Being a Target.. For Debt: Part 2 Part 1 here:
Post# of 1584
Part 1 here: https://investorshangout.com/post/view?id=4184855
If youre in debt up to your ears, you first need to decide that it is time to get out of debt. As crazy as it sounds, we’re programmed to be ‘content’ with debt. We finally pay off a credit card and what happens? We get ten new credit card offers in the mail with even sweeter deals. We see commercials taunting us to buy crap we don’t need. “Buy now and save!” what the heck does that even mean? Lets break it down (prepare for me to ramble)..
“Buy now and save” So, if we buy.. we save? The dictionary says ‘save’ means ‘to set aside’. How are we ‘setting aside’ money if we’re spending it? You must understand this.. when you go to work, when you get up at 5am, feed the kids, do the dishes, try to do some yoga for 1.4 minutes before your kid throws his cereal on the floor.. the second you wake up, companies, firms, and businesses are all trying to take your hard earned money from you. Their goal is to make you work your butt off all week just so that you can get a paycheck and spend it on crap.
Literally. Crap. Youre buying crap. Im buying crap. There is a crap-fest all around us and no one sees it.
You may be thinking..“Joey68.. what the heck are you talking about? I just bought a brand new 700”, 4K flat screen TV and it is NOT crap!”
Did you really need that TV? Not want. Need. Was it a necessity? See the problem here? All marketing firms have to do is make an object bigger, and we all think its ‘better’. Better image. Better picture. Better quality. Better sound… yet youre $50,000 in debt. But hey, forget that 50 grand keeping you up at night. Heck.. you got a stellar TV!
As long as companies can keep your mind off of your debt problems, they have you right where they want you. In fact, marketing is a billion dollar industry. Many companies spend millions just to be sure the French fries are lined up perfectly for billboards.
Countless industries pay billions of dollars to psychologists, sociologists, etc in order to trick us into spending money.
Why do you think grocery stores have all the healthy food on the perimeter and the crap cheap food in the center? Because they know we spend the majority of time in the middle of the store. Even your grocery store is out to take your money from you.
Go to a drive through restaurant and order one item for $3. The person on the microphone tries to ‘upgrade’ your order for only $1 more. By the time theyre done.. you spent $15 on crap you didn’t want. That’s $15 you could have paid on a credit card debt.
Here are the two truths about money, you, and businesses:
1. Companies want you to believe the ‘only’ concept: For only $15 a month…
2. Companies want you to believe you are in control of your money when you actually are not.
“WHOA! JOEY68!! You sayin’ im not in control on my money?????”
Yup. I am. Here’s how I know..
1. How much credit card debt do you have
2. How much is your wireless phone bill
3. How much is your internet bill
4. How much is your car payment per month
5. How much is your student loan bill
Lets break it down.
America is $700 BILLION in credit card debt. Yet we keep buying new 400” mega-super slick TVs.
We have an average of $150 a MONTH for cell phones in a household. Phone companies have brainwashed us into thinking, “Oh hey that’s a great price!” $150…a MONTH for a little plastic box, some glass, and a battery. Let me say this again.. $150 a MONTH…. For a phone. Sinking in yet?
We pay on average $50 a month for internet. This cant be helped. We need the internet.
The majority of people in debt drive cars they shouldn’t be. Yes, it is understood we shouldn’t drive beat up and dangerous cars. We need to be safe. But if you’re $50,000 in debt and driving a 2018 BMW… you need to get your priorities straight.
Student loans.. don’t get me started. I wrote a whole article a while back on this. $1.2 trillion, with over 7 million debtors in default. TRILLION! The system is set up to make us think we’ll go to college and get an amazing job yet… ITS NOT HAPPENING!
I personally do not believe college is as important as we make it sound. You want to talk about a bubble forming? Its already formed and its going to burst. Get ready for an even worse recession with more bailouts. The majority of people who went to college wont EVER pay it off. EVER. Yet college is good, right? We ‘need’ college to find a job yet once we find a job, 40% of our pay goes towards the debt we owe towards the degree we got to get the job in the first place. That makes sense!
Do NOT be ‘content’ with debt. Debt is not ok. You first need to decide that it is time to get out of debt before you can actually get out of debt.
1. Ditch your smartphone. I know. Its insane. No smartphone? “Joey68! You mean I cant have the internet while im walking???????????????? What is this??..1998?”
2. Get a basic phone. Get a phone with prepaid card. Just get something cheaper.
3. Once you do this, you MUST be strict about putting the saved money towards paying off your HIGHEST interest rate credit card. Once you pay that off, start paying off your second highest card.
Card 1: $3,000 debt @ 13% interest = pay $200 a month (if you can)
Once paid off, put that $200 towards your next card plus the regular payment.
