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what are your thoughts?
p/s If you are interested in forex, you can go to this website for forex guides and EUR/USD views.
www.TheGeekKnows.com
The articles are simple to read and understand.
I am not a pesimistic person, but at least on my country, the economic recesion is far away from see the light...
Hard times correspond to working harder!
the economy is getting worse and worse every day in every country i think we should go to space and make new countries now
I'm proof that the economy is in the dumps.
At home enjoying time with my little ones...
HotJobbing, Craiglistin', Careerbuilding, Indeeding, sleeping...
Aaaahhhh....this is the life...
2 months and counting...
No rush.
Simply stated, the economy is getting worse.
Creditors are becoming more stringent as are people with expendable capital.
We're in for the long haul.
Worse. Read up.
Oh look!!! I'm ranting!!!
leobox1 said:
what are your thoughts?
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Sorry...but what do you mean by "One year on?" This situation we're all in has been brewing since 2006...it's just the lame terminology of what a recession is (a widespread decline in the GDP and employment and trade lasting from six months to a year). I worked with the building trade (provided tools and equipment) and we could see the slow decline in building around the last quarter in 2006. This was a sign that there was something going on...and of course the 5 year mark on ARM loans for homes was just a nail in the economic coffin. People being given homes that banks knew they could not afford--lying--err..."Underwriting" assets to inflate a person's assets so they could get a bigger loan. So...here we are with
-people living in apartments,
-working hard to get a condo or a townhouse for $120K in 2000,
-smiling in 2002 at the inflated equity their $425K home currently has,
-Using said equity to purchase a $700K house at ARM and paying only $2K a month
-Realizing that the 5 years is up and that their loan has now skyrocketed to $5K a month
-Not being able to afford such a payment, $300K in equity down the drain...
-back in an apartment.
Very sad, but I'm sure you know of at least on of these situations...
For those that are having trouble paying their home (at no fault of their own) such as loss of income, disability, hardship...Google up HAM loan modification...
might help...
leobox1 said:
what are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, the picture is not as rosey as the government & wallstreet want U to beleave. We have a long way to go for paying down the deposite and creating good jobs!
I am a pesimistic person
but I say it may have gotten a bit better
but the damage don with companys going under
and people being fired have not peeked yet nor is it likely
to this year
In India, i think we have not even seen as such as being seen by Americans.
Lots of Indian shifting back to India from America. But nonetheless we have seen some decline in sales and jobs markets, but not as much as in abroad.
guess on the ground, things are still tough..
then its scary to see the markets value going up these days again as it may
be a bubble again...
when you hit rock bottom there is only up to go
think it got some raising to do before it could be a bubble
because now most is worth more then you can get for it
Still stuck in the rut no job not prospects no future "yeah i'm making a joke" but infact i have seen no change in the current climate with work being the bigest was made redundant and the field i work in is a bismal "in my location" and has been since the day i had to leave........
Fix Up........... Look Sharpe........
Things can only get better
+1!!
That´s the positive thinking!!
Cheers for that!
oil is now at $70+
way above the low of $30+
Unemployment index is still very high, and many companies are still a bit hesitant about hiring. However, Dow Jones is moving up (though it might just be a slight bit of higher confidence), the housing market is slowly recovering (though bad mortgages are still being collected, and "big banks" are still writing them off), hiring is looking somewhat positive for the first time in a while and consumer confidence is starting to pick up again (retail is looking good again, meaning people are spending more).
Nobody's really sure whether this is the light at the end of the tunnel, but it might be a little break from the storm.
I think many factors are behind the share rally. The cash for clunkers program is one. The Chinese government's forcing its bank to lend is another. Then, there is also the issue of financial institution given the leeway to value the toxic assets as anyting they want once again which mask the problems. Add to that the massive money printing by the US government, and some of those money are now propping up the US share market.
Bank CEO's are doing anything in their power (including cooking their books) to justify paying themselves obscene bonuses once again.
When the Chinese government forced the State controlled banks to lend, there is no actual demand by businesses or individuals to borrow it. After all the export market is shrinking rapidly. But since the order from the top must be followed, the banks have to bribe the borrowers to accept the loan. These loans ended up in risky properties, shares, and commodity futures bets and gambles. We already see how the Shanghai A share plunged 20% within a few days recently when the Chinese goverment announced that it is "finetuning" its lending policy. The Chinese has yet to learn to spell bubbles but I think it is definitely forming and that will in turn send a shockwave throughout the world.
