September's I can't afford it winner

So I'm NOT losing interest in this blog. Problem is I used to write on my work time. In between stops I would write for five minutes and over a course of a day around 45 minutes. Think that's unfair to my employer? Well I don't. I don't think I was paid what I was worth and in some cases my Commission dropped on stops I had done for years. Hostpitals were the worst truly a for profit institution that paid pennies on the dollar while expenocting thousands for their work! One hostpita I serviced paid me around 4 dollars an hour commission equivalent while I owed that same hostpital nearly 2 grand!!
And that is my short rant before announcing our winner of September's "I can't afford it award"

I had 2 contestants this month. One with a SUV I hate and one has my dream truck (or used to be my dream truck) both bought on looks and self gloating and one did at least pan out an investment. At least I could make that argument. Anyways let's get started.

The runner up is a freshly married young guy who's wife became pregnant! Where have I heard this story before?
Here
http://viscarjones.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-january-i-cant-afford-itaward-goes.html?m=1

Or here
http://viscarjones.blogspot.com/2016/05/mays-i-cant-afford-it-award-winner.html?m=1

Or more recently, here.
http://viscarjones.blogspot.com/2016/08/augest-winner-of-i-cant-afford-it-award.html?m=1
(Psh! I'm going to let you in on a little secret... It's not the babies fault your losing your car.......It's yours.... just thought you would like to know)


Seriously young married couples listen carefully! No dogs and no car loans! Your restricting your freedom! Trust me! Continuing on the runner up for September is this add.

And now I have to admit something.

I forgot to save this add.

So you will have to trust me when I explain it. A young couple was selling there newish Toyota Tacoma for around 16 grand. Why? For 1 they are having a baby and 2 they are moving away to college. Does anybody else see the red flags I am? For 1 they a having a baby while moving to college. You know what that means? Medicaid and free baby food. It is as you and I through our taxes are paying for that truck.

The winner of the "I can't afford it award" for September is
This guy

Still don't like Escalades. Used to but over the years they have been tainted by the people who drive them.

Im going to end on that.

Till next month.

Augest winner of the "I can't afford it award"

I have been so busy lately that I've had no time to complete these awards but without further ado and on the last days of this month I present to you the winner of this month's "I can't afford it" award

Before I do let me say this. I DO NOT like donating to the food bank. I hate  how our welfare system caters to those who continually dig themselves into these holes and expect the rest of us to feel sorry for them and the same goes for my own church welfare. I mean sure it's great but there are still those out there that don't have a clue how the financial world works. They arrive out of high school thinking they can be a parent and buy brand new vehicles only to have the government pay for their dr bills while they buy new vehicles!! And yes I have and do continually see this (stories coming soon). I am going to throw it out there that this couple who is selling this brand new 2016 50K vehicle (SERIOUSLY!!!) Have or will in the near future use one or several of those social programs listed above. It could be medicaid to pay for the baby mentioned in the add. It could be church assistance for rent or mortgage or even the food bank for food!! Why would you or I who have waited half our lives to live in a nice house and have sacrificed time away from our families to provide for them give of our food or our money to help these "poor" individuals who obviously need a brand new high priced vehicles!!

Uhg!!

Anyways back to the award.
(Clearing my throat)

The winner of the 2016 Augest I Can't Afford It Award goes to

The YOUNG couple (who has no clue of the value of a dollar) who clearly thought it was a good idea to impress their family with "their wealth" not to mention all of the people at a stop light they're never going to meet! The ones who pay over 700 a month plus insurance for this truck

And now they are probably the welfare office asking for help...

More to catch up on.

(Again disclamer, not all who use or have used social services due it with the intent to "milk the system". This is not pointed toward everyone)

Cheaper than counseling.

Sometimes I envy those who have parental support and I'm not talking just financial I'm talking about parents helping you out of a bind or showing up when you need them. At the same time I have again and again shared my feelings on how parental support can go both ways. It can be very damaging to give someone a sense of security to the point where they stop working as hard or in some cases stop working all together. A former friend had this happen to him.

Unfortunately he doesn't see it.

 Although his in laws are helping him by providing him with a place to stay at no cost he has relaxed his ambition to the point where he has drastically reduced his career sucess. Here he is 10 years into his marriage and out of those 10, two have been lived outside a parents home. His safety net has grown so big that he has (as far as I know) no ambition or plans to move out.

So I guess I can at least be thankful for parents who have not allowed me to move in with them.

Then again.....

You would think that a parent if asked would lend you SOME support. Maybe make some rules, write up a contract, have an end date you both agree to....

