it without having to increase their income. Obviously an increase in income makes it a lot easier to do this, but if you don’t have the behaviors down, then you’re just going to creep your lifestyle when you make more money.
What you mean by ‘don’t need’ is ‘don’t need as long as they don’t want to have a slightly better level of life quality than if they were dirt poor.’
You don’t literally need things like Netflix or fast food, but they make your life more tolerable right now so that you don’t die of the endless stress and misery.
Sure, there are ways some people can cut expenses. There are also ways people could cut expenses, but at the expense of their own basic mental health.
Not having Netflix and the like does not make one dirt poor. That is such an entitled view to have. Literally first world problems if your mental health can’t handle not having the latest entertainment. Go to a library for goodness sakes.
I didn’t say they were. Please re-read what I wrote:
What you mean by ‘don’t need’ is ‘don’t need as long as they don’t want to have a slightly better level of life quality than if they were dirt poor.’
Yes, you can go to a library. I love libraries. My wife is a librarian. That doesn’t mean I don’t think people shouldn’t spend $7 a month for a lowest tier Netflix account just to make their lives a little better. Maybe Netflix wouldn’t make your life better. Someone with kids who wants them to be able to watch Teletubbies or Peppa Pig whenever they want, that makes both the parents’ lives and the kids’ lives better.
You are doing something no different from the “stop eating so much avocado toast” guy. Maybe not having avocado toast is a first world problem, but those people don’t live in a third world country. So why should they live like they do?
I was super poor in the 1990s. I still bought CDs and DVDs because they made my life better so I wasn’t unhappy all the time. Sure, I could have gotten all of my music and movies from the library. On the other hand, I couldn’t have listened to the music I liked any time I wanted. Could I have instead saved that money for an emergency or for retirement? Sure I could have. It would have made my life worse and, yes, been damaging to my mental health. I’m not sure why you think libraries existing cure any mental health issues brought upon by not being able to afford to have a better quality of life in a first world country.
I’m not saying Netflix and fast food are keeping people poor like that guy about avocado toast.
I’m saying that if you can’t afford an emergency, that’s an emergency itself.
Buying fast food and Netflix (and all the other things that go with that) instead of saving up so you can afford an emergency is irresponsible.
Not being able to afford Netflix and/or fast food isn’t being “slightly better quality of life than if they were dirt poor.” I may not have been dirt poor. But I was buy expired milk and bread to freeze, can’t afford minutes for my flip phone while my friends have smart phones, poor. And my quality of life wasn’t “slightly better” than “dirt poor.” I had a furnished apartment, a color TV, and was able to borrow videos from the library for entertainment.
And I’m saying not spending $15-$30 a month on things that make your quality of life better is not enough to cover any emergency you need to save cash for.
Not having running water is also a first world problem. I assume you think people want running water.
As for a flip phone, do you think anyone can get by in the modern world with a flip phone unless they are working some incredibly shitty job? You were poor when things were cheaper. The fact that you mentioned a color TV alone shows that this was a long time ago now that all TVs are color TVs.
This is no different from “I could afford college when I went without taking out any loans.”
It was the mid 2000’s. And people spend a lot more than $15-30/month on fast food and streaming services. For the people whose finances I’ve seen, it’s usually closer to 30% of their monthly income that goes to pure wants.
Also, someone can absolutely survive in today’s world without a smart phone. It definitely makes things easier to have one though. Not really comparable to today anyway. You can get a basic smartphone for free nowadays. Couldn’t do that back in the 2000’s. The equivalent today is getting a flagship versus a cheapy phone.
I agree that water is a need. I’m talking strictly fast food, eating out, and things like Netflix, Spotify, etc.
This the second time you’ve put words in my mouth. I may have misunderstood what you said initially. But first you’re saying I’m like that avocado toast guy (when I’m not saying people can solve their poverty), and now you’re saying I’m a college was cheap for me guy.
Costs are higher than they have ever been and that’s why it’s even more important these days to control your spending. Costs are high. Wages haven’t kept up. It’s the sucky reality of the world we live in and telling people to keep spending their money irresponsibly in the name of comfort is just going to damn them to worse conditions as they go into debt when real problems arise and that debt puts them in even worse conditions where now they absolutely cannot afford their true bottom of the barrel needs without more debt.
