by angryinma » Fri 21 Jan 2005, 12:12:22
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', 'Y')ou are in a great stage of life. Be thankful you are not old and/or helpless. You should be able to enjoy a long and happy life. Also, you have plenty of time ahead to plot out your strategy, etc. so you are in a really good position.
a. It is not at all certain when the peak will be, and if and when it hits, how hard, so best to hang out and monitor the situation, gather news and other ideas, and keep informed. In other words, don't panic (yet).
b. If you can afford to have kids, go ahead. If you cannot afford to have kids, do not. Raise them responsibly, with respect for nature and science. They might discover something interesting in 40 years that will benefit humankind. In 5-7 years, they can be a source of cheap labor.
c. You did the right thing by paying down your credit cards. Keep it that way. You should be doing this anyway.
d. Buy a cheaper house than you can afford. Put leftover funds to various wealth-building activities. Difficult in New England, but do-able.
e. live frugally. Eat and dress cheap. You should be doing this anyway.
f. Get in shape. Stay in good health. You should be doing this anyway. Get a bicycle (cheap one, not one of those $1500 ones) and ride it on the weekends.
g. If you are making payments on a car, get rid of it, and get a good running but bad looking cheaper car, and put leftover funds to various wealth-building activities. You should be doing this anyway.
h. You have river property in the NE? How lucky can you be! Start spending time there, and plant some fruit trees. You should be doing this anyway. Learn to fish, if you have not already.
i. You have access to surplus stuff at the store? How lucky can you be! It will enable you to live cheaply.
j. You have a shed? How lucky can you be! Start accumulating antique hand tools on the weekends (common in New England) farming tools, hand-operated wood tools, etc. If the peak hits and you need tools, you will have them, if not, you cash them in later on Ebay as antiques. It's a no-lose situation.
If nothing happens in 10 years, just by doing the things you should be doing anyway, you will have accumualted enough wealth, at a young enough stage in life to be able to hang in there no matter what happens. If something does happen, you will be better prepared than 90% of the general public, and also be able to make constructive plans because you gave the matter some thought beforehand.
More ramblings..
A..... Trying
B..... Kids weren't in my future for at least 10 years.. I'm only 25, the girl is still in college... We both decided we wanted a house before kids... I've seen lots of friends fall into the trap of Get-a-job/married/have kids.... Oddly, their standard of living sucks... People seem to get more money, and immediately spend PAST what they have. Kids are included in that.
C. Agreed. I got stupid in college, mainly with (gasp/sigh) car stuff.. At it's peak it was $4K... Finally disappeared last month, took me 6 months of working full time.. I thought I screwed up, and felt really down on myself, until I heard from some friends with college bills and credit card debt in excess of $30K.
See B about living beyond my means.
D. Well, I'm lucky/unlucky to still be at home with the parents. The house is very small by US standards (35/40 or so by 20, single floor).. One *good* thing, is I hope the credit bubble WILL burst, and I could get in on one of these now cheap homes, within my means of course... As of now, "Assisted living" requires you to make less than... $45k!
for housing cost assistance.
E. I do. Or at least, I like to THINK I do. It sickens me at restaurants when people leave a plate half-full. I mean sometimes it IS excuseable, if you are sick, something wrong with the food, etc.. but.. *sigh*. As for clothing... Most everything is jeans tshirts,hooded sweatshirts. I dress for comfort at work. Jewelry always seemed frivilous (I'm very lucky the girl also agrees, she said she'd be happier when we got engaged (not yet, but hypothetically) if the ring was smaller, and the money went to a downpayment on a house, for example.
F. Imma skinny white boy
In all seriousness, I think I'm good to go in that respect. The bike was on the list before actually, as the girl wants to go riding so she can get into shape.. I gawk at people who gorge themselves on food, and then complain when they can't fit into their car (no joke)... Isn't it easy to STOP EATING WHEN YOU ARE FULL?.. again *sigh*.. American's suck in that respect.. Maybe I'm lucky because I have the metabolism of a small furry rodent, but still.. How do people GET SO LARGE??
G. The car was cheap, and was paid for with cash. I did paint it and go through it mechanically, but that's all paid for. Currently it gets 24 MPG... I did have an engine swap planned. .For reasons that are beyond this post, a larger engine in this car gets much better mileage (34 mpg, reported on my forums).. I *was* going to do this for performance reasons... but now I want to do it even more..
H. The river is actually a pond connected to a river, and it's secluded/wooded/etc. My main concerns would be how to purify it (not really chemical laden, but, mucky at spots.. or is that muck good for ya?)
I. Yes. I can get things at wholesale, and the previously reported damages. Just a word of advice to everyone. Those expiration dates on medicine for the most part, are false. Add a few years to them... Many of them are there, 'early' for consumer purposes. (what the hell goes bad in toothpaste). I am going to toss a few large boxes of meds in my shed... i figure a few of those flashlights couldn't hurt either..
J. I have some, and could fabricate what I need.. Ebay is already my friend for junk removal.
As for the girl, that's the big question. Her big hobby is painting/crafts. Even before this, I always said to her I felt stupid because of my choices in school (I changed from engineering to sigh, economics, because I found 3 levels of calculus heady).. She has constantly tried to reassure me she doesn't want/live for/need for much.. Which IS true from what I see... She never buys anything for herself.. none of this "Oh that ____ Is great on TV, I want one". She is very rare. She is also extremely intelligent (4.0 GPA in college... graduated 3 out of 700 in high school). I'm just afraid to skirt the issue.. maybe I should pop in "the Road Warrior" and see what she says to me (IMO that would be worst case scenario)...
Hmm.. rattling off this list DID make me feel a bit better.. As for my goals BEFORE this. I don't/never did want a "McMansion". Nor did I want 5 kids because I could or 'it happens'. God even w/o contraception the rhythm method is "somewhat" effective.. Hmm I better stack up on non lubed condoms too
As for the work button.. I work with the owner of the company. We had 9 stores... sold 4 5 years ago. No plans to expand. The guy is "old school".. shut lights when you leave rooms, use old excel printouts as scrappaper.. (this should be common sense to all now that I think about it). I've never had new bound blank paper, we just use scrappaper at the office for most things. He hoards too, the warehouse is full of junk.. Ok, end of rambling part 2. Thanks for welcoming me
In all seriousness.. I guess for now I AM doing what I can.
