This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse
In just a few days, this will officially be the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, and there is no end in sight. President Trump is pledging that he will not sign any spending bill unless it includes funding for a border wall, and the Democrats are promising their supporters that they will never agree to a single penny for a wall. This could be the confrontation that ends up defining Trump’s presidency, and whoever backs down now is going to look incredibly weak. But the longer this shutdown lasts, the more painful things are going to become for the hundreds of thousands of federal workers that are going without pay, and for the hundreds of thousands of workers that are employed by government contractors that rely on business from the federal government.
You should never play a game of chicken with somebody that is crazier than you are. In this case, it looks like both sides fully expect the other party to blink first, but the truth is that neither side is likely to yield any time soon.
So the days ahead are likely to be exceedingly painful for most federal workers, because just like the population as a whole, most of them are living paycheck to paycheck.
In fact, one survey found that 78 percent of American workers are currently living paycheck to paycheck…
Government workers are far from alone in feeling stressed about not getting paid. Nearly 80 percent of American workers (78 percent) say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2017 report by employment website CareerBuilder. Women are particularly vulnerable: 81 percent of them report living paycheck to paycheck, compared with 75 percent of men.
As I have repeatedly stressed, living paycheck to paycheck is something that you do not want to do if at all possible. When you live paycheck to paycheck, you are just one major disaster away from financial ruin. For example, if somebody in your family has a major accident or a significant medical emergency, it can quickly render you completely destitute.
That same survey also discovered that 70 percent of all workers are currently in debt…
Just more than 70 percent of all respondents say that they’re in debt, and a quarter of workers say they weren’t able to make ends meet at the end of every month of the past year.
If you are scrambling to make debt payments every month and you have no financial cushion to fall back on, then you have no room for error, and that is where most Americans find themselves today.
So for most federal workers, this government shutdown is not just an inconvenience.
According to Professor Paul Light, somewhere around 800,000 government workers are currently going without pay…
The shutdown has left approximately 800,000 federal workers in financial limbo. Around 420,000 “essential” employees are working without pay, while another 380,000 have been ordered to stay home, according to calculations provided to CNBC by Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University.
Of course the mainstream media is going to be filled with sob stories from these workers for as long as this shutdown lasts. For instance, CNN recently profiled the plight of TSA security officer Jessica Caraballo…
The partial government shutdown that began December 22 left Caraballo and 420,000 other federal workers across the country forced to work without a paycheck. Two weeks have passed and dozens of families like the Caraballos have put their lives on hold.
“Rent is due, light bill, gas bill, my car bill is due the 26th,” Caraballo said. “I already got my last paycheck and there’s no paycheck to come.”
“I don’t know when we would be able to celebrate birthdays, when we would be able to get ahead,” she added. “This is a pushback.”
Without a doubt things are tough right now for families like the Caraballos, but what will they do when a real national emergency strikes?
As we watch all the chaos that a minor disruption has created, it should cause all of us to realize that any sort of a major disruption could be extremely catastrophic for most of the country.
The vast majority of us are deeply, deeply dependent on the system. That is fine and dandy as long as the system is functioning well, but what if someday it stops functioning altogether?
For the moment, many government workers can just pile up more debt to get through this short-term crisis. Of course many of them are already drowning in debt, and we just learned that U.S. consumer borrowing was up another 22 billion dollars during the month of November.
However, if this shutdown lasts for another month or two, the mood of this nation is going to get quite sour, and that will especially be true once the food stamp benefits run out…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees SNAP at the federal level, is one of the agencies unfunded during the partial government shutdown. USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced Tuesday that SNAP would be funded through February, thanks to the funding bill that expired on Dec. 22, which included a provision allowing federal agencies to make obligated payments to support certain programs for 30 days after its expiration date.
Can you imagine the uproar that we would see if 38 million people were suddenly cut off from food stamps?
I think that the left is counting on that as negotiating leverage if they need it.
At this point we do not know how the political gridlock in Washington will end. Today, President Trump walked out of a meeting with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi when Pelosi told him point blank that there will be no money for a wall. At this point there does not seem to be any room for a compromise, and it will be politically disastrous for either side to back down now.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of government workers are going to be hurting, and the pain will intensify with each passing day.
***
Michael Snyder is a nationally syndicated writer, media personality and political activist. He is publisher of The Most Important News and the author of four books including The Beginning Of The End and Living A Life That Really Matters.
Michael T. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Florida law school and he worked as an attorney in the heart of Washington D.C. for a number of years.Today, Michael is best known for his work as the publisher of The Economic Collapse Blog and The American Dream.
If you want to know what is coming and what you can do to prepare, read his latest book [amazon text=Get Prepared Now!: Why A Great Crisis Is Coming & How You Can Survive It&asin=150522599X].
Poor govt. workers. [SARCASM] Now they’re finally learning what we in the private sector have had to live with for way too long. WELCOME TO OUR WORLD, GOVT. SUCKERS!
The problem is they didn’t shut down enough! Shut down BLM, FBI, DEA, ATF, FDA, CONGRESS, SENATE, ALL OF THEM! THE STATES CAN TAKE CARE OF THEIR OWN!
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of government workers are going to be hurting, and the pain will intensify with each passing day.
SWEEEEET! How will we celebrate birthdays? How will we get ahead? F%$K YOU! Get off my lawn you maggots!
No shit. Can I retire after 27 years and get 90% of my salary for life too?
No?
Boo hoo.
