Fack!!! I'm jealous of a crack-head!

[joegrec]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

Is everyone except me rich????

I'm just watching intervention right now. There's a girl who's under 30 who works as a hairstylist, is bulemic, an alcoholic, a meth-head and addicted to cocaine and she lives with her boyfriend who's also addicted to coke and meth. Yet somehow, she drives a Nissan 350Z and lives in a nice house I could never afford. Meanwhile I'm a 26 year-old accountant with a big4 firm making a crappy wage and driving a '98 camry.

How the f' do these people get this much money and how do I do this? I'm starting to think the key to success for me is a coke problem.

Edit: Fack!!! They just said she's 25!

My advice to you is keep your head down and work hard for 10 years, make partner at your firm. Then you will have plenty of money and then you will be able to afford the luxuries of life, like a coke habit.

 

[NorCal]

Originally Posted by v0rtex

• The typical American household has $38k in debt, up 3x since 1980 (Consumer Reports Money Book)
  
• 71% of Americans say debts are making their home lives unhappy (Consolidated Credit Counselling Services survey)
  
• 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck (WSJ)
  
• Mortgage debt has doubled since the early 90s (Federal Reserve)

38k in debt seems really low. It must be all those that really have nothing, including debt.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

Keep telling yourself that while you work a ****** job and retire at 60 to finally start living.

Ouch. I wish I believed in reincarnation so I could hope to come back, born to a rich family, and be able to say things like this to those born into modest circumstances. This is about the snarkiest, "**** you, I got mine" I've ever read here.

 

[darkdream]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Ouch. I wish I believed in reincarnation so I could hope to come back, born to a rich family, and be able to say things like this to those born into modest circumstances. This is about the snarkiest, "**** you, I got mine" I've ever read here.

Not all wealthy families give their children direct inheritances, many do trust funds rewarding them based on their own success.

 

[downwithianbrown]

i have no car, no savings, and 2k total in debt (not credit cards). I make 35k a year. am I doing better than the average american? It doesn't feel like i am. who is this dave ramsey?

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by darkdream

Not all wealthy families give their children direct inheritances, many do trust funds rewarding them based on their own success.

You miss the point. These children would still be born with copious amounts of social capital, precluding them from having to work a "****** job" and not start living until 60.

 

[teddieriley]

Originally Posted by TRINI

Cocaine addiction is not crack addiction.

But crack is a ghetto person's cocaine. But of course, there is a distinction. You tell me you got a coke habbit, I assume you are a white-privileged brat that, if caught by the cops, will probably serve 3 months probation. You tell me you got a crack habit, you are black or some other minority smoking your shiet, and if caught, will be put away for a few years.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

You miss the point. These children would still be born with copious amounts of social capital, precluding them from having to work a "****** job" and not start living until 60.

Well life is also about "how you start" and, yes, that can mean birth lottery but in that case I was addressing the stupidity of waiting until you retire to live like you want to. I'm not saying there aren't circumstances everywhere that constraint us but shedding that attitude of transferring heaven and hell to the "stages" of a life is a good start to enjoying it now. The OP should re caliber his expectations and priorities and slopho too. The crackheads have a nicer car than mine boofuckinghoo.

 

[APK]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

You miss the point. These children would still be born with copious amounts of social capital, precluding them from having to work a "****** job" and not start living until 60.
I know someone who was damn near broke until his trust fund kicked in. At that point, he started some poorly executed business ventures, none of which did well. Still, he tries to convey this image of success through his own hard work, when in reality, it's his trust fund that allows him to embark on these endeavors. He'd be living out of his car without that trust fund.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by APK

I know someone who was damn near broke until his trust fund kicked in. At that point, he started some poorly executed business ventures, none of which did well. Still, he tries to convey this image of success through his own hard work, when in reality, it's his trust fund that allows him to embark on these endeavors. He'd be living out of his car without that trust fund.

I know this guy who was born in the third world and grew up in extreme poverty, he went on to become a successful entrepreneur and is now worth a load of $$$. Using our sample of two we can now conclude that people born rich end up nearly living out of their cars and that those born in the third world go on to become super-rich. Either that or we can account for outliers while still knowing what the tendency is.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

Well life is also about "how you start" and, yes, that can mean birth lottery but in that case I was addressing the stupidity of waiting until you retire to live like you want to. I'm not saying there aren't circumstances everywhere that constraint us but shedding that attitude of transferring heaven and hell to the "stages" of a life is a good start to enjoying it now. The OP should re caliber his expectations and priorities and slopho too. The crackheads have a nicer car than mine boofuckinghoo.

Ah, I see what you're saying now. To a reasonable extent, I agree with you, and do just that. However, a certain amount of delayed gratification is needed for most of us to rise beyond out beginnings.

 

[APK]

My point was that he hasn't needed to work hard since his trust fund kicked in. He just creates a lot of smokescreen businesses that never make any money because they're just half-baked ideas used to help enforce his need to be seen as a successful businessman. Someone without that cushion of the trust fund would actually have to go out, work, and make things happen if they wanted to get anywhere.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Piobaire

Ah, I see what you're saying now. To a reasonable extent, I agree with you, and do just that. However, a certain amount of delayed gratification is needed for most of us to rise beyond out beginnings.
Yes, I just feel that, for example, most misunderstand the nature of savings as delayed gratification (i.e. it's also possible to enjoy yourself now or in various configurations of now + future depending on what you want/need) when they discuss it. Of course linking your happiness to money is bound to be unsuccessful beyond a very low (relatively speaking) threshold that is almost universally met in western countries.

 

[AR_Six]

Wait wait the average US household has $38k in debt?! **** my life, I have more debt than that myself and I don't even HAVE a household.

 

[FidelCashflow]

Originally Posted by Davidko19

i think i saw that one before. Isnt she/wasnt she kinda hot?
Yeah, she was a hairtsylist who brought herself a ton of plastic surgery for her 21st birthday (fake ****, lipo, etc.) Someone told me if you use meth long enough, it disfigures your face... clearly she's found a way around this.

Originally Posted by imageWIS

Now I'm curious: what episode was it? Did you see it online?
It just aired last night. It's Intevention: Casie, you can see it online here: http://www.aetv.com/intervention/video/

Originally Posted by Raoul Duke

On edit: Thinking of the other thread. How are you so bored as an accountant? I've been busting ****** for the last 3 months. For the past 3 weeks, I've been working 70 hour weeks.
things have tapered off in the last little while and busy season is over for me, but today I was at the office until 9 and expect to be there again like that for the next few days. ---- I don't know if I was as much dissapointed and just shocked by that episode. It just challenged all my preconceived notions of how to be succesful in this world. My parents always taught me "work hard and get a good education and blah blah blah" and how "if you do drugs, you'lll end up on the street" It's like whenever I see a straight-up guido in a Ed Hardy t-shirt driving a range rover, cadillac escalade, or a dodge viper. They look like total meat-heads, and I just wonder "maybe this guy has a trust fund, or is a club owner or something" I just can't wrap my head around it. I have a pretty high credit rating, but even if I took all my savings and went to a bank that was giving irresponsibly large loans, I still don't think they'd give me enough money to buy a house and a car like that. Surely at some point the bank considers your income as a sign of your ability to repay a loan.