We are not the cause. EVERYONE is the cause.

 

Fully agree. Banks and Hedgefunds all over the world played this game, not just US corps. As far as the housing bust goes, the Europeans are more leveraged than the US in that game. Our system 'was' less controled by government than most Euro countries, so they kept the implosion more masked. That unmasking is now starting to happen and we get to watch what happens when you are even more leverage than the US (Spain, England, Italy, Iceland, etc...).

The key thing to remember that one of the key words after the dot-com bust and the Enron debacle was regulatory arbitrage, which basically meant companies/banks would play games with their money and regulations of various countries to maximize their returns. I'd also add that I don't feel sorry for any of the oil producing folks, last summer's bubble in oil has made the descent into Depression steeper than it would have been with just a financial crisis. The run up in inflation and energy prices made things more painful than it otherwise might have been.

This is serious. Ohio is running a serious deficit, and Kentucky -- which ran a deficit last year due to ever increasing prison costs (among other items) that were a result of our prison population boom over the past 10 years, is running into the red even further. West Virginia is still in the black for now, although its surplus is fast dwindling.

 

This source is a little... opinionated but it is a valid issue.

 

46 Of 50 States Could File Bankruptcy In 2009-2010

Freedom Arizona, January 30, 2009

 

There is a high chance a majority of the States within the United States of America could file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. There are currently 46 states with high budget deficits, Arizona being one of them.

 

In fact, Jan Brewer, the newly appointed Governor of Arizona has a major crisis on her hands, one that Arizona and national media isn’t covering. The alarming news is the State of Arizona has 90 to 120 days before they completely run out of money. After that, all bills and tax refunds owed to the citizens will go unpaid.

 

Before Janet Napolitano left for her new Homeland secretary position, she had a stand-off with Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin. The AZ Treasurer forewarned Napolitano about Arizona’s financial crisis, but she refused to heed his words.

 

...

Honestly, if we keep printing more money, we're going to end up with hyperinflation. We have nothing to back it up. One more prolonged oil spike, and we're over. And I'm not saying that to be dramatic. That could be the final straw for the collapse of the United States with the obvious exception of islands like Utah, etc.

 

 

This is something I agree on. I think we need to print money to help stimulate the economy and create jobs (that's what we do when we approve loans anyway) but hyperinflation is real. We need to be wise about what we're spending it on. The price index is going to rise leaving us wondering what the heck is the point?

I think this AP story offers a fair and balance account of why we're in this mess. The banks are still the center of the problem and evil Wall Street, without any gov. oversight, created all kinds of ways to line their pockets. The solutions are grim, but another major bank failure would be dire. A "bad bank" and/or nationalization seem to be the only viable solutions. Fortunately we have a gov. that will take action, not spend their time chopping down invasive plants on their farm.

 

Feb 8, 8:11 AM EST

The rise and (almost) fall of America's banks

By STEVENSON JACOBS and ERIN McCLAM, Associated Press Writers

 

. . .This January, the government took over six failed banks, including three on a single day. Last year, it took over a total of 25.

 

When it happens, the government swoops in and try to minimize disruption. Recently, it has tended to close banks on a Friday and achieve something close to business as usual by Monday morning, arranging for other banks to take on the assets. ATMs have kept working, and people have had access to their cash.

 

To read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BANKS_ON_THE_BRINK?SITE=OHCIN&SECTION=AMERICAS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

So here's the question as we read all this gloom and doom...

 

How are your own personal finances?

 

Here's mine: They haven't been this good in five years. I've been working two jobs to get out of credit card hell and I'm almost there. I've gone from $20,000 in credit card debt to just $6000, having paid off two of three cards. I've completely refurbished my condo, including paying $2,600 of my own money. I've purchased a whole new wardrobe and bought two new televisions -- one a 27-inch and the other a 36-inch. I had an extra 27-inch television in good condition and asked everyone I knew if they wanted it. No one did, except one person who took it to give to his son next year when he goes off to college. I've been Europe twice in the last two years and I'm going back in two months. Plus I've secured additional sources of income for one of my two jobs for the rest of the year.

 

Great depression? I don't think so. My parents lived through it and what I'm seeing isn't anywhere as close as to what they saw.

 

There was no FDIC back then, a weak federal reserve, no minimum wage, no social security, no medicare, little or no federally owned transportation infrastructure, no federally backed electrical grid and many other features we take for granted but which provide us a cushion in hard times.