Where was all this concern when millions of workers lost their jobs, through no fault of their own, during the “Great Recession “? The people who caused it, banksters and these asinine politicians, didn’t give a rats ass, but now, suddenly, these poor destitute gubmint workers are gonna go hungry and homeless. Cry me a river. Plan accordingly.
Panther, AMEN to your comments. Good post.
Genius, you really nailed it with those 2 posts. Let’s see how many of them come down to earth now.
The real fun comes when these Grabberment emloyees start defaulting on their home loans, the banks crash and mass default sets in. A blessing in disguise, then we get to shoot 90% of the losers out there who are unprepared. Bring it.
78 Percent Americans free speech denied.
Real time communication and honest discussion Verbotten.
This web site, google, youtube, twitter, farcebook
You will conform to NWO leftist ideology and give your contry over to illeagals or be silenced by tech mafia bullies monopoly.
Things are about to get real. Wait until EBT cards of the entitled bum class don’t work due to made up “shutdown”.
Made up politician created “crises”.
first they shut you up
scape goat you
then they take your guns
then they round you up
into camps
into ovens
————NEVER AGAIN!
Boulder Colorado making felons out of gun owners.
Citizens flying “We will NOT Comply” bright yellow bumper/window stickers.
East coast states banning magazines. Making felons out of honest hardworking people. No one turning in mags.
The Ruling class making up the FAKE “Shutdown” crises. Completely fabricated by thieving lieing corrupt anti-American politicians.
Does the ruling class want an actual war? They like war in other countries, after all a rich politicians kid NEVER fights in the front. Your children do the bleeding dieing. Then VA hospital will REFUSE medical services to those who served. Now ruling class are inciting a civil war in Amerikka?
Trump looking for excuse for martial law? Is that true purpose of FAKE “shutdown” fabricated by politicians crises?
People will not register guns.
People will not give up magazines.
People on EBT cards will riot, burn, loot, if they don’t get their unearned free money.
People will panic with next big market crash.
Farmers are getting screwed by tariffs. They will loose thier farms. Farmers don’t farm. YOU don’t eat.
Ruling class wants a civil war?
What do you think?
Anyone have solid data?
This story if fake news. Gov. employees receive paychecks on the 1st and on the 15th. This is only the 12th of the month, so nobody in Gov. is yet to miss a paycheck. Besides, Gov. are way over-paid and should have healthy reserves of tax payer stolen pay in their bank accounts. Snyder is an idiot. The only part he got right was the people not in Gov. service having to live pay check to paycheck.
40% cannot cover an unexpected $400 expense…seemingly even by credit card.
Now think what they would do if credit and debit cards failed.
There were some studies that found the average American home had 7-10 days worth of food but they were including frozen and refrigerated which of course would not work with a power outage.
Combing all relevant facts, then really some people, even the majority (as 79% of Americans live in urban regions) are nine meals from anarchy.
With failure of the city water supply, you could have immediate anarchy in impoverished neighborhoods.
Keep in mind that includes people who are making $150,000+ a year, too. There are professionals living in $750,000 homes, own a luxury car along with a SUV & are neck deep in upper 5 figure credit card debt. Many sweat just to make the mortgage payment every month. I’ve had a financial advisor for over 20 years who no longer goes after the upper income professionals. He said most are so neck deep in debt that an IRA is out of the question.
Bwwwaaahahahahahahahaha 😛
Yes this really sucks. Im about to miss a Yacht Payment. (Sarc)
Got Silver? Better than cash. The train left the station. Heading back up now like Gold prices. Buy Low/ Sell High.
You are describing those that are trying to live a “magazine lifestyle”..
Under no circumstances should anyone earning $150k a year be struggling to make ends meet..
If you are,it’s 100% YOUR own fault..
TomCat, I’m debt free and don’t even try to ‘keep up with Joneses’. I could prep like hell on $150,000 per year.
When I was grossing about $180K a year, I lived paycheck to pay check. Paychecks were comung about every day. Many days $2K to $4K. Still I just expanded my life style for a lot of travel and dining out. No regrets. I have a Iifetime of amazing memories which is priceless.
A serious medical issue,divorce,etc.,can knock just about anyone down a peg or two,but the overwhelming majority of people making well over $100k a year and still struggling is their own fault because they’re trying to live a magazine lifestyle and trying to outdo their neighbors,family members and friends and end up getting in way over their heads..It’s hard to feel sorry for someone that does that..
ht tps://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=50%2C000&year1=199001&year2=201812
In 1990, lots of middle class folks made $50,000/year. It was not a great sum of money, but with benefits, it was a very comfortable earning.
To make the same amount today (in pay alone without those great benefits)would equal $98,600. That is hard for some people to process but absolutely true.
So while it may seem $100,000 is a lot of money to an older person, the reality is that it’s just an inflated version of what was once a modest income make by a blue collar craftsman making a small amount of overtime.
htt ps://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=76%2C000&year1=199001&year2=201812
There were Detroit automorkers who once made $76,000. It was not unusual back then.
Today, to make the same pay, that would be $149,872.
My point Tom is that a blue collar regular electrician in Western Kentucky in 1990, was not living a magazine lifestyle. He just lived in an ordinary 2500 square foot home, probably on a acre, might have tithed to his church, had a car and a truck, took his family to Florida on a week of vacation. He was not living a magazine llifestyle.
Yet today, that would take $98,600 in yearly income.
50 g in 1990 = 174 g today, at 4.4% inflation compounded annually. [govt is lying about real inflation]
Dave Ramsey made a statement that only 10% of those that live in million dollar homes are millionaires. The rest are just mortgaged to the hilt. So true.
