NNQueen said:Has anyone seen the commercial asking people whether they could live without their cars and a sister responds, no way that she could ever not have her car. What about you, could you live without a car or at least drive it less frequently during the week?
Now with the national average price of gas at around $2.85 per gallon, and getting higher, has this caused you to make a change in your lifestyle when it comes to transportation or do you simply complain about it, shrug it off and pull up to the next gas pump and fill it up?
I'm not an economist, but do you ever wonder whether we, as conscious Black people, may be contributing to the polarization of poor Black people based because we choose to continue to accept the ever increasing cost of goods and services because some of us may be able to afford to pay regardless?
Maybe the more we accept it and not protest against it, causes the gap between the poor and the rich to widen. As this gap gets wider and wider, who knows, those of us who are fortunate to still have jobs may become the "new" working poor.
What do you think?
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12424523/
NNQueen said:This is not about gas prices but something you (IFUC) wrote reminded me of what I saw on the news this morning. The average cost of housing increased 14% last year while the average income increase was approximately 4%. This was mentioned in reference to the fact that some mortgage lenders are trying to make it possible (not necessarily affordable) for people to purchase homes. They are now offering the 50-year mortgage which makes the monthly payment lower, but in the long run, you wind up with a lot more house than you can afford. You do build equity but you're mostly paying interest as equity builds a lot slower.The example given was based on a $100,000 mortgage at 6.75% (I believe it was that rate) interest for 50 years, the buyer will pay close to $292,000 in interest alone. In other words....BAD BUY!
Well, so far I'm able to afford to buy gas, even at $2.85 per gallon, but I certainly don't drive around as much either.
I don't know by what standard is being used to define "poor" these days but some days I feel like it. What's the poverty level in this country anyway? Anyone know?
NNQueen said:This is not about gas prices but something you (IFUC) wrote reminded me of what I saw on the news this morning. The average cost of housing increased 14% last year while the average income increase was approximately 4%. This was mentioned in reference to the fact that some mortgage lenders are trying to make it possible (not necessarily affordable) for people to purchase homes. They are now offering the 50-year mortgage which makes the monthly payment lower, but in the long run, you wind up with a lot more house than you can afford. You do build equity but you're mostly paying interest as equity builds a lot slower.The example given was based on a $100,000 mortgage at 6.75% (I believe it was that rate) interest for 50 years, the buyer will pay close to $292,000 in interest alone. In other words....BAD BUY!
Well, so far I'm able to afford to buy gas, even at $2.85 per gallon, but I certainly don't drive around as much either.
I don't know by what standard is being used to define "poor" these days but some days I feel like it. What's the poverty level in this country anyway? Anyone know?