Unemployment is still worsening, not geting better. The loan defaults in US is now a more serious problem in the primed mortgage area, even surpassing that in the subprime mortage area. The banks are once again packaging extremely risky assets and try to market them to unsuspecting investors all over again.
According to some reports, the insiders are throwing out their own share at the ratio of 8:1 (for every share they buy, they're selling 8), while the fools are being sucked in once again.
Unfortunately, retail investors will never learn. Memory is short. The reason is we're all driven by greed. Many are investing purely with a herd's mentality. Once again, they're not happy with a small trading profit and try to hold it longer for larger gain. Once again, they may find out that when the market head for the exit again, they can't sell it fast enough as the big guys who have everything computerised.
There is so much spin going around in the market, with so many experts telling us that the economy has recovered. They won't tell you about 77 (edit: Just read from Bloomberg that it is now 84 in the year 2009) US banks have already collapsed this year. According to a very famous analyst, hundreds more are heading that way. They manipulate the unemployment figures to make it look less worst than it actually is. They are trying to encourage private investor to buy up those lousy banks with worthless assets.
I think the world is now characterised by the Chinese doing all the hardwork for the West to enjoy, and their money are still with the west in the form of investments that they are stuck with. This was the great imbalance that, unless corrected, will continue to worsen the problem of the world. This imbalance is unsustainable.
The "stimulus" is no stimulus that resume the heatbeat when removed. It is more like a crutch, which remove, the patient collapses once again.
The world needs reform. The imbalance needs to be addressed. The Chinese/Japanese/Indian must start consuming more and save less. The West must start consuming less and save more. There is also progressively more imbalance in the world in terms of pay. Just look at what the greedy CEOs are getting compared to the ordinary workers. As a result, the purchasing power of the masses, hence consumption power in the economy, will suffer.
Just my 2 cents.
newsuser, nice read
S&P500 is now above 1000
I think economy will recover at least a little bit in the next year. Of course recovering from what happened is hard and takes several years but I am quite positive that it will go up again, at least because everyone tightened their belts a little bit. I think that was kind of an important lesson learned for our society. Not everything works out the way we want forever.
s&p500 is now around 1060 .. rather fast do u folks think?
Background:
I am a recent graduate with a BS in electrical engineering. During college I worked for 3 different companies doing work related to my major through the COOP program. I put in more than 6 months of full time work at each.
Company A:
I have been working at Company A for 3 months in 5 days; also, in 5 days my probationary period will expire. Company A is a German born company. A large majority of my coworkers are German and since all of the equipment was made in Germany all of the code and designs are in German. And I do not speak any German. The job currently is mostly maintenance with some development, and much more development planned in the future. The company is global with approximately 5,500 employees. They are a market leader in the automotive field and are expanding. Also, I am a salaried employee.
Company B:
Recently I was contacted by Company B and offered a job. I had multiple interviews with them during the job hunt process that landed me the job with Company A. Company B is a much smaller development firm. They have been in business for 60 years.
Comparison:
The equipment and devices used in the offered job are more the standard in the United States. So if Company A was to let me go 20 years down the road it might be harder for me to find a job in the USA. The job offered, is a hourly based job and 10 minutes from home(vs 30). The jobs have comparable pay and benefits, assuming I work 3 hours of OT each week at Company B. I was told it is normal to work 5 hours OT each week. Company B seems like there is more room for growth. The work at Company B will most likely be more demanding and rewarding than that at Company A. I have no personal issues with Company A and would feel bad about leaving them and the friends I have made.
The Dilemma:
Stay with a secure large company using foreign technologies that pays slightly more or move to a company that offer more room for growth and possibly be better for my career.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
my advice , take a german course(take your time , self development always pays) , get a nice position in the said upcoming dev projects , and they wont let go of you even if theres a workforce dismantling in the US outsource , and u need to take that in account in these hard times
and about the 30 min vs 10 min , reward yourself with a nice car system , and turn that dullride to a joyride
while you're younger you should take more risk. In my opinion, i'd go for the company where there's more chance for growth and is more demanding, giving you valuable experience you will likely use the rest of your career. Personaly, i would take a pay cut to work in an environment where i was truly needed and appreciated with daily challenges and long term goals.