It was the mid 2000’s. And people spend a lot more than $15-30/month on fast food and streaming services. For the people whose finances I’ve seen, it’s usually closer to 30% of their monthly income that goes to pure wants.
And yet you made a general statement about poor people saying that none of them should spend the $7.99 a month for the lowest tier Netflix service because that $7.99 could go into their emergency fund instead.
We’re talking in circles. You think I only mentioned Netflix. I didn’t. I also said fast food. You also think I said poor people. I didn’t. My suggestion is for everyone.
If you can’t afford luxury items (and I include fast food and streaming services in that category) then you shouldn’t spend your money on them.
I would no sooner suggest someone to purchase Netflix over feeding themselves and their family. And that’s what you could end up having to spend your emergency fund on if you lose your job. But you place these luxuries on the same tier as necessities and that’s just simply irresponsible.
Go ahead and tell all your friends and family, “Don’t worry, I know money is tight, but you shouldn’t save for future emergencies by cutting corners today. I think you should give that money to McDonald’s and Netflix. They clearly need it more than you do. I mean, you can always just put it on your credit card and pay 30% interest!”
So everyone should not pay $7.99 a month plus maybe $20 for fast food to because then they’ll have an emergency fund? And without that per month you’ll be able to afford to feed your family? That’s nonsense. Even if it were $50 a month, that would be nonsense.
People are entitled to live decent lives where they aren’t miserable all the time. I have no idea why you think they aren’t.
What do you suggest people do? What would you tell someone who is scraping by and doesn’t have an emergency fund to do? Would you say they should carry on and not worry about emergencies? How should they deal with it when one does come along? I’m genuinely curious what your suggestions would be
I wish everyone could live the perfect most comfortable lives all the time. Seriously I do. But you can’t ignore that the reality is that’s not the world you and I live in and sometimes it comes down to survival…
An average is just that, an average. And it’s an average heavily weighted towards the rich.
It means that a vast percentage of people spend less than that, some of them far less.
And what I suggest they do is keep doing it because it’s only a few bucks a month and it won’t make a difference.
My family is not poor and we do not spend anywhere near $300 a month eating out. But we do eat out sometimes. It makes us happy. Sometimes I buy Taco Bell for my daughter. It makes her happy and I like to make her happy because it makes me happy.
You would have us never do any of it.
What else should people deny their kids in the name of money? Toys? Let them play with a stick and a rock?
I never said everyone. I never made that assumption. I only suggested that everyone should prioritize saving for an emergency over luxury.
I would suggest you do other things for your family to make them happy that doesn’t involve spending money. Go to the library, parks, etc.
It’s not in the name of money that you temporarily withhold these things. It’s in the name of survival and making sure your kids aren’t obligated to take care of you in the future.
Your mentality is one of denial and defeatism. You don’t want to improve your life because you’d rather have a few nice temporary things in the now.
What should someone do when an emergency comes along and they don’t have the money to afford it? You’re not thinking ahead.
It’s not about the money. Without an emergency fund, you are stuck going into debt. If something happens to you or your family and you have to go into debt, what then? Do you still keep eating out and go further into debt? So you never retire? You force your daughter to have to help support you when you’re older and no longer able to work? All because you didn’t want to change your situation? Because it’s just a few bucks and won’t make a difference?
I’m not going to call you a liar, but do you actually track your spending? Is it really $20/mo on eating out? Every single person who has told me they only spend a few bucks on eating out was proven wrong when we went through their spending.
We’re talking in circles. You think I only mentioned Netflix. I didn’t. I also said fast food. You also think I said poor people. I didn’t. My suggestion is for everyone.
…this is exhausting. I said my suggestion is for everyone. Not that everyone spends $300/mo.
I’m done with this conversation. Several times now you’ve either put words in my mouth or taken what I’ve said out of context. I figured at first that you just thought I was targeting or speaking ill of poor people. Or that I thought “this one simple trick will guarantee that you’re not poor” or some other such nonsense. I figured that maybe a little back and forth would help clarify my position.
Clearly you think people spend a lot less than they do and that there’s no point in even trying to improve one’s situation.
