Sambofred's Soap Box

[sambofred]

So, here is my rant -

I work in a financial planning office (no, not one of those pissant fresh out of college, just got my 7 & 66 ready to sell you some crap fund 'financial advisors' that you see everywhere. They give actual financial professionals a bad name and are scum in my opinion. Peoples finances are not there for you to make money off of - thats a whole other topic for me to rant about)

Anyhow, we had some clients come in about two days ago for a follow up consultation. These are two clients that we saw about 3 years ago as a 1 time consultation to give them an idea of what a realistic retirement would look like for them. It went pretty well.

So, they are in their early 40's with two children (about 8 & 11). He works for a food chain and she quit her former job to get into real estate. She hasn’t sold a house in that time and they have been living on credit cards for about a year and a half and have $40,000 of consumer debt!!! It’s no wonder why there is a negative savings rate in the US.

This $40,000 isn’t just necessities, but Starbucks, trips to the beach, new TV, direct TV, etc. About 90% discretionary!

There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to change your career as long as you are financially prepared to do so. I.E. cash flow, savings, etc. It’s not terrible, they have 20+ years to pay back their debt and save for retirement. However, they will not be able to help out much with their children’s education if at all.

It just kills me that people go off and make brash financial decisions without really looking at what they are doing to themselves in the long term. You see people just wanting to keep up the Jones' and thats all they are about.

Why people? Why does it matter to get things you can’t afford? What purpose does it serve in the long term? Spend as long as you can save. Live beneath your means whatever they may be. Ok, I'll get off of my soap box.

Just a little reality for you to take into the weekend.

[Achiever]

It's funny that you post this in the Bowen section, considering ALL of Bowen products are things that are not "needed." (I realize there are those would disagree with that point.) :)

[rome]

So, here is my rant -

I work in a financial planning office (no, not one of those pissant fresh out of college, just got my 7 & 66 ready to sell you some crap fund 'financial advisors' that you see everywhere. They give actual financial professionals a bad name and are scum in my opinion. Peoples finances are not there for you to make money off of - thats a whole other topic for me to rant about)

Anyhow, we had some clients come in about two days ago for a follow up consultation. These are two clients that we saw about 3 years ago as a 1 time consultation to give them an idea of what a realistic retirement would look like for them. It went pretty well.

So, they are in their early 40's with two children (about 8 & 11). He works for a food chain and she quit her former job to get into real estate. She hasn’t sold a house in that time and they have been living on credit cards for about a year and a half and have $40,000 of consumer debt!!! It’s no wonder why there is a negative savings rate in the US.

This $40,000 isn’t just necessities, but Starbucks, trips to the beach, new TV, direct TV, etc. About 90% discretionary!

There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to change your career as long as you are financially prepared to do so. I.E. cash flow, savings, etc. It’s not terrible, they have 20+ years to pay back their debt and save for retirement. However, they will not be able to help out much with their children’s education if at all.

It just kills me that people go off and make brash financial decisions without really looking at what they are doing to themselves in the long term. You see people just wanting to keep up the Jones' and thats all they are about.

Why people? Why does it matter to get things you can’t afford? What purpose does it serve in the long term? Spend as long as you can save. Live beneath your means whatever they may be. Ok, I'll get off of my soap box.

Just a little reality for you to take into the weekend.


Actually Sambo, this is a particularly sore point with me as well. Your clients are not the exception but rather the rule in this country. So many people are living above their means and creating a mountain of debt they may never get out from its not even funny.
IMO the country is in serious trouble. The problem is made much worst by the fact that the government is in the exact same spot. As I'm sure you know the budget deficit is not only higher than its ever been, but higher than all the previous years combined.
The keeping up with the Jones, in the McMansions culture is the worst thing that could have happen to this country.
IMO we are in for a very deep and terrible crash. Not seen since the great depression.


sorry,...end of my rant,...