I'm with KJP.  This is a peoples personal recession.  Too many people living above their means.

 

I'm going shopping! 

I agree with KJP and MTS.  Outside of my mortgage, I have no debt.  No car payment, no credit card debt, no student loans.  Assuming I keep my job (granted, that's questionable) nothing for me has changed, other than some investments tanking...but I don't need that money now anyway.  Even if I do lose my job, my wife's job is recession proof, we have plenty of reserve cash on hand, expenses can be immediately slashed, and I am sure I can find something to earn some kind of income to help pay the mortgage - I am not above doing any sort of work.

 

Oddly, during the post 9/11 recession I knew many more people who lost their job and got stuck in a bad financial spot than I do now.  Actually, I don't personally know anyone who has been impacted by the current recession via lay-offs, etc.

It depends entirely on where you are in life when one of these things happens.  People just getting out of school (I know a bunch) are not finding work at all.  So far it seems as though people of a certain age group are being thrown off the island, while age groups in a better position to protect themselves are doing so.  Depending on which of these groups you're in, the whole scenario will look very different.

I agree with KJP and MTS.  Outside of my mortgage, I have no debt.  No car payment, no credit card debt, no student loans.  Assuming I keep my job (granted, that's questionable) nothing for me has changed, other than some investments tanking...but I don't need that money now anyway.  Even if I do lose my job, my wife's job is recession proof, we have plenty of reserve cash on hand, expenses can be immediately slashed, and I am sure I can find something to earn some kind of income to help pay the mortgage - I am not above doing any sort of work.

 

Oddly, during the post 9/11 recession I knew many more people who lost their job and got stuck in a bad financial spot than I do now.  Actually, I don't personally know anyone who has been impacted by the current recession via lay-offs, etc.

 

SHS thats what I'm talking about! 

 

Luckily, my apartment is paid off, but I have is my condo fee and the mortgage in Harlem.  I've blessed I've never had a student loan, no revolving credit debt, car has been paid

 

I'm very budget driven and have saved money very well, I've got those emergency accounts  Unlike most, I don't have children so my "disposable" income can be stretched a little further.

 

If I lost my job, I'll be okay for the next two years and if I give up shopping three.  I can consult or come up with something to do.

 

I know quite a few people laid off and one person who is complaining about the amount of their bonus.  I'm torn in how I feel for him though.

 

I think people need to pull themselves up by their boot straps and do what they are suppose to do instead of doing what I gotta do because they over borrow or spent.

Those who aren't

 

blessed

 

don't want to hear about

 

boot straps

 

because that's not the issue.

GM, Chrysler May Face Bankruptcy to Protect U.S. Debt

 

"Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC may have to be forced into bankruptcy by the U.S. government to assure repayment of $17.4 billion in federal bailout loans, a course of action the automakers claim would destroy them.

 

U.S. taxpayers currently take a backseat to prior creditors, including Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to loan agreements posted on the U.S. Treasury’s Web site. The government has hired a law firm to help establish its place at the front of the line for repayment, two people involved in the work said last week.

 

If federal officials fail to get a consensual agreement to change their position regarding repayment, they have the option to force the companies into bankruptcy as a condition of more bailout aid. The government would finance the bankruptcy with a so-called “debtor in possession” or DIP loan, a lender status that gives the U.S. priority over other creditors, said Don Workman, a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP.

 

...

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/General-Motors-cut-12-US/story.aspx?guid=%7BCD9419A5%2DF3F3%2D440B%2DAFBE%2D86CDA28ECFDF%7D

 

Will there be anything left to bankrupt and/or save when all is said and done?

Bankruptcy won't destroy them.  It's the only thing that might save them.

I have a good friend that is a bankruptcy attorney that feels the same way.

I'm not in bankruptcy, but I see it very differently.  I think there is something to the claim that people will be terminally disinclined to buy from an automaker in chapter 11.  I do not understand why similar measures and similar concerns aren't being discussed for the financial companies getting bailed out.   

My friend (who is very liberal), was very against the bailout as well.  He believes giving private companies public subsidies prepetuates the problem.  Just because a company goes into bankruptcy it doens't disapear.  Though it does force it restructure itself and make forced changes.  Several airlines went into bankruptcy at one point and people still flew with them.  If you give the customer the product they want at the price they want, they will buy it.

