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Back when I was a student and had roommates, we lived in houses and while people generally had their own room, the rooms did not have locks. So you could secure all exterior rooms and windows but not your own room. Having had bad experiences with that, for years I refused to live with roommates.
No reason you couldn't put a lock on your room, a closet, or even a storage chest. Others have successfully done it. I had roommates for years and had no problem securing valuables adequately, even from those who took things that didn't belong to them.
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Eventually I had an income problem and did the roommate thing, but when you live in a low rent dive and have no control over who you live with - I rent a ROOM and not a severally liable share of a house - there is a high risk of getting bad apples.
Investors take risks, too. It comes with the territory.
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In this house, the inventory was locked up in my room, but no deadbolt as that was the only place available to store it. The perp was able to defeat the lock.
Middle class Americans poured their money into their homes. That was their big asset.
And they were pushed beyond logical financial means (from 2x your salary to 6x or higher) on that "investment" as it was sold to them.
IC is an absolute Paragon of Mammonic Virtue. Just ask him and he will be glad to tell you.
FWIW - No one in a minimum wage job is working more than the maximum hours before benefits are required. I think that is around 32 hr/wk. Take out taxes and SS and not a lot is left. This is why kids are staying at home. Where, outside of some dying town in Nebraska, can you afford to live by yourself on $175 per week?.
This is not new. Some 50 years ago my wife's parents had five generations in the same household. Now her brother owns that house and has his daughter and grand kids living with him. Her sister owns the Grandparents house. We own our own condo but do not have room for more than an elderly cat to live with us. That is a pretty prosperous family but none are what anyone would consider rich.
I know you're complaining about something that can be altered with effort and determination. Many have done so.
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Forgive me, if I have compassion, which is clearly something you lack.
No, you don't. You think you do because you make excuses for the low-income. But casting them as helpless victims instead of the driving force of their climb out of poverty is to condemn them to a lifetime of helplessness and struggle. That's not compassion. That's the bigotry of low expectations.
Personally, I don't ask much of life and don't feel entitled to much. But as an American living under the Constitution I believe I am entitled to the property rights intended by the Framers, as opposed to having to pay inflated rents because government has regulated affordable home purchase out of the market. Every dollar I must pay in inflated rent is a dollar I cannot save and invest.
Same goes for property taxes. No one ever really owns their home, they just perpetually rent it from the government. Stop paying your property tax and see what happens...
Abolish property taxes. That would also reduce your rent as it would decrease your landlord's ownership expenses.
(Realistically speaking... think about why the property tax cannot be abolished. )
I know you're complaining about something that can be altered with effort and determination. Many have done so.
No, you don't. You think you do because you make excuses for the low-income. But casting them as helpless victims instead of the driving force of their climb out of poverty is to condemn them to a lifetime of helplessness and struggle. That's not compassion. That's the bigotry of low expectations.
What are they supposed to do? You do realize that there are people out there with Master degrees that are unemployed right now, don't you?
Putting burger king on your resume doesn't help much. So, suppose this individual decides to go to college.
Then what? Surpise, now not only do you have to return to Burger King, but you also have $40,000 of debt.
You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Look around, things are falling apart. You should consider yourself blessed that you are in the position that you're in today. It could change tomorrow.
So, to sum up you guys who love the current system, all the people in the bottom 50% are there because they buy i-phones and sodas.
If you think those things amount to jack squat in the big picture, you're an absolute liar or idiot. And by the way, I'm in the top 5% of earners. Don't know where I stand in terms of wealth but I'm sure it's in the top 25% at least.
When you talk about subjects like this, it is not about sodas flat panel TV's and i phones..it's about financial and social stability and security now vs some time in the past.
The simple fact is that financial security has decreased for most Americans over the last 30 years, and it has little or nothing to do with consumer goods that are remarkably cheap relative to where they were decades ago. Go check an old Sears catalog or something. Even if someone has a $90 cell phone plan and a $1000 TV, what does that have to do with 1% holding most of the wealth anyway?
I'm sure this won't stop most of you from patting yourself on the back about being such a financial geniuses, but if you want to have an honest discussion about the OP, by all means, at least consider it.
By the way, I own 2 cars that are 8 years old and paid off, have no CC debt and bought a house that is priced at 2X my yearly household income, so please don't tell me how smart you are.
What are they supposed to do? You do realize that there are people out there with Master degrees that are unemployed right now, don't you?
That's an excuse. Stop making excuses and start thinking about actions one can take. A lot of people end up in careers that have NOTHING to do with their degrees. How do you think that happens?
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Putting burger king on your resume doesn't help much. So, suppose this individual decides to go to college?
Then what? Surpise, now not only do you have to return to Burger King, but you also have $40,000 of debt.
Taking out student loans is an incredibly stupid financial decision. NEVER, EVER take out student loans to pay for college. They're non-dischargeable in bankruptcy and you're stuck paying on them for decades. In other words, student loans turn the borrowers into lifetime debt slaves. You can thank government intervention for that.
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You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. Look around, things are falling apart. You should consider yourself blessed that you are in the position that you're in today. It could change tomorrow.
Of course it could. What makes you think I and many others haven't already planned for that?
freemkt
Rather than ask your age, a question which you dodged, how long have you been out of school and in the workforce?
It sounds like more years than just since the latest bad job market.
Are you seriously telling us you weren't able to get a "better-than-burger-flipper job in all those years since you're apparently not of below average intelligence.
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