Has the Government shutdown...................

cruiseking

On MFP topic; the shutdown is making me want to eat more, because the sky is falling, and I want to fatten up for end times. :yawn:

Froggy1976

Everyone fails to remember that we civilian (non contract) government employees already lost 6 days of work this year (some lost more based on when their summer furlough started before it was ceased). The 4 days I lost earlier this month equates to 10 total days off of work. That is 2 weeks worth of pay. I had to dip into savings. I drained our savings making up the difference.

We are middle class. Most weeks we scrape by. We're trying to prepare for our future via Dave Ramsey's advice. His advise is to pay off first, THEN save (with the exception of the $1,000 emergency fund, which does NOT replace my wages - it helped, but we still suffered). Now that $1,000 emergency fund is empty thanks to my previous 6 days off work. I have nothing for the 4 days I lost last week.

If the VA can't make it's disability payments on the 1st, I will also not be able to make my mortgage payment. I don't have the luxury of USAA providing me with a paycheck to tide me over. I have the misfortune of waiting until an appropriations bill is available to pay my wages for this week - which could mean no paycheck on the 25th.

No one has any right to judge anyone else's financial well-being. You have no idea what they have been through or what they're dealing with.

PS, my boss, a GS-15 with 34 years of service makes $150k a year - not quite $200... she's well off, but very few people make it to that level. Most of our 20 years of service civilians here are only making 80k a year. A small drop in the bucket to what our military make for doing the same job. AND they don't receive housing allowances, free health insurance, subsistence allowances or a commissary with no sales tax. Nor do they get to buy vehicles sales tax free, etc, etc, etc. You can't compare military to civilian - that's like comparing apples to oranges. I've been on both sides - active duty military and civilian, so I do know a thing or two about the pay and benefits packages.

Only 80k? Wow, us poor lowly contractor who do the same job as the GS-11s and 12s make much less than that. That difference is not made up in the 6 days of pay that was lost in the furlough.

It's tough on everyone, I understand. We are all trying to make it. The contractor that gets paid big is a rare thing and is usually deployed. The regular government contractors like myself make much less than our civilian counterparts.

WeepingAngel81

... I'm thinking you don't know how much government workers make. Also, a lot of people's savings are in 401ks/IRAs/other assets that are not liquid because they have a steady job and know there will be a paycheck coming. That is, unless the government gets shut down, and who expected that?

Sorry but anyone who doesn't have a savings or any amount of money stashed away some where that is liquid, available and accessible because "they have a steady job and know there will be a paycheck coming" is rather daft. I had a steady job and a paycheck coming and yet I still had my 401(k) and a savings account because I don't believe in living paycheck-to-paycheck (which if you have nothing saved that's what you're doing) for one and two I didn't live in a fantasy bubble where I believed "it can't happen to me" because guess what? It CAN! (Thankfully it didn't and I quit my job to start my own business but believe me that savings came in very handy when my husband struck out on his own fifteen years ago).

And Romney expected the Government shutdown. I believe he said that if Obama was reelected that people should be prepared for a Government shutdown.

I respect you very much for having a plan, however I don't think it's fair to call those without savings daft. I had a liquid savings outside of my 401k, but that went quickly when my ex walked out on me. I was stay at home mom with no job. Luckily I was able to find a job within a month and I am not on welfare. However, becuase of circumstance I no longer have a savings. I don't have the mentality of "It's can't happen to me" becuase I do struggle every week, and I do try to put a little aside each pay check. Sometimes it lasts sometimes it doesn't. I have a plan in place for the future of my savings, but right now there are other bills my money is going towards. Does that make me daft? Not at all, it makes me appreciate having my job and it forces me to understand what is essintial to survive and what isn't.

You're also not in your 40s and have been working the same job for 20+ years.. I'd think with 20+ years of the same job under your belt you'd have some savings...

SAHM getting walked out on =/= working for 20+yr

You are correct. My point was more that sometimes it's circumstances that deplete savings. I know many people bring it on themselves. My sister for example is a military wife. Her husband has been in service for 18 years now. They have nothing saved they are always too broke to do anything, and yet when he deployed in June he told her to buy 3 new things....she bought a king sized bed for herslef, a new fridge becuase her ice maker was broken, and an Ipad. Yet when her daughter wanted to go to senior prom they couldn't afford the dress. That is daft!
The poster who used that statement didn't specify 20 years. Others did, but the post I repsonded to did not. Again, I very much respect those who do have a savings becuase it gives me hope for my financial future.