I would work at Company B
Any advancement in your life is what you should strive for. As humans we always look for a challenge and the next best thing for us, and as you already know a challenge and a push to try harder is just fundamental (That's why you're on xda haha) Plus if you really think about it company B sounds more stable anyways, and the 10 minute car drive opposed to the 30 minute one would probably be paying you back for the slightly lowered pay from company B...you'll save on gas haha
My overall summary: Shoot for improvement and self-adaptation, you should still take that German course though, it'll be helpful to boast about haha Go for company B
Is company B offering 40% increase over your salary? Otherwise, the stress and the drawbacks of changing companies won't be worth it. Besides, you'd need an excuse to change companies, but you can easily stay without compromising your status quo.
You can say that you are leaving for a better offer, but it seems like they are paying you even less.
So, unless there's something wrong with Company A (toxic environment, abusive boss/coworkers, etc.) other than a different language, I'd suggest you stick with Company A for the time being
Yours Sincerely
-An accountant that changed too many jobs-
I like what I've been reading in the responses you've gotten up-thread of this one from me, but I'd like to offer a different perspective on this situation. In part, I will be echoing souljaboy's comments.
In any professional environment, you need to do deep research on every company you either are working for or which is a potential suitor. To fail to do this is both foolish and dangerous. What I mean about "deep research" incorporates a number of things. First, you need to see how their stock (whether publicly or privately held) is doing, and what its performance has been over its history. Remember, context isn't "everything", it is the "only thing".
Second, you need to look into what their customers in total have been saying about them, along with vendors and anyone else you can find out about (Google is thy friend, but so are contacts and social networks). When a company -- especially an American company -- makes any claim to stability, it's not so much that you should be skeptical, but you need to remember we in America are short-sighted, and so a "long term" plan means maybe a year or two (at best, if you're lucky).
The fact that Company B has a 60 year track record is nothing to sneeze at, so that's a good start, but you need to know more.
Third, you need to learn something of the inside politics of the company. How long have the BoD been there? Who are they? What do people (stockholders, others in the industry, etc.) say about them? Remember that companies are just like fish: the rot starts at the head. A company can "look" alright but may have decaying leadership and other issues which seriously jeopardize its future viability. Don't be too easily deceived.
Ok, apart from fully investigating Company B, let's take a look at Company A.
It's a German company, which means that it's based in a member country of the European Union, and it also means its future is tied to such things as the value of the Euro, the EU member bail-outs (think Greece, for instance) and then step back and realize that all of these basically "political" factors may have long-term effects. Also remember that the EU, the U.N., and others are discussing changing the global currency backing from the U.S. Dollar to something else, and this is liable to have a sharply negative impact on U.S. <> German economic interactions.
Because Company A is a member of the automotive industry, you need to look long and hard at what's going on in other, seemingly-unrelated areas like oil, wind/solar/battery, etc. Even a stable company that's made no mistakes on its own can crumble if the rug is pulled out from underneath it harshly enough.
Also, you need to ask yourself a question: What are the fundamental reasons (this list should not exceed two or three items) that company set up U.S. operations to begin with? Then, ask yourself: if the U.S. economy (or the German economy) went to hell, or if things like tax rates for foreign companies, or import duties, were to go up significantly, at what point would your U.S. operation no longer remain viable? Then, lastly, ask yourself where things are presently in relation to that upper cut-off.
While it obviously pays to not be tin-foil hat conspiracy-theorist on this, it also pays to remember the Titanic and Britannic were "unsinkable" too.
Good luck to you, whatever you may decide.
SciFiSurfer said:
I like what I've been reading in the responses you've gotten up-thread of this one from me, but I'd like to offer a different perspective on this situation. In part, I will be echoing souljaboy's comments.
In any professional environment, you need to do deep research on every company you either are working for or which is a potential suitor. To fail to do this is both foolish and dangerous. What I mean about "deep research" incorporates a number of things. First, you need to see how their stock (whether publicly or privately held) is doing, and what its performance has been over its history. Remember, context isn't "everything", it is the "only thing".
Second, you need to look into what their customers in total have been saying about them, along with vendors and anyone else you can find out about (Google is thy friend, but so are contacts and social networks). When a company -- especially an American company -- makes any claim to stability, it's not so much that you should be skeptical, but you need to remember we in America are short-sighted, and so a "long term" plan means maybe a year or two (at best, if you're lucky).