[Tatterdemalion]

Actually Sambo, this is a particularly sore point with me as well. Your clients are not the exception but rather the rule in this country. So many people are living above their means and creating a mountain of debt they may never get out from its not even funny.
IMO the country is in serious trouble. The problem is made much worst by the fact that the government is in the exact same spot. As I'm sure you know the budget deficit is not only higher than its ever been, but higher than all the previous years combined.
The keeping up with the Jones, in the McMansions culture is the worst thing that could happen to this country.
IMO we are in for a very deep and terrible crash. Not seen since the great depression.

This ... the fiscal irresponsibility that's enmeshed in our culture and bandied about by the ostensibly "fiscal conservatives" of our current administration; we're trillions of dollars in debt, adding more daily, and we're borrowing (more) from China in increments of $600 to try to stimulate our economy now even though the country will have to pay those loans off later. Cheap crude has afforded us so many amenities as a country, but that's obviously waning; neither our country or culture is prepared for the massive shock we've already faced and will continue to face with mounting crude costs because so many elements of our economy are based on cheap crude. The dollar continues to depreciate, companies are freezing their hiring processes or relying on attrition, laying off, or just plain firing workers. As a result, the job market is pretty much shot right now, and the cost of virtually everything from food to mortgages to comic book statues seems to be increasing. Lean times are here, and I for one think they are definitely ahead ...

That being said, I feel like a major part of collecting is bearing in mind the relative superfluousness of amenities in comparison to necessities, and in doing so, ensure that a living budget more than comfortably allows for purchasing items. Personally, although I know it's a little scummy, don't order mini-busts from Bowen directly unless I think it'll spike in value on the aftermarket; I have to grit my teeth and patiently wait - and hope - for a better value on the aftermarket well after they've actually been released. It doesn't always afford for great values, but in some cases, I've saved between $30 and $60 on busts. It's a small way to keep from hemorrhaging, especially bearing in mind the amount of disposable income I have now might, God forbid, be significantly reduced months from now when the bill for a bust or statue hits the ole' bank account.

I know Randy's felt the sting of the crude increase, and I'm hoping small businesses owners like him aren't hit too hard by the increasing economic malaise ...

[rome]

This ... the fiscal irresponsibility that's enmeshed in our culture and bandied about by the ostensibly "fiscal conservatives" of our current administration; we're trillions of dollars in debt, adding more daily, and we're borrowing (more) from China in increments of $600 to try to stimulate our economy now even though the country will have to pay those loans off later. Cheap crude has afforded us so many amenities as a country, but that's obviously waning; neither our country or culture is prepared for the massive shock we've already faced and will continue to face with mounting crude costs because so many elements of our economy are based on cheap crude. The dollar continues to depreciate, companies are freezing their hiring processes or relying on attrition, laying off, or just plain firing workers. As a result, the job market is pretty much shot right now, and the cost of virtually everything from food to mortgages to comic book statues seems to be increasing. Lean times are here, and I for one think they are definitely ahead ...

That being said, I feel like a major part of collecting is bearing in mind the relative superfluousness of amenities in comparison to necessities, and in doing so, ensure that a living budget more than comfortably allows for purchasing items. Personally, although I know it's a little scummy, don't order mini-busts from Bowen directly unless I think it'll spike in value on the aftermarket; I have to grit my teeth and patiently wait - and hope - for a better value on the aftermarket well after they've actually been released. It doesn't always afford for great values, but in some cases, I've saved between $30 and $60 on busts. It's a small way to keep from hemorrhaging, especially bearing in mind the amount of disposable income I have now might, God forbid, be significantly reduced months from now when the bill for a bust or statue hits the ole' bank account.

I know Randy's felt the sting of the crude increase, and I'm hoping small businesses owners like him aren't hit too hard by the increasing economic malaise ...