Airlines are analogous to Yellow Cab or Hertz, not GM.  The question is whether airlines would still buy from a bankrupt Boeing.  The chief concern is whether service and spare parts would still be available in 5-10 years.  Chapter 11 could drive some suppliers under, thus the answer might be no.  It really is a different animal because of the product lifespan and the specificity of parts.  Direct government assurances of survival (just like the ones NY financial firms are getting) would make automaker bankruptcy much more palatable. 

From my perspective... they are borderline the same thing, only one forces you to change your business model to something that works.  If you recieve bailout money, you use the money to make ends meet while making limited changes except laying off the people who probably didn't cause the problem.  If you file for bankruptcy, your debts are absolved, only people take a look at your company and force you to make changes and may include layoffs.  In both cases it is in the best interest of all involved the company succeed moving forward... but in one case it doesn't cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

Those who aren't

 

blessed

 

don't want to hear about

 

boot straps

 

because that's not the issue.

 

Don't hate and to me it is the issue.  People don't plan or budget and I believe that is partially why people who have financial issues are in the situation they are in.

From my perspective... they are borderline the same thing, only one forces you to change your business model to something that works.  If you recieve bailout money, you use the money to make ends meet while making limited changes except laying off the people who probably didn't cause the problem.  If you file for bankruptcy, your debts are absolved, only people take a look at your company and force you to make changes and may include layoffs.  In both cases it is in the best interest of all involved the company succeed moving forward... but in one case it doesn't cost the taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.

 

Unless you're liquidating, your debts are not absolved.  A chapter 11 DIP plan would involve paying things off gradually, though perhaps writing them down-- and that's where the suppliers could be hurt.  There are less damaging ways to force a new business model on them, like setting conditions on the bailout funds, or like a direct government buy-in.  I'm all for a new business model.

^

 

Agree quite strongly.  People often overlook the 'year you wre born in' factor in determining how life plays out.  People born 22 years ago are having a much tougher time than people born 26 years ago.

 

The birth year can also play out in the rest of your career.  For instance, I'm in my mid 40s, working in IT.  ALL of the IT managers I know are basically in their early-mid 50s.  It seems there was a big IT hiring splurge in the late 70s/early 80s.  Those people hired at the start of that time frame managed to get some seniority on those that came late in the hiring wave, and got promoted to managers quickly as departments expanded.  Those that came late, while just as talented, found their promotion chances blocked.  IT departments stopped growing size-wise by the mid 1980s, and if you started then, you are at the end of a long line of people hoping to move up into management.

 

It's the luck (or unluck) of the birth year that determines a lot of how your career plays out.

 

MTS, of course planning and budgeting are factors.  But references to boot straps could also be seen as "hate," because they clearly imply individual failure.  Some people had to sell their boot straps at square one, so they don't want to hear about how nice your boot straps are or what all you've attached to them.

MTS, of course planning and budgeting are factors.  But references to boot straps could also be seen as "hate," because they clearly imply individual failure.  Some people had to sell their boot straps at square one, so they don't want to hear about how nice your boot straps are or what all you've attached to them.

 

Then my comments don't apply to them!

MTS, of course planning and budgeting are factors. But references to boot straps could also be seen as "hate," because they clearly imply individual failure. Some people had to sell their boot straps at square one, so they don't want to hear about how nice your boot straps are or what all you've attached to them.

 

Then my comments don't apply to them!

 

Then save those comments for when you address the Awful People Convention.

MTS, of course planning and budgeting are factors.  But references to boot straps could also be seen as "hate," because they clearly imply individual failure.  Some people had to sell their boot straps at square one, so they don't want to hear about how nice your boot straps are or what all you've attached to them.

 

Then my comments don't apply to them!

 

Then save those comments for when you address the Awful People Convention.

 

Since you're the Keynote speaker, I'm sure you'll let me know the date!