The fact that Company B has a 60 year track record is nothing to sneeze at, so that's a good start, but you need to know more.
Third, you need to learn something of the inside politics of the company. How long have the BoD been there? Who are they? What do people (stockholders, others in the industry, etc.) say about them? Remember that companies are just like fish: the rot starts at the head. A company can "look" alright but may have decaying leadership and other issues which seriously jeopardize its future viability. Don't be too easily deceived.
Ok, apart from fully investigating Company B, let's take a look at Company A.
It's a German company, which means that it's based in a member country of the European Union, and it also means its future is tied to such things as the value of the Euro, the EU member bail-outs (think Greece, for instance) and then step back and realize that all of these basically "political" factors may have long-term effects. Also remember that the EU, the U.N., and others are discussing changing the global currency backing from the U.S. Dollar to something else, and this is liable to have a sharply negative impact on U.S. <> German economic interactions.
Because Company A is a member of the automotive industry, you need to look long and hard at what's going on in other, seemingly-unrelated areas like oil, wind/solar/battery, etc. Even a stable company that's made no mistakes on its own can crumble if the rug is pulled out from underneath it harshly enough.
Also, you need to ask yourself a question: What are the fundamental reasons (this list should not exceed two or three items) that company set up U.S. operations to begin with? Then, ask yourself: if the U.S. economy (or the German economy) went to hell, or if things like tax rates for foreign companies, or import duties, were to go up significantly, at what point would your U.S. operation no longer remain viable? Then, lastly, ask yourself where things are presently in relation to that upper cut-off.
While it obviously pays to not be tin-foil hat conspiracy-theorist on this, it also pays to remember the Titanic and Britannic were "unsinkable" too.
Good luck to you, whatever you may decide.
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+1
I am, of course, speaking as an accountant that can market his skills across a vast range of industries. Engineers will have a different take on things as well.
I wanted to thank everyone for their input!
I decided to go with Company B. I gave Company A my 2 weeks notice on Monday. After that Company A came back with an offer for a rather large salary increase along with an increase in my annual bonus. Not to mention they pointed out some benefits I did not know existed. Like full reimbursement on any higher education as long as the grade in the course is a B or higher and pertained to my job.
With that in mind it makes really hard to leave the benefits, stability, and salary of Company A. So I am calling back Company B to let them know I plan to stay with Company A after all...
Thanks again.
Blauvster said:
I wanted to thank everyone for their input!
I decided to go with Company B. I gave Company A my 2 weeks notice on Monday. After that Company A came back with an offer for a rather large salary increase along with an increase in my annual bonus. Not to mention they pointed out some benefits I did not know existed. Like full reimbursement on any higher education as long as the grade in the course is a B or higher and pertained to my job.
With that in mind it makes really hard to leave the benefits, stability, and salary of Company A. So I am calling back Company B to let them know I plan to stay with Company A after all...
Thanks again.
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Click to collapse
Definitely sounds like good news
I just wanted to share a very good site of the lost art of manliness, and by manliness I don't mean macho, chauvinistic or anything else negative. Read for yourself and tell me what you think. for example"
Why and How to Start an Emergency Fund
Why do you need an emergency fund?
Because sh** happens and it can be expensive.
Kids end up in the emergency room; your car goes kaput in the middle of New Mexico; your water heater springs a leak. We’ve all experienced these setbacks and their accompanying bills. Some of us have suffered the misfortune of getting laid off and being without a source of income for months. Many people don’t plan for emergencies in their monthly budget, so when the poop hits the fan, they’re forced to take on expensive credit card debt to cover the bills.
An emergency fund is insurance for you and your family. Having cash on hand to cover unexpected expenses has two big benefits. First, it gives you peace of mind. Instead of wringing your hands worrying about where you’re going to come up with the money to cover an emergency expense, you simply transfer money from your emergency fund to your checking account. Crisis averted.
Second, and more importantly, it helps you get ahead financially. Instead of taking on more debt by using your credit card for emergencies, an emergency savings fund will prevent you from digging yourself deeper into a hole.
An added benefit of an emergency fund is the feeling of pride that self-sufficiency gives a man. You can’t beat it.
