"Chambers" <ben### [at] pacificwebguycom> wrote in message
news:480425f1@news.povray.org...
>
> I work in a bank.  I see people's finances.  And what I see scares me.

Likewise, though I'm not a teller.

> The other day, I was talking to someone about saving money.  They tried
> the usual objects, "Oh, it's hard, I don't make very much, blah blah
> blah".  Of *course* they think it's hard, they've never done it!
> Anyway, I was telling this person that first, it's possible, and second,
> it's important that they make sacrifices to save money.  One of the
> other tellers butted in, agreeing with the customer that it wasn't
> reasonable to expect them to save money!  I practically wanted to rip
> her throat out for being so stupid, and undermining everything I was
saying.

That's just stupid. Bank employees are supposed to give good financial
advice. So, if it's not reasonable to expect them to save, what happens when
they're out of a job for just a month?

> As long as society in general doesn't value thriftiness(1), sacrifice,
> or saving, then society in general will have all kinds of problems.  I'm
> not going to have those problems(2), because I'm not going to *let*
> myself have them.

Agreed. I've got somewhere around 8 months salary saved up, not counting
some long term investments. It's nice to have, because it gives me a cushion
should anything happen, and it lets me take risks (like the upcoming job
move) without worrying if I'll be able to pay the home loan off.

A few years ago, I was unemployed for almost 6 months. Wasn't easy, but I
didn't have to go into debt.

I know some people that complain about being underpaid and broke at the end
of the month, but they go out to expensive restaurants regularly and 'own' a
car worth about half of what my house is. For some reason, I feel little
sympathy.

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