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Thinky Thoughts

April 9th, 2020 at 05:08 am

I know I already posted today, but I am having thoughts. They keep making a big deal about people not being able to make rent next month. And what I am wondering is if there is going to be any kind of financial changes in people's lives on the other side of this. There are so many people who have been irresponsible with money for their entire lives. They have lived with debt because there was always money coming in to pay it and now they are experiencing what life is like without that.

Do you think this will change spending habits when jobs and incomes come back? Do you think people will fight to get out of debt and save up enough money in an emergency fund to get through a couple months if something like this happens again? Or do you think they will put their heads back in the sand and go back to how life was before. How many people will learn from this and will it alter the financial rules of society away from being credit based?

I read an article today or yesterday about some small grocers and restaurants that are still open for take out going cash only because their margins are so thin now they can't afford to pay the credit card fees. I wonder if that will ripple out to larger stores and restaurants or if they will continue to be able to handle it. Or if they will pass it on to the consumer?

I don't know, money is so dirty and changes so many hands, and may or may not carry the virus, so maybe we'll see an end to cash and only have debit and credit cards in the future. I guess it could go either way. But if they do eliminate money they should eliminate all debit card fees. Not that society ever does what it should do.

I keep reading about people going out and partying or insisting they are going to hold Easter services and people letting their kids run all over their neighborhoods with all the other kids and I wonder, in my more cynical of moments, if we will have enough people left to run the world after all the dumb ones die off.

I wonder if the big cities will see a mass exodus as people continue to work from home? They have been the most dangerous place to be during this outbreak. I wonder how many people will plow up their lawns and plant a garden for the first time this year? I wonder how many will stick to it if things appear to be getting better?

It's strange to not be having cars going by on our street all the time. It is a secondary route to the hospital and also is the only outlet street for the elementary school so it could be pretty busy at certain hours and now it is just dead all the time. It's been nice, since a lot of those drivers would blare their music. I can't remember that last time I've heard the bass so pumped up it was loud enough to hear in the house. That part has been a happy change.

The other thing is the medivac helicopter has not been buzzing the house lately. I guess there are far less traumas because people aren't driving and getting into accidents. Or the hospital is too full. We have 222 cases in my county and have had 12 deaths.

They were going up the street yesterday and today replacing gas lines because there were several leaks. They had to take out the long flowerbed that runs along the driveway because the line is under it. We've been wanting to take that out for a while and now we don't have to. We are going to plant it in grass. We can't plant a crop there in case they have to dig it up again.

Okay, guess my second brain dump of the day is over.

10 Responses to “Thinky Thoughts”

  1. mumof2 Says:
    1586409781

    I have been thinking the same thing will people budget better, start a bit of a stockpile...will they pay off their debt?...I would hope that some of them do but I'm afraid many won't..some people just won't change...no matter what...but I am hoping a majority will...but then the banks won't like it if people don't really borrow money from them...where would they get all their extra billions for those bonus checks..i think a lot of people also like instant gratification so they will spend to get it...especially on credit..so easy to do and pay later...they don't like to save and I think that has a big impact on the way people do things...so no I don't think a majority will change

  2. Wink Says:
    1586434409

    It doesn't seem as if many people learned from going through the Great Recession and housing market crash in 2008-2010 so I don't hold out much hope they will learn this time around.

  3. Fern Says:
    1586434592

    You really can't tell what's going on in other people's budgets. Maybe it's not a matter of "learning" anything about debt from the last recession. Maybe they just barely make enough to make ends meet and don't have anything left over for savings. Everybody's different. Your experience may not be theirs.

  4. Lucky Robin Says:
    1586472485

    Fern--I wasn't really thinking about the poor. They don't have discretionary income. I'm thinking more of the people who do have choices and make bad ones. I was thinking about the people who would have money to spare if they didn't have credit card debt from overspending, brand new cars, multiple student loans that were used for more than school costs, etc. I'm thinking more about the person who spends $500 on clothes every month and $1000 on restaurants. Who regularly drops $300 a month on cigarettes and beer. Those who could massively alter their lifestyles and save their money if they didn't spend, spend, spend with credit.

  5. Fern Says:
    1586474624

    My point was, we really don't know who these people are which the media is saying may not be able to make ends meet next month. You're making assumptions that they fall into a certain category of people who don't make wise money choices. We really don't know that, or who they are. Sounds like conjecture to me.

  6. Joanne Says:
    1586478741

    Sorry to jump on your post.. As a nurse , I'd like to ask people to pray for all affected by this nightmare. I know that there are a lot of good people on this site. This is overwhelming for so many. It can happen so wuickly, that someone becomes stricken. This has really shown what is important in life. don witCoroc
    Thankyou.

  7. Joanne Says:
    1586478934

    Please excuse my bad typos above. My phone was freezing up. Thank you . I hope that this teaches me to always remember how blessed I've been.

  8. Lucky Robin Says:
    1586487995

    Fern--Yes, I understood your point the first time, but I think you missed mine. I am specifically talking about the people that have chosen to be irresponsible with their money all along. It's in the first paragraph. I am not talking about people who use credit to survive, because that is the only choice they have. I was thinking about the ones who could have been saving all along instead of building up debt they didn't have to build up and now they can't make rent. I know that this is not all people. The thought was specific to those that are irresponsible, if it will change them. Of course we don't know any person's specific situation or budget. But I am not talking about all those people. I am talking about one type of person.

  9. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1586557937

    LR let me post about it. I won't write a huge response here.

  10. crazyliblady Says:
    1586633332

    I think it is a lot like the economic collapse in 2008. For a little while, those type of people saved money, paid off debt, etc., but some of them went right back to spend, spend, spend once the crisis was done. I think change can only take place for a person when they make up their minds that they want to change and what change they want to make.

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