All my friends think that I am crazy! My friends know that I have always like to buying,selling,make small loans(I finance cars, trucks that I sell to people),and they think it is a little strange.But Now they think I am losing it. A little background: May 2010 - Sold my 3bd/2-1/2bath Town House and became a Renter, June 2010 - bought 3 acres and mobile home and the selling it with "Owner Finance". August 2010 - buy a foreclosure and then selling it with "Rent to Own". March 2011 - I have a contract on rental home: 3bd/2ba - 1900 sq. ft. in nice area,It was list in June 2010 for $82,000 and I am buying it for $55,000 "if the bank with give me loan". So everyone keeps asking me when I am moving into the new house, but then I tell them that this is a rental home. This is when they look at me like I have lost my mind. I then tell them I like being a renter "roommate" and having small place. Then they look at me like I am super crazy. I think that I am crazy like a fox !!!
People Think That I am Crazy !!!
Is this helping you work towards your version of ERE? If so, then who cares what everyone thinks. Many of my coworkers/friends think I am just bat$#!* crazy because I don't have cable and keep up with all the latest mind-rotting crap on there, or own a PS3, Xbox, or whatever. And I'm not half as extreme as many on here. Personally, I think crazy is being a mindless wage slave for the majority of your working life just to stay on the consumer treadmill so you can continually upgrade to the latest version of the planned obsolescent junk made in China, and go on weekly trips to Walmart.
...crazy like a fox...ha ha ha!
...crazy like a fox...ha ha ha!
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jasoninmississippi
- Posts: 101
- Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2010 3:17 am
Of course they think you're crazy.
The point of life, in their eyes, is to acquire more and more shit, and more "prestigious" (aka large, but poorly built) homes, automobiles, vacations (oh, I'm sorry, "experiences") and jobs so that their corporate slave-drivers and brain-washed-by-television-marketing friends and family will be impressed with their "success".
Obviously there's no enjoyment in a sunrise at the beach, a morning of fishing, studying whatever you wish at the library, visiting with friends or eating freshly picked, home grown food if you're car is ten years old and you don't have an unused bonus room full of plastic furniture! What are you thinking!?!
The point of life, in their eyes, is to acquire more and more shit, and more "prestigious" (aka large, but poorly built) homes, automobiles, vacations (oh, I'm sorry, "experiences") and jobs so that their corporate slave-drivers and brain-washed-by-television-marketing friends and family will be impressed with their "success".
Obviously there's no enjoyment in a sunrise at the beach, a morning of fishing, studying whatever you wish at the library, visiting with friends or eating freshly picked, home grown food if you're car is ten years old and you don't have an unused bonus room full of plastic furniture! What are you thinking!?!
I am beginning to notice changes in people and their attitudes towards consuming large, larger, and largest. Granted, these changes are slow, but I am seeing some. I think people in my arena and locale have given up on the McMansion. That may, for the average bear around here, be gone. History. The "new every two" car may also be gone. I think it's a combining of fear, unemployment, and tight credit. I found a great deal on a 2004 Chevy 4WD repo at the bank a couple weeks ago. 04' with less than 60,000 miles on it, a virtual creame de mint puff. The bank was owed $13,500. I offered $9,000 cash and got it. Retail on this truck is $15,900. Other than to brag on my deal, the point here is cash. Cash walks and talks. Credit and financing sucks. This is a teaching point to consumers. SAVE UP MONEY. Cash makes it happen YOUR way. I think the old "charge it" or "finance it for me" is dying a slow death in some circles. People are beginning to "get it". Not all, by any means, but a few. I am beginning to sense it in some of my associates. No more new GMC Yukons at $51,000, financed forever. Some are looking at the wasted space in their McMansions and comparing gas and electric bills with each other. Some are even trying to downsize.
Maybe their is a little hope.
Maybe their is a little hope.
Yes Spencer, I agree----many people ARE starting to get it. In our neighborhood (many of the homes are 80-100 years old and perfectly maintained)several large 4 BR houses with side lots are going unpurchased, or for about 60% of the listing price. The trend is for smaller homes. The McMansion's on the outskirts of town are going unsold.
I just talked with our 20 something recently degreed (BBA)insurance agent and he was all ears about how ERE. This came about when discussing our similar degree's, etc. He gets it and is already living some of the life. I think we are in an era of cultural change and, who knows, maybe 10%-20%, may end up living ERE.
Also, cash is really king---a house that needs a little bit of TLC was on the market for quite some time and was sold to a pretty young (20's) guy for $29K. I really feel sorry for those who are handcuffed to corporate America for 20-30 years.
djc
I just talked with our 20 something recently degreed (BBA)insurance agent and he was all ears about how ERE. This came about when discussing our similar degree's, etc. He gets it and is already living some of the life. I think we are in an era of cultural change and, who knows, maybe 10%-20%, may end up living ERE.
Also, cash is really king---a house that needs a little bit of TLC was on the market for quite some time and was sold to a pretty young (20's) guy for $29K. I really feel sorry for those who are handcuffed to corporate America for 20-30 years.
djc
I don't know about changing attitudes. I think people are just really good at adapting to their circumstances. I have friends and family who have recently bought or are considering buying more or bigger tv's, new cars, new(expensive) clothes. If I had as much consumer debt as they had, those would be the last things on my mind. People will upgrade their lives as soon as they can rely on a steady paycheck. The ones who change permanently are shocked into it. The smaller the shock, the shorter their memory. And usually each generation is optimistic about the future, they expect it to be different for them, to have bigger and better things than their parents had. So a real shift in attitudes may not be as permanent as it seems. It's hard to change old habits and thinking patterns. Going from normal to crazy doesn't happen overnight!