Dave Ramsey personal credit sucks. He claims cash is king. As it is reduced to 2 cents of value on the dollar. Dave ramsey is a carnival barker hacking out his phony programs. He Gives out a lot of bad advice.
Back in the mid to late 80’s, I and my wife had got into the habit of living pay check to pay check, then a strike at the local packing house ( nationally known brand ) that lasted almost 2 yrs hit me and a bunch of other workers. If it wasn’t for my wife working, I would have lost everything. Boy, talk about a learning curve on saving money after I was back to work. Now we / I are debt free and still have a few coins to play. The strike for me was humbling experience. So yeah, I have an idea what some or a lot of the those people are or will be going though.
Don’t these faggots get unemployment??? WTF that is 6 months minimum! After that go get a job in china or somewhere else.
Boo Hoo….
Some big fat government bureaucrat won’t get his paycheck on time?
Who the hell cares.
Fuck them.
Yes and since they are worthless parasites FIRE THEM TOO!
Good…I hope they never see food stamps again. I had no idea that 1 out of 9 Americans are getting “free” food from the taxpayers. To hell with them all.!!!!!!
If a family of four has a combined monthly income of $4183, they can get $640 credit on a EBT card.
That means the combined yearly income is $50,186.
That would be equivalent to a yearly income of $25,500 in 1990. That is not a lot of money for four people.
That extra $640 of “food stamps” (now a credit on a EBT card) is actually equal to $324 in 1990 dollars.
Honestly, that is a very small benefit.
I realize that this is difficult for many olderAmericans to.process, because once these sums were significant amounts, but that was a LONG time ago. What year are you thinking of?
I can remember TRULY impoverished families getting $150 a month in actual food stamps back in the mid seventies.
Today, the equivalent would be $809/month!
That is how BAD inflation has gotten.
Yep. Saw a couple in Walmart putting milk on their SNAP card while she was sporting an expensive set of fake fingernails. They had to have cost her at least $75. Gotta have those priorities!
The Fed workers are pawns like many of us ‘little people’.
They are very fortunate, unlike many peep in the private sector.
The peep in the private sector would not receive back pay.
Furthermore, the peep in the private sector were not exempted from AHCA, and do not have cheap health insurance. Quit your whining. Live within your means. Prepare. Many should have seen the shutdown coming.
Yeah FUCK THEM!
Many if not most Americans don’t really grasp the concept of living within their means. When a young person first starts their working career, living with in their means, means doing some type of savings plan along with all of their other spending and then they will always have something to fall back on later in life. I remember as a young man the first thing I did when I got a job was to have a U.S. Savings bond taken out of my pay before I ever received my check, now days they are not a good investment but there are other savings plans that as a youth every working person needs to be in one. It’s sad when anyone that will work can’t work, even if it’s a government worker the sad part is that politicians never really work for the good of the people. When ever the economy is good and there are jobs available in the private sector, this is when Government needs to eliminate unnecessary Government jobs, which by the way are many. Ever notice when a person lands a new good paying job the first thing they do is buy a new Vehicle! Trekker Out
In the good old days, if you worked for a decent company, they would often match up to a certain amount. And many people routinely invested the maximum as a painless way to save for retirement. It could be pre-tax or after-tax; it was your choice.
I am grateful I could do that as I no doubt would have wasted money on silly things.
It’s like clothing, how many items of clothing does a guy really need?I had one suit only most of my life. I had a few pairs of jeans. I had one pair of boots.
Much of prepping today is very consumer oriented but it wasn’t like that in the seventies whatsoever. You bought one pocketknife an one fixed blade hunting knife.
You pay off your debt early and seldom go out to eat or in the old days to a evening movie and rarely to a matinee. You ate inexpensive meals and then saved up to buy a pretty dress for your sweet adorable hardworking wife.
When I was young I was check to check but never made a lot so never had a lot either. 23 years ago the silver bug hit and I was makin good money so I bought a shitload over years. It came in damn handy too when everything crashed and I was out of work for 18 months and moved out of state. Metals are much better than any saving crap because NOBODY CAN TAKE IT! I was selling silver at 3 times what I paid for it and more. No taxes, No paperwork, No paper trail, No danger of it being stolen by IRS, Lawsuit, Judgement, Etc. Not easily spent on impulse things. Unlike the dollar or any currency it will always have worth! Put your savings in an institution for every shark to steal or buy metals and be as safe as can be…. your choice!
Exactly Genius. Silver is king.
Thats all fine and dandy MT
But ive been in the position of the pay just not being there or not being enough to cover basics.
Not boo hoo ing as its generally been my choice to just do my own thing, but the reality is the cost of living has far outpaced the pay in most cases. This from firsthand experience.
Half the things I write about are real wages versus inflation plus the loss of benefits.
I wouldn’t have done decades of youth ministry if I didn’t speak up for them.
This is why we need to stop free trade because when young people stop buying houses because they can’t save the down payment, then America is doomed to fail.
I’ll tease millennials all day long but still teach them even when foolish and surly. I’m just taking a break now.
Ancestral skills can be entirely lost if one generation stops teaching them.
They have to at least try though.
It sure looks like the jackass political party is willing to cause a food stamp crisis. Soon I expect Trump to sign the order transferring military construction funds to have the Corp Of Engineers build the wall. And then sign the spending bill. I do feel very much for the ordinary Fed worker hurt by this imbroglio. And come mid March the so called debt ceiling will run out. I expect a horrific fight over this.
