They should have rushed you to my place. I would have only charged you half
I just got threatened to be sent to collections because I can't pay for an ambulance
- Thread starter KevinCow
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They should have rushed you to my place. I would have only charged you half
ClassyPenguin
Banned
They did absolutely nothing? They just had you sit in a chair in the waiting room while they counted their stacks of cash in the back room?
An ambulance when I almost died is a nonessential service?
I didn't call the ambulance. My family did.
I didn't choose to go to the hospital. My family sent me there.
I didn't choose to take the ambulance from the hospital to the mental institution. The hospital strapped me down and forced me to.
And who are you to declare what is and isn't basic knowledge? No, I didn't know I had to pay for ambulances because I've never had to deal with them. I just assumed they were public services like cops or firefighters. Christ, imagine if you were sent a bill after you were rescued from your burning house or a cop stopped someone from murdering you.
Also, I wasn't living at home when all this happened. I was renting a room. I'm living at home now, thanks to 1) losing my job and not being able to afford the room anymore (though I could admittedly barely afford it even when I did have a job) and 2) my landlord kicking me out because she wasn't exactly happy with the way I almost killed myself and made a bunch of cops and an ambulance show up at her place.
No, I bought the games when I was employed, and most of that was Gamestop credit.
I had a job for 5 weeks. I saved $20 each week for the Wii U, and spent the rest on bills and food. I had enough to preorder it when they announced preorders, so I did. I was still employed at this point. Then I got laid off shortly after that, and decided to trade in a bunch of stuff so I could at least have something to look forward to.
I wasn't making much money. I was barely making minimum wage. Even if I had spent zero dollars on video games or any entertainment throughout the duration of this job and ate nothing but ramen noodles, I still wouldn't have had enough money to cover all these costs. I'm just lucky my mom never took me off her insurance after I moved out, because I would be completely fucked if that wasn't the case.
This isn't an amirox "Boo hoo, please give me money GAF, I spent all my money on drugs even though I could've used it to help my mother!" situation. For one, I'm not begging for money, I'm just pointing out how shit the system is. For two, I spent the money before I knew it was going to be an issue. For three, it was a hundred dollars, not even 10% of what they're asking me for. And honestly, if I hadn't been saving it for games, it probably would've gone towards paying off credit cards or something instead. Would you have told me I was a horribly irresponsible idiot then, too?
Fuck both of you. Yeah, maybe I could've planned ahead better if I was motherfucking omniscient. It's a shame I'm not. Maybe I could've done a LOT of things better in my life if I was omniscient, especially if I didn't have my mental issues to deal with on top of everything else. Maybe I could've not dropped out of high school, and then gotten into a good college, and then have a good job right now if I wasn't an anxious, depressed, angry mess throughout my entire life.
But hey, here we are. Here I am. I've fucked up and made some mistakes, some which can be blamed on bad luck, others that can be blamed on my mental issues, and others that can just be blamed on me being a fuckup. Yeah, I've made mistakes that can't be blamed on my problems. There are things I don't know that maybe I should. I'm not perfect. I'm human.
So yeah, go ahead and tell me how stupid and horrible I am because I let a shitty system fuck me. Thanks. That's helpful.
Marty Chinn
Member
I read that and it doesn't change anything. Any cash that you used should have been cash you used to set aside for savings at that point instead of buying something else. If the credit completely paid for it, it's one thing, but if you're spending cash, you probably shouldn't have. Even after all that, you probably should sell it in order to help cover your current bill.
Only five weeks and you were spending beyond your means? You should have put that $20 in savings. The point is you can get laid off at any time so it's always best to be a bit prepared.
I'm not saying you would have been able to cover it, but the fact is you had no plan for such an event. You weren't saving anything which is what I'm getting at. The fact is you were buying something you really couldn't afford instead of planning ahead.
The system is shitty. I'm not saying it isn't, or that it sucks what happened to you. But yes, you were being irresponsible by buying things you couldn't really afford without any planning for the future.
Now you're being an immature child lashing out. Look, what happened to you sucked, but what I was trying to point out here is that I hope you learned from this experience and to understand why some people might be questioning the fact that you just bought about $500 worth of goods even though you were unemployed. It doesn't matter that you paid part in credit, you still couldn't afford it and you didn't do any planning to put money aside for savings. You were living beyond your means and you probably should have been better financially with your money. So before you lash out, maybe you should think about what happened here and like I said, hopefully learn something from the experience and understand why some people might question what you did. You didn't handle the situation completely perfect and you have to understand why people are pointing out the $500 in goods you just bought while unemployed. You probably should sell it since you can't afford it.