Brilliant Tatt,..well said.
I often refer to this current situation as the "perfect storm" (it's interesting for me to hear financial gurus now using that term).
All the major factors which make up our financial stability are in dire jeapordy. From Social security, the aging baby boomers, the increasing cost of health care (for the aging BB), the budget deficit, the value of the dollar, the price of crude, China's increasing growth, our standing as a nation in the world, a costly and continuing war (both in lives, and money), the job market, the housing market, increased costs for small business,individual/personal financial and credit strength ..etc.etc. etc. everything is on the brink of disaster, at the same time. what is even scarier is that there could easily be a domino effect if ONE of those things collapses. (as we are seeing with the housing market bust)


The problem is the conversation is not even been had (except in the deepest circles) so we are not dealing with the problem much less coming up with a solution.


as far as the collectibles go,...I perfectly understand and agree with your point. Bottom line is if you can afford it, do it. If you can do it cheaper there is nothing scummy whatsoever in that. Heck I may start doing that myself. As it is I promised my wife I would allocate $250 per month for this stuff.

[sambofred]

Excellent - This is what I was hoping for, a deeper discussion. I like fun discussions just as much as the next guy. However, I like to work my brain as well.
I too allocate X-amount a month for the sole purpose of feeding my Bowen Addiction. And this works very well for me. My wife and I can save what we feel comfortable saving and spend on what we want as long as we don’t spend too much.
I for one do not think that we are in for the storm of storms - AS LONG AS - we start to work on the solutions. And one of those solutions is reaching out to our youth and explaining to them that they need to take responsibility for their finances. Heck, we need to explain to them what finances are!
My goal is to get my Doctorates in Financial Planning and start teaching financial responsibility to college students. This is how I will help. Have any of you seen IOU.S.A?

As for posting this topic in the Bowen Section - Well, this is the only section I frequent, so it will be the only section I post in. Besides, many of the people on this board dont seem to have a 'God of Collecting' complex that I have to deal with. Geez people, who really cares if you have 100+ FS statues, really? My wife is glad that she is married to a nerd cause she knows the chances of me having an affair are slim and none to start with...oh wait, thats another topic.........

[Stooby]

Sambofred, I know what you mean. I work for an airplane builder and my union just went on strike. Since I have been through a few labor disputes during my time at the company my wife and I know to save our money and to not live beyond our means, unlike some of my co-workers that use overtime to survive. I work ot to pay for "toys" like my statues and don't need it to pay the bills. I try to tell the new employees to save their money because there will always be layoffs and strikes to deal with. That is how I try to help the youth of my company. It is frustrating to see people panic when they are not prepared. Thanks Sambofred for this post.

[Spatial Architect]

Damn, and here I was feeling bad 'cause I have a few thousand dollars worth of debt...

My finances are not great, but they're far from being terrible, and I've been drastically improving within the past two years. The first step was getting rid of my ex, lol. :)

Honestly though, that was where the majority of my debt came from, and since she's not willing to pay the bills, I have to as I won't allow my credit to go to hell. It's taken a lot of reworking, and some sacrifices, but I've definitely came a long way in two years, I almost have the truck paid off (that she has... sore spot for me there), of course there's a new vehicle payment 'cause I need a vehicle to get back and forth to work, which means two car payments. Then there was the credit card debt, then for a while the bills were so high and coming out of just my income that my credit card debt went up even more just trying to pay everything and get by.

I've also had some identity theft issues, which I've gotten mostly resolved. Not by carelessness on my part, but by the fact that my father and I share the same name and people often don't pay much more attention than that.

Anyway, I (well, my fiance and I) owe what I consider a very reasonable amount (probably around 11 grand total including the vehicles), and we're hoping to have that paid off within a year, hopefully sooner. After that comes saving, then whatever we get from our wedding; that should give us a good amount of cash to lower the loan amount on building a house, hopefully put in a bit of sweat equity, and try to go with a very efficient house (I don't expect energy bills to lower in the future).

We don't have a lot of savings, a little bit in the bank and my stock from work (not counting our 401ks, just the stock purchase plan), but I'd rather pay off the debt first, then save as opposed to trying to save, but continuing to pay the interest rates on the debt. My fiance and I bought a newer car, but at a very good price, and we cut back on as much driving as we could. We cut out pop (yup from the Midwest), ate cheaper which ended up being healthier, avoided going out to eat, cut back on purchasing as much as we could, no cable, and cut way back on movie purchases. We use Netflix for most of our viewing (cable costs almost three times as much as our Netflix subscription). Trimmed off the comics that were not among my favorites, instead of buying books, go to the library... It really is amazing the ways that you can save money, and how much you can actually save.

