same old bullshit then?

What kind of car do you drive where you can get 2K more money for it?

Just asking, because you can buy a car outright for 2K, so you could have sold the car for at least 2K more then you owe, bought a 2K car, and not had a car payment (if you have one).

What?

Yea, I could have went that option.  I drive a 05 Honda Civic EX Special Edition.  I owed about 5k on it.  I wanted to get spare money to actually get ahead on my bills instead of making it paycheck to paycheck.  I could have sold it for about 7-9k (Kelly Blue Book has value around 10k at most).  Then bought a car for 2k.  Basically, I am looking at it for long haul.  Civics have good reliability and I like mine (standard transmission, color (color of dirt/ beige), and is in decent shape (hasn't messed up on me yet/ runs great)).  I could have sold car and wiped out my car loan debt then bought a 2k car (it just seemed too much of a hassle to me (plus I didn't want to get a lemon car and have to start repairing it) and would rather just keep mine since it is running perfect and has about 52k miles on it (all from me))).  So I borrowed 2k more on car (increased payments by about 40 dollars a month and time frame of paying back loan (increased it by 6 more months), but I did least get them to reduce the interest rate to bellow 4 percent.  Basically, I was lazy and it seemed like a decent deal at the time for amount of effort.  I just wanted to get some breathing space in between bills which I managed (have rent paid off till September now).  I wont go too much into my fiances or lack there of but I was kind of screwed for awhile (living paycheck to paycheck).

No, this isn't one of your threads.

Glad you got ahead of it all. That is a very reliable car. There is value in knowing you have been the only owner.

I just hope you used that money to pay outstanding dept, and not for the purpose of paying month to month bills. If it was to extend a lifestyle that cost more then your income, it's a gamble that by the time your 2,000 runs out, your income has not improved. So if in september, you run into the same problem, you have done yourself no favors. You are in the same boat, but with less assets (because you leveraged the car). You will in fact be, worse off.

You sound like a smart guy though, so I asume you got it all covered. This is more for other people reading, so they know borrowing to sustain a lifestyle that's outside there income level, is a very bad idea.

I've always felt like talks of radical financial policy changes were a bit futile, I just think because of our bounded rationality the consequences and results of such a massive change is beyond our comprehension. Not that I'm suggesting that it is pointless to try to implement changes but I think it needs to be small and very gradual. I guess futile isn't really the correct term, because I do think it is imprtant to challenge and stimulate ourselves intellectually, but I don't understand how people can be so sure of a potential solution one way or the other.

Congratulations on the decision to move. I've vacationed in NZ near Auckland for a few days years ago and really enjoyed it. I think when you are ready for your life to be different moving is a great idea, it is much easier to make significant changes in a new location instead of trying to change things where you already have an established pattern or routine. Good luck and I hope you really enjoy it.

Thanks. I move a lot as a person, so the idea of living somewhere else is the norm for me. My parents have owned over 40 homes, so yea... moving is a bit normal.

As for the US, countries rise and fall. When the US falls, it will be quick, and of its own doing. No country lasts forever. I think because all our lives the US has been the world super power, we get the feeling it will just always be that way, and we can treat it any way we like.

I feel a little like the Jews that left Germany in the late 1920 and early 1930's. A lot of people just thought they were crazy.

I have been pretty good all my life at recognizing when it's time to leave a company or city based on economics. That intuition is telling me I need to leave the country, because in the coming 2-5 years, things are going to get REALLY bad.

Along came the Global Financial Crisis and the big Credit Crunch and the world is in big financial turmoil. Who was in for 8 years leading up the big crash? Boston Tea Party Republican George W.Bush  admin. wasted all the US tax payers money and raided pension funds to finance two Vietnam 2.0 Wars costing trillions plus interest. 

Generous tax cuts for the wealthy elite and huge US budget deficits were racked up every year under the careful governance of George W. Bush. 

Obama has not been able to turn things around because the US economy is royally screwed. Unemployment has doubled from 5% to 10%. The US deficits and national debt are growing and growing all the time. Asset prices have fallen all over. the two wars in Middle East continue with no end in sight. 

Austerity measures will kick in with increase taxes and cuts in spending. Short term pain for long term gain is needed to bring the Zombie US economy back from the dead.

The US Budget was balanced under the Democrats Clinton Admin. National debt was being paid off. Tax rates were higher under Clinton than under Bush. But the Government budget was balanced and the US economy was in a much better shape under President Clinton. Along came Republican George W. Bush who changed everything for the worse.

Well, NZ certainly is a beautiful country.  It's on my travel list.  Good luck.