No, He did say she'd been working there for 20 years. But some people are just stupid with money.. Hard to feel bad when they fall on hard times when you KNOW they should be fine.

You don't "KNOW" anything about other people's personal financial issues.

I was just coming back to post this exact thing. No one knows what someone else has been through. It's easy to say what someone should have when it's not their life you are living.

amandamae61288

In a perfect world someone that had a steady job for 20 yrs should have a savings, but this isn't a perfect world.

I am a government worker (state level not fed), single parent, student loans, medical debts, and have no savings at all. I dont see me being able to have a decent savings for a few years now. We had a 3 week long State Government shutdown in 2011 and that was devastating. I was out of college for a year, only had a full time job for 8 months and was still trying to establish myself financially. More recently car problems demolished my tiny savings.

But, I am young and I see the shape of the world and HOPE to be able to pinch here and there for the rest of my life and in 20 years hopefully I will have a decent savings account.

I wish everyone could say that a steady job = security net, but in this world that is not always the case.

Courtney011691

It's really idiotic to say what people should or shouldn't do with their money or to assume you know what they do with it just because you've been given one teeny tiny detail about them.

Judgey Wudgey was a Bear....

I'm not judging. I'm stating simple facts that you'd think they'd have enough savings to cover their mortgage. If not, If they're military most loaners are helping them out.

I know USAA gave us our paycheck last time the gov shut down.

I remember when I was 23 and thought I knew everything, too.

Yeah, I'm young and stupid.

I never called you stupid. But to assume someone older than you doesn't have more life experience, hasn't seen more than you, been through more is a little presumptuous. Don't you think most people realize they should have savings? It doesn't always work out that way. Life happens. That's where age comes in, get back to us in about 15 years. Guaranteed your tune will have changed.

I didn't assume anything you're assuming I assumed.

You keep saying that people who have worked for 20 years should have savings, that's an assumption. Yet, you just said you can't because of xyz. Ever think for a minute that maybe xyz happens to everyone?

I know **** happens. It happened to us when my DH got out of the military and we had to live off savings for a while. It took almost 2 years for them to start paying his disability. And it's been hard. So, I KNOW crap happens. I also like to think that after my husband has been at the same job for 20+ years that we'd have a little bit saved up. As does all 40+ year olds I know. So, Maybe it's a central US thing where things are cheaper... Who knows.

Please, just stop. Admit that you were wrong, move on. Nothing you contribute further will make people agree with you.

Tropical_Turtle

I live in D.C. and almost all of our parks are closed and the city is in danger of shutting down itself because we only have so much in reserves as Congress approves our budget, too. Which means pretty soon there'll be no trash pick up, no libraries, no weddings, etc.

Also, I have to deal with Republican relatives *****ing about "Why won't the democrats compromise on this ultimatum we've given them? Never mind that repealing the ACA has failed 40 odd times, we're going to hold the government hostage until we get what we want waaa waaa." Get a lesson on democracy, Tea Partiers. That's not compromise.

Um just an FYI - talk to the president who is also acting like a spoiled child. Just saying. It is not just ONE party's fault. Just sayin

LurveTheDoctor

Please, just stop. Admit that you were wrong, move on. Nothing you contribute further will make people agree with you.

I don't think I'm wrong. Sorry.

Holly_Roman_Empire

I know **** happens. It happened to us when my DH got out of the military and we had to live off savings for a while. It took almost 2 years for them to start paying his disability. And it's been hard. So, I KNOW crap happens. I also like to think that after my husband has been at the same job for 20+ years that we'd have a little bit saved up. As does all 40+ year olds I know. So, Maybe it's a central US thing where things are cheaper... Who knows.

We'd all like to think that. It's not always a reality. In fact, it's rarely a reality.

TheSlorax

It's really idiotic to say what people should or shouldn't do with their money or to assume you know what they do with it just because you've been given one teeny tiny detail about them.

Judgey Wudgey was a Bear....

I'm not judging. I'm stating simple facts that you'd think they'd have enough savings to cover their mortgage. If not, If they're military most loaners are helping them out.

I know USAA gave us our paycheck last time the gov shut down.

I remember when I was 23 and thought I knew everything, too.

Yeah, I'm young and stupid.

I never called you stupid. But to assume someone older than you doesn't have more life experience, hasn't seen more than you, been through more is a little presumptuous. Don't you think most people realize they should have savings? It doesn't always work out that way. Life happens. That's where age comes in, get back to us in about 15 years. Guaranteed your tune will have changed.