Every real number points to a global mess. In the US new orders for tractors (for trailers) dropped 43% in the last two years. The last time this happened was just before the Panic of 2008. Chinese car sales hit a 20 year low. We have chaos in the UK and France. I expect a “hard” Brexit.
An IMF spokesperson has opined that when the next panic hits that the powers that be will not be able to do much.
Jim Rickards (worked as an economist for the CIA) opines that the Panic of 2019 will begin in the junk bond market. He computes it 10% of these default (this is a VERY conservative estimate) that the losses will be some seven times that of the subprime mortgage losses in the Panic of 2008. So all hell is coming to economies here and abroad.
I especially like http://www.zerohedge.com for market news. Ignore the prolefeed in the MSM. Orwell’s “1984” defined prolefeec as “rubbishy entertainment and spurious news. I now working my way thru a 1000+page collection of Owell’s published essays. He had a truly amazing life.
In 1940 H.G. Wells published a book “The New World Order” that I’m about to start.
If the theory of the Grand Solar Minimum is correct, food prices are going to spike sharply as grain harvests drop. Combined with higher heating costs for homes, the average American family will be in serious trouble within several years.
The latest physics and astronomy information is that there are strange magnetic anomalies pointing to a peculiar magnetic field disruption that will significantly alter magnetic north.
Now…what will be the total effect? Nobody knows. It may just screw up GPS. It may cause a significant solar min. It may cause a mini Ice Age (as happened in history to great effect). It may seriously harm crop harvests and adversely affect livestock production. It may cause weird electrical and electronic anomalies. It may cause power outages. It might be worse.
PROOF
ht tps://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00007-1
Drudge ran a story recently.
Does anyone know if the Super Collider projects are screwing up magnetosphere? Are they actually a weapon built to destroy?
Or were colliders built to mitigate the magnetic drift? Or do they have nothing to do with happenings?
Anyone have reliable info?
Plenty of youtube vids claim purpose is to open portal for demons? The colliders have much occult symbology? Or is it all nonsense?
Is fracking destabalising mantle? Unbalancing core rotation?
Anyone here know?
How can any us “know” with 100% certainty?
Is it possible? YES.
Why does CERN terrify some physicists like the late Stephen Hawking? He was worried about things like altering the Earth’s magnetic field, causing a black hole, creating a fundamdntal so-called god particle and ending the world.
WHY does CERN’s symbol have 666 on it? Weird.
Why does CERN use bizarre occult rituals and have an image of Shiva the Destroyer on-site?
Has there even been a damn funding bill that passed Senate and was vetoed???
Good question.
Forget the left; TRUMP could use a food stamp riot as leverage.
To his base, he can point out what happens when these people lose their free stuff, and why protecting the US is vital.
To everyone else, he can be the guy who was working during Christmas to keep the food stamps going–he already got them extended through February–but mean ole democrats like Nancy Pelosi wouldn’t help! She went to stay in a $10,000 a night hotel over Christmas while you poor food stamp folks lost what little you had!
tell all the senators that they are FEDERAL WORKERS AND
THEY WON’T BE PAID BE PAID until they ALL go back to work.
Instead of the regular people who make nowheres near the money
they do.
There has been 20 government shutdowns. It’s almost an annual event.
Government workers should know the drill by now. They should plan accordingly, like us.
I have government workers in my family.
My parents lived paycheck to paycheck before my dad got his government job. They have money saved up, a full pantry, and an outside source of income if the worst happens.
My sister is on her second vacation since the shutdown began.
Here’s a WaPo article that nicely outlines the numbers of affected gov personnel. ht tps://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/shutdown-federal-worker-impact/?utm_term=.983e15c7e791
The gov personnel in this area can apply for Unemployment. Some opt to find alternate employment for the duration; OPM provides guidelines on what these people can and cannot do for work in the interim. Most temp jobs aren’t a problem but some jobs can be categorized as a conflict of interests and taking such a job could get them fired.
Some gov contractors are also furloughed but I found no statistics on these people. They will not receive back pay like gov personnel most likely will. The contractors who remain on the job usually have extremely high workloads to keep things going and don’t get extra compensation (usually) for it. Don’t ask how I know.
Here in the Washington DC area, there are loads of food banks most of which will gladly help anyone in desperate need. I have heard of banks and credit unions doing some type of bridge loan so people don’t lose their cars and homes. Never knew anyone personally who did this but it is an option.
As for the standoff between Trump and Pelosi, I’d bet on Trump; I’ve observed how he works. And, the more the Dems try to make Trump look crazy, the more nutso they appear. MSM is tap dancing to make it all look okay but after the Pelosi-Schumer response to Trump’s Oval Office message on Tuesday, it’s really hard not to chuckle–or guffaw–on how it appeared. Some of the best memes online were from Dems.
It shouldn’t have come to this but here we are. POTUS working with Congress critters is like herding cats. Being a feline fancier, I know cats don’t herd at all. However, you can get them to do lots of things you want them to do–tricks or useful actions (done it)–with a reward they are interested in. Seems like as a body, Congress is much the same.