While away at college my second year I felt homesick. It was quite a stressful semester. Both me and my fiancé were struggling financially. She'd help me and then I would turn around and help her. To save money on food we would eat together buy our groceries together and split them. For example, we both didn't drink alot of milk so we saved a half gallon container and then split a gallon. Around Christmas time I decided I wanted to go to my parents house for new years. Unfortunately, (me being a financial guy even back then) I figured out I only had enough money for a one way trip. I made a plan to work a few jobs while up at my parents to get enough money to drive there and back. Murphys Law took affect on our way there. My Rodeo struggled from somewhere in southern Utah all the way up to Idaho. At times my top speed was 45 mph. After making it to our destination I found out a few days later that my rodeo needed a  new fuel filter and unfortunately I used up all my time trying to figure that out. As with most of my siblings at one point or another I decided to ask my parents for some cash to get back home. Let me remind you I'm a poor college student who wanted to go home for the holidays. Most normal parents might give you a few bucks to help you out. Some may even WANT you to come visit for the holidays and may even pay for your trip! Such events must be rare because I've never experienced such a thing.

Anyways back to my main story.

At first my mom said yes. She would lend me the 100 dollars cash. Later that night my mom called me into the kitchen. When I got there my dad was sitting down and there was a hand written contract on the table.

For 100 dollars (plus some previous amounts for insurance) I signed that contract at a 5% interest.

Want to know the rest of the story?

Two days later I payed my parents off!
I had a check in the mail for 900 dollars from a pending insurance claim right when I got back to my house.

That felt good.

Around 2 years later my younger brother decided he was going to become a rich real estate investor and wanted to go to school for that. For 20 GRAND! Found out later that my parents lent him that money. As far as I know without a contract.

That's the back story to my recent experience.

So here I am years later and a few instances later including my sister moving in with my parents temporarily where I finally decided to humble myself and ask my parents for temporary assistance. I called my mom after selling our house and asked her if we could stay temporarily at their place until we find and buy a house. At first the answer was "ok" I wasn't expecting an excited answer but I was expecting a fair judgment call. Something along the lines of " I let my daughter and son in law stay  and have given support to my children who have needed support. My son is asking for temporary support. I don't want to at this time but if the shoe was on the other foot what woul
Would my expectations be"?

Anyways

Again......after a few weeks my mom sends me a text basically telling me to seek a rental because she fears us living with her will cause a disruption in their lifestyle.

I'm sometimes an emotional person and I got to say, that hurt. I try to understand people's decision and why they make them. I try to put myself in their shoes and play out scenarios in my head that they would go through and I seriously thought they would be fine with us living with us. They were not.

Now what?

I ask this question because what happens when the tables are turned. What happens if they need help or a place to stay. Do I stick to obeying the comandment honor thy father and thy mother or do I use that situation as a teaching moment that I feel they need to relearn? I honestly think and hope I would show them I am better than that. I would hope I would just put my feelings aside and figure out what's best short term.

I think I will leave it at that.

Just another post expressing my feelings.

Cheaper than a counseling!

June's winner of the "I CAN'T AFFORD IT AWARD"

Wow what an exciting month. Alot of changes has happened in my world. Changes that can soon chose the fate of this blog. More on that later.

Anyways.

Let me introduce you to June 2016 winner of the "I can't afford it award"

So remember back a few post how I would talk about this young married couple syndrome. Where  two young people from different backgrounds and two different financial educations get married. After marriage they feel like they can buy anything so they start getting things that their parents took years to get. The ironic thing is their parents are usually the ones educating them on how to get these things today such as furniture t.v. cars bigger houses, instead of earning and learning how to better control money over time. My in laws were that way with my wife. Maybe it was because they wanted my wife to not struggle without like they did, BUT! Ironically they struggled because they followed those exact teachings they taught my wife! It takes dicipline and money management skills to be successful. It takes a desire to be in control of your money flow not a slave to it.

Now that I have my thoughts out this month let's move on.

The winner of June 2016 "I can't afford it award" goes to.....

This young married couple with this add.

And now because they can't take it back they have become a slave to it. 

I am reading a book right now about creating your own bank. In it the auther "something" Nash claims that 35% of the money we earn goes to interest. We lose 35% of every dollar we make!! That is unacceptable!! Be in control. Don't let your finances control you. Go to work to make a paycheck for yourself not for your financial institutions.

Just another post on irresponsible pet ownership

I've often wrote many times my feelings on responsible pet ownership. In a nutshell if you own a dog horse or an animal that requires vet bills and large amounts of money to feed it you should not need financial or living assistance. With the exception of medical needs, people who actually need a trained licensed assistance animal (NOT A SOCIAL OR A COMEFORT ANIMAL!), the elderly and other special circumstances. You should not require or need financial or food assistance the entire time you own that animal. That is my stance those are my feelings. Society should not take care of your dog or your horse through food donations fast offering donations or tax funded social services that you use and in turn save money on food or rent and because of that you have funds to pay for your animals food or vet bills. Non stop I see people setting up gofundme accounts asking to save them from a financial hardship that was caused by a freak accident to their dog. It's their dog! You mean to tell me they can't take care of it?? Get a freaking second job and take care of this financial problem yourself! It's your responsibility its your dog.