I still order statues, but I am far from the reigning king of statue collectors. I try to get good deals on a lot of my statues, and I tend to stick with Bowen pieces (have quite a few Sideshow pieces, but for several reasons I've strayed away, but one is the price). I currently have 6 statues on order through roughly Spring of next year (though one counts as my Christmas present, lol).

So I can see how someone can end up in financial straights through simply being a victim of circumstance; I never lived above my means, and still ended up with a bit of debt, but it's a lot easier to pull yourself out than what people say or think. We're still young, but I don't think it's a good idea to just assume we have plenty of time to save. Within a couple years I'm hoping we'll at least be able to put a third of our money into long-term savings, use a third for house payment / utilities, and use a third to live off of. I don't plan on going back to the way it was, when you cut a lot of that shit out, you'd be surprised on how little you miss, especially when there's often more intelligent alternatives.

[darklordrandy]

wow this thread is bringing out those that are carrying some debt...best thing about paying it off is that you double it on the next round. lol

[Grumpy]

Hey Sambofred, great thread and one I will read frequently. Thanks for getting this one started. As for starting it in a "Bowen" related forum, I see the two directly related. My ability or inablility to purchase collectibles depends entirely upon whether or not my income will allow me to play after all the bills I have to pay. It seems oddly comforting to think that if and when the poop hits the fan that I will have the best bust and statue display on the block! Reality is, however, that my world is changing rapidly and I am being forced to consider some changes. At my age, 55, challenges look bigger than they did when I was 35.

Reality is these days that no job is secure, the costs of living are rapidly increasing while incomes are staying the same or actually decreasing and millions of people are growing more and more discontent with the concept that they have spent their entire lives "toiling in other people's fields" and come retirement they won't have anything to show for themselves. I've heard it said that at one time the world's economy took the shape of a diamond with the rich at the top, the poor at the bottom and us middle income earners filling out the middle but that the shape of the economy today is beginning to look like a slice of pizza with the rich at the top and the bottom is getting wider! Problem is, my slice of the pizza is getting more and more slim every day!

And folks wonder why I call my self "Grumpy":)

[sambofred]

Stooby - sorry about the strike - but you are WAY ahead of the game because you realize what many do not...nothing is certain. Funny, you are giving new hires advice that would cost them $150/hr coming from one of our planners (then again a $150 kick in the butt usually gets people moving).

Grumpy - I don’t think your too Grumpy at all. You see things differently than some, but that is what will keep many people ahead of the game.

I love collecting just about as much as I love to save. I am not rich by any means, but I really like to see how far I can make my money go. My wife and I were very lucky when we first got married. My wife was in a very good paying profession and she saved our butts. I was unemployed when we were married and in the middle of a legal battle - which was settled, not fun! - I bounced around from job to job for several years before landing where I am now...but I can guarantee all of you that we would be in some serious debt now if it wasn’t for my wife. I was allotted $50/mo for collectibles for several years before it got bumped up as high as $300 - and well, and then came our daughter.
I would love to have every statue under the sun but realize that I cant. I know there are collectors out there who do get everything, but I NEVER assume that they are rich or anything of the like. That would be silly. I also don’t assume that every person who is driving a BMW can afford it. Work in the financial planning business long enough and you will see some serious sob stories.
I really appreciate the contributions to this thread and I hope that this topic keeps on going. I don’t want people to think that they should be ashamed of their debt or financial problems, nor do I want people to start going off about how rich they are.
This is an ongoing discussion about our own financial decisions and how they affect our hobbies. I will never have every statue and it is because of that reason I feel that I appreciate the ones that I do have even more.