Its all bullsh*t. Every single one of the govt employees are on a paid vacation. There will be a bill passed eventually and they will be back paid for every single day they sat on their a*** doing exactly what they would normally do… Little to nothing. The Union AFGE long ago negotiated that and had it codified into the Civil Service. They wont be paid right now, but first pay period immediately following a pay bill passage it will hit their accounts. Its all a huge dramatic political lie that they are “suffering”… BS of the most vile self serving kind. Every news media outlet is pandering lies and every single worthless govt employee KNOWS it is a lie and yet play it up as truth. Nothing has changed, every single benefit, every single LEAVE DAY THEY WOULD NORMALLY ACCRUE will all be credited and it will cost WAAAAY MORE than 5 billion. But youd never know because of the dishonesty or the media, the employees themselves, and above all Congress that keep repeating this disturbing lie in political pandering. Im telling you this because i WORK inside the halls of power. Both parties are lying out their a****.There is excess about four times over duplication manning for each ADMINISTRATION function so that the functions will continue without interruption while employees take sick leave holiday leave and annual leave. There is minimal manning (bare bones get the job done) and then there is FULL manning where all authorized slots are filled and the paid thumb twiddling goes on. 90% of civil service are parasitical democrats. The other 10%,actually work and make the govt actually function. Representatives get paid 4 to 7 times more than the civil service and actually work less than a third of the hours and days as the rest of the govt infrastructure does never mind the all expense paid junkets and “fact finder” trips and offsite meetings…. You all just dont know how posh and cush these scumbags have it. Your reps live and get paid like royalty and work just like them. Things are very different for law enforcement and park rangers and actual labor jobs… Administration type desk jobs is where all the trrason and corruption and fraud and waste is. The actual labor and agents and rangers and patrol officers…. Now they are NOT duplicated manning at all.
And FFS. Its only been 21 days… NOBODY IS EVEN LATE ON A SINGLE PAYMENT YET, AND THE GOVERNMENT WAS VIRTUALLY SHUT DOWN COMPLETELY ANYWAY FOR 10 PAID DAYS FOR THE HOLIDAYS…. DONT BUY THE BULLSH*T. PAID FOR FULL DAYS EVEN FOR THE HALF DAY SCHEDULE MOST DOD OFFICES WERE RUNNING ANYWAY. ALL THE HYPE ITS ALL BULLSH*T
Personally I could care less.
All of us have to grow up,
be adults, and take
responsibility for all
our actions.
Perhaps I’m an exception
but I’ve always had a job
and a savings account from age
8 or so on.
I retired at age 54.
I don’t have a lot of money,
but if stuff doesn’t break,
I still save 10% of my
income per month.
I’ve owned a 45′ and a 24’sailboat,
I still own two houses, and have been
debt free since 1992 or so.
If I can pull it off why can’t at least
50% of the population do it?
Because people like you and me are “specious” 😀
No, not specious,
Just lucky you havent had a personal SHTF that drained you into poverty, shit happens, and sometimes even the best planning is for not
Nail,
I hear you,
Divorce, layoffs, bankruptcy, and legal problems
can really set you back.
I got really close many times but managed to
avoid those problems.
I actually had a chance
to get into farming/ranching as a way
of making a living(it is a hobby for me now)
but decided against it.
One thing I learned as a kid,
when I used to pick blackberries,
for summer money, I’d rather eat them,
than grow and pick them.
Au contraire mon friar! We are specious because we have the ability and tools and mindpower to do these things! Yes a big shtf event could wipe you out but that is not the point. Bad shit can happen to anyone. Mechanical ability is rare nowdays and people will pay well for someone like us to fix things. I’m talking about financial responsibility and skills… not a disastrous event.
Guess how old I was when I first got married…
Try 52! I aint stupid, I see what my friends went through. That shit isn’t for me and I learn from others mistakes. And I had a vasectomy to be damn sure I never pay child support and don’t put anyone else through the coming shitstorm. Hence I am very comfortable and secure…
Rellik,,
Yup,
Been through quite a few of those things, it wears on your soul,
Right now im just lucky my other half has a good job and my mom is our landlord, otherwise id be screwed.
Its not for lack of willingness or trying but ill be damned if i go and work for 20$ an hour full time, i can scrape by staying at home doing odd jobs and leather work and stuff, and end up in the same shape as if i was working a full 40 at 20. Its amazing how poorly people want to pay to do stuff around here,
They own a 4 million dollar house and balk at payin 40/hr for custom finish work, just amazing.
$20/hour is equal to $10/hour in 1990. That’s $20,800 back then which was a pitiful wage for full time work. You could make it as a single guy but likely with a roommate in an apartment. That’s dangerously low in case of pregnancy and supporting a girlfriend/wife and a baby. There’s no wiggle room.
It’s criminal what NAFTA did and all those pushing for it. They sold out their neighbors and millions of American citizens.
But that was based on living in Western KY which is one the least expensive in the nation based on the low cost of living. I can’t imagine trying that is most states.
Nail,
I know lots of tradesmen here and
understand what you are dealing with.
Something I learned way back when
I was working as a journeyman shipwright,
is rich people sometimes got rich
by screwing the workers.
The other side of the coin,
is I have repaired/resurrected
poor peoples computers and they
complain about me charging
them parts costs only.
I was working for free and they
complained!
That is the main reason I never
started a personal business as a
“going concern”.
Rellik and Nailbanger, I had a few legal problems back in the late 80s and worked 2 jobs for 3 years just to pay off the damn lawsuit and legal fees. It was a huge setback for me but I survived it. Once I finished paying off everything, my prepping started back and even went into overdrive. 3 years of NOT being prepped was a real bitch for me but I overcame it. That was the biggest curveball life ever threw at me at the time but I survived it and overcame all the adversity that came with it. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Around here in the nineties, there was this peculiar sort of tulip mania about raising llamas.Some people tried it. It was all enormously inflated as a get rich scheme. People were trying to jump in and so the demand was artificially boosted in spite of their prized wool spun into yarn.
