As far as help goes, I did get a small inheritance from an aunt who died when I was 2. I wound up using $5,000 of it to buy my house as a down payment. Other than that, I have received less than $1,000 of assistance with my living expenses from my family in the 12 years I have lived on my own. My parents co-signed my truck when I was 24 ( I am 34 now and still use it as my delivery vehicle), but provided no money towards it's purchase. That was all my working overtime while driving my 85 Cutlass as a delivery car. My first car was a freebie I got at 15 years old that was literally headed to the junkyard--a 1979 AMC Spirit with numerous problems that did not even have a working radio-but it did have rust holes, oil leaks and a horn that shorted out and honked when it wanted to. We were so poor for a while that it became my dad's daily driver before I got my license. My second car I got for free also- it is the Olds I have pictured in my sig and I got that at 19 years old when I blew up the engine in my AMC. When I was first starting out delivering pizza ( I was 21), I was making more money than my father and mother put together. I still have all 3 cars today, and the house I own I bought when I moved out of my parents house at 22 years old. I found it myself through a co-worker who was a real estate agent. It needed broken windows fixed, new flooring, holes in the walls fixed and a new roof in addition to some work to the in ground pool. I paid $40,000 for it, with a $65,000 appraised value. It was 2 months in arrears on the mortgage and the investor who owned it needed out fast. I did it as a wrap around initially as I had intended to flip it, but decided to live in it instead. The neighborhood had seen 2 or 3 murders the year I moved in, and the house next door later was abandoned and became a crack house. As I had predicted when I bought the house, the area has since turned around as new development and an expressway have sent the property values higher. I was not stupid enough to re-mortgage the house when the boom hit, and consequently I am in no danger of foreclosure, even with my now higher $645 a month mortgage payment (with taxes, flood and property insurance included) due to rising taxes. I also wisely did not get an ARM- I got a fixed rate mortgage that guarantees a relatively stable payment. I have no car payments, never pay for any professional labor (I trade my labor when I need things I don't know how to do), and garbage pick often. It's one of the perks of my job. In fact, all of my lawn care equipment came from the trash, and I fixed what was broken. I think I have $15 in my self-propelled rear bagger Craftsman 5.5 horse mower, and $10 in my edger-for a new blade, spark plug and oil.
Could I have done it without the help or inheritance I received? Yes. I saved a similar amount of money a year later when I did my Cutlasses engine swap, so it would not have been impossible. It took me 4 months to do it. I am resourceful and know how to fix things, so I rarely ever need to purchase things new, and my expenses are kept at a minimum. I also understand credit and did spend some time as a mortgage broker at the end of the refi boom, but it collapsed as I was learning the trade and I could not make it. I am now back in college as of last September since I feel that doing the job I do is a waste of my life. I have enough extra income to cover my books and tuition, but have instead taken assistance from my grandfather since it was offered AFTER I paid for my first semester on my own.
No one in my family is wealthy. My Grandfather was a installer for the telephone company. My dad has been working for the Sheriff's Department as a detention deputy for the last 10 years- before that he went from job to job, and my mom worked as a Christian school teacher until cancer forced her not to work. However, no one in my family uses drugs or frequents bars. There is no white trash drama. We do make smart decisions and invest our money wisely. We all own houses and do not pay rent, and did not buy them at the top of the market.
Also, I have no health insurance right now because I choose not to. I feel it should be my choice what I spend my money on, and I should not be forced by the government to buy it if I do not deem it necessary. I pay for any doctor visits I need, at a cost of $75-100 per visit, and rarely need them. I do, however, have a $75 a month prescription that I need and I pay for that cash too.
As for my opinions of Democrats, you are quite wrong in your view of where my opinion comes from. It comes precisely from Democrats I know and am friends with. It comes from teachers I used to love to argue with in school. It comes from left-leaning family members I have fought with as a child. It comes from reading the thought and opinion of left leaning writers. I have even read Marx's Communist Manifesto. I thought this way LONG before I had ever heard of talk radio or Fox News and if anything have become far more moderate in my old age. Don't paint me with the broad brush of ignorance that patronizing liberals like to use to describe their opposition.
I still stand by my opinion that you have to do what is necessary to make your life work. Pride in your community is nice, but it can be sacrificed to necessity. I happen to like where I live now. It is convenient, relatively cheap, safe and the climate is tolerable. However, I will probably not stay here when I finish school. Engineering jobs are not abundant in this area and I will go where the jobs are. That is life.
