You make too much money!

[DrFaroohk]

I don't begrudge anyone the fortunes they've earned in life. I respect people who have the intelligence, drive and will to get their education, work hard, do whatever it takes to succeed. They rule in my opinion.

And I don't necessarily think everyone who makes a lot of money is "wrong". I think Metallica can charge whatever they want for tickets. Nintendo can charge what it wants for a Wii.

But when you start with life necessities, such as heating oil or medical care, seriously the costs are too high.

And then people come up with all sorts of explanations for why it costs so much. say for a doctor. Someone once told me that just for a small office with only one or two doctors, a lowball estimate is like 250K a year for operating costs. Plus all their schooling, student loans, etc... Ok, cool. That's fine. 250K a year to run a business, not bad, I'm fine paying for that.

But that goes right out the window when I also see these same people with "such high operating costs" living a million dollar lifestyle. I can choose whether I want internet access or not, but if I get a sinus infection I NEED my antibiotics. If I break my arm I NEED to get it set. I can't afford to pay 300 dollars for a bottle of tylenol. I can't afford $75 for the doctor to shine a flashlight up my nose.

Same as heating oil. Fine, high demand. Running out of oil or something. Today I paid 3.81 a gallon for the shit! Then I get a big runaround about how much it costs. Operating costs, environmental protection shit they have to pay for, refining costs, etc.... That's all good and well, but when the guy who owns the company is pissing in a diamond toilet and wiping his ass with golden toilet paper, there's something wrong. because I NEED heating oil. I can't just "not have it".

Cigarettes CD's Movies Books all that fun shit, charge whatever you want, but people should not be able to capitalize on shit that you need to survive.

[Boozy]

I have no problem with doctors making a shit-ton of money. These people spend almost a decade during the prime of their lives making no money, getting no sleep, and working their asses off to learn their profession. If there's no light at the end of the tunnel, no one's going to do it. And we need doctors.

This would be one of those situations where the government needs to step in and subsidize. We need to keep the economic incentives for future doctors, while being sure that the poor don't get screwed out of health care.

[protege]

Cigarettes CD's Movies Books all that fun shit, charge whatever you want, but people should not be able to capitalize on shit that you need to survive.

Unfortunately, if you want the expertise--be it a doctor, mechanic--you're going to have to pay for it. Those people have bills too. Same with the independent oil distributor who brings the heating oil. Why should they have to operate at a loss because someone can't afford their product? That would be like walking into Ferrari, and insisting they sell you one of their V12 sports cars...for the price of a Chevy Cobalt.

[DrFaroohk]

That's not at all what I'm talking about - I'm not saying "rip someone off". I'm saying the expenses they quote are often inflated. Not everything needs to cost an arm and a leg, and many people would be doing just fine if they lowered their costs a bit.

And it doesn't have to be all about the money either - what ever happened to just being a doctor cuz you like helping people get well? Teachers do that shit all the time - they do a looooot of work, work way longer hours than the 8-3 of school hours, and they get paid jack shit.

[protege]

And it doesn't have to be all about the money either - what ever happened to just being a doctor cuz you like helping people get well? Teachers do that shit all the time - they do a looooot of work, work way longer hours than the 8-3 of school hours, and they get paid jack shit.

Medical school isn't cheap, nor is it an easy time--I have a cousin enrolled in it right now. He did it, because he's following in his dad's footsteps. I have a feeling that he'll be in debt for years...until he establishes himself, and lands a job at a practice.

[DrFaroohk]

And that's the point I see people making too much money. Fine, make money, support yourself, and live well, but don't screw people. Fine, you have 1 million dollars in yearly expenses. So you can spread out that 1 million among your patients. But then don't cry poverty when your suit costs more than my house.

[AdminAssistant]

what ever happened to just being a doctor cuz you like helping people get well? Teachers do that shit all the time

Doctors, of any kind, have to go through *much* more training than a K-12 teacher (although the length of time is on par with Ph.D.s, JDs, etc.) K-12 teacher = 4 year degree, maybe 1 year certification. Later on, if they want to move up the ladder to administration, a Masters of Education (2-3 years) and then, maybe, an Ed.D. I'm not sure how long that one takes, but usually only superintendents have that level of education.

A doctor should get into medicine because they want people to feel better, just as a teacher should get into education because they love teaching. But one is so much harder than the other.