Where to Stash Your Emergency Fund
Your emergency fund should be liquid and easily accessible. While it may be tempting to get a higher interest rate by putting your money in a CD or mutual fund, those savings devices make getting to your money difficult when you need it most. Instead, opt for a boring old savings or checking account with a local or online bank.
Local banks. Local banks are great places to stash your emergency fund because you probably already do business with them. Just visit a branch and ask to open a separate savings account for your emergency fund. Depositing money into your account is easy because you can do the transaction in person. Ensure that your savings account is connected with a checking account, so you can easily transfer emergency money to your checking account when you need to spend it. The downside with brick and mortar banks is that the interest rate isn’t that great, but this isn’t a big deal because we’re not trying to get rich on the interest from our emergency fund.
Online banks. Online banks are a great place to keep your emergency fund because they typically have higher interest rates and lower costs and fees than the brick and mortar variety. A few years ago online banks like ING Direct and Ally had crazy monthly interest rates between 2%-4%, but they’ve since gone down to about 0.8-1%. Not fantastic, but still better than most traditional banks.
I keep our emergency fund in a checking account with ING Direct. The free debit card makes the money easy to get to when I need it.
The biggest drawback with online banking is the inconvenience. You can’t go into a branch to deposit money; to fund your online account, you have to connect it to a traditional bank. And if you don’t have a debit card for your online account, getting to your money can be difficult. You’ll have to request a transfer from your online account to your traditional account and wait three to four business days for the transaction to clear.
Personally, I find this inconvenience a helpful firewall that ensures I don’t cheat and dip into my emergency fund for things that aren’t really emergencies. But just do what works for you.
Should I keep some cash under the mattress? It’s not a bad idea to keep part of your emergency fund hidden somewhere in your house. Natural disasters and zombie apocalypses can knock out banks and ATM machines for days and even weeks, cutting you off from your money. $300-$400 in cash is a good amount to have on hand. Hide it in your mattress, store it in a fireproof safe, or even keep it in your bug out bag. For style points, keep your emergency cash in a secret book safe.
How Much Do I Need in My Emergency Fund?
When Kate and I were working on paying off our debt, we followed Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. I know Dave has his critics, but his plan worked for us. Dave believes you should create a $1,000 emergency fund before you start working on paying off your debt. That way, you can use this small cushion for emergency expenses, instead of adding to your debt by using your credit card.
After paying off your debt, you begin building an emergency fund with enough money to cover three to six months of basic living expenses. We’re talking the bare necessities here. That’s about $5,000-$25,000 for most folks. This fund is designed to cover most big emergencies and provide enough money to live on in case you lose your job.
Emergency Fund Goal #1: $1,000 Fast!
Our $1,000 emergency fund came in handy several times during our debt repayment process. When I was in law school we had a few emergency car repairs that came up. We also had to make a couple of unexpected visits to the hospital. Instead of having to use credit cards, we were able to pay for these expenses with cash from our emergency fund. No new debt!
The goal is to get this $1,000 emergency account funded as quickly as possible. You also want to ensure that your account constantly has $1,000 in it, so whenever you use funds from your emergency account, you’ll want to replenish your fund as soon as possible.
“Alright,” you might be thinking, “This sounds good in theory, but how am I going to scrape together $1K when I’m barely making ends meet as it is?”
I know pulling together $1,000 can seem daunting. I’ve been there. We built our emergency fund when I was in law school. Kate and I were both working part-time, but we were barely getting by. Despite that, we were able to fund our $1,000 emergency stash in just two months. The key to creating a $1,000 emergency fund in a short amount of time is 1) increasing your income quickly and 2) cutting big expenses. In short, hustle and sacrifice.
There are a myriad of ways to cut expenses and increase your income. Listing them all would be a post in and of itself. So here are a few ways that helped Kate and I build our $1,000 emergency fund. I’d love to read what worked for you.
1. Have a yard sale. Taking part in a garage sale went a long way in helping us quickly reach our $1,000 goal. We piggybacked on a yard sale Kate’s parents were having and gathered together all the crap we hadn’t used for months and the things people had given us when we got married that we’d never used, and sold it. At the end of the day, we netted about $250, and it went right into our emergency fund savings account. The other added bonus was our place was cleaner and tidier without the extra clutter lying around.