Marty Chinn
Member
Dude, now you're not friggin reading. Are you not seeing anything that you could have done better here? What happened to you sucked. The situation sucks. The system sucks. But you know what also sucked? Your financial planning. All I'm saying is I hope you learn from this experience and will plan better in the future.
i will never buy anything fun again and will instead put all my money towards planning for the absolute worst possible situation happening
like what if someone was holding my family hostage and demanding 8 trillion dollars
it's just my fault for not financially planning for that if i don't have the money
guess i better start saving
like what if someone was holding my family hostage and demanding 8 trillion dollars
it's just my fault for not financially planning for that if i don't have the money
guess i better start saving
Marty Chinn
Member
Are you being dense now? It's not about not saving enough, it's the fact that you weren't saving anything. You bought something you couldn't afford and you weren't saving any money at all. Now the timing sucks since it was only 5 weeks on the job, but in the future, you really need to set aside some money for when shit happens. Shit will happen and you need to plan for it. Do you not understand that?
You've got an extra kidney as well.
My parents instilled in me at a young age to always have 3 months emergency living costs in my bank at all times. It sucked at first, having to save for that but now I feel secure in having a cushion if anything dire should happen to me or my wife.
Dude....
Dude....
ClassyPenguin
Banned
That's fair if you lose your job or something but not for something life threatening. A pregancy could cost you $10K+ and something like cancer or heart problems and everything will disapear at an instant. Our system is horrible and not even the strictest financial plammimg could save you from that.
Marty Chinn
Member
Do you even realize or understand how immature you're being right now? Do you not understand that there's something to be learned from this experience that can help you in the future?
ClassyPenguin
Banned
Yeah he should "snap out" of his depression right?
I should have said "at least." I know that unexpected expenses come up all the time, hell we are in the process of buying a home right now and let me tell you there is nothing that will make you feel like you need to save more than doing this.
Devolution
Member
Honestly I feel like Kevin should seriously evaluate dealing with his real life stuff and stop using the boards as his complaint mechanism. I worry about how this stuff is at all helpful and not just feeding back into his issues.
Marty Chinn
Member
Who said that? Who is blaming him for the event or the system that makes the ambulance ride cost so much or even cost him at all? Nobody. What falls on him though is the fact that he wasn't saving money and was spending it on things he couldn't afford. That is definitely on him. Even then I'm not dwelling on it other than the fact that he could learn from this experience that shit happens and that a little planning ahead could help in the future.
A guy with mental issues can't pay his ridiculous medical bills, let's pile on him because he didn't have half a years wages in his savings account! That would be nice if people on the internet who QUITE OBVIOUSLY have no clue what it's like to be poor (despite 90% of them lying about how they used to live in abject poverty, but pulled themselves up by their bootstraps) stopped fucking judging poor people. It is fucking infuriating.
KevinCow should not have had to defend himself for some of the things he's had to defend himself for in this thread.
KevinCow should not have had to defend himself for some of the things he's had to defend himself for in this thread.
Plan ahead by saving up many thousands when you're below the poverty line. MAKES COMPLETE SENSE.
He lives with mom and is covered under her insurance plan. When did he say he was poor?
From what I can figure out in this mess:
- He has insurance.
- He is choosing to not make any attempt to pay his deductible.
- He is buying very unnecessary things when in debt.
Responsibility has nothing to do with whether or not it sucks to be in his position.
He lives with his mom because he got kicked out of his place after the cops and ambulance being called there, and him losing his job (that was barely above minimum wage). When did you read the thread?
User 100115
Banned
This is one of the only things that people around here just don't seem to get. People who are poor or lower middle class don't not save money cause they are stupidly buying stuff when they shouldn't. Saving money is impossible when you don't make enough to do so. It boggles my mind how people don't get this.
And yeah, sometimes we still buy something just cause we like it. Cause otherwise our existence would be even worse. He had a job for awhile, and while he had that job, he saved up enough to prepay for a U. After he lost the job, and didn't have the money to pay for anything, I suppose he should have just sold it? Or something?
Poor people need entertainment too. And fridges.
OK. So he has made some life decisions that have had very poor consequences for him, unfortunately. He still has insurance and still has the ability to get himself together and get on the path of getting a job and being responsible for bills he receives. $1,200 can be paid off over time. It's not bankrupcy.
Is his mom charging him rent to live home? Does he have to pay any bills, utilities, cable etc? If not, why isn't he looking for work? If he doesn't have any financial responsiblity living home, he can very easily save money over a period of months and pay off his debts. It's not that hard.
Incorrect. Re-read the thread and then get back to me.
Did you read the thread? That's exactly what is happening.
dave is ok
aztek is ok
Even more annoying than reading posts of people who are financially irresponsible is reading the posts of people who have never made less than $40,000.00 a year telling people how easy it is to 'save up'.
how do you know what kevin's income is?