You are correct, of course; I’m being facetious because half the comments here seem to be from people who are renting somewhere that costs their entire salary
Also, 6 months may be more than needed depending on your field. If you lost your job today how long would it take you to find a new one? It could be six month but maybe less. I keep 3 months of expenses on hand because it has never taken me more than a month to find a different job.
Wyoming and Colorado, and Nebraska and Kansas respectively, make me want to become colour-blind. Utah and Arizona together though are atrocious either way.
oof, I don’t remember cutting off fingers in the version I was familiar with as a child. I guess they left that part out, cuz it’s a story for children of course
They mix different stories, but they keep the gruesome parts. Its still a kids show too. It was kind of whack but my kid likes creepy shit until its bedtime.
Ok that justifies my hatred of treadmills. Is there a way to justify my hatred of all other forms of exercise also? I know I should exercise more - but....it just seems like work to me.
I know I was being very facetious. Sort of. Um maybe not, I really do hate lifting a finger, let alone an arm or leg. Partly it's because of hernias that I'm kind of afraid of doing too much activity, and partly I'm just lazy by nature.
No, I didn’t faceplant on one as a child and have the skin rubbed off and now as an adult absolutely hates the things for no real logical reason, I don’t know what you’re talking about
There are perfectly logical reasons outside of face planting to hate them. I get that the weather can be shitty outside sometimes, but I’ll take some scenery over a treadmill any day.
This is it for me. I have friends who train for halfs and marathons on a treadmill, and I struggle to focus beyond a mile and a half or so. It’s not the cardio element, it’s just the sheer boredom factor.
Getting out and about even in gash weather is infinitely preferable from my perspective. I’d much rather smash in six miles on tarmac than one or two on the treaddy. Plus, you can’t rack up Pokémon Go distance on a treadmill.
Richard Elfman put out a computer colorized version a few years ago- but he made it look like a 1930s Technicolor movie in terms of the color scheme, so it’s one of the only colorized movies I’ve ever seen that actually improved upon the original. He also put out an even newer edition where he digitally replaced the head of the blackface guy at the beginning with a clown. I haven’t seen that version. If he just updated the head and not the voice, though, why bother?
I noticed many commonalities with other media, which I will lay out non-exhaustively under a spoiler tag below. I welcome any additional such commonalities you or anyone else might be able to point out:
::: spoiler spoiler
Apprentice To Murder – A minor goes on trial for violence they did not instigate then upon release goes on to live in the city with their girlfriend
Nightmare On Elm Street II: Freddy’s Revenge – Anxiety related to and around homosexuality sublimated into threats from bladed instruments
Una Mujer Fantástica – A Queer person has to ignore horrific anti-Queer abuse they are directly subjected to lest they face additional worse abuse
Mommy Dearest – An overbearing mother figure slaps her child
Friday The 13th part 3-D – Red fabric and a rapid frame cut is used to imply blood resulting from a head injury
Empire Record – A person acting slutty and offering sex in an attempt at gaining intimate connection is dismissively instructed to preform fellatio instead
The photography of Eugeny Hramenkov – a person is forced to drink milk
A Clockwork Orange – People add drugs to milk
Clerks II – A person drops a ring on the ground as a way to deride the person in front of them
Misery – A caregiver intentionally keeps their charge infirmed to keep them around
Grandmother’s House – A person faces violence and misinformation about their mother at an initially unfamiliar relative’s house at which they are left
Meet Your Meat – A filthy pig gets shot with a gun
Harold and Maude – An older woman kisses a younger man
Johnny Mnemonic – After a lethal struggle with an adversary seemingly ends, the prior threat subsequently moves while being just garbage
Breakfast Club – A character considers it appropriate to consume things directly out of the carton
Mac and Me – Someone loses control of a wheeled conveyance and plummets off a cliff
Psycho – A killer converses with a dead body
Arsenic and Old Lace – An elderly woman keeps a body she is responsible for the death of in her basement
Revenge of the Nerds – A character coming across a condom is less-than-thrilled about the use to which the person in possession of the condom intends the condom to be put
Juwanna Mann – An aunt disapproves of her nephew playing on a basketball team
:::
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