2. Sell your old DVDs, books, and video games on Amazon.com. I’m a book hound. I love reading books. When I was in high school and college, I would often go to the bookstore once a week to browse and buy a new book. Consequently, I had amassed quite a collection of them. So I signed up as a seller on Amazon.com and put up all my old books on the site that I knew I would never read again.
It’s amazing how fast those books went. Of course, selling on Amazon or eBay can be a pain. I spent many of my weekends packaging books and standing in the line at the post office, but the time commitment paid off. I earned about $100 from my Amazon.com sales blitz.
When Kate and I got serious about paying off our debt, I curbed my book-buying habit significantly and became a zealous patron of the library (I freaking love the library).
3. Cut the cable. Cable TV is expensive, and let’s be honest, most of the shows on there are crap. Cutting cable from your budget can easily give you an additional $20-$100 a month depending on how much you’re spending on your plan. And if you’re really desperate to watch some of your favorite tv shows, check out Hulu.com. You can watch many shows on there for free.
4. Get a second job/work odd jobs. I’m sure you’re a busy man. You probably already have a job and a family. Or maybe you’re going to school full-time and working a part-time job as well. But if you’re serious about getting your financial house in order, you’ll be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to reach your goal.
Don’t be picky about the kind of second jobs or odd work you take on. Personally, I’m of the opinion that no work is beneath you so long as it’s ethical and you give it your best. There are lots of flexible jobs you can work on the weekends or in the evenings. Deliver pizzas, bartend, wait tables, mow lawns, retail.
I have one friend who was doing the Dave Ramsey plan and wanted to fund his $1K emergency fund ASAP. So he bought some numbered stencils and some black and white spray paint, and knocked doors all weekend seeing if anybody wanted their address painted or repainted on the curb. He charged $10 for his services. In one weekend he made $400 and in one month he had his $1,000. This guy knows how to hustle.
5. Stay in on the weekends. For Kate and I, an average Friday night out could cost $20-$50. By limiting ourselves to just one night out a month, we were able to contribute $100 more a month to our fund. We just had to be a bit more creative with what we did on the weekends.
6. Shop for a better auto insurance rate. You’ve seen the commercials on TV claiming you can save a boat load of money by switching auto insurance plans. Take them up on their claim. Visit Progressive, State Farm, Geico, American Family, and esurance to see if you can save a $100 or more by switching to them.
If you like your auto insurance and don’t want to switch, give your insurance company a call to see if they have any safe driving or customer loyalty discounts. You also might ask if you can reduce your rate by paying a lump sum once or twice a year instead of paying every month. Kate and I saved about $100 making that switch.
7. If you’re married, share a car. This is something Kate I have done since we got hitched and still do today. Having only one car saves you big money on car insurance payments, oil changes, and other auto repairs and expenses. Sure, it can be inconvenient sometimes, but it’s also a good way to spend quality time together. Really! Those car rides to and from law school were the few times Kate and I had to just talk each day.
8. Collect and gather your loose change. I was surprised how much money we were able to add to our emergency fund simply by gathering all our loose change around the house and in the car. Sure, you’re not going to fully fund your $1K with just loose change, but I bet you can collect about $20-$40 in change in a month. Every little bit helps!
Emergency Fund Goal #2: 3-6 Months of Basic Living Expenses
An emergency fund with three to six months of living expenses socked away can seem like a hefty goal. If you’ve never had more than $1,000 in your bank account, saving $5,000 to $25,000 may seem downright impossible.
Don’t let the enormity of the goal overwhelm you. Small steps will eventually get you there. Imagine the feeling of supreme, manly confidence you’ll enjoy knowing you have enough money to weather the storms of life.
Where you keep your emergency fund shouldn’t change even though you’ll have more stashed away. We still want these funds to be liquid and easily accessible.
Kate and I are working on this goal right now. It will be awhile before we reach it, but we’ll get there. Two things that are helping us reach our goal:
1. Take what you were paying in debt each month and put it in your emergency fund. As soon as Kate and I paid off our debt, we started taking the money we had been paying each month towards debt reduction and putting it in our emergency fund. We’re already used to allocating this money in our budget, so it’s been easy to redirect it towards this new goal.
2. Make savings automatic. I don’t think much about funding my emergency fund because I’ve put our savings on auto-pilot. With the ING Direct automatic savings plan, I’m able to automatically transfer a set amount of money from my primary checking account to my emergency fund every month.