I have to agree with 327 MTS, talking about how great you're doing and making blanket statements that aren't necessarily true for everyone is kind of hater-inducing.  Nobody's saying you haven't worked hard or made sacrifices to get to the level of success you are enjoying now, but the equation is just not the exact same blueprint for everyone else in the world and that if they didn't follow your plan, they were either stupid or lazy or greedy or whatever else.  Whether you believe it or not, there are plenty of people out there who are down on their luck through a string of bad circumstances that were outside of their control.  I'm not saying that's EVERYONE, but IMO it's not cool to just throw something out there about how everyone else needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and follow your superior example to achieve wealth and happiness.  You're free to feel that way, but I don't think it's particularly nice to share those thoughts on the board. Just my 2 cents and of course you can do what you want :)

I have to agree with 327 MTS, talking about how great you're doing and making blanket statements that aren't necessarily true for everyone is kind of hater-inducing.  Nobody's saying you haven't worked hard or made sacrifices to get to the level of success you are enjoying now, but the equation is just not the exact same blueprint for everyone else in the world and that if they didn't follow your plan, they were either stupid or lazy or greedy or whatever else.  Whether you believe it or not, there are plenty of people out there who are down on their luck through a string of bad circumstances that were outside of their control.  I'm not saying that's EVERYONE, but IMO it's not cool to just throw something out there about how everyone else needs to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and follow your superior example to achieve wealth and happiness.  You're free to feel that way, but I don't think it's particularly nice to share those thoughts on the board. Just my 2 cents and of course you can do what you want :)

 

I think something has been missed.  My issues isn't with those who have legitimate issues with regard to their finances.  A

 

I'm talking about those individuals/families who PURPOSELY overspent and live above their means.

Thank you R&R.  You have a knack for explaining things clearly.

To the issue of automaker bankruptcy, I think the customer is basically treating Chrysler as the dead-man walking. They can't sell anything. In contrast, GM is down but not out. The consumer has made these decisions. I don't see Chrysler coming out of this alive, but GM can be carried through a bankruptcy to the other side.

You're probably right.  Unlike the other two, they've been getting bad quality ratings for years.  Other than trucks, they already weren't selling anything when all this trouble hit.  The sad thing is that when Daimler bought them, they were flush with cash.  That cash immediatley vanished and Mercedes came out with a silent laser lawnmower soon after.

^

 

Agree quite strongly. People often overlook the 'year you wre born in' factor in determining how life plays out. People born 22 years ago are having a much tougher time than people born 26 years ago.

 

The birth year can also play out in the rest of your career. For instance, I'm in my mid 40s, working in IT. ALL of the IT managers I know are basically in their early-mid 50s. It seems there was a big IT hiring splurge in the late 70s/early 80s. Those people hired at the start of that time frame managed to get some seniority on those that came late in the hiring wave, and got promoted to managers quickly as departments expanded. Those that came late, while just as talented, found their promotion chances blocked. IT departments stopped growing size-wise by the mid 1980s, and if you started then, you are at the end of a long line of people hoping to move up into management.

 

It's the luck (or unluck) of the birth year that determines a lot of how your career plays out.

 

 

Someone read Malcolm Gladwell's new book.

To the issue of automaker bankruptcy, I think the customer is basically treating Chrysler as the dead-man walking. They can't sell anything.

 

I know, and that's why Toledo is f$&ked royally. :cry: It's going to take a long time for the economy to turn around in this area...

 

I think a lot of people up here are fearing for the day when Chrysler shuts down.

 

That's why I don't think it should be allowed to happen, despite everything I said above.

>I'm talking about those individuals/families who PURPOSELY overspent and live above their means.

 

Again, the core issue is the 2+ car household and the incredible stress that puts on any budget.  In most cases the car issue single-handedly prevents families from saving.  We had one car and nothing new in our house when I was a kid, until about age 10.     

>I'm talking about those individuals/families who PURPOSELY overspent and live above their means.

 

Again, the core issue is the 2+ car household and the incredible stress that puts on any budget.  In most cases the car issue single-handedly prevents families from saving.  We had one car and nothing new in our house when I was a kid, until about age 10.     

 

Exactly we're doing a cross branded program and it's at the core are new couples, who are were buying homes, had two cars, and now have lost one or both of those jobs.

 

It shows how the "sunbelt" [particularly Phoenix, Dallas, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Charlotte & ATL} is not doing well and the last 20 years of growth has come to a screeching halt and how the great lakes has gone thru this and now poised to rebound because it's lived thru the adversity.

 

I dont know why any young couple would buy a 4k sq. foot house with no furniture in it.  My father had a house when he met my mother, then we moved to our current house.

 

Dont young couples buy starter homes, where they live 5-10 years and maybe with one kid before moving into a larger home?

Dont young couples buy starter homes, where they live 5-10 years and maybe with one kid before moving into a larger home?

