Anybody here Dave Ramsey fans??? Too many people, not just the poor, live beyond their means. New vehicles, appliances, cars, vacations, Christmas gifts, dinners out etc. aren't purchased these days; they're charged on credit. Cell phones (even for kids), cable television, Internet service, Starbucks coffee, cigarettes, etc. are now seen as commonplace necessities by many today; they can add up to a few hundred dollars a month of potential savings if things are tight. They are wants, not needs. Many don't seem to realize this.
My DH and I were just discussing the state of affairs last night. No politician wants to make cuts, because it doesn't get votes. But we can't keep doing what we're doing. It takes tax dollars to support all these programs out there, and it feels as if we're already being bled to death through taxation. Are we just going to keep on raising taxes to provide for all the people out there who don't work or who live beyond their means and end up filing bankruptcy??? By the time my teen son is my age, will 75% of his income go toward taxes??? We are going to have to reduce programs. We just can't keep this up... It scares me. And we have generations of people out there who just assume the government (aka working taxpayers) will provide for them. Last year, I had a talk with my kids at school who insisted that their lunch was free, and nobody had to pay for it. We were working on government, taxation, etc. I explained that it wasn't "free" because it had to be paid for, and that taxes went to pay for school lunches if families couldn't do so. These were just 10 yr. olds, but it's reflective of our society's outlook.
To the original poster, I worry that your family IS a dieing breed...
My DH and I were just discussing the state of affairs last night. No politician wants to make cuts, because it doesn't get votes. But we can't keep doing what we're doing. It takes tax dollars to support all these programs out there, and it feels as if we're already being bled to death through taxation. Are we just going to keep on raising taxes to provide for all the people out there who don't work or who live beyond their means and end up filing bankruptcy??? By the time my teen son is my age, will 75% of his income go toward taxes??? We are going to have to reduce programs. We just can't keep this up... It scares me. And we have generations of people out there who just assume the government (aka working taxpayers) will provide for them. Last year, I had a talk with my kids at school who insisted that their lunch was free, and nobody had to pay for it. We were working on government, taxation, etc. I explained that it wasn't "free" because it had to be paid for, and that taxes went to pay for school lunches if families couldn't do so. These were just 10 yr. olds, but it's reflective of our society's outlook.
To the original poster, I worry that your family IS a dieing breed...
