"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
3 December 2005Fatuous Flashback 10Recession? Well, it's not, polls notwithstanding, but if there were, I suppose they could try to blame me:
[T]he one person you cannot escape is the marketer. So long as you are perceived as having cash, or exploitable amounts of credit, you're a target. What you have is never good enough. You've got to keep up with the Joneses.
Personally, I always thought it would be much more fun, not to mention a lot less expensive, to drag the Joneses down to my level. Of course, they don't want to go. It flies in the face of everything they've been taught. Those who don't do their part to keep the economic machine humming are viewed as cranks or curmudgeons or communists. (From Vent #80, 7 December 1997.) Posted at 8:41 AM to Greatest HitsIt's the Joneses who are the problem, if you'd rather save some money than run up credit cards. You tend to live up to the standards set by those around you - at work, and in your neighborhood. That's why Rule Number One, if you Seriously want to Change Your Indebted State, is to move to a lesser neighborhood. Get LESS house than you can afford, rather than maxing out your mortgage. Live in a place with fewer lifestyle expectations. Downsize. Decompress. Most folks don't have the stomach for this level of contrary living. That's why Wall Street bankers claim bankruptcy about as often as Sanitation Engineers. I'm not kidding. Posted on this: Financial advice for Zombies. Posted by: Mr. Snitch! at 1:08 AM on 4 December 2005Yea, verily. I was astonished at the sheer amount of money the bank was willing to lend me for a house: it was roughly twice what I was expecting. (I avoided looking at houses near the top end of that X to 2X range, and eventually bought one at the 1.5X point, which is not high enough to cause discomfort.) |