Treat your debt like a battle. If possible, do NOT pay just the minimum. It may take years, but you CAN get out of debt.
Most importantly.. seeing youre reading this in the first place on an investment board… LEARN TO INVEST and take PROFIT! Make a $5000 profit, SELL and pay off that darn credit card. Then have a drink in celebration and invest some more.
You need to learn ‘to set aside’. Set aside your money instead of buying the latest and greatest gadget.
If youre really stuck in debt.. go buy clothes at the thrift store. There is NOTHING embarrassing about it. I have over $1 million in my accounts and im wearing $5 shorts from a thrift store. They look perfectly new. I bring them home, throw them in the dryer for 15 minutes just to be sure any nasty bugs or whatnot are fried, killed, and eradicated. Then I wash them once, turn them inside out, wash them again, dry them and BOOM! $5 shorts while others are buying $40 shorts and going into more debt. My favorite jeans are from a thrift store and they look brand new.
Marketing is psychological warfare. People literally sit in offices and create ways to get money out of your pocket. Have you ever been at a mall and for the life of you couldn’t find the exit door? Do you honestly think that’s on accident? That you suddenly because directionally challenged? The store is purposely set up to confuse you so that you walk through the store and look at more merchandise. This literally is psychological warfare.
So after a crazy long, blabbering Joey68 style post, the point of all this blabbers is that if you are seriously in debt, you CAN get out of it, but you MUST be willing to take the first step by finding a way to curb your spending habits.
No one is suggesting to live below your lifestyle or having to suffer by not heating your house or causing your family to go hungry. DO NOT DO THIS. DUH. Simply adjust where your money goes. Do you really need to buy 5 cups of coffee a day from the store down the street? Or could you bring your own coffee instead? Do you really need new rims for your car? Are you learning how to become a better investor? Do you reallllllly need everything you eat to be organic? Yep, I went there. Do you really need that trashcan from the hardware store which costs $15 when you can buy an almost identical one at the dollar store for $1?
Good luck.
Not investment advice
http://investorshangout.com/Joeys-Investment-Board-91611/
Invite Only
There is a VERY HIGH degree of RISK involved in trading and investing. Only invest what you can afford to lose.
Disclaimer:
As used herein, the terms "You" and "Your" shall mean you, individually, the reader, and each other party on whose behalf you may use the contained information at any time.
All references to "My", "I", and “The writer of the above post” shall refer to the creator of the username Joey68.
Do NOT invest unless you are prepared to sustain a total loss of the money you have invested plus any commission or other transaction charges.
There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading and investing. Past results are not indicative of future returns. I assume no responsibility for your trading and investment results. You should NOT rely on the information in the above post to make any decision or take any action.
ALL OF MY STATEMENTS, including but not limited to, POSTS, MESSAGES, PRIVATE MESSAGES, and RESPONSES are OPINION and NOT fact and are for entertainment purposes only. Do your own research and make your own decisions based on your own conclusions.
ALL OF MY STATEMENTS, including but not limited to, POSTS, MESSAGES, PRIVATE MESSAGES, and RESPONSES are NOT advice, and are NOT designed to substitute the expertise and judgment of a professional. It is your responsibility to seek investment advice during all stages of your investments. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of the information in the above post.
I am NOT a professional.
I do NOT work for you.
My posts are NOT investment advice. I am not paid to post.
There is no correlation between the number of posts I write per day and your assumed success of a company.
It is NOT my responsibility to inform you of my own personal investment decisions.
It is NOT my responsibility to inform you when it is time for you to buy, hold, and/or sell a position.
I have no control over, and am not responsible for the actions of others who copy, store, edit, change, prepare any derivative work of or alter in any way any of the content provided in my posts.
Errors and Omissions expected. The writer of the above post accepts no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions contained in the above post or contained within this Disclaimer.
The writer of the above post shall NOT accept any liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in the above post, for any reliance placed by any person on the information contained in the above post, or for any damage or loss, however caused, in connection with the use or reliance on any information contained in the above post.
The above post may contain links to websites owned and operated by third parties. These links are provided for informational purposes only and are NOT endorsed by the writer of the above post. The writer of the above post has no control over the contents of any linked website and bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality, or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links.
YOU ACCESS ALL LINKS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.
The writer of the above post makes no warranties or representations, express or implied about such linked websites, the third parties they are owned and operated by, or the information contained on these websites.
The writer of the above post accepts no liability for any damage or loss, however caused, in connection with the use of or reliance on any information, material, products, or services contained on or accessed through any such linked websites.
There is a VERY HIGH degree of RISK involved in trading and investing. Only invest what you can afford to lose.