[Hypersom]

So, here is my rant -

I work in a financial planning office (no, not one of those pissant fresh out of college, just got my 7 & 66 ready to sell you some crap fund 'financial advisors' that you see everywhere. They give actual financial professionals a bad name and are scum in my opinion. Peoples finances are not there for you to make money off of - thats a whole other topic for me to rant about)

Anyhow, we had some clients come in about two days ago for a follow up consultation. These are two clients that we saw about 3 years ago as a 1 time consultation to give them an idea of what a realistic retirement would look like for them. It went pretty well.

So, they are in their early 40's with two children (about 8 & 11). He works for a food chain and she quit her former job to get into real estate. She hasn’t sold a house in that time and they have been living on credit cards for about a year and a half and have $40,000 of consumer debt!!! It’s no wonder why there is a negative savings rate in the US.

This $40,000 isn’t just necessities, but Starbucks, trips to the beach, new TV, direct TV, etc. About 90% discretionary!

There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to change your career as long as you are financially prepared to do so. I.E. cash flow, savings, etc. It’s not terrible, they have 20+ years to pay back their debt and save for retirement. However, they will not be able to help out much with their children’s education if at all.

It just kills me that people go off and make brash financial decisions without really looking at what they are doing to themselves in the long term. You see people just wanting to keep up the Jones' and thats all they are about.

Why people? Why does it matter to get things you can’t afford? What purpose does it serve in the long term? Spend as long as you can save. Live beneath your means whatever they may be. Ok, I'll get off of my soap box.

Just a little reality for you to take into the weekend.

How DARE YOU break trust with your clients!!!! I can't believe this. I truly can't. If I were your boss and I knew it was you that posted this I'd fire your ass so fast your head would spin. You make me sick. I don't give a f*** if you "didn't name names". That's totally irrelevant. Please tell us who you work for so we can NEVER seek their help, for anything.

Its great to hide behind the internet and pass judgement on those needing your help.

I hope a Mod sees the underhandedness of this and the indirect slam at Randy's business causing everyone's debt (which it doesn't and sam should be ashamed for even allowing the implication in this "better than thou" rant of his). Yes, I hope the Mod's see it and deleted it promptly with extreme prejudice.

[dEnny!]

It's funny that you post this in the Bowen section, considering ALL of Bowen products are things that are not "needed." (I realize there are those would disagree with that point.) :)

That's not what he was saying; his point is don't spend beyond your means. There is nothing wrong going to Starbucks, but if you are in debt maybe you should consider cutting it out or finding a cheaper alternative.

There is nothing wrong buying Bowen Products, unless you are struggling to stay afloat and have a financial responsibility for your family that you are ignoring by going into debt to get that new product.

[dEnny!]

How DARE YOU break trust with your clients!!!! I can't believe this. I truly can't. If I were your boss and I knew it was you that posted this I'd fire your ass so fast your head would spin. You make me sick. I don't give a f*** if you "didn't name names". That's totally irrelevant. Please tell us who you work for so we can NEVER seek their help, for anything.

Its great to hide behind the internet and pass judgement on those needing your help.

I hope a Mod sees the underhandedness of this and the indirect slam at Randy's business causing everyone's debt (which it doesn't and sam should be ashamed for even allowing the implication in this "better than thou" rant of his). Yes, I hope the Mod's see it and deleted it promptly with extreme prejudice.

I think naming his company would be even more irresponsible. I think he's using them as an example, nothing more and this example could be any forty year old couple with two children living in America. That amount of debt sadly is not unusual; hopefully he'll be able to help them out, I'm not sure if helping them create a budget is a part of his services.

I think you do give good advice that he might want to not even use a real world example in case his employers do stumble across this post and view it the way you do, but I doubt even they could pinpoint which client he's referring to.

I've heard good things about Dave Ramsey's FINANCIAL PEACE program.

I think this is an important topic, I don't think he's taking a shot at Bowen. I think it's a cautionary tale to say you should take care of business, make sure you have the disposable income for the cable tv, Starbucks runs, the items that honestly aren't necessities.

