Don't let the rich people fool you: everyone struggles with money. What to do with it, how to invest it, and if you don't have enough to pay bills and eat, what are you going to do when it comes time to go grocery shopping? The rich people want you to believe that you will only get ahead in life if you go to college like they did and get a fancy degree. The poor people who crawled their way out of debt and into a now comfortable lifestyle will tell you that you cannot get ahead unless you work hard and break your back. It is a never ending circle of advise about money that seems to just fight with each other. I, for one, am one of the people who see both sides of the fence.
There was this girl a few years back who came out on the news about how she could not pay off her debt for the degree she earned. My philosophy has always been never take out any student loans that equaled more than one year of your salary. This girl took out way more than she could afford. Then, she appealed to the media to make it known that the problem of student debt was growing to astronomical amounts. Of course, she threw in her website for donations here and there so she could get free publicity out of it and maybe some more money. I never donated because I had (still have) my debts to various places to pay off. I often asked myself why I didn't email her and ask why she didn't go to a community college first? Why did she choose a private tuition college for her degree? I know when I finally go back to school I will be attending a community college so I can pay it out of pocket for the first couple of years. There is NO EXCUSE for someone to have six figures in student loans for four years of college. My husband has upper five figures from more than four years. That is just ridiculous. Rich people say "You have to spend money to make money, so this is a worthy investment." Oh really? Someone who makes around 40 to 50 thousand a year taking out 200,000 dollars in loans? I think your math is a little wrong there.
My friend, let's call him Rob because I don't want him to kill me for telling people his story and naming him, was homeless. He walked the road every day because his parents kicked him out when he turned 18 and had no where to go in our small town. His family said they could not take him in, they could not afford to help him with anything, so he slept where he could since our small town did not have a homeless shelter at the time. Eventually, he saved up enough scrap to buy a cheap car he could at least LIVE out of while he finished school. He would still walk EVERY DAMN DAY and pick up all the scrap he could. The kids at school found out and started saving every can they could for him. Eventually he did get a job and could get an apartment, but he looked at me one day and said, "You know, I don't wish what I had to go through on anyone. I worked hard, and yes it taught me things, but it isn't right. Someone should not have to work that hard just to be able to survive a couple of months. How can people say that hard work will get you everything you want when I had to collect two thousand cans a day just to be able to eat? I can't go to school because I can't pay for it. I got this job because someone at school said something to the manager. The world isn't set up for people like me to really succeed unless they get lucky. Where is the justice in that?" He still cannot go to school because he is pretty much trying to figure out how since he is working on his rental housing business, but he still thinks that working hard is not the way to really succeed.
So what does it take to really make the money you need to live? I know my husband and I are pretty much trying to do our best till the house I bought before I was married gets sold, but what does it really take? I know that not taking out more than you can handle in loans is one of them, and not leaving work early when you need the money to live, but think about it. Can any of you come up with a really good way to truly make enough money so you don't have to constantly sit with the check book and a bottle of jack going "Where is the money going and coming from? Where is it all going?" I would like to hear it if you know anything.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The Jayne Cobb Hat Drama
A few days ago, there was a news story that blew up my Facebook wall. It basically had to do with the fact the Fox TV Network are going after the makers of the Cunningly Knit Cap that was featured in the show "Firefly" that has become a cult following the science-fiction community.
Now, as someone who recently started to make them for fun and a "flan" myself, I am pretty upset about this. I understand the wanting to make some money off something that you have some sort of ownership, but isn't this taking it a little bit too far? One of the little ladies in my community who sells the hats a cons wonders if she will be arrested and shut down if she sets up her booth this year. She creates some of the most amazing creations that are inspired by the TV shows we love, but she worries that this one little thing will jeopardize her career. Her Cease and Desist letter has not made an appearance in her mail box yet, but she, like many of the others who make such items, have edited her Etsy shop and even taken down some of her items.
I am actually more pissed off at the fact that FOX did not care about the TV show when they cancelled it. The hat was featured in an episode that did not even air on the network. They canceled the show and wrote it off. Now that items from the show are making money, they are basically just trying to squeeze people out. I mean, seriously do they not think about the fact people took the time to write the pattern, find the yarn, and spent the energy in doing these things? What is next, making it so you cannot sell handmade items because the companies who make the yarn own the rights to the yarn you bought to make the blanket/hat/pillow and they have the right to the profits from the sale of the item? Is it a copyright infringement if they use a different pattern and yarn from the one that you see on the TV? Who knows?
Now, as someone who recently started to make them for fun and a "flan" myself, I am pretty upset about this. I understand the wanting to make some money off something that you have some sort of ownership, but isn't this taking it a little bit too far? One of the little ladies in my community who sells the hats a cons wonders if she will be arrested and shut down if she sets up her booth this year. She creates some of the most amazing creations that are inspired by the TV shows we love, but she worries that this one little thing will jeopardize her career. Her Cease and Desist letter has not made an appearance in her mail box yet, but she, like many of the others who make such items, have edited her Etsy shop and even taken down some of her items.
I am actually more pissed off at the fact that FOX did not care about the TV show when they cancelled it. The hat was featured in an episode that did not even air on the network. They canceled the show and wrote it off. Now that items from the show are making money, they are basically just trying to squeeze people out. I mean, seriously do they not think about the fact people took the time to write the pattern, find the yarn, and spent the energy in doing these things? What is next, making it so you cannot sell handmade items because the companies who make the yarn own the rights to the yarn you bought to make the blanket/hat/pillow and they have the right to the profits from the sale of the item? Is it a copyright infringement if they use a different pattern and yarn from the one that you see on the TV? Who knows?
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