Have you or are you working towards creating an emergency fund? Share your tips on how you’re getting to this goal!
http://artofmanliness.com/2011/03/23/why-and-how-to-start-an-emergency-fund/
http://artofmanliness.com/
Omnichron said:
your car goes kaput in the middle of New Mexico
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Hmm, I happen to live in New Mexico. thanks alot.
muerteman said:
hmm, i happen to live in new mexico. Thanks alot.
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btw : nice post ill post somthing smart when i read it tomorrow (adn im not drunk)
I have a retailer business here in Singapore. We sell mobile phone accessories along with our retails of the latest mobile phones. The Peterson Group was introduced to me by a friend of mine when my distributor failed to meet my needs. At first, it was a good deal. They have the latest model of almost all accessories in the market. They showed us samples and made great deals for us. Since we are new partners, they even threw some free accessories in the package as well.
They have nice staff, very accommodating. My business clicked and many people came to us since the products that we have are fresh from the market and we are on the lead compared to our competitors. While their product is still being shipped, ours are already nearly out of stock. I was even dreaming of expanding our business, renting stalls in big malls or even bring my business to Jakarta, Indonesia where my wife’s family resides. However though, the reality became a nightmare when about 3 months after I signed contract with The Peterson Group, the complaints on our products’ defect came frequently. We dealt with angry and frustrated customers. We know this is normal in this kind of business and we dealt each complaint with patience.
There were times that I was even the one who defended TPG and thought that maybe some of the customers break their chargers in purpose to get a refund. When one customer threatened to sue of having fraud products, it is when I became alarmed. The test and sample products seemed to be working but why is it that the deliveries are not working when they should be? I tried contacting TPG about this. After hundreds of connecting calls to so many people and telling my story a few thousand more, I was finally promised that they would conduct an investigation on this. I decided to give them a chance to redeem themselves. After two weeks, no one came and when I called, I get connected to voicemail and no one called me back. I now know that I have been deceived. I don’t want others to lose thousands of dollars like me. I am now working with my attorney on legal actions that I can take against them.
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You have to sue them, dude. It is against the law to sell defected products.
Reply to The Peterson Group Fraud Company Failed Promises
Heard of this issue a year ago but wasn’t sure the details behind it.
Every business has its own flaws. It may be that they just made a huge miscalculation at that time.
How do these scammers even get away from bad things they do? As I know it, The Peterson Group is one of the leading wholesalers of mobile accessories in Asia. Is this account true?
Is The Peterson Group still operating until now? How far will they be able to fool everyone?
There are a lot of fraud people especially in these kinds of business. With a lot of available products around offering the same brand, you would not know which one is legit.
I don’t think The Peterson Group can do this kind of thing. I have been with them for a few years now and nothing like this happened.
Same issue for me.
Same issue for me. But I wasn’t able to realize it before hand since the communication was constant. First, they were not able to deliver my products on time which caused me precious business time and kept me from reaching my monthly goal quota. The representative I talked to said that they were having big update on their shipping lines which halted some of their operations but I was promised that they are to deliver in one week’s time. I relented. They delivered after a week and a day. I let it pass. One time, when my staff was showing the functionality of one of the accessories to a potential customer, it suddenly burst into flames. The shame that I have felt in front of that shocked customer was really to the core. It also caused us a lot of money and I even suspended my staff, thinking that he has demonstrated wrong while we do the investigations. Our electrics engineer checked and it showed that there are defects on the product itself. We also checked the other deliveries and it confirmed that the products have been created from different parts of dismantled brands. I immediately contacted The Peterson Group regarding this. To make the matters worse, complaints started pouring out as well from emails, calls and personal means. I decided to end it when they weren’t able to give me anymore excuses. I am now with a different distributor.
I am actually wondering how they get away with it? They even hire people around to get involved. I hear they are a big company. How do they manage to fool even the government?
I am a regular guy from Latin America who likes free software, here there is a lot of crime and usually two mobiles are used, one expensive and elegant for the house and another cheap for when we go out, the bad thing is that to get documentation about cheap mobiles is tedious, I would like to be able to use the benefits of root on the street, location in case of theft, atomized explosion (joke) or etc. I have a siragon sp-6000 I will leave the documentation that fence collecting about this mobile, I would like to help others with rare brands to find a universal method, take care of themselves, exercise, drink water and ingest protein