So if you lost one to a coyote or a feral dog, then the loss was quite high.
htt ps://priceonomics.com/when-the-great-alpaca-bubble-burst/
More about the scam.
Be careful about investing in odd agricutural investments. If it sounds too good to be true due to new investors, then it’s a scam.
We used to joke about it because Monty Python had that ridiculous llama skit.
You guys all have interesting stories. Mine is that I was widowed twice and divorce once. Raised my son alone. However, because I’m handy, he always had new clothes I made for him, no want for good food and sufficient savings (various sorts). My house was paid off so no worries for that in retirement. Except for things that need three hands, I do my own home repairs, painting, etc. HOA says no car repairs so that’s out but the vehicle is quit reliable.
I am far from wealthy but am content with what I have. Well, I’m always interested in learning more. Yep, my life has been a bed of roses, thorns and all.
Honesty hon, you sound like quite a catch.
Sweet mullberries, strawberries, delicious peaches bursting with juice and so ripe the skin peels off with a tug, but my favorite is raspberries and thorny blackberries. That on homemade vanilla custard ice cream.
Relic, I totally agree !
I too retired at an early age. Sold my house out west and bought a sailboat with the proceeds and cruised the islands for a number of years. Until age caught up with me…
A couple months ago , I was whining that the house I’ve been renting for nine years was put on the market. I got called a fool for renting…hah ! The rent through all those years was much less than a mortgage would have been for the same house. That is, until rents rose significantly in our area…so…I close here soon on the same house lol. After taxes and insurance, For pretty much around the same as what I could rent for.
Point of this whole saga…five years ago I lost my income due to an auto accident and have not worked since. Did not get much of a settlement either, in fact much less than the medical bills came to. Florida law sucks where it comes to liability…
We were only one of those 50k combined our entire lives. Since my accident we’ve survived just on my wife’s income of 20k. Yet…we have managed to keep in reserve around six months of emergency funds through all this.
How ? Frugal living ! No debt and living within our means !
I too have been a lifelong silver bug too, but so far the price of silver has sucked since my accident. So I’m still holding…
Really hated to buy a house at the top of a bubble tho ! But what the hell. I’m at the age where the mortgage will out last me…and I definitely DID NOT WANT TO MOVE FIVE YEARS WORTH OF FOOD PREPS !!! That’s a lot of buckets lol.
Not to mention I’m physically not up to moving it all.
Thank God I never use my VA house loan until now hee hee.
Point is, if I have reserves. Then all those leaches in government jobs have no excuse.
Most of the furlowed government employees would never vote for the Trumpster anyway, so no big loss.
I think that the left is counting on that as negotiating leverage if they need it.
The left NEVER EVER treats people like disposable pawns. HELL NO!
Offf courrrse notttt what do you mean?
Psshh.
Leave it shut down. Thing’s a POS anyway.
However, for all the “real collapse” planners, I suggest the following challenge: simulate homelessness for 3 months. If you gotta work, work, but after that you’re “homeless” (air quotes).
Note the system is still functional at this time.
Should be educational, yeah?
By the way: honey badger does not give a shit.
He already said what he’d do: declare a national emergency and do it via giant executive rubber stamp.
Sounds great till you realize that the next President to refer to this precedent will likely be a Democrat.
Goody.
Get out now.
Back in the nineties, I was listening to Rush Limbaugh and he said that there was a point in his earlier life when he was so strapped for cash that he was using a credit card in minimarts to buy a doughnut and a cup of coffee.
I found that shocking, but it was prophetic as I witnessed young people doing this about a decade ago in 2008. People so rarely used credit cards once, typically at Christmas time or for emergency use. I mean salesmen had business gas credit cards due to travel expenses records, but to daily use a credit card for miniscule charges seems so undisciplined.
It was obvious to me that the next generation was doomed as they lacked any chance to achieve genuine middle class status. Yet once that was achievable with ease in 1980-1982. And remember that was during some of the very worst interest rates. Back then, working diligently was recognized, so that even if a young person had gotten average grades, a company would take a chance, and they might achieve financial independence.
Now they spend spend spend, as if there is no tomorrow, and if it’s so hopeless that why bother being thrifty? There is probabky no way the bulk of Americans of the millennial generation can ever retire. Talk about doom.
Maranatha, I probably one of the few that still carry a fair amount of cash on me and still use cash for most of my personal business. I avoid using my debit card all I can. When I stop in a convenience store for anything I still pull out cash and/or change to get something, NOT a card. Even when I get groceries or anything else I still use cash. I’ve lost count of how many cashiers I’ve pissed off by NOT using a card, LOL. I use my debit card for paying bills and some limited online shopping and I do that as little as possible. Nowadays it’s a common sight to see someone in any kind of store buy something for say, less than $10, and use plastic. I’ve had a lot of people tell me it’s too dangerous to carry cash. BREAKING NEWS: A person can get robbed/mugged REGARDLESS OF WHAT THEY HAVE ON THEM AT THE TIME. A good friend of mine was once robbed and shot and had nothing but one debit card and one credit card on him; no cash or even change. Not carrying cash/change doesn’t make you any less vulnerable to becoming a victim of crime.
If you pay in cash in small amounts, you disappear off the grid of the surveillance state.
In the first 72 when the SHTF, whoever has CASH can still buy things. But by the first week, people will NOT want to sell food or practical items because nobody will know what prices should be in dollars.
Then if you had old US silver coins, most businesses would recognize that these had lasting value due to their content. Others might look at some precious metal coin and not know their value.