Also, he could easily have this conversation with friends, maintaining a potential client's identity, I don't think he's hiding behind the internet.

[dEnny!]

Also, as far as topics on the "Bowen Board" I don't think it need be limited to Bowen Products. I'm all about building a community, relationships, and friendships, which probably requires more discussion and conversations than only Bowen Products...though that's fine too. :)

[sambofred]

Not breaking trust at all with anyone.

Just wanted to bring a real world important topic to the forum. heard about I.O.U.S.A and thought it would be a great topic to address.

I am not better than anyone at all. It just kills me to see people do things to themselves that could have been otherwise avoided. Besides, naming a client is a complete breach of trust.

Next time I will get an example out of one of my books. This is not a slam thread, this is a discussion thread nothing more.

Peace.

[rome]

it's funny I had more to say but stopped myself because I felt that some may take offense or see these rants as "elitist" and Hollier than thou.
That IMHO is not the case. This is really just expressing one's concern about a perceived problem.
If you don't feel it is a problem than obviously this "rant" simply doesn't concern you. After all, it's not like he (we) put people down by calling names.
As far as betraying a trust, Obviously that did not take place. He did not name any names and that is very important. As Denny said, this could be anyone in the US right now, so his clients confidentiality perfectly fine. Heck his clients could be your best friends and you wouldn't know. so Obviously their personal situation has been well guarded.

I hope you don't mean to imply that because he works in a particular industry he cannot talk about that industry or share his thoughts about that industry.


in any case, the bottom line is I don't think this thread was meant to be offensive, or to be a put down, or an indirect shot at BD.

It's just people expressing their concerns about a situation they are observing. I hope you did not take offense at my comments.

[twisterred]

There is nothing wrong with a good cautionary tale especially in these uncertain economic times. As far as advice goes, I think Sambofred is doling out sound advice for free that many of us pay to hear.

[dEnny!]

A girl I work with has some friends who are deep in debt. She tries to help them out by going over their checkbook, try to help them with a budget, but they still spend too much. One comment she made was when she goes over there they always have money lying around, which baffles her since that money could go to help them and by lying around she says on a quick glance she could easily spot $20-30, which isn't much, but that's a bill you know, that's money that could be in your bank account earning interest. Essentially, it just further shows their irresponsibility because they can't even keep up with what's in their pockets. Isn't there some saying about watching your pennies because they add up.

[Grumpy]

Mamma Grump works as a financial advisor and can't believe the number of times she encounters couples who list what they hope to receive from inheritances as their major source of income in their own retirement!

[Tatterdemalion]

Debt is a scary thing ... scary because it is so common and treated so frivolously these days. I mean, college student loans, for instance, are pretty much de rigueur; combine those with home loans, car loans, and the credit card lifestyle, it's no wonder we're in the situation we're in right now. Major financial catastrophe is a legitimate concern ... and I try not to be alarmist, but anymore, it's really, really hard to maintain sanity when worrying about the seemingly absurd possibilities as to how the credit crunch might play out. Raising taxes to begin paying off the absolutely mind-blowing national debt would be a good way to start ... but what politician is going to run on that platform and get elected?

Like Grumpy mentioned, it's no wonder people hope for inheritances or buy lottery tickets; not only is it indicative of the "something for nothing" mentality that underlies a lot of the outrageous credit card spending, but it's that good ole' American instant gratification desire, the want to be able to wave your hand and everything will be okay no matter how deep in the hole you are. Heck, I think the few people lucky enough to win the lottery end up blowing the entire load - few, if any, are usually smart enough to intelligently invest in mutual funds and CDs in such a way that they could easily live off the interest very comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Collecting is expensive, no doubt; even if it isn't the specific type of product you're collecting, I think collecting itself denotes a high volume of a specific type of product ... meaning you're spending in quantity. As I've said before, I typically rely on eBay to get savings from my mini-bust purchases by only going to products that are under MSRP; I keep track of my purchases in a relatively simple Excel document that lists the edition size, MSRP, price, categorizes it as a loss or a gain, and then quantifies the amount of loss or gain. All of this adds up to a lifetime amount spent as well as lifetime amounts of loss and gain. If I had paid MSRP for all of the busts I currently own, that amount would come out to about $1,900; as it stands, I've spent about $1,400, and that's split amongst a total of 38 busts, averaging out to roughly $37 a head. My largest loss was overpaying MSRP by $14.10 on a Galactus mini-bust, but my greatest gain was paying $55 less than MSRP for Dragon Man. It can try my patience - I've passed up a lot of impulsive bust offers, believe me - but it literally pays off in the end.