Eh.....that's a bit off a stretch. Anyone can save money. Granted I'm not the best at this just due to my own self control issues but still. You suffer now for security later. I just now...just within the last 3 months started making more than 40k per year after 10 years in the corporate world after college. I've been able to live comfortably and save money. Albeit not a lot, but if a 1000 dollar expense just popped up out of nowhere I could handle it easily. Hell, just get one of those debit cards that rounds up purchases to the next dollar and deposits r into a savings account.
I firmly believe that your life and the things that happen to you (whether good or bad) are 90% comprised of the decisions you have made in your life up until the present.
Edit: obviously medical issues don't really factor in to that. Generally not a good way to avoid lots of those issues.
dave is ok
aztek is ok
I don't. Neither do you. That is why you can't say something like "he can very easily save money over a period of months and pay off his debts. It's not that hard"
He said, if you read the thread, that it was barely above minimum wage. His income was less then 40k unless he was working 150 hour work weeks.
I know that if I lived home for a while, got a job and saved up I could pay off my debts.
Does this sentence have a point that relevant to this thread, or are you just letting us know a hypothetical about yourself for no reason?
Didn't op say he was living at home again?...
How is the fact that the OP lives home not relevant to this thread ? It is relevant because it provides him a perfect opportunity to make some money and save
dave is ok
aztek is ok
He also said he was unemployed, but yeah, he should just get a job and save up. Just like JB1981 would do!
OP said that his parents are helping him with payments until he can get income to pay off the debt. Seems a lot of people didn't read that.
Duane Cunningham
Member
Good grief. If he's living at home, he can get some kind of job, get on a payment plan and take care of it in a year. He doesn't need to sell his Wii U to do that. Also, you little Dave Ramseys don't need to come in here and waggle your finger at him and troll him until he lashes out and gets banned. He just made the thread to complain about the shitty system that has put him (and the rest of us) in the situation to begin with.
Getting sick in this country puts you in debt, instantly, even if you have insurance. They want you to be on a $100 per month payment plan after you go to the doctor. It's bullshit, but that how it works. It doesn't mean you have to sell your goddamn Fruit Roll-Ups and donate the proceeds to that bill in the meantime.
Getting sick in this country puts you in debt, instantly, even if you have insurance. They want you to be on a $100 per month payment plan after you go to the doctor. It's bullshit, but that how it works. It doesn't mean you have to sell your goddamn Fruit Roll-Ups and donate the proceeds to that bill in the meantime.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
The error here is trying to frame it in "deserve", as in "I deserve xyz". I believe that human beings deserve many things that I would consider part of a positive and fulfilling life. This includes things like vacations, fulfilling jobs, entertainment and down-time, the ability to pass on an even better life to their kids, etc. And I believe that society is profoundly unfair. And the American healthcare system is specifically known to be profoundly unfair. No one (well, almost no one) is saying that life's peachy and there aren't changes to be made.
In the mean time, though, willing it doesn't make it so. The society you live in is structured in such a way that your actions have consequences. If you quit a bad job because you think you deserve a better one, you might find yourself with no job. If you spend money because you think you deserve a treat, you might find you need the money later. It's not that anyone working a minimum wage job doesn't deserve to have entertainment, it's that if your financial position is precarious and you choose to use money on entertainment, something like this might happen. And maybe it's not an ambulance or mental health challenges, maybe it's that your car breaks down and you don't have access to public transit and you lose your job because you can't get there. Maybe it's that your brother's business starts to tank and you'd love to help him out but you have nothing to offer. Maybe it's that you have an unplanned pregnancy or child and your expenses rise astronomically.
Again, it's not about what you deserve. I think people deserve free ambulances and healthcare. I think people deserve to be able to have entertainment. I think people deserve public transit services. I think people deserve job flexibility. I think people deserve to be able to have their business protected, to a limited degree. I think people deserve a social system and social services that help make child-rearing easier financially and ensure a better life for kids. If you want me to volunteer, I will. If you want me to donate, I will. If you want me to vote, I will. But in the mean time, society is what it is. Lamenting that it's unfair is perfectly valid and working to change it is perfectly valid, but it's also important to have the skills and foresight to survive in the mean time.
There are probably some people in this thread who are being judgmental, and I certainly don't think it's nice to hold that the poor should suffer maximally until they are dead or bootstraps lol. I believe in empathy and sympathy. No one should be forced to give up life choices because of medical bills. But people are. It's really terrible. But people are.
