Why so many webmasters don't build reserves for bad days?
 

Maybe it's my European roots ... but we use to spend a certain amount of our income for health insurance, even unemployment insurance plus we usually put a certain percentage of our income on a savings account so we do NOT have to post on GFY and ask for donations in case of a surgery or an accident.

Please note this post is NOT against any specific people here on the board. It's just a general question out of curiosity.

Good post, This is something That is needed done by myself aswell.. This sounds stupid but for the most part, I have no idea how to budget my shit, If it werent for raising my two babies I prolly could fig it out, but anytime I save something allways comes up either school shit, games, bills etc...


If you could Jen Write something out that would help us dummies to better perpare our selfs :)

TOM

It's all about retained earnings.

So many people with a biz go under for this reason.

Alot of people here just make enough money to live on so they dont get a chance to really save up.

Others feel the expectations to be a baller so they spend above what they should.

I know my friends always expected me to spend and buy things just because I made a good living.

because most of the ones you're exposed to don't make enough to have a reserve....

Because the Armageddon is soon to come.

Who needs money if you die anyway...

If true it is a good reason to spend everything :1orglaugh

I am seriously the most anal person about my money... i should probably be a financial planner for ppl who need help budgetting but those ppl probably couldn't afford it if they need help with money management... this following list is for ppl who are having problems with it... yay! i get to ramble...

First step: For one month, keep every single receipt you get and write down all your expenses in detail, EVERY single time you spend any money. then keep track of all your earnings in detail. at the end of the month add it all up and analyse it.

Second: never just have one account. its amazing how many ppl only have say a checkings account and wonder why they can't save... Figure out your budget as best as you can... then get a savings account that charges you for withdrawls over a certain limit every month, and a second checkings account just for monthly scheduled bills only. You are not allowed to spend anything on the savings unless it's an emergency. Consider any money in savings as gone... not there.

steps 3 & 4 coming up next!

I had a discussion about this with some friends a couple weeks back.

They were telling me how great Europe was because Europe offers a great Healthcare system for "free", (is this true? For the sake of this post, I'll assume it is.) My response: "sure, but their taxes are also much higher. Some places hit 50% easily. As a business owner, my taxes in the United States are around 33%. You want to force me to pay 17% more in taxes just so I have Healthcare? Totally ridiculous. I'll go with a private provider, pay a couple hundred a month (which is only a mere percentage of my total income) and receive PRIVATE Healthcare instead of PUBLIC. For being responsible with my money, I receive better Healthcare for less money. How could that be a bad thing?"

This conversation was followed by a discussion about dentist visits. "Oh I can't afford to go to the dentist." Right, you can't cough up $70-100 twice a year to ensure proper dental health but you can spend $200 on a tattoo.

It's all about personal responsibility and priorities.

to each it;s own.....some ppl live check to check no matter what country you're in....it's on that person to save for a rainy day

Not just webmasters though that are living beyond there means, the amount of folks now with ongoing credit card debt is pretty staggering.

Threads like these are what make me so jealous of our Canadian neighbors.

I also cannot understand why most of the public opposition towards universal healthcare in the USA is based on the "we don't want higher taxes" arguement, but those same people have no problem paying far more to the insurance companies.

Far more expensive using private companies? How so?

Let's use $50k yearly salary as a base. What's 17% of that? A little less than $10k, we'll say $8k just for shits and giggles.

When I was still on my dads health plan, it included my dad and 3 kids. My dad was paying about $100 weekly for the insurance. That insurance pretty much covered everything. Health, eye, dental, operations... we never had to pay anything. And the Healthcare was pretty good and quick too. That means he paid about $5k yearly for full coverage with 1 adult and 3 kids.

So we're looking at $5k against $8k. Now of course the $8k does include some other things that taxes involved, but that's another story...

i agree. it's pathetic. you people ain't ballin' unless you have at least 6 months of reserve cash you could live on.

I agree... that's after the house and nice car. If anyone's in this biz full time and doesn't have shit, get out. You're wasting time

One reason would be that I am not just going to queue up for whatever doctor that the system decides to give me. The military has the only true version of universal healthcare in this country and ask the service people how much choice they have in who they see. Certain doctors are better then others, and if I am sick then I want to be able to choose where to spend my money.

As I was a medic in the military I also see what extremes these fucking people would go through to get a free bottle of aspirin. They would wait four hours in the clinic bitching about the wait time, and then tie up the medic, a nurse and doctor, jsut to say " I just wanted some aspirin". Which of course we could never give out any kind of medication without them seeing a doctor for fear of adverse reaction or the off chance they were really serious and didnt know it.

I pay enough taxes to support people I dont know and I dont care about. I would choose to help those close to me if they need it.

What bad days?

:glugglug

I was going to say exactly the same. Most people here don't make enough to live on yet alone save even 2 cents for the future.....sad but true.:2 cents:

You don't think Universal Heath Care everywhere else works as poorly as the US Military example you just described, do you?

American private health care companies compete with eachother, not to provide higher quality care, but to service as many patients as quickly as possible while charging as much as possible at the lowest cost to themselves.

The 'WALMART' model is not ideal when you're dealing with peoples lives IMHO.

And the myth about not being able to choose your own health care providers if you live in a country with socialized/subsidized health care is just plain wrong. Insurance plans here are far more restrictive. How many signs in waiting rooms have you seen here where they announce won't accept X.Y,or Z insurance? (for financial reasons)

Of course the European healthcare systems are not free at all. In most countries (and yes, the systems are still different in all E.U. countries), they are financed by direct contributions as well as taxes.

So at the end of the day, citizens have to pay for it, in Europe as in the U.S. or Canada.

BUT: There are two major differences:

1) Almost everybody is in the system - automatically. This includes:
- Everybody with an income
- His/her whole family
- Everybody on unemployment
Only very, very few people are left out.

2) The rich pay for the poor because monthly contributions do not depend on your family size but on your income.

In fact this system is not favorable for peaople like myself because I have no children and my spouse is earning her own money and thus paying for healthcare on her own. And because I am making too much :)

Good post.

Just an addition from my own experience with such an adult webmaster who, on some days, doesn't know how to pay has grocery bill: Also write down those expenses what you don't get a receipt for. Like for example "wheed".

No kidding. This guy has nothing but starts smoking at 4 pm every day. Sad.

If I was not so lazy I would do this. My dad said the same things to me.

it's the American lifestyle.

You have a class of young strong men and women, and they want to give their lives to something. Advertising has these people chasing cars and clothes they don't need. Generations have been working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy what they don't really need.
We have to show these men and women freedom by enslaving them, and show their courage by frightening them.

"Napolean bragged that he could train men to sacrifice their lives for a scrap of ribbon."

Sly_RJ
Where do you get 50% from? Only country I can think of is Denmark where it's that high. I'm in Czech and get free health care and I don't pay 50% and my income in tax. And I'm in the top 5% of wage earners here.

But in Europe we have more than free health care, we have a system that catches people when they fall down, Yes it supports a few who do not want to get up, but that is the argument always used by the mean spirited who jus want to not give.

One of the reasons that few here plan is the average age, when you are under 18 the world looks after you, 18-25 you have no responsibilities and no expectation of defeat. You have to reach 30 before you start to plan for the future.

Also a lot here are American, who have a very high personal debt level, even after calculating their incomes it?s one of the highest in the world.