 

Most people I grew up with bought starter homes and are still there.  That's of the ones who bought at all, which is maybe half the people.  The only one I can think of who moved up to house #2 is my brother.  He first bought a new suburban 2BR condo, which he still has and is trying to rent out.  He just got a huge historic house in Zanesville for a little more than half what his condo is supposedly worth.  I think he's a little high on the condo value.  But he got that house for a song, and it's a fortress of spendor.  It has mosaics.  Nobody wants to be that far out from Columbus anymore, I guess. 

 

But that's where to buy right now, those small towns too far from anything to become exurbs.  The ones that used to have indepenent industry and wealth.  Tons of old rich people houses, there for the taking.  The money all moved into the orbit of something bigger years ago.  All you need is a job you can do online, or a line of work that's found anywhere.  The second option requires some legwork getting a job.  But if you already have one, you got that one, so it might happen. 

We should probably open discussion of the horrible effect that the tax rebate to get people to buy houses will have on lots of neighborhoods. It isn't clear what the numbers are, but it looks like it might be 15k to anyone, which seem to me to be a big federal program to help people abandon failing neighborhoods. It will acerbate the winners and losers in terms of neighborhoods and towns. This won't help areas hit hard by foreclosure because those with the ability will buy into the best neighborhoods where the few sales/foreclosed homes will be snapped up. The economic geography of our nation is literally being remade as the days pass - I agree with MTS that the overleveraged young families that lose their jobs will be hit hard and those cities with the combination of high levels of lay-offs and lots of young families are in for a hurting.

I don't mean, right out of collage folks, but couples who are just starting a life together.

 

Your point is very valid. My nephew & cousins kids are starting to look at colleges.  They are like what are we going to do?  The kids not into medicine or science are like what kind of jobs will we have when we graduate and they are only Sophomores in High School.

I know I'm old, but almost nobody I've ever dated when I was single had their own home.  Nobody buys a starter home that I'm aware of, on their own.  People don't tend to buy a home until they are shacking up with someone long-term and it looks like they will get married and/or they're ready to start a family.  The only people I knew who actually lived in houses were those renting houses.  The year I got married, I met a TON of other ladies getting married and they all bought brand new homes with their spouse/fiancee.  I think maybe a couple of people actually bought old homes.  But no homes were small or what I'd call a "starter" home, they were the full-blown, real-deal homes.

I know I'm old, but almost nobody I've ever dated when I was single had their own home.  Nobody buys a starter home that I'm aware of, on their own.  People don't tend to buy a home until they are shacking up with someone long-term and it looks like they will get married and/or they're ready to start a family.  The only people I knew who actually lived in houses were those renting houses.  The year I got married, I met a TON of other ladies getting married and they all bought brand new homes with their spouse/fiancee.  I think maybe a couple of people actually bought old homes.  But no homes were small or what I'd call a "starter" home, they were the full-blown, real-deal homes.

 

See...thats why many are in the situation they arein now.

 

My brother and skank-in-law, couldn't get a loan for the home they wanted when they started out.  They ended up living with me for four years.

 

I just don't understand why a newly married couple would need to buy a new build 4k square foot home out in the 'burbs.  On the other side of the coin there are very few "cool" homes in Cleveland, that appeal to young couples.  Yes, there are some areas where people want to renovate homes and move into cool areas. But the problem is Cleveland has never been an apartment city and people move to other areas and see cool apartments and condos in abundance.  Here you'll see younger families in the close (Cleve. Hts., Lakewood, Shaker Square) burbs that have the feel of close in neighborhoods in other cities.

 

I think as the recession goes on, there will be more people moving into the city center and renovating homes to be closer to their jobs.

 

I just don't

^They buy one because that's what everyone else does, and they usually have parents or someone in the family willing to pony up a big portion of their down payment, so they think they'll be fine. 

^They buy one because that's what everyone else does, and they usually have parents or someone in the family willing to pony up a big portion of their down payment, so they think they'll be fine. 

 

yep thats the problem.

^i'm 26 and graduating from med school this year.  it's different for me because we graduate to residency, and hospitals are always looking for cheap labor (especially from foreign grads who may have been practicing in their home country and do not need to be trained, they are here for US licensure).  anyway, i'd never buy a home in toledo.  a lot of my classmates did.  my rent is so cheap for the house that i share (landlord lives in basement, my age, has job) that i'm fairly certain that the yearly property tax is more expensive than the yearly rent.  plus, i'm not responsible for when the ceiling caves in or what have you. 