It's hard to wait for aftermarket on new products; I'd love to get pre-order all the villain mini-busts up for sale on Bowen's site, not only because I want to "have them now," but because in a perfect world, I could support Randy directly. I am very worried, like I've said before, he and his business will be affected by the growing economic turbulence, and I want to do whatever small part I can to make sure he remains not only in business, but profitable. It just doesn't feel fiscally responsible, though, especially knowing all of the variables, just in my own life, that could quickly affect my discretionary income. I think the notion of job security is pretty much dead, for instance, so saving is more important than ever ...

Anyway, that's just my addition to the discussion. Mileage may vary. :)

[Stooby]

Stooby - sorry about the strike - but you are WAY ahead of the game because you realize what many do not...nothing is certain. Funny, you are giving new hires advice that would cost them $150/hr coming from one of our planners (then again a $150 kick in the butt usually gets people moving).

Grumpy - I don’t think your too Grumpy at all. You see things differently than some, but that is what will keep many people ahead of the game.

I love collecting just about as much as I love to save. I am not rich by any means, but I really like to see how far I can make my money go. My wife and I were very lucky when we first got married. My wife was in a very good paying profession and she saved our butts. I was unemployed when we were married and in the middle of a legal battle - which was settled, not fun! - I bounced around from job to job for several years before landing where I am now...but I can guarantee all of you that we would be in some serious debt now if it wasn’t for my wife. I was allotted $50/mo for collectibles for several years before it got bumped up as high as $300 - and well, and then came our daughter.
I would love to have every statue under the sun but realize that I cant. I know there are collectors out there who do get everything, but I NEVER assume that they are rich or anything of the like. That would be silly. I also don’t assume that every person who is driving a BMW can afford it. Work in the financial planning business long enough and you will see some serious sob stories.
I really appreciate the contributions to this thread and I hope that this topic keeps on going. I don’t want people to think that they should be ashamed of their debt or financial problems, nor do I want people to start going off about how rich they are.
This is an ongoing discussion about our own financial decisions and how they affect our hobbies. I will never have every statue and it is because of that reason I feel that I appreciate the ones that I do have even more.

Thanks bud :)

[sambofred]

Tat (wanted to say tot :) ) - Thanks for the great post.

Stooby - No problem guy.

So, next question - How did/do we climb out of a hole?

My wife is the reason why we are not in a hole right now. I will say it time and again that we/I owe her a lot. We got out of my whole by sticking to her budget. She has a sound financial brain and helped me with my career path. I know that we are lucky to be where we are at (we still have debt, but its all Education and Cars). How about you all?

[Tatterdemalion]

After yesterday, looks like it is time to reassess the budget again ... trying not to be an alarmist, but there are already people talking about what might happen on Thursday ... :scared:

What's that old Roma curse? "May you live in interesting times"?

[sambofred]

Our office is getting questions and we are answering all of them. We don’t hide from the phones.
We are living through history right now as much as we may not like it. When the dust clears Wall Street will be VERY DIFFERENT!
Since I am only 30 I have several decades to recover from what is going on. Thought I realize that others aren’t as lucky.
Yes, the budget is getting looked at in our house as well.
However, I am still kind of thinking about buying into some financials, or maybe an index fund. I keep kicking myself for not getting into Marvel back when it was $5 a share...oh well.
I feel sorry for those who got into GOOG when it was at $700. It’s all relative I guess.

[ca35]

My biggest hole is home equity.