This is not to say every situation is the same. People do get injured or have emergencies out of their control. Still a job loss should always be calculated into EVERY decision.

So for years now I have been predicting who of my extended family is at risk of a financial misshap. Again I have to hand it to my side of our family for being fiscally responsible. You will not see these same problems. Why? My parents taught us the value of a dollar my rich uncle taught us about debt and why we should stay clear of it. Our last reunion looked like we had jumped back in time with all the old trailers and old vehicles yet I can guarantee you we were alot better off financially then our neighbors at that same campground.

Anyways

I have this sister in law for years I have been guessing that she has been one of those people living off parental assistance which I have talked about. Now why is this my buisness? Well I've been noticing ever since she has moved into my in laws place the amount of assistance we get has dropped dramatically.(assistance as in the occasional meal or movies paid for and sometimes trip reimbursement for visiting) We don't get the same treatment we used to. We don't even get the fridge stocked when we go down to visit. We've even reduced the amount of times we go down there because of how uninviting they have become and not all of it is due to money some of it is due to them buying nice couches that they cannot afford that my kids are barely allowed to sit on.

So I'm getting off track
Anyways

This sister in law has a dog she's very emotionally attached to. The dog did not have a leash on it when it darted out into traffic got hit and broke both legs. On top of the new 1500 dollar vet bill she has 3500 in credit card debt and almost 12 grand in a car loan.

So what does she do when an emergency happens?

She ask for the publics help.

Look I want to responsibly own a pet someday but I guarantee you I will not be asking for crowd donations when it gets sick or injured and if I don't have money for food or living expenses that dog will need to be rehomed. You cannot afford a dog if you cannot afford your own living expenses.

Here's another example of an irresponsible pet owner.

And another

And even one more example.

Brings new light to the phrase "everybody and their dog" is asking for help LOL.

So I guess my main point is this. Those of you who want a pet but know like I do that right now is not the time to take on an animal that needs to be fed have lots of attention and an occasional vet bill be careful what charities you donate to. Alot of people who rely on those charities have pets that they shouldn't have you yourself deserve more. They take more you give what you can yet your the one sacrificing daily going without they're not.

May's "I can't afford it award" winner!

Found another winner.
So I want to clarify how I go about finding these adds that Become winners. There are so many (unfortunately) of people that find themselves tied up in a car loan they can barely afford if at all. Most of them are just plain uhm what's the word........ (*****) and have not an ounce of common sense. To nominate them and say they should of known better is like telling that to a tree that fell across a road. You can't teach everyone. Not everyone wants to learn. There are however some people that are smart yet do not look towards the future and calculate what would happen if I did this or what are the chances of this happening
For example: I contemplate buying a car after I get married and then ask myself,

(A=answer)

 What is the chance of my wife getting pregnant? A.There is a chance.
 If she gets pregnant will she stop working? A. Yes.
 Will she get paid? A.No.
How much are the medical bills going to be?A. Alot.
Can we afford this payment and living expenses while she's on leave?A. No.
 If I get a second job? A.Yes barely.
Is it then worth it to buy this car?.......

I'm currently in this situation right now. I am in the process of buying a bigger better more expensive house and I too have been drilling deep with scenarios to make sure I make an economical wise decision where the chances of losing our next house to foreclosure is slim. Your not preparing for the end of the world you are simply helping out your future self. He or she deserves a better life than your living right now. With that being said I chose this person to be my Month of May I can't afford it award winner.

"Would love to pay off my lease" ???

You are not even owning your car!?

This is a flashback for me. When I bought my brand new Hyundai back in 2007 I was barely married was not planning on having kids for at least another year and even had a plan on paying off that car within a year. What happened? Well let's just say antibiotics do not mix with birth control.

I think this individual is smarter than this. If she wasn't she wouldn't be trying to get her situation better before it gets worse.

I am now 3 months into no car payments and let me tell you this. It's an amazing feeling being free and a weird feeling having few bills each month. I can now pay all of my bills with the exception of the mortgage with 1 paycheck. I have went from 15 bills a month to 7. And I have a small emergency fund!

Thats it for now.

That's odd

Sometimes I wonder who actually reads my blog. I know that most of my readers are just accidental browsers who just found my page by searching google.
Two weeks ago I wrote about financial segregation in the church. Last week on Thursday I see this come across my news feed

That's odd because quite frankly I have NEVER even heard the term Income Segregation! Seriously are there news agencies using my material for inspired stories???

Doubt it.

But......

This is the second time this has happened.

I wrote about tithing a few months back and a week later a news story came across my news feed on the origination of tithing.

Interesting

 just interesting....