You have to imagine a day when you would not want to part with any precious metal coin because most likely they will not be replaced and so could have infinite value.
I was just rewatching Les Miserables (which I highly recommend as a modern morality play). In it, two silver candlesticks are worth 2,000 French francs. A man pays 500 francs for a WHOLE FACTORY that manufactures tiles.
Hard to believe, but probably is accurate for 1830.
Maranatha;
Get off the 90’s already, your living 30 years outdated…..
Nope, I live in the eternal now. The past is gone. The future is always away. There is only the NOW.
But by comparing what prices used to be, you can wake.people up to prepare. Doom is clearly happening NOW.
If 78% live paycheck to paycheck, what do the other 22% do?
I don’t believe that 22% of workers live within their means. It’s more like 2%.
The other 20% have more money than they can spend. After the first ($30,000,000.00) thirty million, it’s just arithmetic.
.
Some folk may be chasing that elusive butterfly of happiness. Everything i own is borrowed. God is the rightful owner.
Think you own property? If you pay taxes on it someone else must own it.
All it takes is one (1) major illness to bankrupt many.. maybe you as well.
The dollar value seems to be shrinking folks.
Decades ago the dad worked & the mom stayed home. Now it can take 2 parents working.
Got my workfare check today. Same as welfare except you work for it. They pay you just enough if you keep your ass in work you can live week to week. What a fuckin joke we are all wage slaves. Modern day slavery. They call it the American dream cus you have to be asleep to believe it.
I heard it said the current bunch young people don’t want to wait.. they want it all.. now.
I drive an old car. Manual transmission, Crankup windows. No power locks. No heated seats. Basic A – B transportion. I like it that way. Doubtful anyone would steal it. ?
Personally when a young person tells me that they don’t know how to drive a stickshift, I really tease them about it and insist on showing them how. That just ain’t right.
Back in the day, a 16 year old guy was called a female body part if they didn’t bother to learn. That would have been something you could never live down in rural Western Kentucky. You’d lose your man card if you can’t do that especially in front of a lady. Imagine if she had to drive because you were that inept? You would be the butt of endless jokes.
Maranatha, when I was 14 my Dad made me learn to drive a manual and get good with it BEFORE I could learn an automatic. Haven’t touched a clutch pedal since 2004 but I can again right now if I had to. I could still drive a manual in my sleep. The knowledge never leaves you, You never forget how to do it.
Yep. It was fairly common in the seventies to learn how to drive a manual transmission on some country road that might just be packed dirt…and be 14.
In “An Unfinished Life” (2005) a rancher is teaching a 12 year old to drive a pickup truck on a farm. It was not unusual because work might occasionally require it.
“I heard it said the current bunch young people don’t want to wait.. they want it all.. now.”
The current generation “want it all now” because the young people today know that if they don’t have it all by now they never will.
Simple as that.
You make your own choice whether or not to live within your means.Government worker or not, It’ YOUR fault if you don’t have enough saved.
A bunch of TSA people are disgusted and were going to en masse call in sick but now they are quitting.
So I looked up how much they earn and it’s about $16/hour which is a rotten $8/hour wage in 1990 dollars which is about what they used to pay very low end temp workers.
This is unbelievable as I know it’s a horrible job but that is insulting. Groping irritated passengers all day long and with no one respecting what you do.
I’m sure millions will apply for these jobs as people are so desperate.
Shiiit, in 1990 I made 8.55 an hour in a union job (teamsters). In Idaho and that was considered a pretty good wage. With benefits it was not a bad job. But the cost of living was low too.
I can relate Genius.
In 1990 I too lived in Idaho and made right at $10 hr.
Indeed cost of living was low ! Especially when I owned my house out right.
Mistake I made was selling out, moving to Flauduh to go cruising on a sailboat. Not really, would do it the same again ! Glad I retired myself at 45 yrs. Old too. Sailing is much better when you’re young and fit enough to enjoy !
Now that I’m 20 years older, the thought of living anywhere north of the Space Coast scares the crap out of me. Too damn cold for my broken body lol.
The very stupid people we call DUMMYCRATS do not understand that the southern border problem requires a limiting structure (A wall). Drug trafficking, illegal immigration (jumping to the front of the immigration line without scrutiny for disease & capability), terrorist incursion and other obvious border issues require a limiting device (A wall). American CITIZENS deserve better than the idiocy of the DUMMYCRATS.
It has been the failed HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (now controlled by the DUMMYCRATS) that has failed to pass a functional annual budget
Imagine if she had to drive because you were that inept? You would be the butt of endless jokes.
Nowadays that would be “Hate Speech”. But there are still a lot of ‘inept’ screwballs running around.
Most of the effected Federal employees, are unionized. After years of repeated gov shutdowns, don’t their unions address this issue? I know most major civilian unions provide financial assistance during strikes.
I have family members who live check to check, it’s a choice, money in their hands is like water spilled on dry sand, it vanishes and they can’t tell you where it went. Talk to them about creating a budget, and their heads explode. Other people’s ignorance and intransigence is not my emergency.
Many people just waste money on stupid stuff. Things like $175 a month on a cable TV bill. I never met a poor person that didn’t have a top end cable package, and an unlimited internet plan…. for several cell phones, and the house, how many times you gonna pay for the same horse until you realize you’re being taken. Every place I go that charges admission, I ask if they give AAA discounts, or check online for coupons.
Part of being a frugal prepper is buying bulk or on sale and learning how to long term store those goods. Use them, rotate them, and always have good safe food on the shelf for any emergency, or just life. Smart shopping applies to all shopping clothing, tools, houses, cars.