I didn't assume anything you're assuming I assumed.

You keep saying that people who have worked for 20 years should have savings, that's an assumption. Yet, you just said you can't because of xyz. Ever think for a minute that maybe xyz happens to everyone?

I know **** happens. It happened to us when my DH got out of the military and we had to live off savings for a while. It took almost 2 years for them to start paying his disability. And it's been hard. So, I KNOW crap happens. I also like to think that after my husband has been at the same job for 20+ years that we'd have a little bit saved up. As does all 40+ year olds I know. So, Maybe it's a central US thing where things are cheaper... Who knows.

Please, just stop. Admit that you were wrong, move on. Nothing you contribute further will make people agree with you.

You would think that the fact NO ONE agrees with her would give her a ****ing clue. I don't even care if that's mean, what's mean is assuming what someone "should" and "shouldn't" be able to do based on minimum facts. I am so glad you will be able to have 3 months' housing payment savings in Kansas after 20 years.

TheSlorax

Please, just stop. Admit that you were wrong, move on. Nothing you contribute further will make people agree with you.

I don't think I'm wrong. Sorry.

so the multitudes of people who disagree with you are wrong? ok.

Courtney011691

Please, just stop. Admit that you were wrong, move on. Nothing you contribute further will make people agree with you.

I don't think I'm wrong. Sorry.

Yes, so we've heard.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Please, just stop. Admit that you were wrong, move on. Nothing you contribute further will make people agree with you.

I don't think I'm wrong. Sorry.

I pray that some reality doesn't slap you in the face in 20+ years. A lot of things can happen with marriage, babies, jobs, houses, cars, etc. that add up.

jenn26point2

Everyone fails to remember that we civilian (non contract) government employees already lost 6 days of work this year (some lost more based on when their summer furlough started before it was ceased). The 4 days I lost earlier this month equates to 10 total days off of work. That is 2 weeks worth of pay. I had to dip into savings. I drained our savings making up the difference.

We are middle class. Most weeks we scrape by. We're trying to prepare for our future via Dave Ramsey's advice. His advise is to pay off first, THEN save (with the exception of the $1,000 emergency fund, which does NOT replace my wages - it helped, but we still suffered). Now that $1,000 emergency fund is empty thanks to my previous 6 days off work. I have nothing for the 4 days I lost last week.

If the VA can't make it's disability payments on the 1st, I will also not be able to make my mortgage payment. I don't have the luxury of USAA providing me with a paycheck to tide me over. I have the misfortune of waiting until an appropriations bill is available to pay my wages for this week - which could mean no paycheck on the 25th.

No one has any right to judge anyone else's financial well-being. You have no idea what they have been through or what they're dealing with.

PS, my boss, a GS-15 with 34 years of service makes $150k a year - not quite $200... she's well off, but very few people make it to that level. Most of our 20 years of service civilians here are only making 80k a year. A small drop in the bucket to what our military make for doing the same job. AND they don't receive housing allowances, free health insurance, subsistence allowances or a commissary with no sales tax. Nor do they get to buy vehicles sales tax free, etc, etc, etc. You can't compare military to civilian - that's like comparing apples to oranges. I've been on both sides - active duty military and civilian, so I do know a thing or two about the pay and benefits packages.

Only 80k? Wow, us poor lowly contractor who do the same job as the GS-11s and 12s make much less than that. That difference is not made up in the 6 days of pay that was lost in the furlough.

It's tough on everyone, I understand. We are all trying to make it. The contractor that gets paid big is a rare thing and is usually deployed. The regular government contractors like myself make much less than our civilian counterparts.

Also have to keep in mind cost of living in the area in which you live... government pay is based off of cost of living as well - but no raises in the last 3 years. There is what is called a locality increase based off of where you live. Ours is small in comparison to areas nearby because of our location. I work at the Rock Island Arsenal. Our locality increase is SMALL compared to Warren, Michigan, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas, etc. Teeny tiny locality increase. Maybe yours is teeny tiny too. A GS-11 at the Arsenal does not make the same as a GS-11 at JBLM or Ft. Hood or Ft. Drum.

We just cut all our contractors, so I know that not even contractors are safe. However, we had one contractor here who made $70k to do the same thing I got paid $47k to do before I went to the DAC world simply b/c she worked for a different contractor working on the same overall contract. I don't make $80k... not anywhere close. We live paycheck to paycheck trying to pay off our debt (student loan debt - master's degrees are expennnnsive) before our kids run off to college.