[blas87]

My parents invested in a wood pellet stove. That thing has been a godsend for them, as they only have to to re-fill their fuel oil once every other year now. Of course, their house is set up just so that where the stove is positioned, it properly heats the entire downstairs.

Dad buys 100 bags of pellets for about $500 a year, versus fuel oil at nearly $1,000 or more per fill. Of course, with winters like last year and this year, he's had to buy more, but it's still saving a ton of money.

[protege]

I actually don't spend much to heat my place. Usually, the natural gas bills are pretty low...except during December to early March. Usually, those months are pretty cold, and I have to have the heat on. Also helping, is that I turn the heat back at night, and when I'm at work. Oh, and having a very efficient furnace (fitted 4 years ago when I moved in) in a small house helps too. Eventually, I plan on insulating the basement, which will help even more.

[crashhelmet]

The biggest of these gougers are the oil companies like ExxonMobil.

This article here shows an example of how much they rip us off.

They could easily knock their prices down and lower their profits, but they choose to instead continually raise their prices every time a camel farts in the middle east.

In 2005, ExxonMobile recorded a US Record Quarterly profit of $10 Billion Dollars AFTER raising prices due to Hurricane Katrina.

From this article on cnet

"They were a bit disappointing, but this a temporary phenomenon," said Paul Kuklinski, an analyst with Boston Energy Research/Soleil Securities. "This is largely attributable to hurricane effects."

Record 10Billion Dollar profit and they're disappointed?

I remember reading something during that time where they made an open threat to the US Government along the lines of "Try and get our money and see what we do."

[protege]

Here's another link for you all.

[Eisa]

I'm working toward getting my PhD in psychology because I want to be a therapist and help people. Not quite the same as med school, but still pretty damn difficult.

So I can see what you're saying...things are inflated. But probably not as much as you'd think.

[Greenday]

My friend is a doctor. Just to be an ER doctor or GP, you have to do four years of med school, plus rotations, and more. If you want to be a specialist, you could do up to 4-6 years extra med school. So by the time you are making money, you are in your 30s and you've already gotten hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt. And it's really only the specialists who make a lot of money.

[Racket_Man]

I kinda got the same crap from my Ex-wife.

first off she is on disability. second even before that she was loose with the cash even during periods of me being unemployeed (me being the primary income earner).

after the divorce I actually was able to start putting money back. once the grand child was born I was beaten over the head with "WELL you have a JOB and earn money and get a paycheck"

Yeah I DO have a job and get a paycheck, BUT I have expences (not inflated either) related to my job such as car payments, insurance, gas, repairs, regular bills and expences. I may have way more $$$'s than when we were married (and my current finances and savings are none of her business anymore) but that does not mean I can not try and save for whatever future there is. or I may just be saving money for some nice thing I want. YES it is called SAVING

I do not lead the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with optional Champainge Dreams". I live within my means I am NOT extravigant in my stuff I do not have the latest and greatest stuff. I live comfortabily

[blas87]

It irritates me to no end, when we're on blanket overtime that lasts several months (or years, as it has before), when people who don't work with me say "You must be rolling in the dough!" or like my parents "You shouldn have plenty of money with all that overtime you've been doing!"

I'm not going to lie, that money is good. Extra hours at time and a half is great. But guess what? The last blanket overtime session that was a year straight, most people I work with (including me) spent our OT money on fixing old debts and getting ourselves out of trouble from when we were laid off or on reduced hours from when the company wasn't doing so well in 2007, briefly in 2008, and spring 2009. Those few furloughs and reduced hours for a few months really killed a lot of our financial standings. With the exception of a few retards (like Drunken Victim), most of us just caught up or barely caught up with all that OT.

And at tax time, it ended up biting us in the ass anyway. More than x many hours of OT worked is taxed to kingdom come, and we also figured out that after so many months in a row of x many hours per week, you jump into a new tax bracket and it's enough to keep you in that bracket long enough so that you either end up paying IN for your taxes, or not getting as much back as you really think you should be.

I do miss the money, but I love the freetime right now. And I won't lie, OT really helped me take some chunks out of my car payment when I first got my car, and it got me out of collections with my medical bills and it also got rid of some other debts. But I was never living the large life, I never could just spend money the way some of my friends (who ironically made less money than me or had roommates or still lived at home) did and still continue to do so.

And I also won't lie, I rewarded myself quite frequently by going to the mall (I really should have just went to Mall of America before gas went up over $3 a gallon and saved myself the sales tax on clothing as well, but what's done is done) and getting good deals.