As for civil rights, my parents both marched with different organizations, like the SCLC during the 60's and 70's. My dad was even at a march that was on TV with Rev. Abernathy. I have been raised to believe in the equality of all, and judging based on actions rather than external appearances.
I am not opposed to helping others. I am only opposed to using taxes to do it. I believe it is MY responsibility to help someone around me who is in need. When a friend lost his job, I gave him money to pay the bills. If a co-worker's car breaks down, I fix it for them. When someone I knew needed an engine so they could work, I loaned them the money for the parts and did the work at my house for free. If someone I know has no place to stay, I let them live with me until they can go elsewhere. I am that kind of person. However, tax funded social programs are not very good at doing anything but creating jobs for bureaucrats. Over 70% of the money spent on social programs pays for administration and not actual benefits. We don't need more taxes, we need to spend the money we already collect more wisely. We need more money in the private sector of the economy instead of tying it up with inefficient government programs. Don't judge all Republicans as selfish because they have no faith in the government. Many of us are VERY giving people. We just choose to do it ourselves rather than hope our taxes will do it for us.
Could I have done it without the help or inheritance I received? Yes. I saved a similar amount of money a year later when I did my Cutlasses engine swap, so it would not have been impossible. It took me 4 months to do it. I am resourceful and know how to fix things, so I rarely ever need to purchase things new, and my expenses are kept at a minimum. I also understand credit and did spend some time as a mortgage broker at the end of the refi boom, but it collapsed as I was learning the trade and I could not make it. I am now back in college as of last September since I feel that doing the job I do is a waste of my life. I have enough extra income to cover my books and tuition, but have instead taken assistance from my grandfather since it was offered AFTER I paid for my first semester on my own.
No one in my family is wealthy. My Grandfather was a installer for the telephone company. My dad has been working for the Sheriff's Department as a detention deputy for the last 10 years- before that he went from job to job, and my mom worked as a Christian school teacher until cancer forced her not to work. However, no one in my family uses drugs or frequents bars. There is no white trash drama. We do make smart decisions and invest our money wisely. We all own houses and do not pay rent, and did not buy them at the top of the market.
Also, I have no health insurance right now because I choose not to. I feel it should be my choice what I spend my money on, and I should not be forced by the government to buy it if I do not deem it necessary. I pay for any doctor visits I need, at a cost of $75-100 per visit, and rarely need them. I do, however, have a $75 a month prescription that I need and I pay for that cash too.
As for my opinions of Democrats, you are quite wrong in your view of where my opinion comes from. It comes precisely from Democrats I know and am friends with. It comes from teachers I used to love to argue with in school. It comes from left-leaning family members I have fought with as a child. It comes from reading the thought and opinion of left leaning writers. I have even read Marx's Communist Manifesto. I thought this way LONG before I had ever heard of talk radio or Fox News and if anything have become far more moderate in my old age. Don't paint me with the broad brush of ignorance that patronizing liberals like to use to describe their opposition.
I still stand by my opinion that you have to do what is necessary to make your life work. Pride in your community is nice, but it can be sacrificed to necessity. I happen to like where I live now. It is convenient, relatively cheap, safe and the climate is tolerable. However, I will probably not stay here when I finish school. Engineering jobs are not abundant in this area and I will go where the jobs are. That is life.
As for civil rights, my parents both marched with different organizations, like the SCLC during the 60's and 70's. My dad was even at a march that was on TV with Rev. Abernathy. I have been raised to believe in the equality of all, and judging based on actions rather than external appearances.
I am not opposed to helping others. I am only opposed to using taxes to do it. I believe it is MY responsibility to help someone around me who is in need. When a friend lost his job, I gave him money to pay the bills. If a co-worker's car breaks down, I fix it for them. When someone I knew needed an engine so they could work, I loaned them the money for the parts and did the work at my house for free. If someone I know has no place to stay, I let them live with me until they can go elsewhere. I am that kind of person. However, tax funded social programs are not very good at doing anything but creating jobs for bureaucrats. Over 70% of the money spent on social programs pays for administration and not actual benefits. We don't need more taxes, we need to spend the money we already collect more wisely. We need more money in the private sector of the economy instead of tying it up with inefficient government programs. Don't judge all Republicans as selfish because they have no faith in the government. Many of us are VERY giving people. We just choose to do it ourselves rather than hope our taxes will do it for us.
