Most Americans can't afford a $1,000 expense

[Master Shake]

Re: Most Americans can't afford a $1,000 expense

I'm in a similar boat. 2 Beds - 600sqft - no microwave, dishwasher, A/C, TV, etc. Electric bill at between $12 and $30 per month - small area with low ceilings that heats well cheap with oil - regular old cell-phones that make calls - no land-line - 2 used old sedans bought whole with cash etc. We still carry student loan debt for 2, but with no prepayment penalty, it'll be gone soon. I'm actually allergic to anything that comes with a monthly payment attached to it. If I can't own it whole outright, I don't want it.

We're a different breed here at the 'Tulip.

I figure that monthly payments are a big part of the problem. There are more and more ways to sign up for more and more monthly payment plans with plenty of ways to go over the base payment. Phones that count minutes, text messages and megabytes, pay-per-movie cable with add-ons like HBO, plus Netflix, etc. etc. One could easily spend $300/month on this stuff. Simply not having most of it is much easier.

And Thrifty is very right in that being willing and able to walk away at any time is important in life.

Damn, you and thrifty make me look downright wasteful. I do have an out though: my wife. She'll only put up with so much of my being thrifty shit.

[A. Hamilton]

Re: Most Americans can't afford a $1,000 expense

certainly NOT the 400 BILLION for the middlemen in the equation...

never mind the lawyers/out-of-control tort system, which IS the Number One Wildcard and of course, were never addressed by the recent SCAM known as healthcare 'reform'

put that one right up there next to 'banking reform' and one quickly reachs the conclusion that congress' output during 2009-10 has put us even _further_ down the rathole than we were in 2008!

so much for 'change we can believe in'

The tort system is but a drop in the health care cost bucket. I do med mal cases, and while I've never seen the proverbial "wrong leg amputated," I've seen plenty that's damned close. How about losing the X-ray report that has the finding suggestive of cancer...then discovering it a year later, after it's too late to make a difference? Or, nurse not paying attention...doesn't notice that nobody's put on the patient's nasal oxygen cannula...patient found dead.

It's odd how many conservatives who ordinarily pound the table for personal responsibility stand silent when the issue turns to medical negligence...or else advocate for special immunities for medical institutions that no other entity in society gets, not lawyers, engineers, airline pilots, you name it.

How do you propose to compensate the public for losses occasioned by medical negligence, and how much would your proposed system save?