First Steps...

[SubPrimeME]

Way to go! Thanks for posting this - brag away!

I think the BK has really taught me a lot of things- that if you want to survive in this world you must live within your means.

I do hope other's read this and realize that it's time to put end to greed, and it's time to get back to the basics.

I'm not saying I'm better then anyone else, trust me- I wouldn't be here, but I had to learn from this, and the car was my first step- it was so cool, I went to this tiny little dealer, the guy was great, treated me with respect- he made 500 bucks, he showed me all of his paperwork. That's how it's supposed to work, not some god awful dealership making thousands!

[debtmonster]

Thank you for the kind words. I think the one thing that I had to get over was the 'hey he's driving a nicer car thing.' But as soon as I did that I felt like a great weight had come off of my shoulders. I know that sounds corny, but once you realize that it's just a car, you can move on to the more important investments things.

I know that there are people who feel that cars are status symbols, but for me, I could care less. I want to provide for my family.

If it weren't for so much rain and cold, I would be driving a scooter... no more car insurance. All I would need is gas and tire money and then I could be REALLY living on the CHEAP!! Scooters are notorious for burning through tires because they have small wheels with soft rubber compound. And when I say "scooter", I don't mean some little 50-125cc thing that barely does 30-45 MPH, I'm talking about a Suzuki Burgman 650 or a Yamaha Majesty 400 that are capable of doing 100+ MPH on the highway. Problem is, those things are so expensive that you can buy a used car for less. <sigh> Look how expensive those things are. Those people are out of their minds to want prices like that.

I want to do what it says in the Dave Ramsey videos above... only problem is that there are no mutual funds that pay out 12% gains like he said in the videos. Right now they are all like -12% or worse.

[debtmonster]

I went to this tiny little dealer, the guy was great, treated me with respect- he made 500 bucks, he showed me all of his paperwork. That's how it's supposed to work, not some god awful dealership making thousands!

I can live with that! I know the dealers have to pay for the real estate, advertising, corporate taxes, sales people, salaries, electric, mechanics, tools, etc. I don't understand how a place like CarMax can stay in business ripping people off for $5,000 markup on their cars. When you trade a car in, they give you nothing for it. It's a total joke. Better to pay the small little dealers like you did.

I just got off the phone this morning with my dad talking all about my bankruptcy issues. Back around 1983 or 1984 after he got divorced from my mom, my mom got the house and car. My father had absolutely nothing when he left. He told me when he got his $500 dollar paycheck, he went to a used car dealer and bought a $500 dollar car with it.

Thing is, salaries haven't gone up much since then. You can't buy any car for $500 bucks that is anywhere near as nice as this car was. The interior in this thing that he bought was immaculate. I remember the car. A car like what he got is now at least 6 to 8x the cost, yet salaries are not up 6 to 8x what they were in 1983 or 1984.

We need a M-A-J-O-R depression. Things are just priced way out of hand. Houses should not be selling for $300k, $400k, $500k when the average household income of America is like $40k. The average cost of a home in this country should not top $120k, yet it's like $216k. This is why we're all living on credit. Our salaries have not kept up with inflation. We need a huge deflation to get all of the prices back in line. We need those $300k homes to foreclose and all sell for $90k like what they are TRULY worth.

[deadbroke99]

My DH and I attended a Dave Ramsey Financial Peace course. It was very good and I recommend it to all couples starting out. We were too far gone into debt for his plan to work for us. If I had taken that course when we first were married, I would not be here today. I would never have a credit card.

[SubPrimeME]

I can live with that! I know the dealers have to pay for the real estate, advertising, corporate taxes, sales people, salaries, electric, mechanics, tools, etc. I don't understand how a place like CarMax can stay in business ripping people off for $5,000 markup on their cars. When you trade a car in, they give you nothing for it. It's a total joke. Better to pay the small little dealers like you did.