Aren’t most all these federal employees eligible for interest free loans at their Federal Credit Union? Especially when they are guaranteed of getting paid ultimately.
I’m thinking there’s far too much smoke and mirrors propaganda a foot.
“78 Percent Of Americans Are Living Paycheck To Paycheck – Including Many Government Workers Affected By The Shutdown”
Aww. Poor Snowflakes. [sarcasm? you decide]
Meanwhile, tens of millions of illegals are still receiving free government welfare and support while over 600,000 American citizens who are homeless on any given night in the United States are freezing to death outdoors, abandoned by their own country.
Shut it down. Shut it all down.
Blame-e, LOL. That’s some good sarcasm and good points you made.
Prideful bunch we have here.
Mercy, do we have to stop dropping bombs on foreign nations? yea right…
If the “laid-off” government workers get to draw unemployment, then they should be thanking Trump. After all, aren’t they also going to get back pay when the government reopens?
An old boomer like myself can remember in 1974 when $500 was a lot of dough especially if it was a sudden unexpected windfall.
Due to inflation, that would take $2696. This is dire.
Every prepper expected a sudden disaster, not one lasting decades that creeps up on you.
But this slow inflation then is difficult to comprehend for older boomers because people get locked in time and think, “Well gosh, $500 is a lot of money! Why can’t they make it on that amount of money!” Well it’s not a lot of money anymore.
Maranatha, I was a teenager in 1974 and anytime I got that kind of money I thought I had died and gone to heaven. You remind me of how old I am, LOL. Yes, $500 isn’t much money these days.
Back then, you could buy a used car that would operate for $500. That much money would pay for several months rent. A new car cost $3200. People might make $9700/year in salary.
ht tp://www.inthe70s.com/prices.shtml
BUT when you get a dollar amount “fixed in your mind” that’s bad because inflation has destroyed wealth in America and most harmed the lower and middle class.
By comparison, many ordinary people like machine operators who worked a little overtime, just average Joes made what today is considered affluent.
Young people can’t comprehend that and old farts get locked in and think prices are static (rather than up to five fold higher).
Maranatha, good point about taking inflation into account. I got my first car, 1964 Chevy Nova, for only $300 in 1973. Inline six engine, 3-on-the-tree, radio, heater, manual windows and door locks; just as basic as anyone could get back then. 2 years later I was t-boned by an idiot in a U-Haul truck and the Nova was totaled. Luckily I had enough money saved up to get another car at the time so I came out OK. BTW, I was banged up some in that wreck but not seriously. A similar car today would cost $3000, maybe only $2000 if you’re lucky.
Useful tool:
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
these idiots that are not getting paid are drawing unemployment when things retirun to normal thay get paid agen in backpay sooo thay are actually making more money
A government that can print all the money they need. A budget that doesn’t have to be balanced. And they still can’t get a budget through the political process! If employees in the private sector were this incompetent, they would be fired!
I wonder when many of the 1 million people affected or impacted by the government shutdown lose their homes if Trump and his cabinet will swoop in and buy them up real cheap and re-sell them for more than double what they paid.
Infrastructure = decaying underground systems, bridges, overpasses, and tunnels, as well as outdated electric grid.
Infrastructure OR Wall? We can’t do both.
is (((paper money hegemon))) part of infrastructure?
Federal employees earn an average yearly salary of around $88,000. That’s twice what the average family earns yearly,and with fewer benefits and higher medical insurance costs. I’m crying huge tears for those poor mistreated government/union workers.
In 1990, a typical mechanic repair craftsman, working in a factory in Kentucky, could expect to earn a base pay of $45,000.
In Dec 2018, that would be $88,740.
By now means were those craftsman rich or even well off. They had a moderate income.
Now consider the cost of living in Washington DC. It is 52% higher than the national average.
In other words, federal employees are making far LESS than a guy living in Kentucky nearly 30 years ago!
Now are they creepy stalwart Democrats and scum? Yep. But that is what has happened to the national economy that was ruined by politicians.
Question
If you are a business owner and there are insuffiicient numbers of workers willing to work for the wage and benefits you are offering, then how do you cope to get employees?
Answer
You raise wages and or benefits as long as you can still make payroll and make a reasonable profit.
Question
What happens to wages and benefits if there are twice the number of employees in the labor pool?
Answer
As there are many more to choose from, wages and or benefits fall as someone is willing to work. The odds are in the business owners’ favor.
See Feminism.
Now look at America versus China and answer the same questions.
See Free Trade and Globalism.
no matter how little you make or how many kids you have there is always somebody who makes less and has more kids than you that is saving money for a rainy day… It is about choices and consequences…
America can ABSOLUTLY do both improve infrastructure and build the wall.
The classic out of the box method are special tax incentives through municipal bonds. That is how bridges are paid for now.
We coud alter them by vastly increasing the tax incentive and in this market uncertainly, the wealthy would put their money there.
Just chiming in about TSA workers on this thread. All the stories I read right now in the press are giving them the “poor underpaid employee” treatment. Many of them have been the rudest individuals I have ever encountered. I hope they appreciate their jobs more after this shutdown and can manage a little more civility to the traveling public.
When they tested these TSA goons, they consistantly FAILED to detect the test items.
Not only are they rude, they are so without purpose.
the wall is infrastructure
america died in 1913 and is still dead
there is NO AMERICA without sound money
[sound money is money that makes a sound when hitting ground]
90% of government can shut down. Cut the unnecessary lard.