So we can imagine two hypothetical realities:
- Reality A: Someone who works minimum wage enjoys entertainment, tries to make their very tough life as good as possible. Result A: When an unexpected expense comes along or the person loses their job, massive shock to system, massive quality-of-life drop, uncertain future, pressure to make decision.
- Reality B: Someone who works minimum wage saves $20 every week to emergency fund, life is very very tough. Result B: When an unexpected expense comes along or the person loses their job, while it's a shock to the system, they have a limited amount of leeway, some immediate options, pressure is diffused a little bit, etc.
This year I (voluntarily!) took a 75% paycut while my partner took about a 50% paycut, and we moved to an area where our expenses are higher. I couldn't tell you if I'm above the poverty line or not, although I had a pretty significant amount of savings so obviously I don't need to make any short-term survival decisions. I make less than the equivalent of full-time minimum wage work. My health insurance is not as good as it was, and although I live in a country with universal health care and thus have no risk of immediate bankruptcy, we now face fairly significant out-of-pocket costs for routine medication. I don't think I deserve to take a massive quality-of-life hit, but I am acutely aware that every dollar I spend needs to be considered much much more than it did six months ago. I like to eat at different kinds of restaurants, I like being able to buy a few games, but my ability to do so is limited by my new income status. I'm not doing this to say "woe is me" or to pretend I fully understand mental health issues or abject poverty, but rather to say that I'm not sniping from a penthouse here. I think society is unfair, but I still believe that we have to operate through it.
As far as I can tell, empty vessel is the only person in the thread advocating radical disengagement from the system. That's an option. It is an option to disregard the bills and boycott the system. It will result in consequences now and later. Collections calls will keep coming. Assets could be garnished in the future, when he has some. It might negatively impact credit ratings, ability to secure loans, or mortgages. Personally I wouldn't recommend it to most people. Some people are able to self-actualize without participating in society, or by rebelling. There are people who live on communes. There are people who live in monastaries. There are people who have found a variety of ways to drop off the grid and reject social expectations. Voluntary homelessness is also an option to resist social expectations, but most people who are homeless are not homeless voluntarily, and it's very very very hard to overcome once you're there. I can't say I recommend voluntary homelessness to anyone who isn't entirely sure that it's the lifestyle that will bring them the most joy possible.
Is anything I'm saying cruel or judgmental?
PhoenixSFT
Member
I made less than $40,000.00 a year previously and had to pay rent, a car loan, student loans, a credit card bill, and I bought a puppy, which was about $1500 for the initial vet visits and occasional problems in the first year.
And I still saved, I live on $200 for my self for two weeks. $80 food, $80 gas, $40 disposable. So don't tell me someone can't save up.
He wasn't saying that someone who makes less than 40k can't save up, although it's easy to read that implication from the wording of his statement.
dave is ok
aztek is ok
So what happens if you have unexpected medical problems? Or your job commute changes to require $160 gas instead?
Sure, in most situations it's possible to save. But don't give me the 'I pulled myself up by my bootstraps so everyone should!' bullshit. You even admitted to having a credit card in your post, a luxury that some peoples credit scores won't allow.
Do I doubt that you had it bad? No. But if you're in the situation where you can afford to buy a puppy and spend $1,500.00 on it- you're not in the dire straits that people occasionally find themselves in.
And to clarify, I don't consider $40,000.00 some magical cutoff for money problems. I just used it as an example. I'm sure OP was making closer to $20,000.00 at minimum wage.
User 100115
Banned
Thank you for the well thought out post. I agree that yeah, it's unfair, and we should try to save, but what people don't seem to get is that even when poor people do save and don't spend anything on frivolous things, savings get eaten up. If we were to save 20 dollars a paycheck, something would come up pretty quickly that would cause us to use it. We have three kids, after all. This kind of living usually leads to spending a lot when you DO get extra money instead of saving it. Trying to get limp the car through the rest of the year so that when the 2 grand bonus comes in you can get it fixed. Or replacing a computer that is dying then because you can't afford it otherwise.
The thing I think most people are upset about in this thread is the attitude that saving is easy and everyone can do it, and whoever doesn't do it is just lazy and/or stupid. This attitude that if people are poor, they should be wearing sack cloth and ashes until they are no longer poor. Or at least, that is how it comes off sometimes.
http://www.careerbuilder.com/Article/CB-1174-The-Workplace-Could-You-Survive-on-Minimum-Wage/
Most likely less than 15k, and that's making the assumption of full-time employment all the time.
Baraka in the White House
2-Terms of Kombat
This mentality is becoming really pervasive in society and it's a fucking poisonous mindset.
No it's not. If anything the mentality is shifting the other way to the "my situation is not my fault" side o things. Personal responsibility is waning IMHO.
FTFY.
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