I just got off the phone this morning with my dad talking all about my bankruptcy issues. Back around 1983 or 1984 after he got divorced from my mom, my mom got the house and car. My father had absolutely nothing when he left. He told me when he got his $500 dollar paycheck, he went to a used car dealer and bought a $500 dollar car with it.

Thing is, salaries haven't gone up much since then. You can't buy any car for $500 bucks that is anywhere near as nice as this car was. The interior in this thing that he bought was immaculate. I remember the car. A car like what he got is now at least 6 to 8x the cost, yet salaries are not up 6 to 8x what they were in 1983 or 1984.

We need a M-A-J-O-R depression. Things are just priced way out of hand. Houses should not be selling for $300k, $400k, $500k when the average household income of America is like $40k. The average cost of a home in this country should not top $120k, yet it's like $216k. This is why we're all living on credit. Our salaries have not kept up with inflation. We need a huge deflation to get all of the prices back in line. We need those $300k homes to foreclose and all sell for $90k like what they are TRULY worth.

Well for one thing, stated income mortgages need to go away. 0 down mortgages as well. But ya, I can see your point, I think a depression would be very harmful- but maybe that is what this country needs to get straightend out. There are a lot of economists who are a total loss, scary times.

[debtmonster]

Well for one thing, stated income mortgages need to go away. 0 down mortgages as well. But ya, I can see your point, I think a depression would be very harmful- but maybe that is what this country needs to get straightend out. There are a lot of economists who are a total loss, scary times.

The value of the dollar was a lot better in the 70's, 80's and 90's. I just want things to go back where they were. People should not be penalized because of the time they were born. People today should have the same right to buy an affordable home that somebody in the 50's, 60's, 70's or 80's did. It's not fair that a person has to pay 20x the cost of the same home while not making 20x the salary to compensate. And it's only going to get worse for generations to come. This madness has to stop. Somebody needs to press the RESET BUTTON and start over.

[SubPrimeME]

The value of the dollar was a lot better in the 70's, 80's and 90's. I just want things to go back where they were. People should not be penalized because of the time they were born. People today should have the same right to buy an affordable home that somebody in the 50's, 60's, 70's or 80's did. It's not fair that a person has to pay 20x the cost of the same home while not making 20x the salary to compensate. And it's only going to get worse for generations to come. This madness has to stop. Somebody needs to press the RESET BUTTON and start over.

Yes, everything is about timing, for a lot of us who bought their first homes in the 4-5 years are the ones who missed the boat. If I had a choice I would have bought 15 years ago, but alas I couldn't.

I just read the other day that over 70,000 manufacturing plants and 20 million people lost their jobs in China. The ripple affect of what happened here just seems to be the tip of the iceburg!

I believe even stronger now that we HAVE to live a simpler life.

[debtmonster]

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-housing-chart-thats-worth-1000-words-2009-2

Looks like the boat we missed is making a U-TURN and coming back!!!! I hope it does. I want to get on that low-priced home bandwagon that I was trying to get on back in the 1990's and missed out on from unstable income.

[SubPrimeME]

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-h...0-words-2009-2

Looks like the boat we missed is making a U-TURN and coming back!!!! I hope it does. I want to get on that low-priced home bandwagon that I was trying to get on back in the 1990's and missed out on from unstable income.

Yup I agree, throwing money at overvalued homes for the sake of saving them is what we are faced against. It's funny how at the time Greenspan was so sought after, now alot of what he did is why we are in this mess.

I say we are in a 5-10 year window of decline.

[debtmonster]

I was hoping that it would be no more than 3. If it lasts 5-10, that gives me even more time to save up cash to pay for my house in full.

I was listening to the Dave Ramsey show and hear how a girl and her husband both under 30 years old made $80k/yr. household income and paid off their $131,000 home in 3 years flat by sticking to a budget.

Why didn't they teach us all of the stuff in high school that Dave Ramsey talks about on his show?