Our contractors did the same work as GS-09s and got paid better, and didn't get furloughed the first time around. The contract was cut as part of Army-wide budget cuts thanks to sequestration. Now civilians do their old jobs and the jobs of the contractors for the same pay.

It's tough everywhere.

LurveTheDoctor

Please, just stop. Admit that you were wrong, move on. Nothing you contribute further will make people agree with you.

I don't think I'm wrong. Sorry.

so the multitudes of people who disagree with you are wrong? ok.

I didnt say you're wrong, I just don't think I'm wrong. Several people have made great points.. Still doesn't change my mind on the matter.

sunflowerhippi

Our benifit for Toys 4 Tots is turning into a circus now because the Marines are not allowed to collect toys and are now worried about not having a storage unit they can afford because of no money.

We are still planning to collect toys anyways and hope the program is back and running before the holidays but it won't be the same with no Marines there and no military vehichles to fill up with toys.

aelphabawest

Um just an FYI - talk to the president who is also acting like a spoiled child. Just saying. It is not just ONE party's fault. Just sayin

Actually, nothing out there from non Fox News is saying that - the general consensus both in the media and on the Hill / around Washington is that this is a Republican hostage situation.

I think the best article I've come across on the topic is The Economist - which is a *conservative* newspaper coming out of the U.K.

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21587211-land-free-starting-look-ungovernable-enough-enough-no-way-run-country

sobriquet84

You keep saying that people who have worked for 20 years should have savings, that's an assumption. Yet, you just said you can't because of xyz. Ever think for a minute that maybe xyz happens to everyone?

I know **** happens. It happened to us when my DH got out of the military and we had to live off savings for a while. It took almost 2 years for them to start paying his disability. And it's been hard. So, I KNOW crap happens. I also like to think that after my husband has been at the same job for 20+ years that we'd have a little bit saved up. As does all 40+ year olds I know. So, Maybe it's a central US thing where things are cheaper... Who knows.

or, you really don't know that many 40+ year olds and/or you really have no idea what their personal financial situation is. i really doubt you go around asking "all those 40+ year olds that you know" what their financial situation is.

as someone who is older than you, i know a lot of 40+ year olds. yeah, some have a nice chunk in savings. some make a ton of money. others don't. others live paycheck to paycheck because of things like childcare or healthcare bills or college. some have had to spend their savings on something they had to spend it on, like flood damage or a sudden hardship. my parents make considerable money but had all of their savings in the stock market and lost most of their retirment when the economy tanked and were suddenly living paycheck to paycheck despite living in a $900k house (that they have been trying to sell for 5 years now.)

i understand you're young and naive but please, just stop.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Um just an FYI - talk to the president who is also acting like a spoiled child. Just saying. It is not just ONE party's fault. Just sayin

Actually, nothing out there from non Fox News is saying that - the general consensus both in the media and on the Hill / around Washington is that this is a Republican hostage situation.

I think the best article I've come across on the topic is The Economist - which is a *conservative* newspaper coming out of the U.K.

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21587211-land-free-starting-look-ungovernable-enough-enough-no-way-run-country

I see it as a Republican hostage situation too. The way someone explained it to me was this:

Husband says we need to buy a new car. Wife agrees. Husband says we can spend X amount of money on new car. Wife says no, we will spend Y, and if you do not agree to spend Y on the car, I won't allow you to make the mortgage payment either.

Doesn't make sense now, does it?

awtume9

I went hiking and the government shutdown caused the bathrooms at the trailhead to be locked! UGH! So not cool!

Me too! So I squatted behind the building and took care of business. That'll show 'em!

Blondiegrl11

Um just an FYI - talk to the president who is also acting like a spoiled child. Just saying. It is not just ONE party's fault. Just sayin

Actually, nothing out there from non Fox News is saying that - the general consensus both in the media and on the Hill / around Washington is that this is a Republican hostage situation.

I think the best article I've come across on the topic is The Economist - which is a *conservative* newspaper coming out of the U.K.

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21587211-land-free-starting-look-ungovernable-enough-enough-no-way-run-country

I see it as a Republican hostage situation too. The way someone explained it to me was this:

Husband says we need to buy a new car. Wife agrees. Husband says we can spend X amount of money on new car. Wife says no, we will spend Y, and if you do not agree to spend Y on the car, I won't allow you to make the mortgage payment either.

Doesn't make sense now, does it?

Yeah, pumping the breaks on spending too much is a bad idea. I don't agree with the shut down but that health bill is a monster.