Originally Posted by swa(y)

haha...its cool man. i figured it was some sort of error on yr end.

i wouldnt hire you to be my financial advisor though...unless of course...you had yr calculator.
jk

:)

Originally Posted by phoenix

this is a serious question, because again I have no real experience living in another country, let alone the US.

Originally Posted by phoenix

I can see how someone might think of money as the only answer, and feel disappointed, even wildly depressed.

My point was more that I believe people either have the mind set to do something like this, or they don't. For a lot of people who lose everything, life becomes incredibly sad and unbearable. It doesn't mean they all are driven to violence. Those with the mental potential to commit a violent crime that is unprovoked, are not average people. I really believe people have a predisposition toward committing violent crime, some more than others.

In a court case I can see how the person's troubles might be used as defence, because it can influence their behaviour, but at the end of the day I don't think the decision to shoot your entire family is a normal one, no matter what happens to you. Pleading mental illness would get you a lot further than 'I had no money left'

Originally Posted by floatingslowly

my house cost about 80% of our combined yearly income.

Originally Posted by phoenix

are you kidding? thats nothing?! or am I not understanding..

if you made 50k in the year, your house would have cost 40k???

is this because no one wants to live in OK??!

Originally Posted by swa(y)

it differs in different areas. im not sure what the national average household income is. id guess around 45-50 grand (which, some people think thats absurd. they forget how many people out there really make only 20 something grand a year, as well as all those with no jobs at all). here, i think its actually 30 grand. yr average house, is gonna be right around 120 grand, and of course they do get much more expensive than that (thats a solid middle class 2 bed room/2 bath home in an "decent" neighborhood). its a historical city, so if ya live in the historical district it get REALLLLLLY expensive < but most of the people living in these homes seem to be doing ok. financial problems tend to affect people that make 30-50 grand a year (usually a family, where theres a couple kids, hubby/wife etc). lots of these sort of people are the ones that work themselves into SERIOUS debt trying to look like the folks that make, say 120 grand a year (which is pretty easy to do here in the US. its EASY for middle class folks to appear as if they are doing alot better financially than what they actually are). but then again, ya got folks that make 120 grand a year that attempt living the lifestyles of those that make 300 thousand a year, and so on and so on. people are seemingly getting a bit wiser lately. i mean, i understand someone that makes 50 grand a year isnt going to settle on a shack that costs 30 thousand dollars, so the 120 thousand dollar home is fine...but its what are INSIDE some of these homes that suprises me sometimes. as well as the cars they drive.

we live in a society where debt is encouraged. personally, i make what the average single person in this area makes, but im only about 5 thousand dollars in debt which drives me crazy. ive got a rule that ill never owe more than 1/3 of what i make in a year, some people say im losing out in the long run, paying for apartments as opposed to buying a house which i can eventually pay off. fuck that though...i move around way to much. lotsa people that were telling me that a few years ago now sorta understand where im coming from (being that they cant sale there houses. my granny has a NICE two story house, huge back yard, swimming pool/etc/etc. the so called "amercan dream home"...its been up for sale for 6 years. she wants to move, but cant. < house isnt payed off) < i just, dont ever want to find myself in this sorta situation. i believe if people learned to live within their means people would, as a whole, be much happier. debt doesnt excite anyone but almost everyone seems to accumalate alot of it. people are so fucking stupid sometimes theyll take out loans for thousands of dollars for VACATION. its total cheese. yep, i know people that do shit like that. i grew up in a household that did shit like that.