 

also, following residency most docs complete a fellowship which often times is not in the same city.  then they find a real job.  so mobility is key. 

I can barely afford a starter apartment, and here we are talking about starter houses.

 

 

I can barely afford a starter apartment, and here we are talking about starter houses.

 

 

 

where do you live?  is rent that expensive?

Personally, I'm doing...OK.

 

I did eliminate some of my CC debt, but I have a ways to go (probably another year) before it really starts to make a diff.

 

To save money and get a bigger place, I'm getting a roommate.

 

I'm on the hunt for a new FT job (cross your fingers- I may have my "dream job" soon), but I'm also getting into a new home-based business as well for PT/Debt elimination money.

 

 

I'm in Lakewood.  The rent isn't that bad, but when you add in utilities, school debt, car payments/maintenance, health insurance, occasional food and shopping (I try to eat on a limited budget), and a pretty sad, yet for some reason seemingly highly taxed salary, it all adds up really fast.  I can no longer afford to fund my Roth Ira, have no investments (had to cash out a mutual fund since my job requires a car), and have to play it really cheap when I go out since I have gone through much of my savings.

 

Also, a second job isn't in the works since I'm putting in 55-60 hours as it is.  And my roomate has been retarded about the rent the last few months, so I've been overely burdened with his share too.

 

If it weren't for my parents helping me out financially, I would probably have to move back home with them since there are just too many bills.  And chance are I will be "homecoming" since there are major layoffs at my business in the near future and I know my job is in jeapordy.

 

So overall, yeah, what a shi**y situation.  And it could be/might get so much worse.  I mean, at least I have my parents to help out (though they've lost much of their life savings on Wall Street) and I'm healthy.  If just one of those things were to change, even a little, then I would probably have to make some kind of life alterations i.e. food stamps, welfare, borrowing money from friends, etc. 

 

Instead of Generation Y, it's Generation Screwed

I can barely afford a starter apartment either, but right now school is the reason.  Depending on what job I get (if any) I may still be at the bottom of the apartment market for years to come.  Right now I'm 32 with a roommate.  I should also point out that my brother, who bought a new condo right out of college, rented out his upstairs bedroom the whole time.  Paying that mortgage by himself would have been tough.

I'm in Lakewood.  The rent isn't that bad, but when you add in utilities, school debt, car payments/maintenance, health insurance, occasional food and shopping (I try to eat on a limited budget), and a pretty sad, yet for some reason seemingly highly taxed salary, it all adds up really fast.  I can no longer afford to fund my Roth Ira, have no investments (had to cash out a mutual fund since my job requires a car), and have to play it really cheap when I go out since I have gone through much of my savings.

 

Also, a second job isn't in the works since I'm putting in 55-60 hours as it is.  And my roomate has been retarded about the rent the last few months, so I've been overely burdened with his share too.

 

If it weren't for my parents helping me out financially, I would probably have to move back home with them since there are just too many bills.  And chance are I will be "homecoming" since there are major layoffs at my business in the near future and I know my job is in jeapordy.

 

So overall, yeah, what a shi**y situation.  And it could be/might get so much worse.  I mean, at least I have my parents to help out (though they've lost much of their life savings on Wall Street) and I'm healthy.  If just one of those things were to change, even a little, then I would probably have to make some kind of life alterations i.e. food stamps, welfare, borrowing money from friends, etc. 

 

Instead of Generation Y, it's Generation Screwed

Can you kick out your deadbeat room mate.  You, as a responsible adult shouldn't have to pay his share of the rent or is there more to it than that?

No, I wouldn't do that, at least not yet.  He's a friend and has been having some job issues lately (just went from salaried to hourly), so I'm going to give him some time to get his money in order.  And even if I do kick him out, which wouldn't be easy since we're both on the lease, well, I'd still be stuck with the full bill and would have to look for a roomate when I have free time, which unfortunately isn't all that often. 

 

But even when he starts putting his shares in again, the money situation won't change since my parents are the ones who are presently putting up his shares (there would be no way I could lay $900/month otherwise) but their funds are limited too.

 

So all and all, I can safely say this receission SUCKS

wow...just wow.  I'm so sorry to hear all this.